Help identifying mystery note I dislike

There is something in Velvet Oud that smells very generically or classically perfume-y to me. It's floral, powdery and sweet. Looking at the notes, I thought it might be the violet leaf. I'm familiar with the smell of fresh violets and it's not quite the same, but I can see it maybe being a 1 dimensional imitation of a violet. (no idea what a violet leaf smells like)

HOWEVER...

when I was a kid my grandma always wore a particular perfume and it had the same "classic perfume-y" note in it. I don't know which one but have a strong suspicion it was "N°5 | Chanel" (someone might have told me that). Thing is, no. 5 doesn't have violets or violet leaf in it. So what could I be smelling?

Hi,

We all have different views on 'what smells perfume-y' I think, but - with perfumey - I always think of a little more sweet and powdery. In that case, it could well be the Cardamom which is sweet and spicy. Violet leaf is more green and herbal. But I don't think the scent your grandma wore and which reminds you of a more 'perfume-y' kind of perfume, would have been Chanel No5...I don't percieve that as perfume-y, it's more aldehydic ( but again: that may be personal ). But she could have worn something else with Cardamom in it, that- as well as other, more sweet and 'spicy' notes- is in many (also vintage) perfumes. 

Could be the quality of the fragrance in itself. I always find that cheaper perfumes have that perfumey quality to them, that makes it unbearable to my nose. I don't know what it is, maybe some aromachemicals? But yeah, it smells like a department store: very musky, aldehydic, screechy. 

For your grandma's scent, I would say it maybe is the aldehydes/musk? 

I don't think so cause I have other perfumes with aldehydes and musks that don't smell that way to me. It's not actually an unpleasant smell, it's just not to my taste (reminds me too much of grandma lol)

I've heard some people say that iris smells like lipstick/makeup products, I suppose it's a little bit like that?

I had to think of Iris too, but it is not listed in your perfume. Iris can turn out very powdery and sweet indeed, but can sometimes also smell more 'cold' like a sheet of white paper...

And I think you are right about aldehydes, I don't percieve those as 'perfume-y' either, more like 'soapy'

Oakmoss is a pretty classic perfumery note 🤔

I think it could be narrowed down eithter to oakmoss or amber/musk combination, both probably synthetic replacements. I like oakmoss but I often find various musks tiring and cloying. Amber or ambroxide-adjacent musky molecules are a little sweet and warm. I tried Velvet Oud ages ago and I don't remember anything out of the blue. It had a leather dry down with some floral-fruitiness along the lines of Ombré Leather (2018) Eau de Parfum or more like Tuscan Leather Eau de Parfum. On th Lattafa's webpage in the basenotes there is an "amber musk" so that would be my culprit. What did they combine to achieve it is a question but they could use some lauric aldehyde C12 which is THE aldehyde in perfumery. That is just my laymans logic and I would love to hear from someone that acutally understands chemistry, not me 😅

On a second thought Cashmeran could fit the bill also!

I will note that the "perfume smell" in Velvet Oud doesn't develop until what I assume are the middle notes come through. It's been sitting on the test strip for 2 days now and that smell has all but gone now, though it did last for a good while into the base notes. All that remains now is a slightly incensey raspberry, which is lovely...unlike literally everything else about it...

I gotta say, based on the advertised notes and how people describe this perfume, I question if we're even smelling the same fragrance.😅 I don't smell ANY of the notes listed on Fragrantica (which are WRONG) nor any of the ones actually advertised by Lataffa/on Parfumo. I'm a little scared to even put it on my skin because it seems to have ferocious staying power. 

F-site is famous for pulling the notes out of their.. hmm, backs. 

Ok I've got another one I need help with lol. (NOT the same note I was trying to identify earlier - this one is in fact, conspicuously and mercifully absent in Velvet Oud).

Fairly sure it's a synthetic. It does not smell like anything in nature. I first became aware of it in Aqua and I'm afraid it has ruined my appreciation for my lovely Dr Squatch deodorant sticks because they are absolutely swamped in it, and now that I've mentally isolated it I can't unsmell it. It's gotta be something really common but I'm not about to go out of my way to buy pure ambroxan or Iso E Super or any other aromachemicals just to find out if it's one of those, lol.

I would describe it as: slightly sweet, ozonic, maybe even plasticky, has a cooling quality when inhaled (like menthol, or isopropyl alcohol, but doesn't smell like either of these), and OBNOXIOUS projection. It seems to act as a "carrier" for other scents, but is so often used in excess that it drowns them out. Also, there's this weird effect where I feel like I can't smell it close up, yet at a distance it's almost overpowering. If I had to describe it poetically I'd call it "plastic freshness". Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Aquatic one is probably calone, hedione, or dihydromyrcenol or variations of those chemicals. A lot of aquatics use calone derivatives as an aromatic expanse replacement that I find is achieved better with herbal mixtures. If you don’t see a lot of herbs in the top, it is probably using something like this as a substitute

Good suggestions... The descriptions of those chemicals don't sound right though. I did wonder about calone, however this smell is also present in Electric Fantasy which is decidedly not aquatic. Apparently calone smells good on paper but turns sulphurous on some people's skin. For me, whatever this aromachemical is smells the same on paper and on my skin.

I'm almost certain it's ambroxan at this point, because a) that is actually listed in the base notes for Electric Fantasy and b) I realised I can't smell "woody notes" at all. I recall reading a thread about ambroxan blindness on Fragrantica (very educational thread which I can no longer find) where people explained that "woody notes" usually refers to synthetic woody ambers aka ambroxan. More testing required but for now I'm going to avoid anything that claims to contain "woody notes" or ambroxan outright....

Yea that makes sense. There are so many variations of Ambrox too so its hard to say exactly. I realized a while ago many designer companies like YSL, Dior, newer Chanel all use something that I really dislike but I know its not pure ambroxan or iso e super so I tried figuring it out but there are so many variants of chemicals so now I just test and see but know to stay away from certain brands. I have better luck with niche. 

Yeah, I'm gonna mostly explore niche I think. More chance of smelling something I haven't smelt before!