Buzz
"Every city, let me teach you, has its own fragrance." These words from E. M. Forster's A Room With A View have always resonated with me. As a hobbyist perfumer, I am endlessly captivated by scent—especially the ones that hold the stories of the past.
It was a rare and treasured bottle of the 1905 perfume, L'Origan, that sparked my passion for this hobby. When I opened the package it had arrived in, I was immediately enveloped in the fragrance that once led a reporter to declare: "All Paris smells of L'Origan!" The perfume had leaked slightly, and I was consumed by ecstasy. I was inhaling the same scent that people from long ago had experienced. The creators of this fragrance are now just echoes in the history books... but their legacy lives on in me.
From that moment on, perfume and the scents of the world became my all-consuming passion. I sought out the rarest and most unusual perfumes and ingredients, creating my own blends. I even shared many of my perfume formulas online. I dedicated myself entirely to understanding odor: its psychological impact on us and the profound influence it has over our memories.
At 16, my first trip to Europe left an indelible mark on me. But it wasn’t the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace, or the Venetian canals that lingered in my mind long after the journey—it was the ordinary, everyday elements of life: the things that locals hardly notice—the hues of road markings and signage, the posters in shop windows, the regional snacks, and above all, the sounds and smells that defined the place.
And that brings us to this compilation. Here you'll find a collection of ten notable places, things, and the smells that define them. Be warned, some of the content may be unsettling.
Afterword: I'm pleased to share that in 2022, I made the leap from hobbyist to professional and launched Frater Perfumes, a luxury perfume house.
10. Space
Space, by definition, is a vacuum, and therefore, it shouldn't have a scent. Yet, it does. In the very heart of the galaxy, there's a massive cloud of sweet, fruity rum-scented gas (this compound is known as Ethyl Formate). The reason for its presence? Nobody knows. Astronauts have reported other space odors that are reminiscent of food, with some describing it as sulfuric and meaty. Another astronaut, Thomas Jones, shared: "When you repressurize the airlock and remove your suit, there’s a distinct smell of ozone, a faint acrid scent, [...] similar to burnt gunpowder or the ozone of electrical equipment."
International Space Station Science Officer, Don Pettit, had his own unique take: "The best way I can describe it is metallic; a sweet, pleasant metallic sensation. It took me back to my college summers when I spent hours with an arc welding torch, repairing heavy machinery for a small logging crew. It reminded me of the sweet-smelling welding fumes. That is the scent of space."
Clearly, in a vacuum, there's nothing to smell directly, but millions of particles are floating about that do have their own scents. These aromas become noticeable when they cling to the suits worn by astronauts or enter through the airlocks. Interestingly, NASA has attempted to recreate these smells on Earth for astronaut training purposes.
9. Various Planets
Since we're discussing outer space, let's talk about the planets. By studying the chemical makeup of their atmospheres, we can make educated guesses about the odors that might be present on each planet.
Venus has the unmistakable smell of rotten eggs due to the clouds of sulfuric acid in its atmosphere. Likewise, the presence of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide is responsible for the similar odors on Mars and Uranus.
Jupiter: Due to the varying chemical composition at different layers of its atmosphere, the scent you experience depends on where you are. Some layers may give off the pleasant smell of bitter almonds, caused by hydrogen cyanide, while other layers—closer to the top—carry the harsh, ammonia-like smell (think cleaning products). Interestingly, the almond scent from cyanide is naturally found in flowers like jasmine in the harmless form of benzyl cyanide.
The remaining planets mostly lack a distinct scent due to their atmospheres being composed primarily of odorless gases.
8. Death
When a person approaches death, one of the most common odors released is that of acetone, the fruity-smelling chemical commonly used in nail polish remover. In certain cases, this may be accompanied by less pleasant smells arising from the specific illness the individual is suffering from.
Once death occurs, the body begins to decompose, and a series of appropriately named chemicals start to appear: cadaverine and putrescine are the first, and as their names imply, they emit the smell of decaying flesh and rot! Why do our bodies release these chemicals? Some believe it’s an evolutionary trait designed to signal danger, triggering a fight or flight response in humans.
Other chemicals also make their way out: hydrogen sulfide smells like rotten eggs; skatole like feces; methanethiol like decaying cabbage; and dimethyl sulfide like garlic. A truly revolting mix of stinky vapors. Would you be surprised to learn that these same substances are used as food additives and even appear in many perfumes? A touch of unpleasantness can bring life to an otherwise sterile blend of ingredients. In nature, these foul-smelling substances are found in flowers to lure insects—and in a similar way, they seem to attract us too.
7. Versailles Palace
To begin with, the infamous Queen Marie Antoinette of France never uttered the words “let them eat cake!” I feel compelled to mention this because almost every website now parrots the historical myth we debunked back in 2007. While the internet has since spread this fact, it's worth repeating for the benefit of a new audience.
Queen Marie, along with her husband King Louis XVI, resided in the magnificent Palace of Versailles. It's a stunning place that I highly recommend you visit when you're in France. We often imagine that life there was filled with delightful perfumes, pastries, princes, and fashionable hairdos, but what we rarely think about are the other two 'p's: piss and poop. Plumbing in the 18th century was quite rudimentary, and Versailles had minimal facilities (flush toilets were available only in the royal apartments). So, when nature called, the main solution was a small porcelain pot called a bourdaloue. With no underwear to speak of, women would simply lift their skirts and take care of business (as shown in the image above). Given the size of the palace, people sometimes found themselves caught off guard, and in those moments, any quiet corner would do. After all, the servants would handle the cleanup. Coupled with the smoke from struggling chimneys and overworked staff, the grand Palace of Versailles was, at times, a rather smelly place.
The historic French candle maker, Cire Trudon, has crafted a candle that captures the scent of Versailles’ floors, which they describe as follows: “this regal perfume radiates vapors of wax, candelabra, and palace. A sumptuous trail of incense weaves through a tapestry of coniferous trees, cut with solar rays of citrus fruits.” To truly experience the authentic palace smell, however, you'll need to add your own 'p's. The candle's scent is subtle and remarkably elegant, and it’s available for the rather hefty price of $100 on Amazon.
6. The Roman Colosseum
Spectators at the Roman Colosseum were treated to an immense variety of shows, from brutal gladiator battles to wild animal hunts featuring exotic creatures. Later on, during the Christian persecutions, Christians were also executed in the Colosseum, often torn apart by savage beasts.
However, the Roman people were somewhat sensitive and found the smell of blood unpleasant. To mitigate this, the Colosseum employed a clever trick. Above the heads of the spectators was a large awning, known as the velarium, which shielded them from the sun and kept rain at bay. Additionally, cleverly hidden tubes would spray perfumed water over the awning to not only mask the smell of death but also to cool and refresh the audience. Fountains in the form of statues further enhanced the air with fragrant water. The key ingredients in this perfume were saffron and verbena, the latter of which has recently been banned by the European Union for use in products that come into contact with human skin.
5. Drugs
For millennia, humans have used drugs in their natural forms. It wasn’t until the 19th and 20th centuries that we began to be persuaded by pharmaceutical companies to abandon natural substances in favor of synthesized medications. Most people would likely fail to recognize the scent of a drug if it were to hit them in the face, except perhaps marijuana, as many have inhaled it at least once. Here’s a brief list of common drugs and their associated odors:
Opium: When smoked, opium carries a sweet, slightly burnt marshmallow-like aroma.
Heroin: When heroin is burned, it emits a pungent, strong odor resembling vinegar. The higher the quality of the heroin, the less pronounced the scent, though all types will have some degree of this smell. This vinegar-like aroma arises because heroin is made from opium using a process that leaves vinegar as a byproduct. It is this vinegar scent that drug-sniffing dogs are trained to detect.
Cocaine: The distinctive smell of cocaine comes from methyl benzoate, a floral compound that gives tuberose its rich fragrance and imparts a unique taste to feijoas. Along with vinegar, drug dogs are trained to detect this chemical.
Methamphetamine: Both meth and crack have a smell resembling burnt plastic mixed with the scent of cleaning products like glass cleaner. Chronic use can also lead to the person’s skin taking on the scent of ammonia. Quite a delightful combination.
4. The Titanic
In the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, the massive Titanic, torn in two, sank to its resting place on the ocean floor. More than 1,300 lives were lost that fateful night.
Upon boarding the Titanic, the first scents that greeted passengers were fresh varnish, paint, and newly sawn wood. At the time, paint still contained lead and high amounts of linseed oil. The air was also thick with smoke from the coal-driven engines, and on that tragic evening, the delightful aromas of roasted duck, lamb, and beef filled the air, all part of the first-class menu.
In the same year, the renowned French perfume house Guerlain released L'Heure Bleue (the bluish hour): "velvety soft and romantic, it is a fragrance of bluish dusk and anticipation of night, before the first stars appear in the sky." This expensive and highly sought-after fragrance was undoubtedly worn by many women aboard the Titanic's first-class deck. It can still be purchased today, and its scent undeniably evokes the atmosphere of that ill-fated night.
However, at 11pm on April 14th, 1912, a new scent began to permeate the air: a mineral smell with a metallic edge. It was the scent of the iceberg. Much like how ice in a freezer absorbs the odors of surrounding foods, icebergs also take on the smells from their environment. Sea-dwelling creatures and the chemical makeup of the surrounding water contribute to this unique aroma. While detecting the faintly metallic odor of ice may not have prevented the tragedy, it could have potentially increased the survival rate. The iceberg believed to have struck the Titanic is pictured, with traces of the ship’s paint still visible on it.
3. Sanctity
Some saints have a distinct smell. Known as the "odor of sanctity" (Osmogenesia, or Odore di santità in Italian), this scent is the opposite of the sulfurous stench of death. The fragrance varies depending on the saint. For some, it emerges after death, often accompanying their incorruptibility, while others exude a sweet aroma during their lifetime. In some cases, sweet-smelling liquids seep from the saint’s tomb. A particularly remarkable example is that of St. Simeon Stylites (died A.D. 459), who lived atop a pillar for 37 years, his skin rotting beneath the mortifications he wore. Despite this, he was said to emit a scent of perfume. Sadly, the pillar on which he stood was destroyed by a missile in Aleppo in 2016.
What does the odor of sanctity actually smell like? Almost universally, it is described as a sweet fragrance, with hints of honey, butter, roses, violets, frankincense, myrrh, pipe tobacco, jasmine, and lilies. Accompanying this sweetness is a sense that the scent transcends the earthly realm. In the 2nd Century, St. Polycarp's body, while burning at the stake, was said to fill the air with the scent of incense. Similarly, St. Therese of Lisieux (whose incorrupt body, preserved with a thin layer of wax, is pictured above) emitted the fragrance of roses, lilies, and violets. The wounds of stigmata are also often said to carry this divine odor.
2. The Holocaust
In 1942, the Nazi regime disbanded the Jewish Ghettos, and mass deportations by train began. There were no breaks for restroom needs, and the sick had no care beyond one bucket in the corner, which quickly became unusable. The entire journey from the city to the concentration camps was soaked in the stench of vomit, feces, and urine. The most unpleasant aspects of humanity’s animal nature were evident, both inside and outside the trains.
For those in the camps who witnessed the cremation of bodies, the smell was unlike anything they had ever encountered. While cooking meat for consumption gives off the typical scent of searing flesh, burning a human body produces a distinct and repulsive odor. The smell would have been a mix of beef-like flesh and pork-like fat, accompanied by the acrid scent of sulfur from burning hair and nails, a coppery metallic smell from blood and iron-rich organs, and the sickly sweet musky odor of burning spinal fluid. It was a smell so overpowering it felt almost tangible.
The aftermath of these horrors was equally haunting. When American GIs arrived to liberate the camps, they reported that the stench hit them long before they saw the camp itself. One Private recalled, 'The smell covered the entire countryside...for miles around.' Disease, including typhus, dysentery, and tuberculosis, ran rampant. The crematories had been in constant operation. As one soldier described, 'The stench of death and piles of human excrement was overpowering.'
1. Ancient Egyptian Temples
I’ve always had an intense fascination with Ancient Egypt. As a teenager, I devoured any book I could find on the subject. I taught myself the basics of hieroglyphics, memorized the names of all the gods, and even dreamed of one day moving to Egypt to restore the great Pharaonic dynasties of the past. My aspiration to become the next King of Egypt never materialized, but my love for this ancient civilization has never waned. Admittedly, I still haven’t made the trip there yet.
If you've ever stepped into a Catholic Church, you're likely familiar with the fragrance of frankincense and myrrh—two key ingredients in the incense most commonly used there. The Ancient Egyptians also burned these same resins in their temples, so upon entering an Egyptian temple, you’d have been greeted by the rich aroma of incense. Similar to our churches, the Egyptians adorned their temples with flowers, particularly lotus blossoms and various marsh plants and reeds. The lotus has an intensely sweet, fruit-like fragrance, while the marsh plants contributed an earthy scent of water and mud. Additionally, you might have detected the floral notes of jasmine, with its peculiar, fecal undertone of indole, the sweet fragrance of blooming roses, and the pungent smell of fresh mandrake, which resembled dried tobacco.
Another likely scent in the temple would be that of food offerings to the gods—freshly baked bread and roasted meats. The air would have been redolent of these hearty aromas, evoking a feeling akin to a festive Christmas in a rural village. During certain times of the year, milk, herbs, and vegetables would have been presented as offerings, and over time, these would have contributed a faintly sour and rotten smell to the atmosphere.
What a perfect blend of scents would have enveloped this sacred space! All the natural aromas of life coming together in one place. Imagine it further enriched by the solemn chants of the priests, the distant calls of exotic animals kept as pets, and the musical sounds of street beggars, creating a truly vivid and immersive portrait of life in Ancient Egypt.
