Smells like Happy!

I have a very good friend named Graham. I've known him for about a year now, and in that time period, every time I saw him I've wanted to jump him, hug myself to him, and never let him go. Is it because I'm in love with him? No, not really.

It's because he smells so incredibly, appetizingly, delectibly amazing.

I don't know what it is. I've asked him, several times actually, what he wore. 'Giorgio Armani', he's always said to me. But I know my perfumes, I know my Armani, and all the perfumes in Arabia could not match the scent he had. I later came to the conclusion that it 'must have been his skin chemistry coinciding with the cologne'.

But the other day, when I was working, I saw my Graham coming over to my counter to chat for a bit, like always. My wonderful, funny, tall, robust, devilishly handsome, sweet smelling......

SWEET SMELLING??

He had changed his fragrance.

In a flash, my cloud-nine day came crashing down in an explosion of husky, bitter smelling crap. I asked him what he had done, what this new abomination was that made me want to tear out my hair, follicle by follicle. I think he said 'Chanel' something or other.

But this little experience made me realize, the sense of smell is astonishing....

1) Memory: Scent is the strongest sense tied to memory. With one whiff can instantaneiously recall as much as a whole chapter in one's life that had otherwise been forgotten! Even annually, scent, at least for me, brings me back to the year before. For example, I had to pick up my brother from school back in mid-October. I passed by a classroom who's students had been carving jack o lanterns and, as such, their classroom smelled of pumpkin. To me, that's the smell of Halloween. Freshly. Carved. Pumpkin. Mmmm. I wasn't one bit into the Hallowen spirit until that very moment.
I find I can even smell seasons. I can tell winter is coming, early on, bacause I can smell it in the air. Same with any other season. I also have what I call a "beach smell". During my summer Holidays, I go to Canada's west coast every year, and it my most favorite place on Earth. Sometimes I catch a hint of it in the air, even in Alberta. I cannot even explain it, but it is bliss.

2) Comfort: I'm really close to my Dad. The only problem is, he's away on business trips alot. When I was little, and I missed him, I'd always sleep with one of his shirts, because his smell comforted me to no end. He's a good cook, and he smells like spices. My parents have since divorced, so now I see him even less. So I stole some of his T shirts, and I wear them as my jammies at night. The smell of my Dad is also bliss.

3) Attraction: I remember reading somewhere that people have distinct pheromones they let off, and others could smell them subconsciously. Depending on the 'scent' of the individual, you could instantly love them, or instantly hate them. (I don't know much on the subject but if someone has more info on this then please elaborate, I find it very interesting). I find, also, that a guy can be handsome, smart, charismatic, and funny, but if he doesn't smell right, or just plain bad, then I'm turned off to him completely.
On the flip side, if I see a completely average guy, who just happens to smell great, then I'm completely turned on to him.

Basically, I made this thread so you all can discuss the wonders of scent. Discuss interesting facts, experiences, memories, or anything relating to nature's most fascinating of the five senses! ^_^

(Oh, and points to you if you can catch the tiny Macbeth reference in there!)

Originally Posted by Topo_Gego

3) Attraction: I remember reading somewhere that people have distinct pheromones they let off, and others could smell them subconsciously. Depending on the 'scent' of the individual, you could instantly love them, or instantly hate them. (I don't know much on the subject but if someone has more info on this then please elaborate, I find it very interesting). I find, also, that a guy can be handsome, smart, charismatic, and funny, but if he doesn't smell right, or just plain bad, then I'm turned off to him completely.
On the flip side, if I see a completely average guy, who just happens to smell great, then I'm completely turned on to him.

Basically, I made this thread so you all can discuss the wonders of scent. Discuss interesting facts, experiences, memories, or anything relating to nature's most fascinating of the five senses! ^_^

(Oh, and points to you if you can catch the tiny Macbeth reference in there!)

This part interests me to no end. If anyone could post a link to more information on this subject, I'd be very thankful.

Anyway, I also like the way my Dad smells. I don't no why. I know he uses some kind of fragrance or after-shave, but he still smells warm and comforting. Perhaps this is some kind of sub-concious thing, because my parents are divorced as well.

Originally Posted by Topo_Gego

But the other day, when I was working, I saw my Graham coming over to my counter to chat for a bit, like always. My wonderful, funny, tall, robust, devilishly handsome, sweet smelling......

SWEET SMELLING??

He had changed his fragrance.

It's just not right. My ex did that about 3 months into our dating, and he changed it to some disgusting, crap scent and I was soooo pissed off. Of course, he just couldnt comprehend why I was so miffed. Whatever.

Stupid boys.

Interesting. I've noticed a lot of things like that too. Back when I was in high school, I switched to a certain type of Old Spice deodorant. I've never used cologne or any of that stuff, but apparently this deodorant did the trick. When I'd hug girls they'd actually tell me, "Wow, you smell really good!" When I moved away from Virginia and back to Montreal, my friends from Virginia would occasionally tell me they missed my smell. Not just me...my smell! Of course, everyone's smell is different. You're constantly emitting small particles, releasing them into the air, and they spread very quickly through diffusion. You release body odour, the fragrance in your deodorant, whatever detergent you use to wash your clothes, and particles you've collected from places you go. It's very easy to tell whether someone ate lunch at Subway just by their smell.

So as a result, we have many researchers trying to find fragrances that appeal to our senses. Personally, I think most perfumes smell like crap, but apparently a lot of people don't agree with me on that one. What bugs me most is the advertising for perfumes, especially for the ones for men. I mean sheesh, the only way you could be any more direct is to actually have the narrator say, "If you buy our product, you'll have sex with hot girls." (Didn't Family Guy do something like that?).

Originally Posted by Topo_Gego

I don't know what it is. I've asked him, several times actually, what he wore. 'Giorgio Armani', he's always said to me. But I know my perfumes, I know my Armani, and all the perfumes in Arabia could not match the scent he had. I later came to the conclusion that it 'must have been his skin chemistry coinciding with the cologne'.

I doubt it was his "skin chemistry," though that's a reasonable guess. Most of the odours, as far as I know, aren't very reactive. Like I said, it's probably a mix of all of the fragrances.

In a flash, my cloud-nine day came crashing down in an explosion of husky, bitter smelling crap. I asked him what he had done, what this new abomination was that made me want to tear out my hair, follicle by follicle. I think he said 'Chanel' something or other.

That's happened to me too. I ran out of my Old Spice, so I went on my "backup" stick of old deodorant. When I gave my morning hugs, people started saying, "You don't smell like...you."

1) Memory: Scent is the strongest sense tied to memory. With one whiff can instantaneiously recall as much as a whole chapter in one's life that had otherwise been forgotten! Even annually, scent, at least for me, brings me back to the year before. For example, I had to pick up my brother from school back in mid-October. I passed by a classroom who's students had been carving jack o lanterns and, as such, their classroom smelled of pumpkin. To me, that's the smell of Halloween. Freshly. Carved. Pumpkin. Mmmm. I wasn't one bit into the Hallowen spirit until that very moment.
I find I can even smell seasons. I can tell winter is coming, early on, bacause I can smell it in the air. Same with any other season. I also have what I call a "beach smell". During my summer Holidays, I go to Canada's west coast every year, and it my most favorite place on Earth. Sometimes I catch a hint of it in the air, even in Alberta. I cannot even explain it, but it is bliss.

You might be interested in this article, if it's not too technical. It explains a lot about the link between smell and memory. Here's a snippet:

Scientists have long wondered how we manage to remember smells despite the fact that each olfactory neuron in the epithelium only survives for about 60 days, to be replaced by a new cell. In most of the body, neurons die without any successors. But as the olfactory neurons die, a layer of stem cells beneath them constantly generates new olfactory neurons to maintain a steady supply.
"The riddle was, how can we remember smells when these neurons are constantly turning over and the new crop has to form new synapses?" says Buck. "Now we know the answer: Memories survive because the axons of neurons that express the same receptor always go to the same place."

In terms of evolution, developing a good sense of smell is extremely important. It's one of the only ways we can tell subconsciously if something is going to poison us or not. Generally, the things that smell like crap are things we shouldn't eat.

An interesting thing happened to me a few months ago. I went to go help my friend do some research at my school library, and on the way I stopped for samosas, which I was obsessed with at the time. I bought six of them, expecting my friend to eat three. Well, she had already eaten, so I ended up eating all six. That was a bad idea, considering that those samosas contained traces of fecal bacteria (generally, this is what causes food poisoning). Unfortunately for me, I only realized this later that evening, in the middle of a very good concert. I didn't want to leave, so every 10 minutes I'd run to the bathroom, puke my brains out, and come back for 10 more minutes of good music. It's the worst food poisoning I've ever had, and it still affects me in a weird way.

Samosas, which used to smell like exotic packages of love delivered by the gods, now smell like the worst combination of disgusting smells you could think of. Anytime I smell them, I just want to vomit. I can't stay near my friends when they eat them, or I'll start gagging. It's all because my brain has now associated that smell with food poisoning, and I'm subconsciously repelled by it now.

3) Attraction: I remember reading somewhere that people have distinct pheromones they let off, and others could smell them subconsciously. Depending on the 'scent' of the individual, you could instantly love them, or instantly hate them. (I don't know much on the subject but if someone has more info on this then please elaborate, I find it very interesting). I find, also, that a guy can be handsome, smart, charismatic, and funny, but if he doesn't smell right, or just plain bad, then I'm turned off to him completely.
On the flip side, if I see a completely average guy, who just happens to smell great, then I'm completely turned on to him.

There's still a lot of uncertainty in this area, at least with humans. Insects certainly use pheremones to their full extent, leaving trails behind them so other insects know where to go. We know it has some effect on humans, but we're still not sure about the details. Some companies have tried to market "pheremone perfume," which is laced with human pheremones. In all tests, these turned out to be useless. The only major effect they may have had is the placebo effect of giving you confidence around girls (and this does have some major effects).

I stayed up late with some friends one night trying to figure out what the purpose of pubic hair is. We had no computer or books on the subject, so we just ended up talking about it all night, and couldn't come up with any solution. So the next day, I looked it up on Wikipedia, and apparently there's evidence that pubic hair has a lot of pheremone receptors. (Since I know you're all dying to know, the other reason for pubic hair is to provide lubrication).

But yeah, it's kinda disappointing to think that a lot of what determines our success is the smell that we can't even perceive (pheremones don't register to us consciously).

Anyway, maybe this makes sense to you, maybe it doesn't. If the science is unclear, I can try to simplify it if you want. I think I got a bit carried away...

Perhaps this is some kind of sub-concious thing, because my parents are divorced as well.

That's what I think, too. Since my dad isn't around, the next best thing to him would be his smell, I think.

Another thing I find very interesting is our dog, and her sense of smell. Now, I've come to understand that a dog's sense of smell is far superior to humans', but what I find intruiging is it seems to have the same effect on them that it does on us.
See, the reason we got this puppy was mainly for my younger brother, who felt he was ready for a pet, and felt a little left out because I always have my cat with me (who's smell I've also grown accustomed to, but more on this later).
So, naturally, because this was meant to be my brother's dog, we had to figure out a way for Sheba (the puppy's name) and him to 'bond'. So when we put her into her kennel at night, we also throw in one of his shirts, so she can have his scent. It worked, and now she follows him everywhere.

This is similar when it comes to my cat. I'm the kind of person who likes to take the cat everywhere I go (I'm a bit of a crazy cat lady XD). Naturally, she doesn't like cars that much, or places unfamiliar to her, but she calms right down if she has 'my scent' with her (like a shirt or my sweater).

Same goes for me. I love that distinct scent of my cat. It's very comforting, especially, when I'm going to sleep at night.

It's just not right. My ex did that about 3 months into our dating, and he changed it to some disgusting, crap scent and I was soooo pissed off. Of course, he just couldnt comprehend why I was so miffed. Whatever.

Stupid boys.

Oh I know! Doesn't it totally ruin your day? XD

It totally threw me off for the rest of the day when Graham came in smelling the way he did. It was, in all honesty, a little more upsetting than it should have been!

When I gave my morning hugs, people started saying, "You don't smell like...you."

Oh yeah I can totally see that. It's as if a huge part of your identity vanishes along with your scent!

In terms of evolution, developing a good sense of smell is extremely important. It's one of the only ways we can tell subconsciously if something is going to poison us or not. Generally, the things that smell like crap are things we shouldn't eat.

That is really interesting.

And it's also interesting you brought up your story about the samosas! (that must have been awful, by the way! XD). It's incredible how smell by itself can repel you against something you love.

The same happened with me when I was younger. I was about nine, and I got a really bad stomach flu one night. I got sick in my room, and tried to cover up the smell using this perfume I really liked. XD

Needless to say, it only made things worse, and my bedroom absolutely reeked. After that, I could not bring myself to wear, or come in contact with that perfume. I had to throw it out, and there was still half a botle left. :3

I also happen smell a certain food while watching television, and the next time I eat or smell that food, I remember the exact show I was watching. So then that particular food forever, in my subconscious, becomes linked with that television show.

It's probably well known by now that scent is the strongest sense tied to memory. Heck, it's even used in deoderant commercials now. There's a certain smell that reminds me of a friend's house from when I was really little, and like Topo smells that remind me of the seasons (mostly autumn though). Those are the two big ones.

As for perfumes and colognes...honestly, most of them all smell the same to be. Sure, I can notice the huge variation, but most of the time they all smell exactly the same. And I have a pretty sensitive nose, I used to be able to tell the toppings some one put on their food just by smelling it. I have no idea why, but it's always been that.

Originally Posted by Topo

I don't know what it is. I've asked him, several times actually, what he wore. 'Giorgio Armani', he's always said to me. But I know my perfumes, I know my Armani, and all the perfumes in Arabia could not match the scent he had. I later came to the conclusion that it 'must have been his skin chemistry coinciding with the cologne'.

In high school, one of my friends had a lot of female friends commenting on how good he smelled. We couldn't figure out what it was for the longest time. Turns out it was the fabric softener/dryer sheets (can't remember which one) his mom used in the laundry. Could be the tiniest things like that.

As for Pheromones, as the Hatter said, in humans there's a lot of claims that Pheromones can be sense by the opposite gender, but no real conclusive proof. I think they exist because animals seem to be able to tell when humans are feeling different emotions (I've read about cases like this in dogs and horses especially...you know, they say that a horse can "sense" your fear when you might be riding one for the first time? Stuff like that). But I don't think they're strong enough that other humans can sense them as well.

Smell is amazing, especially if you use it alot, it is possible to tell who someone is by scent, but its hard for humans, easier for dogs and other animals

First of all, I love this thread :] .*salute*

Just a one wee thing first.

Originally Posted by Topo_Gego

1) Memory: Scent is the strongest sense tied to memory.

Originally Posted by Galedeep

It's probably well known by now that scent is the strongest sense tied to memory.

I don't think that you wanted to make too big a deal out of this, and I don't want to turn this into a psychology lecture, so I'll just be brief XD. Aactually, smell isn't the strongest sense connected to memory -it's information that's encoded acoustically. So, sounds pretty much :] . If you want me to go further, I will, but I didn't really want to turn this into some memory structures debate o_o .

Could somebody tell me where this scent and memory thing has came from? Has there been some revelation I havn't heard about?

One smell that I do notice though, is the Christmas tree. We have a fake one, and it actually smells pretty 'bleh' but it's just because that it reminds me of the whole Christmas thing so much.

Float your sniff sniff.

animals remember people by scent, not site, after long periods of time

The nose goes right to the brain. Smelling is probably one of the most powerful senses. Like, for example, when someone gets knocked out in a game of basketball or something, they're not going to react to someone waving their hand in their face (sight), talking/making any type of noise (hearing), touching (feel), or shoving something down their throats to taste. But when you wave something under their nose (usually it'd be strong, if someone was knocked out), the person instantly wakes up. Because the brain just reacts to it more than anything else.

Smells can be many different things. And yes, it can greatly effect your mood towards people.

It's probably well known by now that scent is the strongest sense tied to memory. Heck, it's even used in deoderant commercials now.

Haha, yeah. I see that commercial all the time. (love love love the CT by the way )

Could somebody tell me where this scent and memory thing has came from? Has there been some revelation I havn't heard about?

.....

I got it from the deoderant commercial Galedeep mentioned XD XD
But I thought it made a lot of sense, considering how smell works, and how you can remember things with a smell from your past.

One smell that I do notice though, is the Christmas tree. We have a fake one, and it actually smells pretty 'bleh' but it's just because that it reminds me of the whole Christmas thing so much.

OOOoh. Funny you mention that, actually. My mom just bought a Christmas tree, a fake one, but bought these little decorations that actually release the scent of a real pine tree. They're the niftiest little things!

Smells can be many different things. And yes, it can greatly effect your mood towards people.

This also reminds me..... did anyone else have that kind of kid, in kindergarten or something, that smelled like Urine? And as such, nobody wanted to play with him? We did! I have no idea how he came to smell like that (I hope not by the way I'm thinking of!), but nobody liked that kid. Poor little guy. XD

I thought I'd bring that up as it's a good example of what you said. You're more likely to dislike someone if you don't like the way they smell.

I know exacly what you guys are talking about! Exept for me its not so much persons but more like... well I dont know how to explain it but here is an example. When I ski race we have to get up super early in the morning to get to the hill to warm up before inspection. The one smell that makes me the happiest in all existance is the smell of cold air and fresh snow in the early morning! That will cheer me up no matter what!

Recently though every time I smell someone that has the same "fragrance" as my ex girlfriend it makes me happy/sad.. really a weird feeling.

the thing abot atracion trough smell...i once saw that on a documentaryon discovery channel i think, anyway the thing about being atractred troguh smell(Acording to them is true, women can subconciously determine our testosterone level (i think that's the word but i'm not sure), and our inmune sistem (freaky i know), depending on your testostewrone level and imunologic sistem a girl might like you or not, since then i've been buying a cologne that suposedly has testosterone for...you know what, everyone seems to likes the scent, but no luck so far.

*is currently avoiding doing coursework*

Originally Posted by Topo_Gego

OOOoh. Funny you mention that, actually. My mom just bought a Christmas tree, a fake one, but bought these little decorations that actually release the scent of a real pine tree. They're the niftiest little things!

Eek, they sound muchly cool XD .

Although, I must admit, I'm not sure what pine trees actually smell like. o_____o
Is that really odd?
Still, the idea of Christmas tree decorations that release a scent is a brilliant idea, mhmm.

*kicks self for not thinking of it first*

Although, I might spend too much time just smelling the tree if it had any kind of air freshners on it. And I send too much time beside the tree hunting for chocolates as it is ^^; .

Float your happy.

I find smells do not play that much of a big role in my life. It's definately not non-existant, though.

I don't know, what I can say? I remember a female friend of mine smelling in a certain way, and whenever I felt that smell when she wasn't there, it would remind me of her.

I do think that when a female doesn't smell good, it turns me off, especially when it's a nasty smell.

So yeah, it's probably mostly something subconcious, because when I think about smells, I feel as if it doesn't affect me that much.

And wow, some interest you people have in smells.