View Full Version : The smell of a Man's aftershave/Cologne
Mama Bear
09-07-2006, 07:26 PM
There is a belief that scent is the one of the strongest emotions after fear. I know for a fact that Jovan Musk Oil for Men and Lagerfeld will always evoke strong feelings that come from the scents for me. They both remind me of men that I have loved. It is especially interesting to me that even as memories fade, they come back instantly with just a whiff of either of these fragrances. All of my emotions are remembered again with just a split second of fragrance. These smells can melt my heart again in an instant....
This amazes me. It is like a memory that never fades in my sense of smell... is this just me or is there anyone else that has strong remembrances that come about because of scent..
Bear Hugs,
Sue (Mama Bear)
Austin
09-07-2006, 07:30 PM
I also associate scents with past lovers. Lauren by Ralph Lauren, Malabah by Penhaligons and Coco Chanel instantly evoke these memories.
htownmmm
09-07-2006, 09:51 PM
It's the main reason we love going to grandma's house when we are kids- all the wonderful (different smells). In fact, when I am in a park and smell pine trees, it takes me all the way back to when I was 12 years old.
Or when I smell wood being burned in a fireplace or woodstove- I am right back in my grandmother's living room.
Scents are one of the true memory patterns that imprint on us and never leave- why do so many of us look for Pinaud products, Old Spice cologne, etc,etc.....
We "remember" the good smells and tend to associate them with good times- however, let any of us get a whiff of a skunk..........
Marty
kennethw
09-07-2006, 10:00 PM
It's the main reason we love going to grandma's house when we are kids- all the wonderful (different smells). In fact, when I am in a park and smell pine trees, it takes me all the way back to wheni was 12 years old.
As an example from the opposite angle, one of the reasons I wanted to live in San Francisco (a small one compared to all of the other great ones) is the abundance of eucalyptus on the coast. I had never smelled a grove of eucalyptus, but I sure like eucalyptus, and knew that it would be heavenly. So when I ride to the coast on my bike and hit a big patch of it, I get that same "going back to" feeling, only it's totally new.
It's like the region of the brain that's used for scent recognition is near the happiness center or something. :closedeye:
(And yes, there's still a specific perfume that always makes my knees weak, even though that relationship didn't work out... she sure smelled nice though...)
(EDIT: And good lord, was she soft.)
rikrdo
09-07-2006, 10:52 PM
MB....You are sooooo right !!
Jean Nate or Estee Lauder Youth Dew both will send me back to the arms of my 1st love.:001_wub:
Mama Bear
09-08-2006, 12:07 AM
Oh Marty... I can smell italian cooking and christmas trees.... homemade cookies and.. sometimes I don't know what that smell is, but it still tugs at my heart. My grandmother made the best ravioli's in the world. We didn't have turkey for Thanksgiving in our family, it was all Italian.
But... and you know with a woman there is always a but..... lol I had a pet skunk when I was a kid... I spent 2 weeks with my right hand covered in tomato juice and tussy deodorant cream when I was 12 years old... and the skunk was still outside my bedroom window every night. If my parents had found out I would be dry white toast.....lol
Any other skunk doesn't smell so good....... God I miss that one particular skunk tho. Oh to be 12 again!
I think the best smells of all were from when I was a child! There is love and romance, there is heart breaking emotions and then there is my dad cutting the grass when I was a kid with my mothers home made dinners every night....
I still remember the Jovan Musk Oil guy tho... someday I will figure out if it was him that was so sexy, or the smell of him...
Give me the fresh cut grass anyday I guess.....lol Strike that! Homemade Lasagna!!!! mmmmmmmm
How about a fresh snowfall in the mountains.... or fresh salt rain on the beach....with pine trees...
Sue
Mama Bear
09-08-2006, 12:21 AM
MB....You are sooooo right !!
Jean Nate or Estee Lauder Youth Dew both will send me back to the arms of my 1st love.:001_wub:
I wish I could have another first love again... there is something about that one that can never be replaced. And there is a fragrance that is associated for me with that one. I think the smell is as important as the memory... but at my age.....I will take what ever memories are left to me.....lol :w00t: But if I ever get to rub the genies lamp and get my wishes, it would be for the Jovan Musk Oil guy to take me to dinner again one night. I don't really remember what he looked like. I remember what he smelled like tho.
Isn't it almost a miracle that just a smell can jerk us back so completely and instantly. Maybe this is why we enjoy fragrances so much. Memories should never die!
Bear Hugs,
Sue (Mama Bear)
rikrdo
09-08-2006, 01:22 AM
Hey MB....
You remember CS&N right???
Or maybe it was just Stephen Stills who said:
"If you cant be with the one you love, honey...LOVE the one your with."
Mama Bear
09-08-2006, 02:04 AM
Oh honey, I would love Mssr. Crosby himself if we could dump some Jovan over his head....lol.. ;-) :001_tt2:
xooxoxooox
Sue (Mama Bear)
CSN&Y....... !
rikrdo
09-08-2006, 02:31 AM
Never did care much for the "Y" !!:wink:
BroJohn
09-08-2006, 06:20 PM
One aroma that brings back many fond memories is the smell of warm, fresh-baked bread. It was the happiest of times. Don't think that I want to smell like that myself, tho. Even if Mama-Bear could get the scent into a soap.
-- John Gehman
In philosophy I believe this phenomenon is referred to as expressionism--the belief that a sound, smell, taste, etc. is symbolic of human emotions in a connotative way, but not a direct representation.
That a certain song, for example, doesn't "make" you feel a certain way, but rather reminds you of how you felt at a certain time. A small distinction to be sure, but an important one.:wink:
MasonM
09-08-2006, 11:10 PM
Wood smoke. Always reminds me of the many happy times I spent camping out in the wilds.
crispy
09-09-2006, 03:32 PM
Hrm yea...Had 2 girlfriends who both wore Pleasures. Brings back good memories :yesnod:
J_P_K
09-09-2006, 05:25 PM
MMMmmm.. TABU... Makes me remember....
(I'll be back in a few minutes!!):001_wub:
Creslin
09-13-2006, 07:28 PM
Boy Sue, you dont' know how right you are. The right time of day in the summer and the smell of road tar zones me out to the day my one of my brothers was hit by a dumptruck. Bad stuff scent recognition is.
My wife has a purse of her late grandmothers that she occasionally finds in her closet a few times a year. When she smells it, she breaks down into tears because it smells exactly like her grandmother.
EL Alamein
09-13-2006, 08:52 PM
Yep, I get those same reactions. Liz Claiborne for woman always evokes those old feelings of my very first love. English Leather reminds me of my Dad. The smell of horses remind me of my sisters who were equestrians when I was a wee tot. There are many scents that remind me of different places, things, times and people.
Chris
It's the main reason we love going to grandma's house when we are kids- all the wonderful (different smells). In fact, when I am in a park and smell pine trees, it takes me all the way back to when I was 12 years old.
Or when I smell wood being burned in a fireplace or woodstove- I am right back in my grandmother's living room.
Scents are one of the true memory patterns that imprint on us and never leave- why do so many of us look for Pinaud products, Old Spice cologne, etc,etc.....
We "remember" the good smells and tend to associate them with good times- however, let any of us get a whiff of a skunk..........
Marty
Well put Marty!
Mama Bear's "Rik's Christmas Blend" immediately evokes wonderful memories of Christmas. It will always be a highly cherished shaving soap from a very good friend.
Other wonderful scents include:
my wood-shop - just like grandpa's
freshly fired shotgun shells - special mornings spent on the marsh
pine trees - family cottage
Excellent thread Sue!
boboakalfb
09-14-2006, 11:58 AM
freshly fired shotgun shells - special mornings spent on the marsh
Amen...alot of good times associated with that.
I've been thinking about this scent-emotion connection for a while now and while I agree that the memories triggered by a scent can be strong (or even overwhelming), I am not certain that they are any stronger than memories triggered by other senses. I think it may simply be that scent (or our perception of scent) is a more static thing. That is to say the way that something smells (or the way that we perceive the smell) doesn't change as quickly as the way that it looks or feels, for instance. I know that as we age our senses of both sight and hearing decline a little (or a lot in some cases), but what about our sense of smell? Is it simply declining at a slower rate?
A scent that really stands out to me is vanilla perfume (especially the Body Shop variety), which reminds me of a girl that I dated when I was a teenager, I'll call her J (one of her initials). To smell this scent reminds me of J. and that time in my life far more than hearing a similarly-dated song or, for that matter, even seeing one of my friends from that time (including the aforementioned J.). The way that I see it is that I now appreciate/understand the songs on a different and perhaps more mature level (though, I don't necessarily like them now as I may have then) and the people, well, they've aged and no longer look or act in the same way (as have I)... But the vanilla scent (or at least my perception of it), well, that is unchanged.
I would be lying if I said that I miss J. or that time in my life, but whenever I encounter that scent it certainly takes me back - whether or not I want to go back.
Hmm, this has been an odd journey down memory lane... I guess in this case just the thought of the scent was enough to trigger memories.
rtaylor61
09-15-2006, 12:08 AM
I've been thinking about this scent-emotion connection for a while now and while I agree that the memories triggered by a scent can be strong (or even overwhelming), I am not certain that they are any stronger than memories triggered by other senses. I think it may simply be that scent (or our perception of scent) is a more static thing. That is to say the way that something smells (or the way that we perceive the smell) doesn't change as quickly as the way that it looks or feels, for instance. I know that as we age our senses of both sight and hearing decline a little (or a lot in some cases), but what about our sense of smell? Is it simply declining at a slower rate?
A scent that really stands out to me is vanilla perfume (especially the Body Shop variety), which reminds me of a girl that I dated when I was a teenager, I'll call her J (one of her initials). To smell this scent reminds me of J. and that time in my life far more than hearing a similarly-dated song or, for that matter, even seeing one of my friends from that time (including the aforementioned J.). The way that I see it is that I now appreciate/understand the songs on a different and perhaps more mature level (though, I don't necessarily like them now as I may have then) and the people, well, they've aged and no longer look or act in the same way (as have I)... But the vanilla scent (or at least my perception of it), well, that is unchanged.
I would be lying if I said that I miss J. or that time in my life, but whenever I encounter that scent it certainly takes me back - whether or not I want to go back.
Hmm, this has been an odd journey down memory lane... I guess in this case just the thought of the scent was enough to trigger memories.
I'm assuming that you meant "didn't miss J"? And shame on you, you newly married man...
Randy
moses
09-15-2006, 10:02 AM
The way I read it, he meant exactly what he said....
Mama Bear
09-15-2006, 10:17 AM
I've been thinking about this scent-emotion connection for a while now and while I agree that the memories triggered by a scent can be strong (or even overwhelming), I am not certain that they are any stronger than memories triggered by other senses. I think it may simply be that scent (or our perception of scent) is a more static thing. That is to say the way that something smells (or the way that we perceive the smell) doesn't change as quickly as the way that it looks or feels, for instance. I know that as we age our senses of both sight and hearing decline a little (or a lot in some cases), but what about our sense of smell? Is it simply declining at a slower rate?
A scent that really stands out to me is vanilla perfume (especially the Body Shop variety), which reminds me of a girl that I dated when I was a teenager, I'll call her J (one of her initials). To smell this scent reminds me of J. and that time in my life far more than hearing a similarly-dated song or, for that matter, even seeing one of my friends from that time (including the aforementioned J.). The way that I see it is that I now appreciate/understand the songs on a different and perhaps more mature level (though, I don't necessarily like them now as I may have then) and the people, well, they've aged and no longer look or act in the same way (as have I)... But the vanilla scent (or at least my perception of it), well, that is unchanged.
I would be lying if I said that I miss J. or that time in my life, but whenever I encounter that scent it certainly takes me back - whether or not I want to go back.
Hmm, this has been an odd journey down memory lane... I guess in this case just the thought of the scent was enough to trigger memories.
Songs have changed for me too... It is amazing to me that I sometimes will be singing along to a pop/rock song that I loved as a teenager, and all of a sudden I will 'get' the lyrics for the first time... I am finding there are lots of songs I loved the music to, but don't like the words...makes me wonder where my head was at as a young 'un.... :crying:
The smells don't change tho....they still seem like an instant trigger. Maybe you have a point about losing our sense of smell slower than the other senses. That is interesting. I know that scientists had a tough time understand this sense for many years.... it was an anomaly to them too.
Sue
The way I read it, he meant exactly what he said....
Exactly. I do not miss her. That isn't to say that I have any hard feelings, I simply do not miss her or that time in my life. That scent will always take me back, but I'll never want to stay.
... Maybe you have a point about losing our sense of smell slower than the other senses...
Do we have any Otolaryngologists (or other specialists who might have advanced knowledge of scent and how we perceive it) here who can shed some light on this subject?
SSLStudio
09-15-2006, 11:11 AM
I wish I could have another first love again... there is something about that one that can never be replaced. And there is a fragrance that is associated for me with that one. I think the smell is as important as the memory... but at my age.....I will take what ever memories are left to me.....lol :w00t: But if I ever get to rub the genies lamp and get my wishes, it would be for the Jovan Musk Oil guy to take me to dinner again one night. I don't really remember what he looked like. I remember what he smelled like tho.
Isn't it almost a miracle that just a smell can jerk us back so completely and instantly. Maybe this is why we enjoy fragrances so much. Memories should never die!
Bear Hugs,
Sue (Mama Bear)
Interesting Thread, I have these flash backs with particular SONGS that pop by on the radio. instantly ill be transported to that moment when that song means something to me at whatever age, ill be that age ... but as a music person its kinda an easy inprint in my brain . but I guess you all will have that too with some songs I bet.
Mama Bear
09-15-2006, 11:26 AM
Do we have any Otolaryngologists (or other specialists who might have advanced knowledge of scent and how we perceive it) here who can shed some light on this subject?
I have a book by the name of "The Emperor of Scent" that is really fascinating. The problem is about halfway through it started getting really over my head... I hope as I continue to learn more I will understand the rest of it better. I never took science in school, I am sure that those of you who have would get a better grasp of it than me. It is an incredible book...
Mama Bear
09-16-2006, 11:18 PM
Never did care much for the "Y" !!:wink:
Oh Ricardo.. you lovely, handsome man... I always though the Y was the BEST part of CSN&Y.......
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