Most of my Saturday Questions are positive, so I hesitated for a while about whether I should even ask this one. I hope that nobody will feel too hurt if a perfume they love ends up on someone’s “can’t stand it” list – after all, we are all so different in our olfactory perception.
Saturday Question #292:
What Was The Most Unpleasant Perfume You’ve Ever Smelled?
Was it a “hate from the first sniff”? Did you put it on your skin? Was it a scrubber, or did you endure it through the development? Did you do it more than once?
My Answer
My knee-jerk reaction answer was Oriza L. Legrand‘s Chypre Mousse. But then I remembered that I’ve previously used that perfume while answering another SQ about the spookiest perfume I’ve ever tried. So I decided to search my daily use database for more offenders. One of the standard reactions that I can select to classify what I thought about perfumes I wore or tested is “I hated it” – that was the filter I used.
Interestingly, in 15 years of recording my reactions, only 23 perfumes have ever deserved that harsh option. And it was unexpectedly hard to decide which one of them to name the worst. I decided to go with the one that I dared to put on my skin 3 times, hoping to change my mind.
Serge Lutens Miel de Bois. Many years ago, when Lutens’s perfumes were both hard to get and highly cherished by perfumistas, I got a sample in a swap. I had read such high praise for that perfume that I expected it to be magical. It wasn’t. It was quite unpleasant on my skin. I wasn’t ready to accept that, and once the memory of the off-putting encounter softened a little, I would try it again. With the same result. After the third attempt 10 years ago, I finally conceded defeat and purged the sample so that I could not even think about subjecting myself to that torture again.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
Just lately I find a lot of perfumes pretty horrible to my nose! Especially the nauseating sickly sweet types that you can’t scrub off. Nothing as hideous though as I found Poison when it launched, although I suspect that these days it might not seem quite as bad in comparison with what has come after. But I still wouldn’t wear it or want to be near anyone else wearing it.
What made Chypre Mousse smell spooky to you? The fragrance I always thought spooky was Messe de Minuit …. it smelt of damp crypts and decay; it quite literally gave me nightmares about corpses!
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A tie between CdG Jaisalmer (though I loved the rest of the Incense series) and SL Mandarine Mandarin. They don’t smell like each other, but they both smelled spicy, sharp, and unwashed to me.
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Ooooh! Good question Undina,
nowadays it’s MFK Baccarat Rouge and all the copy cats. Nauseating
Portia xx
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I would agree with that, Portia. I like a lot of MFK perfumes, but never understood the popularity of this one.
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Originally I liked its lively simplicity Cynthia but over the years it has become an attack. Especially by over spritzers in public. It’s a shame.
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That’s an easy one for me. Here’s what I wrote about Imaginary Author’s Bull’s Blood (original formula) in 2016.
“Have you ever tried a perfume that left you feeling deeply unsettled? Here is a podcast for you science geeks that discusses what makes scent memories so emotionally evocative. Often the memories are pleasant flashbacks to childhood; I’ve experienced a few of those. This was the first time that the memory was a dark one. When I first smelled Bull’s Blood its opening was cold, metallic, brash, a bit astringent, and yes, there was a slight metallic ting reminiscent of blood. I had a visceral feeling of dread, then suddenly my mind flashed to an incident in my childhood that I had not thought of in decades. I was at my church on Wednesday night for children’s choir practice. For some forgotten reason I stayed later and was alone, going down a dark cement stairwell. I tripped at the top and literally bumped down each step on my chin, leaving a smear of blood staining the steps from top to bottom. I remember the acrid smell of the blood, the warmth of it down my dress front, and the awfulness of my face glimpsed in the mirror when I went to grab some paper towels to stench the flow and clean up the mess. (My Mama trained me well!) The memory was so strong that I’ve been unable to try the perfume again, even though I very much doubt I would have a repeat reaction! This is why I say Imaginary Authors perfumes did provoke an extreme reaction in me, even if it was not perhaps the expected reaction.”
Here’s the link if interested: The Fragrant Journey: Imaginary Authors, Part Two
Although there have been others I didn’t like, this one stands out the most.
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What a terrible event for you, and for the perfume to recall it so vividly.
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The funniest part was I had totally forgotten about that long ago incident until the smell brought it back. I found that aspect of it really fascinating. It was like a key, unlocking a closed door.
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For me it was a sample of Zoologist T. Rex that arrived in a traveling box of perfume organized by Lukascz of Chemist in the Bottle a bunch of years ago. Instant revulsion. I also thought Bull’s Blood was gross, Cynthia!!
My “should like it but hate it, smells gross on me but divine on others” perfume is Angel. I keep a sample around and occasionally try it – nope, still gross on me. No idea why.
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I can see why T Rex would give you that reaction! I thought it was interesting, in a way that several of the Zoologist perfumes are, but it is nothing I would ever wear. I’m glad you had the same reaction to Bull’s Blood. I wonder if the revised version is less realistic?
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This is a very easy question to answer, Undina. For me it’s Sécrétions Magnifiques by Etat Libre d’Orange. Simply awful. And who is the perfumers you ask? Antoine Lie. Go figure. There isn’t one redeeming quality to this concoction.
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For me, hands down, it was But Not Today by UNUM – a bloody, decaying mess I had to run away from when I tried it at a Sephora (I think) years ago. I had either sniffed it from a scent strip or directly from the nozzle, thankfully not on skin!
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Secretions Magnifique for me, too. Ugh! I also have a visceral “double ugh” to Bluegrass. Something in that perfume is very offputting to me.
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There are a few. Tom Ford White Patchouli, instant scrubber, and never to be repeated. FM Dans Tes Bras, I tried it a couple of times but no way could I wear it. I can’t wear Chanel No5 either. I don’t know what happens when it encounters my skin. It smells wonderful on my friend. And Joy is a no-no too.
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Another vote of dislike for Baccarat Rouge! I tend to avoid fragrances that so many others say are gross, like Bull’s Blood. I had a strong reaction against a Burberry fragrance years ago, I don’t remember which one. It had a very synthetic yuzu note that I just hated.
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