Are there any aromas you love, but prefer to smell the real thing over the perfume? I.e. Which "real" scents don't translate well to fragrance?

[slpfrsly]

I suppose the obvious answer to the thread title is that the real thing is always going to be better. But bear with me.

I love the smell of oranges (as do most people, I presume?) and have looked for an orange-centric fragrance for years. The only one that comes close, in my opinion, is Orange Sanguine: but in the grand scheme of things, it's not that close. I'm content with OS but in no way can it compare to the smell of a lovely, juicy orange, and the sweet bitterness of the rind.

Anyway, I just wondered, because some notes, aromas, scents, and smells seem to translate beautifully to perfume to the extent that I get as much (if not more) pleasure out of the aroma than the real thing. I think, for example, the smell of sweet smokey vanilla and cardamom of Layton; I don't feel let down by this at all, and am more than happy with the sweetness in the fragrance. I don't feel let down by it, craving something from a patisserie or vape shop. Likewise with aquatics, I feel the salty chemical smell of them to be enjoyable and refreshing - of course the fresh sea air is incomparable, but I am very happy with the briney, musky freshness that a good aquatic leaves on the skin/clothes several hours after applying.

Yet some notes, accords, and genres of fragrance do not satisfy at all. I'm particularly thinking about woody notes, although this is just the example that makes most sense to me. No doubt the loss sandalwood and oakmoss has something to do with it, but eventhough I think there are several good woody fragrances that use a dusty dry cedar at the heart and build a forestry around it (Wonderwood etc), I just can't help feeling let down by it in a way I don't with the previously mentioned styles. A similar thing happens with citruses as well, coming back round to the original point about orange: there are very few citrus fragrances where I feel even close to being satisfied by the aroma knowing what the the real thing (whether lemon, lime, grapefruit, whatever) smells and feels like.

I suppose the question is not so much "are there notes/smells in perfumery that fail to live up to the real thing", that's a given. Instead: "are there scents/styles of fragrance that you don't own or wear because, even if the scent is accurate to the real thing, it doesn't please you or satisfy you in the way you'd like?"

If so, I'd be interested to hear about them. Likewise, if there are any you do like, that would be interesting to hear about as well. 👍

 

[Reiu]

Tea---with the disclaimer that I do own and wear tea-themed fragrances (Parfum Satori's Oribe/Hyouge, Masque Milano's Russian Tea, Ormonde Jayne's Qi Intensivo, etc.), but as much as I enjoy them as "tea fragrances" they definitely don't compare to the enjoyment of the wafting of a fresh cup of tea. Similar to what you said about Orange Sanguine I think.

The perfume that has wowed me the most in terms of being genuinely evocative of the experience of tea is La Via del Profumo's Venezia, Giardini Segreti, however it is specifically a jasmine tea. Pure Camellia sinensis in bottle form continues to evade me.

 

[Ken_Russell]

Seconding citruses, also adding vetiver (especially the roots of this very plant), certain types of resins used as incense, tree moss, unsmoked tobacco, lavender but also jasmine along with many other florals, certain herbs used mostly as spices for savory dishes, coffee and the list can go almost indefinitely.
And while by far not remotely dissatisfied with the rendition of these particular or other notes in fragrances have tested and/or owned, frequently preferring the smell of the real thing in its natural state even more.

 

[hednic]

I suppose the question is "are there scents/styles of fragrance that you don't own or wear because, even if the scent is accurate to the real thing, it doesn't please you or satisfy you in the way you'd like?"

Given my collection, I probably own and wouldn't have a problem wearing every scent or style of fragrance.

 

[StylinLA]

I'd say for me, coffee. Love the smell of coffee. I haven't done an exhaustive search/sampling of coffee based scents, but those I have tried have usually diluted the coffee scent with other notes. And honestly, smelling like just freshly brewed coffee is probably not that desirable anyway.

 

[The Cologne Cabinet]

Citrus is fine, but oranges and tea are not preferable. Most food smells in general would be a no go for me. I also don’t like fragrances that present linear “photo realistic” smells as they are just not as pleasing compared to being part of an overall accord.

 

[Andrewthecologneguy]

I'd say for me, coffee. Love the smell of coffee. I haven't done an exhaustive search/sampling of coffee based scents, but those I have tried have usually diluted the coffee scent with other notes. And honestly, smelling like just freshly brewed coffee is probably not that desirable anyway.

This.

 

[Pippin06]

My favorite natural scents are Christmas trees; pavement after rain; and winter air after or during a snowfall--no perfume has ever quite captured these for me.

 

[Bonnette]

My favorite natural scents are Christmas trees; pavement after rain; and winter air after or during a snowfall--no perfume has ever quite captured these for me.

Same here, and I would add pinon smoke in the air at Christmastime, which always reminds me of holidays in New Mexico. Pinon is not like any other pine. There's a small perfume house in Albuquerque that makes a reasonable facsimile, but longevity is poor and it just sort of...droops. Even pinon incense doesn't quite make the grade. 😢

 

[RedRaider430]

Lemon, lime and peach.

 

[cheapimitation]

Gourmands in general for me, but coffee is a good call in particular. Partly because I don't want to smell like food, but also recreation of food smells often feels thin and disappointing. I was trying to think of other things in nature where the real thing is better, but often real floral or other smells of nature are so much more subtle it's hard to say fragrances disappoint in comparison. Fragrance (like good art some might argue) takes a magnifying glass to nature and makes it even more splendid than it really is at times. But I suppose the ambience of nature, like a true forest smell is really impossible to recreate because it is both a subtle and complex three dimensional experience.

I was attracted to wood smells in perfume most when I first got into it, Wonderwood was a go to for me. I still like them but now I start to find them a bit boring and one dimensional. But I wouldn't say I've smelled a plank of wood that smells as good as Wonderwood so in that case I would't say the perfume version disappoints in comparison to the real thing. I've just gotten a bit bored of the genre.

I'm curious if the Scents of Wood line has something interesting to offer in this space, I've never tried them.

 

[ClockworkAlice]

Ooh, Pippin has said it so well! I love these three so much, too.

Aside from that, the aroma like this to me is lilacs. There's nothing more beautiful, fragrant and uplifting than going for a stroll around the block on a sunny day in May and smell the beautiful lilac aroma wafting from the trees around the pavement or from people's gardens. It's joyful, it's pure, it's lush, it's romantic, it's just wonderful.

There are many lilac perfumes, many of them beautiful and well made, and many are definitely recognizable as lilac scents - but none of them (that I tried) are something that I would like to personally wear nor do they capture that beautiful totality of lilacs in the air.
Purplelight by Salvador Dali is a fun scent and a cool choice as a budget lilac, but also a crazy one as there's nothing natural smelling in it, it's lilacs gone techno clubbing. Nothing like a stroll in the sunshine.
A Drop d'Issey by Issey Miyake is a very recognizable, very strong lilac that is close, but it's so amped up and loud it just gets so tiring to wear. It's pretty, but not in a natural "oh, look at me, I'm a pretty flower, I sit on a branch in the sunshine and make the air around me smell good, teehee" way, more in a "LOOK AT ME BITCHES, I'M A LILAC AND I'M GONNA BEAT YOU UP WITH THE SOAPIEST, CLEANEST, SHRILLEST VERSION OF MY BEAUTY. WATCH ME".
Eclat d'Arpege by Lanvin is probably the best of all the lilac-forward scents to actually wear as it's just so pretty in a casual way and so wearable, and it captures the happiness in the air, but it's not a lilac scent per se, it's a mishmash of many purple flowers and a tea accord, and it does not even try to recreate the nature - it smells of itself, and it smells good, but it's just a simple fruity floral, not that.
Champs-Élysées by Guerlain and Idylle by Guerlain are also absolutely beautiful scents with lilac, but they're not lilac perfumes - they're perfumes on their own and they do not try to recreate the nature and they don't have to - they're beautiful without trying to recreate something real.
Lilac Path by Aerin is wonderfully pretty, but it feels almost too pure, too vestale / bridal / innocent to wear. As a lilac perfume, it's probably the one that is the most beautiful and the most lifelike lilac for me that I tried, but it captures and emphasizes the aspect of purity of the scent first and foremost and that changes everything.
I just decided to not really bother. I adore the smell of lilacs. Lilac perfumes, while they can be beautiful on their own, are just not that.
I haven't tried En Passant by Frederic Malle because looking at the notes I suspect I would dislike it anyway as it's supposedly an aquatic take on the flower.

As for citruses, I adore their scent in real life as much as in perfumery. To me citrus perfumes do actually satisfy me fully.

 

[teardrop]

l agree with @ClockworkAlice on lilac. l did try En Passant & found it to be a beautiful & very accurate rendition, & not particularly aquatic. But ultimately having that linear scent on me for hours at a time got tiring, & l decided l prefer that fleeting smell of lilacs in nature that Clockwork described.

 

[baklavaRuzh]

Baked bread and also citrus. I don't like citrus in fragrances that much, but love the scent of fresh orange peel etc.

Most flowers smell better when experienced in a garden than through a fragrace, pethaps except rose. But it's not the same experience.

 

[rum]

I'd say for me, coffee. Love the smell of coffee. I haven't done an exhaustive search/sampling of coffee based scents, but those I have tried have usually diluted the coffee scent with other notes. And honestly, smelling like just freshly brewed coffee is probably not that desirable anyway.

Came here to say coffee as well. I don't think perfumery has hit the nail on the head with this one. There's also a misconception that coffee must be dunked in gallons of cow juice and/or sugar syrup sweetness. Most modern coffee scents smell like they should carry a health warning for those with diabetes.

Another note that I don't think has been perfected is the smell of rain after a long, hot, dry spell. I remember reading that Guerlain's Vetiver was inspired by this effect (some of the earlier boxes mentioned this on the back of the box, I think?). It was an ok scent that represented this accord well in the older bottles, but was not perfect. It has sadly gone further away from that in recent formulations.

 

[David Ruskin]

The smell of Honeysuckle in full bloom, at night, makes me shiver with pleasure. I have never had that experience with any fragrance that I can buy.

 

[chypre]

Citrus is fine, but oranges and tea are not preferable. Most food smells in general would be a no go for me. I also don’t like fragrances that present linear “photo realistic” smells as they are just not as pleasing compared to being part of an overall accord.

I'm the same.

For me, extremely realistic notes do not make very interesting fragrances, even if I normally enjoy them in the world. I prefer fragrances as complex, developing compositions, like literature, music or art.

I find identifiable, realistic notes work better as background smells, like candles. I adore the smell of wood smoke on a cold evening, but whilst I wouldn't want to wear a fragrance that smells like it, I'd be open to a room fragrance featuring a wood smoke scent. Similarly, with the smell of a fresh breeze, I don't want a perfume which smells exactly like fresh air, because it's not interesting. So I'd rather a scent that approximates the feeling you get when a gentle breeze brushes your hair against your shoulder, including the smell of your skin, your hair, maybe the trees near you... All that, more maybe. Because more is more in perfumery

 

[lfc1892]

Coffee

 

[Nastka]

A fresh box of cigarettes. I don't smoke, but I love the smell.

Coffee is another one that has been mentioned, but all scents that I tried that emulate it fall flat in my opinion. They get either oddly sweet, burnt, or cloying, or all of the above...

The same goes for florals compared to the living flowers. You could have the most nuanced accord, but you won't get the same effect as being in the headspace of the real thing.

The leftover rind of a lime after being squeezed is one aroma that I'd love to see replicated; it's such a fantastic scent.

The smell of Honeysuckle in full bloom, at night, makes me shiver with pleasure. I have never had that experience with any fragrance that I can buy.

It's a gorgeous aroma, I agree. The closest I found was Annick Goutal's Chevrefeuille, but it doesn't hit the mark 100% either.

 

[N.CAL Fragrance Reviewer]

One note that comes to mind is vanilla. Sometimes the vanilla can smell very plastic like in fragrances.

 

[ambergeese]

Aside from that, the aroma like this to me is lilacs. There's nothing more beautiful, fragrant and uplifting than going for a stroll around the block on a sunny day in May and smell the beautiful lilac aroma wafting from the trees around the pavement or from people's gardens. It's joyful, it's pure, it's lush, it's romantic, it's just wonderful.

I really feel you on this. Several white florals are like this for me, especially lemon and orange blossoms. The memory of the real thing, the way flowers in bloom make all the air so intoxicating is so beautifully carved into my mind that I find the smallness, the reduction of these notes in perfumery to be quite frustrating. Only Serge Lutens' Fils de Joie begins to accurately replicate the bigness of a true white flower to me, though that also makes it quite difficult to wear.

@ClockworkAlice , have you tried Pacifica's French Lilac? It has some supporting notes -- at least, listed in some online encyclopedias it does, though to me and many others it honestly just smells like lilacs. It's not perfect, but it captures some of the sunny decadence of lilacs, the intoxicating sweetness that almost feels chocolatey in how rich and smooth it is. I like it much more than the ten-times-pricier En Passant.

In addition to most white florals, for me, perfumes that aim to be atmospheric are often like this. The sorts of things that try to replicate the smell of winter air, or air after rain, as @Pippin06 and others have said. Sometimes a good green or oakmoss accord comes close to mimicking the aura of it -- Mitsouko and Philosykos are my favorite rainy scents -- but it's never the real thing.

I've also never met a really multi-dimensional orange perfume or even one that conveys sweet orange essential oil very well. And I'm always downright ticked off by black currant notes. I grew up harvesting and boiling down currants, and the weird fruity notes people claim are currant never seem to even come close. Most berry and stone fruit notes, really, feel absolutely absurd to me.

 

[Salumbre]

Flowers in general, for me.

Granted, perfumery is an art. That means that many perfumes do not really set out to mimic natural scents in a photorealistic way; instead, they offer their own beautiful interpretations, in the same way that a painter does not seek to literally give you a tree or a landscape or a person, but their own visions of those subjects.

So chasing a natural note in perfumery may be counterintuitive, if one thinks about it.

(ETA: Mind you, I'm as guilty of doing it as anyone else!)

 

[ClockworkAlice]

I really feel you on this. Several white florals are like this for me, especially lemon and orange blossoms. The memory of the real thing, the way flowers in bloom make all the air so intoxicating is so beautifully carved into my mind that I find the smallness, the reduction of these notes in perfumery to be quite frustrating. Only Serge Lutens' Fils de Joie begins to accurately replicate the bigness of a true white flower to me, though that also makes it quite difficult to wear.

@ClockworkAlice , have you tried Pacifica's French Lilac? It has some supporting notes -- at least, listed in some online encyclopedias it does, though to me and many others it honestly just smells like lilacs. It's not perfect, but it captures some of the sunny decadence of lilacs, the intoxicating sweetness that almost feels chocolatey in how rich and smooth it is. I like it much more than the ten-times-pricier En Passant.

In addition to most white florals, for me, perfumes that aim to be atmospheric are often like this. The sorts of things that try to replicate the smell of winter air, or air after rain, as @Pippin06 and others have said. Sometimes a good green or oakmoss accord comes close to mimicking the aura of it -- Mitsouko and Philosykos are my favorite rainy scents -- but it's never the real thing.

I've also never met a really multi-dimensional orange perfume or even one that conveys sweet orange essential oil very well. And I'm always downright ticked off by black currant notes. I grew up harvesting and boiling down currants, and the weird fruity notes people claim are currant never seem to even come close. Most berry and stone fruit notes, really, feel absolutely absurd to me.

Sadly, I haven't tried Pacifica's French Lilac - I don't think Pacifica is even sold where I live, or at least I haven't encountered any. I'll keep it in mind!
But I recently tried Fils de Joie and I fell in love. It's just... that smell... it brings joy.

 

[Opiate]

For me, it’s leather.
I love the smell of leather but I just don’t jive with most leather fragrances.

 

[ascentofdreams]

Smell of the sea and ocean air - nothing quite hits it right outside of real life.

 

[baklavaRuzh]

.

In addition to most white florals, for me, perfumes that aim to be atmospheric are often like this. The sorts of things that try to replicate the smell of winter air, or air after rain, as @Pippin06 and others have said. Sometimes a good green or oakmoss accord comes close to mimicking the aura of it -- Mitsouko and Philosykos are my favorite rainy scents -- but it's never the real thing.

At least air after the rain is a real measurable smell, 'winter air' is entirely contextual or perhaps except a cold 'texture'? I used to go to a moutian lodge with a toilet without running water at times when I was growing up in winter, so to me, the memory of 'winter air' comes with an undercurrent odor of human waste, subdued by the cold mind you, but unmistakably manure-like.

 

[ScentMemory]

Basil.

I've smelled things that list it as a note (Eau Sauvage, which I love), but it never comes close to the incredibly verdant, vibrant smell of a fresh leaf. Baime by MPG was a particular disappointment.

 

[flamechief]

A freshly mown lawn. Yes, the cut grass, but also the lingering petrol smoke.

 

[ambergeese]

At least air after the rain is a real measurable smell, 'winter air' is entirely contextual or perhaps except a cold 'texture'? I used to go to a moutian lodge with a toilet without running water at times when I was growing up in winter, so to me, the memory of 'winter air' comes with an undercurrent odor of human waste, subdued by the cold mind you, but unmistakably manure-like.

That's interesting! I suspect the smell of winter air might actually be a relative lack of smells. Because scents generally don't travel as far in cold air, there's a certain open void to it. Plus the smell of damp and humidity that attaches itself to snow, as well as a general cold texture, as you said.

We do have aromachemicals like geosmin that are parts of the smell after rain, but they don't really get the whole thing because, just as with snow, much of the smell of that kind of weather is less to do with specific aromachemicals and more to do with specific combinations of temperature and humidity conditions.

Warm, humid, and wet outside = rain = smell everything (earth, grass, leaves, trees, spores, pavement) more.
Cold, humid, and wet outside = snow = smell everything less, and therefore smell the clean, cold humidity more in the vacuum.

That's my theory, anyway.

 

[rum]

Basil.

I've smelled things that list it as a note (Eau Sauvage, which I love), but it never comes close to the incredibly verdant, vibrant smell of a fresh leaf. Baime by MPG was a particular disappointment.

Hmmm that's an interesting one. Have you tried Burberry London or AdP Mirto di Panarea? Not a bad basil note in those, but blink and you'll miss it!

 

[DeathArrow]

"Smelly things" and perfumes have different roles. I like the smell of food, drinks, tobacco but I dislike perfumes smelling like that. Maybe it's because perfumes convey an image and I dislike that image being associated to how I present myself.

 

[the_good_life]

I love good food, including patisserie, but I find most gourmand scents off-putting. Usually because they're screeching artificial and obnoxious when measured against their inspiration. Smelling real vanilla, high-end chocolate, third-wave coffee is a treat in itself, the perfume's aesthetic autonomy just doesn't come through for me. In most cases. I've found well made natural gourmands enjoyable, case on point is Annette Neuffer's Chocolat Irisée. I do also love the vanilla note in vintage Guerlains, but it's not in a gourmand context.

What I prefer is a good tobacco scent, which can give you that pleasure without ashy smoke or having to smoke. And pipe tobacco is often synthetically perfumed anyway, not to speak of all that vape crap. Odori Tobacco is heaven on earth, as is Villoresi Virginia and La Via del Profumos Tabac.

 

[Robin-in-FL]

Jasmine, like so many others people, because the perfumes seem usually either not good (too clean/sterile/cold or unpleasant) or smell great but so literal that I feel like I am a bush not a person - like it would be a good room spray but is not wearable.

Best and most persistent lovely orange I have is Smell Bent Prairie Nymph. It does smell orange, and lightly floral, and lasts and lasts. Claims to be orange blossom, but is orange fruit and some blossom.

Neil Morris City Rain opens with petrichor, it smells like rain on concrete briefly then cool floral.

 

[DonBos]

The smell of roasted garlic on a late Sunday afternoon, I'd imagine, has never been attempted in perfumery. As it shouldn't.

 

[Clarissochka]

I'd say for me, coffee. Love the smell of coffee. I haven't done an exhaustive search/sampling of coffee based scents, but those I have tried have usually diluted the coffee scent with other notes. And honestly, smelling like just freshly brewed coffee is probably not that desirable anyway.

I love a smell of freshly grinder coffee but could not find anything even close I fragrances - and those that I have tried are not even worth mentioning

 

[Clarissochka]

Smell of melting chocolate. Any fragrances trying to recreate a smell of melting chocolate is cloyingly sweet (at least on my skin) and is impossible to remove!!!

 

[ScentMemory]

Hmmm that's an interesting one. Have you tried Burberry London or AdP Mirto di Panarea? Not a bad basil note in those, but blink and you'll miss it!

I've tried London and don't remember a basil note, but it's been many years. Eau Sauvage arguably has a basil-ish note/nuance in there, which is nice, but I'd like to find a fragrance where it's undeniable, as opposed to blink-and-you'll-miss-it.

 

[rum]

I've tried London and don't remember a basil note, but it's been many years. Eau Sauvage arguably has a basil-ish note/nuance in there, which is nice, but I'd like to find a fragrance where it's undeniable, as opposed to blink-and-you'll-miss-it.

Being a top note, I doubt you’ll be able to find something that’s long lasting.

Some other ones that come to mind with the note are Cerutti 1881 and Polo Ralph Lauren (the classic green one).

Anyway we’re digressed from the topic now. feel free to start another thread on the subject and I can move any necessary posts to it.

 

[_Nicolas_]

As a keen gardener, most fragrant-flowered plants. No sweet violet note even comes close to the Viola odorata 'The Czar' I have growing in my garden. Rose notes are always very poor compared to the hybrid teas I've grown in the past. Interesting that honeysuckle has already been mentioned because I think Lonicera is probably another genus that is difficult to capture in fragrance, I grow both summer and winter flowering ones and there's a combination of richness and airiness with them that I've just never experienced in fragrances. If someone could realistically represent the scent of my Lonicera fragrantissima in a fragrance I would definitely buy it, same with my Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn', but I doubt they could.

I am certainly going to explore lilac in perfume after reading @ClockworkAlice's fascinating post, especially considering how brief-flowering the Syringa vulgaris in my own garden is, I would love to be able to smell something like it all year round!

 

[DeathArrow]

Hmmm that's an interesting one. Have you tried Burberry London or AdP Mirto di Panarea? Not a bad basil note in those, but blink and you'll miss it!

I think Basile Uomo might have a bit longer lasting basil note.