Smelling things

[Peace]

I think the Home Improvement smell is lumber.

I never really thought of it as an Aspie trait but there are a few smells I'm just obsessed with.

Lilac
Eucalyptus
Dog paws (that mix of grass and dirt I think)
Winter air
Pine
Irish Spring soap
Home improvement stores (Lowe's, TSC, Ace, etc) I don't know what it is but I love being in there.

 

[Peace]

I am hyper sensitive to most strong odors. I cannot stand perfumes or scented candles. I love incense but can only handle "Nag Champa". I also become ill around carbon monoxide. I begin to get sick, even before the detector goes off (I work around it for a living).
I love Cherry, Cinnamon and almond, but my favorite is probably Baby smell.

 

[CJinherPJs]

When I was younger I use to smell food before I ate it (Yeah, I know. Kind of weird.).

I used to do that too. When I was 7 I went through a phase in which I ate a lot of Penguin bars, and no matter how many I ate I always had to smell each one beforehand. I especially liked the orange flavoured ones.

I've always been very sensitive to smell though, and I can still detect subtle odours that others don't notice. Some of my favourite smells include:
Fresh bread, toast, petrol, vanilla, lavender, rubber, new shoes, oranges, Yankee candles (still searching for a Yankee candle air freshener for my car), the air outside after it's been raining, basil, menthol chewing gum, Southern Comfort whisky and any fruit or mint scented bath/hair products.

 

[Athena]

I use my sense of smell quite a lot (it's sensitive), and it's important to me. I really like certain smells but can't stand certain other smells. For example, I can't stand cigarette smoke or too much perfume on someone. I like the smells of ie. bath oil and shower gel (they're a variety of smells, as I have several different ones). I've never really thought about the many smells I like and dislike. I used to smell lots of things when I just bought them, ie. a new book smell. But I know it's considered weird so I try not to do it too often. As far as I know, for someone with autism, the smell sense can be quite important, so I don't think it's weird for someone with autism. It's just one of the traits :spin:.

 

[PennySings]

I always find myself smelling my hands, often after rubbing my face.

Wow! I've never met anyone else that did that! I'm constantly smelling my hands, after I touch anything. I've done it since I was seven, and I can't stop myself.

Smells I like:
Cut wood
Books, new and old
Cut grass
Me (kind of weird, I guess)
Bacon (I actually hate how it smells, but it comes with good memories, so I like smelling it)
Vinyl (smells like summer)
Chlorine or bleach (smells like swimming pools)
Laundry soap (though I stopped smelling it years ago, since it probably isn't good for me)
Rain
Asian markets
My grandparents' house (I'm not sure how to describe that one. It never smelled like old people, it just smelled clean and nice)

I don't have as strong of a reaction to bad smells, luckily, but I don't like flowers, or mold, or wet dog. Mostly normal stuff.

And yes, I do find myself following scents around like a dog, because I have to know what it is, even if no one else can smell it. What's the worst, though, is when you smell something that brings back a strong memory, but you can't for the life of you remember where or what. It's like deja vu, but with smell.

 

[Christian T]

What's the worst, though, is when you smell something that brings back a strong memory, but you can't for the life of you remember where or what. It's like deja vu, but with smell.

I know exactly what you mean. I suppose it would have to be called d?j? senti!

 

[Neat Hedgehog]

hehe, this came up in the synesthesia thread, too. Yeah, I have always had a strangely sensitive sense of smell somehow.

I learned early on all the different ways that various electronics smelled, and how different brands smelled different from each other. First thing I do whenever I get a new gadget is smell it. Cheap, inferior electronics have... how to describe it... higher pitched smells, like thin and almost like gasoline. One time I had a bad stick of RAM in my computer that was shorting itself. It had a weird smell to it, so I ran diagnostic tools on it and found the bad stick. After I took it out, the smell went away.

My friend finally stopped asking what I was doing whenever I would smell something someone offered me to eat or drink I'd never had before. I'll always smell it, take a bite / drink, see how the taste is, then usually smell it again. It's so I can recognize it later.

Always fun outdoors, too. I can tell when it's going to rain, usually within an hour of error, unless the wind changes. When I was younger I followed a fox around in the woods by scent. They have a funky, almost skunk-like, odor that's more powerful than people usually think.

I never understand how people get along without smelling things. It comes in super handy for working on small engines and cars. All kinds of stuff you can smell to find problems; the oil, the coolant, the transmission fluid, excessive engine heat / burny electronics / plastic, exhaust, gas leaks, hot brakes, probably more I just don't remember.

Has its disadvantages, too... say next to a guy in a college class who apparently never showed. He was on my "team" too, unfortunately, so I couldn't get away from him. This guy at work is about 55, and has smoked for I don't know how long, and his breath just stinks constantly, even from across a desk, like a chicken that was killed and gutted by a possum and left on the ground for a few days.

 

[Perry Holia Kerrith]

I might not be able to recognize specific things by their smells, but I can recognize an environment; such as someone else's house or car, or my school. I have also noticed that as this kind of smell changes overtime, sometimes a scent similar to the original will become apparent and bring on a huge wave of nostalgia.

On the subject, is it possible maybe we just have heightened senses all around? It could explain the sensitivity to light, touch, sounds (which is most apparent in large crowds)... Interesting thought.

 

[PennySings]

On the subject, is it possible maybe we just have heightened senses all around? It could explain the sensitivity to light, touch, sounds (which is most apparent in large crowds)... Interesting thought.

I'd say so! I always notice sounds and smells other people do, and I have great reflexes, too (probably from better vision). It's like Superman, or Daredevil. They can see better and hear better than normal people. It is their strength--and their weakness.

Also, may I point out how much I loved that scene in Man of Steel, showing Clark as a child? He did EXACTLY what I did growing up, locking himself in a closet when he was overstimulated.

Asperger's=superpowers

 

[Sparticus]

When younger-smelling comic books/any books & nature. Pine trees, birch, a lake, flowers, trees/bark, chocolate, a woman who I am attracted to, animals especially a cat, a woman's hair, uhm...what else? Vanilla, mint, berries, cherries, rootbeer, a woman's underarms, a pussywillow tree, anything new, a leather coat, suede...my son's hair...

And at home alone sometimes I smell my forearms?! Maybe I do that for comfort...hmmm...

 

[Perry Holia Kerrith]

Oh, right. I smell books too. And I have a very interesting metaphysical theory on why.

New books pretty much all smell like glue. But old books, where the pages have become slightly yellowed, have very unique smells. I can literally flip through the pages in a book and smell the air to figure out whether or not I'm going to like it.

The reason it's metaphysical is because I believe that each person who reads a book leaves a certain kind of... Essence? Essential signature? I don't know, anyway since generally only like minded people are going to enjoy the same kinds of books, key aspects of these signatures overlap, and resonate. This resonance is given off as a sensory perception; namely smell (since smell is the strongest of the senses, going straight into your brain). And if you're of a similar mind to those kinds of people, the scent is appealing, and the book is a good read for you.

Even if it's not entirely accurate, I like to believe it's true. Makes sense to me.

 

[aceofhearts]

I'm not sure if there is a thread about this somewhere, I searched and couldn't find one but I'm curious about this. I'm also not sure whether this is Aspergers's related at all or not, but again, I'm curious.
How many of you smell objects? What are your favorite scents?
diesel smoke

I thought I am the only one who likes the smell of diesel exhaust. My liking of diesel exhaust probably stems from my love of diesel engines.

Other Smells I Like:

Mint of any kind.

Forests and trees. The trees I like the smell of most are oak, maple, pine and cedar.

Rain

Newly Mowed Hay

Baked Desserts

Spicy Foods

 

[Hadassah]

Yes! I always smell things! Mostly things that are paper (books are lovely, old or new) or plastic I get kicks out of it, haha.

 

[jimited]

Some smells make me feel ill such as new car smell and vanilla air freshners and many others. I usually smell things way before any body else and people often think I'm crazy such as when I was at college I used to buy milk and on five occasions I could smell it was off but no one else would believe me! and another occasion someone on my course stunk of bonfire and I pointed it out to him and he asked everyone if they could smell it and no one could, it turned out he had a bonfire over a week previous to this and I think I freaked him out and made him paranoid that he smells lol!!

 

[ghoulbler]

The smell in the air after a summer rain

The smell of rain is actually from the plants that release oils into the air whenever it rains. This is called petrichor. It's a defense mechanism for plants. I thought this was interesting information.

I always have to smell anything before I eat/drink it. Even water.

Whenever I'm distressed I smell Myrrh oil for a while. Either that or ground up coffee beans.

I like the smell of Autumn air. It's crisp. I close my eyes and think of the word "crisp" and I can smell the smell of Autumn even when it's not Autumn.

A lot of memories come along with smells, smells make me think of very specific things and vice versa.

 

[Maathematics]

My sense of smell is easily my most developed sense. When I used to eat meat: If I had even passed within proximity of a butcher shop, and I was fed cooked meat bought from that shop, I could identify the butcher shop that meat had come from because I could smell the trace scent of the cleaning chemicals used by that butchery in the meat.

I love all natural smells. all perfumes smell like room freshener to me...

 

[Thea]

I love the smell of Daphne flowers, clear crisp winter mornings, sun warmed flowers, vanilla, chocolate, wood smoke, eucalyptus, sheets fresh from the dryer, ironing clean fabric, some of the gentler colognes (when people aren't bathing in them) and our cat. For some reason she smells almost like she wears perfume. I love when I put on my onesie and it smells like her. I really (REALLY) dislike banana and cigarette smoke. I also don't like coconut and raw tomato. I have a really over sensitive sense of smell and if smells are too strong it doesn't matter how pleasant I usually find them. People who wear awful deodorants and colognes and too much of them thinking it will disguise the smell of sour sweat because they haven't bathed really bother me.

 

[ExplosiveTMT]

I like the smell of sizzling bacon.

 

[Andrew_Collins]

Some smells make me feel ill such as new car smell

I agree i hate all that new plastic makes me want to be sick.

 

[Andrew_Collins]

I love the smell of my guinea pigs head also fresh limes. Also i love most bars of soap.