Samanid, Underglazed, Slip-painted Pottery Bowls.

Perfumes for the  Bombshell Scholar/Student/Librarian

Jazz Club by Maison Martin Margiela

1888 Xerjoff

Library by Solstice Scents

Milano Caffe by Abdes Salaam Attars Perfumes

Whispers in the Library by Maison Martin Margiela

O, Unknown! by Imaginary Authors

Coco Eau de Toilette by Chanel

Oeillet Pourpre by Guerlain 

Nirvana Bourbon by Elizabeth and James

From the National Geographic cover on IRAN, July 1999 (Volume 196, No. 1)

Chen Chen, from "weep ode #99"

220 Scents

This is a companion resource to Words To Describe Scent.

Arguably our most evocative sense, the sense of smell is an underused tool in writing descriptions and settings. Nothing transports me into the book I’m reading as effectively as the memory of some familiar scent, or some distant one awoken from the deepest parts of my brain. This is simply a list of recognizable scents, categorized by the “type” of scent or the kind of environment where it might be found:

(1) Natural scents are those that your character may expect to find in relatively undeveloped areas like while hiking a mountain, on a quest through a dark forest, or during an epic faceoff with their arch nemesis on a beach in the rain. These may also be found in more developed areas like a local park, and even in a peaceful oasis in a highly industrial area.

(2) Fruit/Vegetable scents are useful in many settings, so your character doesn’t have to work on a farm to use this list – though it certainly would come in handy for a farm setting! Our characters encounter these scents in the homes of loved ones, in inns where they rest for the night during a long journey, and while running through the palace orchard to warn the King of an impending attack.

(3) Florals, Herbs & Spices – perhaps the most fragrant and versatile category. Floral descriptions may be used for bouquets at an old flame’s wedding, or for a lover’s perfume left over on the pillow. Your character may encounter herbs & spices anywhere from a busy street market to a witch’s brew in an isolated mountain house.

(4) Industrial scents are those, in general, associated with humans, civilization, and development. These will typically be found in cities or wherever there are people. You may also notice that most of these would be generally considered unpleasant. That’s not to say pleasant scents don’t exist where there is development, just that the development itself usually doesn’t smell great. The beautiful scents from any of the other four categories can be, and often are, found in developed areas… especially those of the last category:

(5) Food! Your character’s favorite café, their mother’s kitchen when they were a child, the lunch their best friend used to share with them, the last Christmas meal at their ex-lover’s home, the cocktail they were drinking when they met their arch nemesis – the list is endless and endlessly evocative.

Use wisely and enjoy!

“sharing is not simply about morality, but also about pleasure. Solitary pleasures will always exist, but for most human beings, the most pleasurable activities almost always involve sharing something: music, food, liquor, drugs, gossip, drama, beds. There is a certain communism of the senses at the root of most things we consider fun.”

— David Graeber, Debt: The First 5,000 Years

“I ask myself what I will do here on earth with this worthless, defiant body. And I hear my body answer: —What will I do with this spark that believed itself the sun and this breath that believed itself the wind?”

— Dulce María Loynaz, tr. James O’Connor, Absolute Solitude: Selected Poems; “XXXII”  (via futurefae)

Fertile Memory (Michel Khleifi, 1980)

“I whet my lips to speak your name. To kiss your hands, curling into the posture of prayer, they could almost have been carved from stone. I swear: If idolatry was my only sin, then it’s because god wasn’t watching.”

— Torrin A. Greathouse, from “Ekphrasis on Nude Selfie as Portrait of San Sebastian,” Poetry (vol. 221, no. 2, November 2022)

Hanif Abdurraqib interviewed by Ruth Awad: Joy Is Not Promised to You