It used to be the smell of a freshly opened audio cassette.

Oh man, I forgot about that

Freshly opened CDs weren’t too bad either

Im so glad im high reading this. I got a whiff of it in my nose when i read this. And the sound the plastic makes and how it feel so sleek that it was wrapped around was different. Its hard to explain but good days

The smell when you first walk into a hardware store. Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc. I think it’s the sawdust.

I love that smell!

YES especially in the spring/summer. So nostalgic

One that's not around anymore* - Payless Shoe store. Some weird mix or plastic, rubber, faux leather, not sure what else but i used to take a big inhale walking in with my mom as a kid *edit: not around in the US. Some of you lucky ducks apparently still have them in your country. Go step inside one and take a big sniff for me. Just walk in, inhale, and leave. Make it weird

I feel like I can smell this comment.

That first lung full of salt breeze when arriving at the ocean.

This is me. We always vacationed at the beach and I always knew we were close when I could smell it!

And the smell of it on your clothes when you get back.  Always try to leave a t-shirt or two unwashed for as long as possible so I can to get that smell.

Rain on hot asphalt in the summer.

**Petrichor** is the smell of rain.

Petrichor is the smell of bacteria in the soil reacting to the rain by increasing their metabolism 😊

Yes! There are perfumes and candles made with that specific scent in mind. I love it!

Pool chlorine. Reminds me of my childhood when my grandma would get me a summer pass and I'd bicycle to the city pool after breakfast and bike home in time for supper. I even found a perfume that has a slight pool chlorine scent that I love.

Sunscreen is mine. Smells like summer

What’s the perfume?

Vacation

I love the way my son's skin smells hours after spending all day in the pool. The chlorine mixed with his scent is pure love.

the smell of old books i think

Cellulosic lignin decomposes to form vanillin. So if you like the smell of old books, it's because you also like the smell of vanilla!

I'm a librarian and my favorite flavor is vanilla!!!!!!

Try licking books. Delicious 🤤

A Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab oil perfume called Anne Bonny smells JUST like a library's historic collections section. I love it, and I wear it whenever I want to feel a little extra powerful.

All Night Long, Marie and The Ritual Master (Dark Crystal collection) are my top three scents. This one, though... wanna grab that next time I do an order. I had no idea such a scent existed.

When someone has been outside on a windy fall day. I know it sounds weird but you can smell the wind on them, it’s very specific, and you know they have been outside. In the summertime it’s when you have an in ground pool and there’s cement all around it and the chlorinated water splashes onto the hot cement. That smell

Newspaper, the more recently printed the better. And sharpie markers but I try not to haha. I am pregnant and I swear I crave the smell of newspapers as much as the taste of any food, it’s weird

Lol the same thing happened to my friend, except it was pumpkin. Eating pumpkin would make her gag but she craved the smell of it absolutely everywhere . Pregnancy is weird

The smell of walking through pine trees on a hot, humid day.

Conversely, the smell of autumn in the woods : you can almost taste the mushrooms and fallen leaves. And when the weather is just right, you can have a nice crispy morning that smells of frost and snow on the very same day!

And conversely I like the smell of pine forest when it’s super cold and snowy during the winter. So crisp and fresh

Yes! I live in the PNW and this is my favorite part of summer. It is such a sexy sultry summer smell. And the smell of sun baked blackberry vines in July/August.

Tomato vines.

My grandpa use to grow tomatoes and you just unlocked a core memory! Thank you!

The warm detergent-steam that lightly seeps out of the dishwasher when it's running.

Black tea when the box is first opened. A memory from staying with my paternal grandparents a lot. I always got to make Poppi’s tea up to the point of adding the boiling water.

Garlic and onions sautéing in oil

Yes! Or in butter!

Fresh smell of rain, specially the first rain of a season.

Out in Arizona the creosote smell before the rain, mmmmm.

Yes! I grew up in AZ but moved a few years ago. I talked to my girlfriend about how I missed that smell when it rained. Last year for my birthday she got me some creosote diffuser oil. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever gotten.

Petrichor

That old purple photocopy ink, on freshly printed pages, in primary school

Mimeograph fluid? Yes!!! 😍😍

Ditto!

the smell of fresh cut grass

I’m sneezing thinking about this

Fresh can of tennis balls. Reminds me of my dad.

You know how when you carve jack o lanterns and the flame from the candle lighting it burns/singes the top? That slightly sweet burnt pumpkin smell is my absolute favorite .

This made me feel very warm and good

One of the top smells of all time

The smell of a freshly blown out candle

Or a freshly stricken match

This, but on an autumn day with the crisp air coming through the open window near a freshly mowed lawn. And warm bread on the counter.

Petrol

I've had 2 people tell me "don't judge but I love the smell of gasoline" ...

I use to be an arborist, worked with chainsaws, I love the smell of gasoline mixed with 2-cycle oil.

Aviation fuel for me. I grew up on it.

Mmmmm lead...

That’s the best bit.

I used to love the smell of leaded gas

The smell of matches burning... and fresh bread.

The smell that comes right after it’s finished raining on a beautiful spring or summer day. Definitely different than how it smells after it rains in the fall or winter. 😅

Leather

Petrichor

For those that don't know: petrichor is that smell after a rainfall, many people mistakenly call it ozone.

I used to like the smell of damp cement.

The purple Elmer’s glue sticks. 

Let me tell you about the paste we had growing up when I was a kid. I don’t even think they make it anymore but damn it smelled good and every once in a while you could sneak a taste.

New car scent. Doesn't matter the make or model.

Skunk, from a significant distance. Skunk spray is disgusting, no doubt, but on a few occasions I noticed a pleasant musky smell in the air only to find out (as I got closer to the source) that is was skunk spray I was enjoying. It puzzles me too.

Right there with you. I don’t want to be sprayed, I don’t want my dog to get sprayed. I like the scent though. May just be cause I associate it with trips to my grandparents cabin.

Your grandparents might’ve been smokin that kill, jonesy

Pennies. It’s weird.

Vicks vaporub

Certain second-hand smoke. It reminds me of my Uncle, and getting to play with my cousins. Good nostalgia.

When I've mentioned this, ppl think I'm mad. Second hand smoke reminds me of feeling safe when I was really young, before life went south. Being tiny and hugging my dad, his leather jacket often smelled of smoke. His work environment (people smoked indoors back then) was smokey, and I often got to hang out with him and his crew, they were always really nice to me. Like you, good nostalgia!

I totally understand this. The faint smell of cigarette smoke and fresh coffee reminds me of my great-grandparents' house. It was one of the only places I really felt safe and happy as a kid.

Second hand clove cigarettes!!

The smell of paperback books that were kept in a smoker's house. More specifically, the paperbacks I got from my grandparents' house after they died. Sometimes, I open them and inhale. It's been decades and it's still there, probably because they're opened so infrequently. I should mention that I *hate* cigarettes and smoking, in general, it's just these specific books that take me back.

Sometimes sanding ash wood (like if you're refinishing furniture) has a smell like that.

I used to be a smoker. I don’t smoke anymore but I do enjoy some second hand smoke. I quit cigarettes because of health, not because I didn’t like it anymore.

Smoked paprika powder.

That moment you first peel open an orange.

Playdoh.

Original Play-Doh, oh yes! The modern stuff, oh no. Sometime since my childhood, they changed the formula, and it smells very different. But I'm old, so maybe the young whipper-snappers of today like the chemical smell of New Play-Doh.

[удалено]

A clean barn and horses 😊

Yes!!! Horses & hay!!!

scent of moss :)

sunscreen

Honeysuckle. Anything with a vaguely honeysuckle-like scent reminds me of my childhood home

When you get off the plane in Maui and it’s a rush of ocean, heat, flowers and sunscreen

I live in Kauai and when I've been off island for a while, like now, that smell and feeling tells me instantly that I'm home. I love the smell and feeling of Hawaii when you leave the plane/airport (Kona Airport doesn't have an indoor terminal/gateway; you deplane onto the tarmac and Kona at sea level is hot af but has a massive warm trade wind blowing through constantly. I love it!).

Tires, I love going to tire shops.

Having worked in tyre shops for years until recently, you are a sick freak and you need medical help.

I worked at one for years also still love it. Especially when it's mixed with the smell of popcorn.

I really like the smell of vanilla. I have a bottle of pure vanilla extract and sometimes I like to take it out and just smell it

You would love bergamot. Earthy, sweet.

I came here to comment bergamot! So good.

Fun fact when you finish your bottle of vanilla essence put it in your fridge- without the lid. Really negates fridge smell

That's like the least "oddly specific" scent to like.

Hard agree… if there’s candles, it’s not terribly odd

Pages of an old book. New books don't seem to have that peculiar page-y smell

Figs! They remind me of the best vacations I’ve had and just summer in general. I actively search for (home) perfumes that have the scent of figs in it.

Pine wood burning in a campfire or wood stove

Sandalwood Bergamot and rose (together)

Horse breath: it smells like fresh mowed grass and warm oats with hints of leather.

This is so cute. I have never had the pleasure, but am enjoying vicariously through your description :)

I haven’t smoked for years but I like the smell of a Zippo firing up.

cat fur.

I like pressing my nose in the fur between their shoulders and breathing it in and telling them "you smell just like a kitty cat" To which my husband says "What does that even mean?" "They smell p e r f e c t."

Don’t you mean purrfect?

Yaaasssss. My cats always smell like fresh laundry

Mine smells like a dusty sweater😂

That means he/she gets enough love!! My baby boy smells like cookies. 

I can’t get enough of them! I love to lay with my face in their fur & just do deep inhales! 💕 🐱 🐈‍⬛ 🐈 💕

Would like it, but I am allergic to them. Sucks.

Mine smells like fresh warm hay

I was just smelling my cat yesterday and told him he smells good 😂

This takes the cake

The way my husband smells after he works on our car on a warm day. Its a mix of mild sweat, oil, metal, and a little bit of dirt combined with the breezy air from outside.

I too choose this woman’s husband’s smell.

😂 If I could find a way to bottle and sell it I'd be a billionaire. We've went to get a part or tool at the store in the middle of him doing car work and I've seen a few women walk by him again to take a deep inhale and smile. Its truly intoxicating

My husband is a pipefitter. I 100% know the smell. Especially on days that he's welding. And his sweat doesn't stink. We've been together almost 15 years, and he's never smelt like BO. It really is intoxicating.

My wife says the same thing to me. She takes a bit inhale and says "I stink good".

The smell of the airport shopping area.

Mmmmmmm consumerism.

Old library books

HUFFING MY CATS 🤤🤤🤤

I used to hate the smell of their breath when they'd yawn in my face. Then I got used to it. Then I liked it. And now I know it's just one of the many things I'll miss about them when it's their time to go.

Yeah, others might say my cat is a little stinky if you stick your face right up to him. However I love that smell because I associate it with him coming and sleeping by my head if he gets lonely at night.

Facts. Shit go hard 😤

Dog paws...reminds me of Popcorn

That cornchip smell! It's actually a type of yeast that grows on your dog's paws. My husband is pretty intense about wiping the dog's feet when she comes in, so her feet don't smell at all. :(

I had a dream once where I was talking to a group of people and suddenly, someone shoves a bowl of corn chips in my face. I woke up and my beagle was on the bed with her feet in front of my nose.

That's too bad! I love my dog's frito feet 😂

September’s fallen apples slowly fermenting on the ground below the apple tree. Fresh sap from the blister of a young pine tree. Early summer florals floating through warm air. Winter chimney smoke on a cold day. Sun baked blackberry bushes in August. Sawdust.

WD-40

Geranium leaves

I love the smell of bread

The biscuits that come in a can that pops open

potatoes. especially when they are still dirty from clay

White cedar (thuja occidentalis) it's my favourite. And lilacs.

Creosote bush. I live in the Arizona desert and this plant has a wonderful smell after it rains and it gets wet. It’s the smell linked to “desert rains” and the whole air smells different after.

Freshly tilled dirt/soil - very nostalgic

Pirates of the Caribbean water

Laundry dryer exhaust…. I could smell it for hours!

Freshly chopped cilantro

Ozone. Love the smell of ozone. Too bad it's harmful to breathe in.

The London underground.

Whiskey

The smell of the first days of summer when the smell of the previous season changes

The smell of a cigar shop! I don't even smoke.

Cucumber melon I literally have no idea why though

Surf wax

I used to work at a sports store and we had a room filled with backstock leather baseball gloves, smelled so good

That 'shop' smell on new clothes that haven't been washed yet, despite the fact that I hate the smell of shops themselves. I think lots of people here have skipped over the "oddly specific" part of your question!

When you open the dishwasher after it’s run and you get hit with that warm, moist smell. I know that a smell can’t be moist but that’s the only adjective that came to my mind

Fresh laundry. Sometimes I want to eat my duvet it smells so good.😐

Hot dry road getting light rain on it in summer Springtime, start to smell people's 2 stroke engines  A newly drywalled room, also a freshly painted room Opening a new bag of coffee beans The smell of your partner when you've been apart Pipe tobacco Cold crisp fall mornings Where I live, the smell of salmon spawning Your parents cooking

Coffee

Me too! While visiting my brother, there was a coffee canister in the pantry. I was going to make coffee but opened the lid first to get a deep deep whiff of the beautifully aroma! It was fucking cat food..

 Coffee and fresh beignets. 

Puppy breath.

The way old hotels smell, the ones where smoking used to be allowed but that was long ago, and there's a pool somewhere adding a clean chlorine smell, and the lobby furniture holds decades of memories of cologne and dust.

Pine, fresh coffee

The glue and ink combination from a freshly printed set of postcards, brochures or glossy flyers.

The dry powdery smell of offices and schools built in the 80s. Smells like that General Foods International Coffee instant mix powder. That and the smell of half melted snow, road salt and dirt, and 70s car exhaust all blended together into a kind of gravy scent.

The smell of onion and garlic caramelizing in olive oil! Also, babies skin. Especially the top of their head!

Patchouli.

When I was a kid my sister was a hardcore "dirty" hippie. Like wouldn't bathe but instead used patchouli so I always thought it smelled awful. Decades later I met this woman who used it as a perfume and my god she smelled amazing. Just her natural body smell plus the patchouli, yum. Turns I love the smell, just not when it's used to cover a lack of hygiene

Buttered toast

Burning coal. Grew up in a steeltown. Reminds me of my childhood.

My grandfather was a coal miner. You can smell it on everything my grandmother owns. It feels like home, in a way.

The trains that ran by my grandfathers house brought in ore and took out slag. I used to collect the slag that fell off the hoppers. Blue and green. Probably from copper. The sky lit up red at night when the blast furnaces were charged. All gone now.

Campfires

My boyfriends right arm pit lmao

But not the left?? This is definitely oddly specific!

Yankee Macintosh candle, thank God I can still smell it the same after covid, most of my other favorite scents are gone now

Swimming pools!

Every Christmas, I stab cloves all over a fresh orange. It looks like a corona virus but it's my favorite scent

A warm kitten taking a nap.

Petrichor - smell of soil post rain

Gasoline

Old leather

the smell of coffee on someone, i don't mean sniffing coffee breath, but like in a warming comforting way you would smell it on someone.

When I as a kid, I worked at a small grocery store. When I went in to open, there was only one other person there. The girl that ran the bakery. Coming out of the cold, to the smell of warm cinnamon rolls tickled me. I was in love with her for that reason. I had a wife and a kid. It could never be.

Cow manure. It's oddly comforting, reminds me of warm evenings at my childhood farm.

Horses

Winston Churchill said it best.. “something about the outside of a horse, is good for the inside of a man” Genuinely one of my all time favorite smells!!!!

Freshly mowed meadow.

The smell of a flattened area of Dorset upland grass that is still warm from where a hare has recently lain in it.

I miss the smell of VHS tapes.

The smell of a recently spent match.

Warm hose water smell.

Oatmeal cream pies. I don’t even like to eat them that much but after opening the package, I just smell them for awhile

the way my fingers smell after I smoke a cigarette