Which notes do you avoid?

We already had a thread about favourite notes, but how about notes you tend to avoid?

For me it is: plum, vanilla (don't mind vanilla in small amounts and well blended as in guerlinade, so I guess I mean 'vanilla forward') and musk forward scents. 

I tend to avoid leather forward fragrance, tobacco (the only exception being Tobacco Honey ), cypriol, galbanum and alcohol type of fragrances (featuring whisky, rum, absinthe, etc.)

I don,t want to smell like the interior of a car, I associate tobacco with the act of smoking which I hate, cypriol and galbanum are too green and medicinal for me and I don't drink so I'm not a fan of beverage type of fragrances.

As a main note : oud and saffron

In any note : black cherry, mimosa and iso E super

In its synthetic form : vanilla.

Oud!!!

In general, animalic notes, although I have become more open-minded after trying some treasures like Galop d'Hermès and Tigre du Bengale to name a few. I have a contentious relationship with ambrette-musk combos and olive oil turns funky on my skin.

You've pretty much described everything I love about fragrances haha ❤️

I don't think I dislike any single notes, but I dislike certain combinations of notes.

Floral chypres I can't stand. Something about the combination of oakmoss, labdanum, and a strong floral component sickens me. But Chypre du Nord where the florals aren't prominent, I actually really like. I am very very hesitant to try something like Diaghilev Parfum for example, even though I've only heard great things about it.

Anything with patchouli and aldehydes immediately reminds me of N°5 Parfum and smells like a grandma to me, so I actively avoid that combination. Recently got a free sample of Ambre Suprême with a purchase and immediately scrubbed it off after the first spray because it was mainly this combination.

Leather/vanilla isn't for me. I love both notes by themselves, but the combination for some reason doesn't sit well with me. I absolutely hated "Le Vestiaire - Babycat | Yves Saint Laurent" and Eau d'Ombré Leather, and my SOTD Sarmate is giving me the same vibes, although it is of higher quality than either.

There are a lot of rose/ouds that I can't stand, but not enough to write off the combination entirely. I think it's when the rose is powdery like in Oud Satin Mood Eau de Parfum I really dislike it. But Nouveau Monde is one of my favorite fragrances of all time and it is pretty much built on a rose/oud base.

Ever since I smelled Sécrétions Magnifiques I tend to avoid blood, sweat and semen 🤣

Otherwise I quite dislike heavy white flowers like lilies.

In the category “it depends”: Too much saffron is a no-go. Although in the good amounts it turns into a leather accord and that I like..

- Oregano, dill, basil, parsley. Celery, bell pepper. Anything that smells like a salad or pesto sauce. 

- Prominent lily of the valley and freesia. 

- Indoles / indolic jasmin.

- Real deer musk, or civet, any animal tinctures (you can't really change vintages, and I own some classics; in the past perfumers didn't have any alternatives. Nowadays, if the brand features real deer musk, civet, etc. in any of their perfumes... I will not buy from them. Boycotting any brand that promotes animal cruelty. Modern synthetic alternatives are good and smell realistic, so why the f would you torture helpless animals?) 

- Iodine, latex gloves, bandages, anything that smells like a hospital

- CUCUMBER (HATE IT!!!)

- Aloe Vera

I tend to avoid fragrances that rely heavily on Saffron, Oud or any Animalic Notes.

In small doses I can bear Saffron and Oud, but for myself and those around me that have to deal with the smell as well, I'll skip such fragrances. 

Animalic notes are a big no for me. Civet, Castoreum...I respect the artistry (the synthetics, not the real deal, that is animal cruelty) but I'll take any sweet or fresh designer fragrance over any animalic (niche) perfume. Better to smell like the masses than different and having to defend the smell of roadkill of being "masculine".

If you like animalic notes don't feel offended, I personally just can't stand them.

I’m sorry to say that I generally dislike iris as a prominent note.

I am still exploring fragrances that include it in an effort to simply learn more but so far I’ve consistently found that I don’t enjoy it.

If a fragrance includes it in a well-blended, supportive fashion (which is many) then I don’t mind so much.

I recently sampled Iris Cendré and learned that a fragrance can actually make me feel deeply sad. Quite strange. Probably some unconscious associations going on. Alas.

I'm extra picky, my AVOID list is pretty long.

Notes I just don't like smelling of: spices and herbs, vanilla, coconut, cinnamon, gourmands, incense

Notes I can only tolerate in small/controlled amounts so it's easier to just avoid altogether: neroli (-ish. It leans incense to me, so I prefer orange blossom), patchouli, freesia, lily, muguet, lavender

Tuberose. I've had it as a minor component fine, but Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia actually made me sick, so I've been extra wary of it.

It’s so funny how people can be so different. I completely love tuberose’s creamy weirdness, most spices, and a lot of incense.
However, we are similar in our patchouli dislike! It’s just too dirty and smells like urine to me unless it’s in small quantities.

I haven’t seen anyone else mention rose, unless I missed it. Something about it is deeply uninterestingly sweet and gives me a headache. I have a couple of negative reviews of rose perfume on my profile to show for it. I only really like it when blended well with something that makes it *not* rose- like the cacao and sandalwood in Santal Majuscule.

There’s also something to the presentation of spices that’s deeply important to me. I hate them when they are powdery and dusty. I really don’t like any powdery-dusty qualities in anything, so many vintage perfumes are not nice to me.
Finally, aldehydes: they don’t give scents a sparkling quality, they give me urine and a sensation of heaviness. I also don’t like most white wine because it has this same quality to me.

Oh yes: Rose! I avoid rose forward scents too! I had Nahema Eau de Parfum. I find it a beautyful scent objectively, but I can't wear it myself for it's sweetness and ended up giving it to my niece and, like you, many rose forward scents give me a headache. But rose is in many of my scents and, when blended well, I don't smell it as an actual rose.

And I hadn't mentioned galbanum yet. I think it is what makes Azurēe (2015) and Jean-Louis Scherrer Eau de Toilette smell very, and I mean very, bitter on my skin. Too bad...because I LOVE Azuree's opening! In Miss Dior Eau de Toilette Originale I can also smell it as a bitter note (actually only since I had smelled Azuree and Scherrer), but the bitterness in there is less on the foreground.

I do sometimes love Iris, but not the 'pencil shaving' kind as in Belle de Paris.

Aldehydes can be lovely in certain scents in my opinion: I love those in Ysatis Eau de Toilette , Tosca Eau de Parfum and First Eau de Toilette and loved it in Estēe (1968) Super Cologne (I think they now replaced it for LOTV), but I hate N°5 Parfum and all no 5 flankers (except the l'eau version) and Arpège (1993) Eau de Parfum.

I love spices and herbs.... in my food. Hahaha! Making desserts with whole vanilla bean pods was heavenly. Love coconut juice and cooking with the milk. All the noms, not the skin!

Incense strikes me very similarly as patchouli: it's there to cover up something and it just smells dirty. Or there's a religious service going on and nothing fun is happening.

In my head I love roses. Rose fragrances? I'm somewhere around 60% "Hate it", 25% "Eh, not terrible", and 15% "I like it".

To me it mostly depends on the combination. If the fragrance is well blended, I like almost all notes in right combos. When certain notes are too overpowering, I might find them unpleasant, for example too strong mint reminds me of toothpaste too much and too strong animalic musk or leather make me feel unwell (I have been a vegetarian my whole life so I wonder if that's the reason for my nausea reaction sometimes). However I love mint, leather and musk in several well blended fragrances. Smells that I strongly dislike are vinegar and dill but fortunately those aren't common notes at all in fragrances.

I have deduced recently that I'm quite opposed to rose, even though I really want to like it. To me it smells like household cleaners. I believe I'd enjoy it paired with sweet notes though, must experiment

The only one I avoid with any certainty is mint, since I'm allergic. I'm not sure how it would translate to fragrances but I'm not particularly keen to experiment with my health.

Then I have a list that makes me strongly wary of fragrances. I'll still try them out, but in places I can scrub easily and will go out of my way to try them in store to avoid a decant sitting around after. Those are: tabacco (usually find it too heavy and cloying), leather (I can't stand new car smell), citruses and citrus flowers (when not anchored by heavier notes, they immediately go soapy on me) and clean/white musks (also soap/cleaning products). And like a lot of people in this thread, I'm not a huge fan of animalics as a strong note. I just don't particularly want to smell like that. 

Everything that can evokes ashtrays or cigarettes to me, as this smell IRL can litterally make me puke. So I tend to be wary of scents that are heavy on the leather, the incense, and the tobacco. 😞

I am not a huge fan of ambergris or oud unless it is a tiny amount and well-blended.

I love just testing and smelling everything I can, but animalistics especially civet is hard on my nose. Heavy roses and iris are also a bit headache inducing for me, and I tend to avoid very heavy aromatics as I find them too maculine leaning for my own tastes.

After sampling "Casamorati - Fiore d'Ulivo (Eau de Parfum) | XerJoff" and Il Sentiero degli Déi I think a base of amber/ambrette + musk should be avoided at all costs.

Lemon with cedar (smells kinda pissy to me). 

Rum. Caramel. Seaweed. 

Oud with Rose although I sometimes like wearing Blue Sapphire Supercharged. It’s a very clean rose and the oud is nothing like the horrible oud in Nebulous also by the same house (Boadicea the Victorious). 

Vanilla is not bad but when I see it I move on. Not sure if I am avoiding it. 

I've noticed I have a hard time with tobacco notes. Everyone is in love with Tobacco Vanille Eau de Parfum but for the life of me, I can't go anywhere near it. I tell myself that I'm broken and irreparable. 😭

There's a few notes I just cannot get behind.

Vetiver and I do not mix. It goes into a dirty grassy direction I do not enjoy, though in very small doses and well mixed into a fragrance I don't mind it. I'm the same way about Ambroxan: in moderation it is fine, but I tried Over the Chocolate Shop and the ambroxan bomb that it turns into sucked all the enjoyment I had for it.

Fig is a note I avoid in any fragrance. I just do not like fig in any way, shape, or form. Basil is another "avoid at all cost" notes. I think it's because I associate basil with savory food, and I don't want to smell savory 😅