We have a linen closet that for a time in my childhood was emptied out and made to serve as the “Nintendo room”, containing an NES hooked up to an old Commodore 64 monitor. I still associate that fabric/crafty smell with 8-bit gaming.
I also love the smell of sun soaked dog fur.
Petrichor.
My favorite smell is also my favorite word; Petrichor. It’s the smell of the earth when it rains after an extended dry period.
From Wikipedia “from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra) ‘rock’; or πέτρος (pétros) ‘stone’ and ἰχώρ (ikhṓr) ‘ichor’, the ethereal fluid that is the blood of the gods in Greek mythology.”
I like that smell, or that smell that comes right before a rain where you can smell its coming or lilacs when they first start to bud and its not too heavy yet
Man one of my most fivid memories is me sitting in the window of my crappy room, smelling the petrichor and smoking a cig while it’s raining. I’m no longer a smoker but thinking back it really hit different
That sort of smell of decay when the fallen leaves from autumn get a little soggy from early winter rains. Gosh I could just shove it all up my nose
My dog smells absolutely fantastic. I could just sniff her all day.
I’ve never met another dog that smelled nice to me.
Water. Whether it’s ocean water, creek water, water on trees in the woods, spring rain, summer rain, fall rain (they all have different scents), or the smell of rain from miles away mixed with ozone from summer storms, even lightly chlorinated pool water can smell good in the right circumstances.
That and my cats fur. He always either smells like clean laundry, even if he’s been nowhere near any laundry, or if it’s a windy day and he’s been sitting at the window he smells like fresh air.
Mountain air is pretty great.
Also a big fan of the smell of allspice. I remember as a child climbing on the kitchen counter to reach the spice cabinet so I could crack that jar and get a good whiff.
Oh no, you can’t do that. Sorry to tell you, but for years you smelled up all the scent of your family’s supply of allspice and ruined Thanksgiving (or weridass Canadian Thanksgiving), or Christmas, or whatever
Tomato plants. Pet fur. Orange blossom. Generic institution bathroom cleaner. Seaweed. My partner’s clean breath
Taking a hit out of my cats fur after a long stressful day is the best relaxation technique I’ve found
Cat bellies and old books. Oh, and coffee.
I don’t know whether anyone else smells this, because I never hear people talk about it.
Some time in November, no matter the weather, there will be this empty, metallic, crisp, clean burning smell. I usually only catch whiffs of it a few times. It’s how I gauge when winter is here.
Maybe this is just how winter smells and I get noseblind to it quickly?
Yeah. I know that one. That’s a good one. The burning I’m thinking of is burning leaves.
fuel rich exhaust from an old truck with cigarette smoke.
if I’m lucky I’ll smell it once every few years and it sends me back to the handful of good memories I had with my father.
otherwise it’s fresh cut pine lumber from a construction site with early morning dew and dirt.
Ah yes, those god awful smells that your brain tells you are nice because of nostalgia. So funny how the brain works. 🥰
Although I used to like the smell of car exhaust when I was a kid, without nostalgia. That’s a bit weird.
Crisp “smell” after first frost.
Oceanic pine forest on hot days
Onion and garlic when heated in oil making food.
I went on a road trip through the mountains in central Colorado during the summer ~7ish years ago. I still don’t know what the smell actually was but every once in a while we would drive through certain parts of the mountains that had slightly sweet and clean/crisp smelling air. Never forgotten it.
The closest I can think to describe it would be something floral like freesia+ a woodsy Sequoia/evergreen combination.
The bark of certain pine trees smell like butterscotch, and pine needles themselves have what I find to be somewhat floral smell.
It’s a wonderful forest smell up in there. So fresh.
I couldn’t narrow it down to one. So far I have:
Freshly cut grass, freshly baked bread, a real christmas tree, pipe/cigar smoke, aviation fuel, sunscreen, candyfloss, fresh linen, the sea air, Indian food, corrainder, fresh coffee and the smell of a BBQ.
Campfire
Almond-scented stuff (not almonds themselves - they have no noticeable smell to me).
Pine forests, the sort with lots of dry pine needles on the ground.
