Why Bois Imperial smell like pepper-spice to my nose? Help me to reach my signature scent.

[Atomizer86]

Hi!
I am so near to find my signature fragrance, but I have huge problem with my nose. I have seen tons of good reviews about Bois Imperial, and I ordered 10ml. Yes I find it beast mode fragrance and it has the quality and modern feeling I am looking for. But my problem is that all I can smell is pepper and spice, it is the same smell if you put peppers and spices to one plastic bag and open it next day. Literally I can´t smell any of the notes/feelings that people write to reviews and forums except that one - pepper. If the pepper note could be removed then this could be and will be my signature scent that I have been looking for a while.

Is there something strange in my sense of smell why I smell only pepper/spice? I can smell all other fragrances correctly, I think, only BI is totally wrong when compared to notes.
Or do I have just a bad batch? Do you smell extra strong pepper in Bois Imperial?

edit: I spray very little and with distance

Thank you if you help me with this!

 

[StylinLA]

Atomizer, what you smell is what you smell. There is no analysis we can do of that.

I personally don't care for it but I'm pretty old so that opinion may not be relevant.

Just be careful you are not trying to love it only because it has a lot of online chatter amongst young dudes about how great it is.
You have to like it personally. It's distinct and loud and gets noticed which is what some guys want. If that's what you're after, so be it.

Your batch is fine. Your spraying is fine. Your nose is fine. This isn't any batch or reformulation garbage. Sounds like you've worn it a couple of times at least and don't really love it.

If you truly want a "signature" scent, sample more stuff until you find what feels right to you. All of our opinions and all the fragsters online raving can point in a direction, but that doesn't mean it's right for you.

 

[Toxicon]

I agree with everything @StylinLA wrote. I’ll just add that what you’re describing is pretty similar to what I smell - all I get is peppery bug spray. It smells terrible to my nose, and it lasts forever and won’t wash off. Lots of people love Bois Imperial, and I’ve received compliments while wearing it, but I don’t care for it at all.

 

[Mr. dB]

Not to pile on , but to me it was basically pepper plus the smell of pressboard furniture i.e. sawdust and glue. Not my favorite but I get how someone might dig it.

You like what you like though, there's not really anything you can do about it. To me BI kind of reminded me of a stripped down Dior Sauvage EDT or Prada Luna Rossa Carbon, maybe grab some samples of them if you already haven't.

 

[hednic]

Is there something strange in my sense of smell why I smell only pepper/spice?

No - that''s just what you smell. Probably not for you then.

 

[ToughCool]

I concur with Stylin and Toxicon. Nothing wrong with your nose and I’m not a fan. Peppery and pestering bug spray like.

 

[pouring]

I have just bought my fourth bottle of BI.

I really like it. It’s a dumb reach kind of scent for me.

I wear it a lot when in country (causal dressed, not shaved, away from office, out in fresh air).

I do go through periods where it’s not for me.

I don’t wear it when I want to be “dressed up”. It’s not an elegant scent for me - not a suited and booted scent.

But to answer question- not your nose- seems like you don’t like it.

 

[rum]

I am so near to find my signature fragrance

Yes, few hundred thousand members on this site are also trying to achieve the same goal as you

Just be careful you are not trying to love it only because it has a lot of online chatter amongst young dudes about how great it is.
You have to like it personally. It's distinct and loud and gets noticed which is what some guys want. If that's what you're after, so be it.

I had to chime in and add praise to this comment. Follow your own nose and be sure to zone out of everyone else's opinion. You don't have to like any fragrance and if something is not for you, it's time to move on. Plenty of fish in the sea.

 

[L'Homme Blanc Individuel]

As long as we're quoting StylinLA... I have to praise this:

Your batch is fine. Your spraying is fine. Your nose is fine. This isn't any batch or reformulation garbage. Sounds like you've worn it a couple of times at least and don't really love it.

If you truly want a "signature" scent, sample more stuff until you find what feels right to you. All of our opinions and all the fragsters online raving can point in a direction, but that doesn't mean it's right for you.

YES!

Let your own nose be your guide. The more you figure out what suits your style and your personality, the more you'll be your own man rather than a cheap clone of whatever everybody else thinks is trendy.

I'm not bashing trends. I'm saying not to be a follower. Be yourself. If you enjoy something, enjoy it. If you don't, you don't, and no worries.
Last, but not least, don't forget to have fun with it.

Let your own nose be your guide.

 

[Atomizer86]

Thank you for your great answers and telling me that there is other people who smells BI like I do.

I just want to make sure that my sense of smell is correct. Becouse there is one thing I want to avoid at all cost, and that is wearing a scent that annoy other people around me while I´m thinking it´s cool and everybodey likes it. I want to find a fragrance that pleases me and others.

It is so strange that some people love some fragrance very much and are able to find beautiful notes in it, and some people find the same fragrance smelling like peppery bugspray. I want to study more this subject, is it about psychology or biology or what.

 

[Effortless]

It is so strange that some people love some fragrance very much and are able to find beautiful notes in it, and some people find the same fragrance smelling like peppery bugspray. I want to study more this subject, is it about psychology or biology or what.

Expect this to increase in the future, with these newly designed modern aromachemicals becoming more prevalent in releases.

Personally I'm very 50/50 on Bois Impérial, love it some days, can't stand it on others. What helps a little is ensuring your nose only smells the sillage of the scent, and applying to warm skin areas.

 

[SmellSharpe]

No - that''s just what you smell. Probably not for you then.

100% agree with this.

If everyone liked the same thing it would be an awfully boring world!

I personally despise some of the most popular and highly regarded fragrances. They just aren’t for me. Not a big deal. 🤷‍♂️

 

[_Nicolas_]

If the pepper note could be removed then this could be and will be my signature scent that I have been looking for a while.

It sounds like you might enjoy the woods in this one but not be keen on it's spiciness. So perhaps sampling woody scents with different spicy elements is the way forward. Not really my thing, but 2 I always enjoy are Chanel Egoiste and Kenzo Jungle Homme.

 

[L'Homme Blanc Individuel]

It is so strange that some people love some fragrance very much and are able to find beautiful notes in it, and some people find the same fragrance smelling like peppery bugspray. I want to study more this subject, is it about psychology or biology or what.

To a certain extent, it's unavoidable.

Santal 33 is probably Le Labo's most popular scent. It smells like pickles to me. Yuck! I'm pretty sure one of my neighbors wears it, because I often smell pickles in the hallway by his apartment.

The same thing happens with your other senses too. Think about how many people love foods that you hate. I can't stand olives, but millions if not billions of people love them. And think about how many people love Nickelback, whereas to others of us, that awful band sounds like... well.... Nickelback.

 

[AndyL]

Not to pile on , but to me it was basically pepper plus the smell of pressboard furniture i.e. sawdust and glue. Not my favorite but I get how someone might dig it.

That’s a great way to describe how I too associate BI main accord. But I really don’t get too much pepper.

 

[StylinLA]

Thank you for your great answers and telling me that there is other people who smells BI like I do.

I just want to make sure that my sense of smell is correct. Becouse there is one thing I want to avoid at all cost, and that is wearing a scent that annoy other people around me while I´m thinking it´s cool and everybodey likes it. I want to find a fragrance that pleases me and others.

It is so strange that some people love some fragrance very much and are able to find beautiful notes in it, and some people find the same fragrance smelling like peppery bugspray. I want to study more this subject, is it about psychology or biology or what.

Do not try too hard to "study or figure this out." As L'Homme Blanc pointed out, much of this is subjective. It is a lot like art, or tastes in food.

There are movies or paintings you may love and other people are not impressed with them at all. There are some foods you love that may make other people ill. That doesn't mean you are right or they are wrong. And it doesn't mean that they are right and you are wrong. This is like that.

Nothing you or any of us wear is universally loved by everybody.

With Bois Imperial I would tell you that my guess is most people probably like it- especially younger people. There are some people here who get lots of compliments on it, but they just don't like wearing it themselves. It's reasonably priced, it's loud, it lasts a long time and it gets attention so some guys love it just for that reason. If all you want is attention, wear it away. But to me, why bother wearing something you don't love yourself if especially you want it for a "signature" meaning you wear it all the time.

I don't think anyone here thinks it smell really "bad" or repulsive- it's just a scent they don't like and want to wear. That's true for me anyway.
It doesn't smell awful to me at all- I just can't figure out what it smells like and that bothers me.

 

[Mythrol]

Other reviews and posts can point you in a direction but you should never trust a review or post over your own nose. It's YOUR signature scent. I bought the discovery set and found Bois Imperial to not be good at all. Others love it. Don't worry about trying to match up with other people's tastes. As other's have said, think of fragrances as food or works of art. Something will speak to you that won't speak to other people and that's OK.

 

[tspencer]

Everyone's advice is on point. You have to wear a signature scent daily and smell it. It should be something that you really love. I've found that variety works best for me. Finding great smelling scents that I personally enjoy and wearing those each day as I feel like smelling a certain kind of scent that day. But if you want a signature it has to be something you never get bored of smelling. Something you like to smell everyday. An example of a fragrance that I could wear as a signature and it being something I could enjoy daily is Ralph Lauren - Safari. It's my 2nd favorite overall fragrance and just has that casual nature while at the same time being an incredibly deep, complex scent. That's my nose though. You might have a completely different take on what is an everyday scent you can enjoy always.

 

[rum]

Everyone's advice is on point. You have to wear a signature scent daily and smell it. It should be something that you really love. I've found that variety works best for me. Finding great smelling scents that I personally enjoy and wearing those each day as I feel like smelling a certain kind of scent that day. But if you want a signature it has to be something you never get bored of smelling. Something you like to smell everyday. An example of a fragrance that I could wear as a signature and it being something I could enjoy daily is Ralph Lauren - Safari. It's my 2nd favorite overall fragrance and just has that casual nature while at the same time being an incredibly deep, complex scent. That's my nose though. You might have a completely different take on what is an everyday scent you can enjoy always.

This just about sums up my definition of a signature scent.

Interested in your thoughts on the modern Safari for Men @tspencer... (perhaps in another thread or via PM as this is off topic to this thread). I've always had the vintage version but I'm thinking the current stuff of this might not be that bad.