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Writer's pictureJudith May Tamayo

An Olfactory Diary (Inspired by "Perfume")


1. A disturbing body oder secreted specifically from boys:

I smelled this oder Friday night when I passed my brothers room. He had just gotten home from practice, so he had an unsettling scent of body oder. I didn't have any significant memories from this smell, except for the other thousand times that I passed his room, but this scent made me feel a certain way. After passing, I felt grossed out and I wanted to find protection in the scents of my own room.


2. The earthy smell of rain:

I smelled this oder on Friday when it came down pouring in the middle of the day. However, I smelled the smell just before the rain fell. I remember I said "it smells like rain," and then the drizzles came down. When I smell rain, I remember a time when I was younger where I walked outside and it was just after a shower of rain. The scent was so intense and beautiful that I just stood there for a few minutes taking in the smell.


3. Sugary, warm hot chocolate:

Saturday morning I just received a package of K-cups, and the flavors consisted of mocha and hot chocolate. That night I was craving a chocolatey flavor, so I chose to brew the hot chocolate. One the chocolatey liquid came out of the Keurig machine, I automatically smelled the scent of the sugary substance. This scent reminded me of a time when I was in Canada and I had just gotten a cup of hot chocolate from Tim Hortons. Thinking about this resulted in me feeling happy and calm.


4. A strong flowery perfume:

On Saturday night, I passed this girl at prom that had a pungent, sharp, flowery perfume spayed all over her outfit. The smell was almost too strong that it was disturbing. No memories really came to mind, but my thought process at that moment was disturbed and I couldn't stop thinking about the smell, only until a few minutes after the encounter.


5. Cinnamon scented candle:

On Saturday night, I decided to light a cinnamon scented candle to make my room smell more pleasant. However, this candle was new so I didn't know what the smell would smell like. Once I lit it though, a scent emerged that reminded me of spicy cinnamon gum, and it brought me back to a time when I was younger where I ate one of these cinnamon flavored gums, and ended up spitting it out because it was too hot. I ended up blowing out the candle.


6. Coconuts and olive oil:

On Saturday night, I decided to wash my hair. So I went though my normal routine of putting shampoo and conditioner in it, and then blowdrying it after. However, before I blow-dried my hair, I decided to put this new product in my hair that was supposed to keep my hair healthy and strong. However, once I rubbed the product through my hair and smelled the scent, I was surprised to smell the scent of coconuts and olive oil. This scent pleased me and I felt happy after knowing that my hair smelled good.


7. Burnt cookies:

On Sunday morning, I decided to make cookies in my kitchen. So I went thought the normal process of making the dough, putting it all on a pan, and then popping it into the oven. However, I later continued other mornin routines and ended up completely forgetting about the cookies. Moments into doing other activities, I smelled the scent of burnt cookies which made me suddenly remember about them and I ran to the oven and took them out immediately. The edges and tops of the cookies were black by this time, so this incident and smell didn't make me feel too good about myself since I just wasted food.


8. Oil:

At noon on Sunday, I decided to drive to Costco to refill the gas in my car. So once I got to the gas station and out the car, the scent of oil hit my face like strong punch. I don't really like the smell of oil, so the feeling of urgency and rush took over my mind. I didn't want to smell the scent any longer, so I just wanted to get in and out of the gas station. I always feel disturbed when I smell oil, so I was just reminded of all the other times that I was disturbed when I smelled this smell.


9. Newly manufactured clothing:

On Sunday at noon, I received a package of clothing from an online shopping cite that I ordered clothes from a few days back. When I opened of the box and unwrapped the packages of clothes, I could automatically smell the scent of ink and the smell of a factory. I put the clothes to my nose and tried to decide whether I liked the scent or not. I ended up throwing the clothes into the wash because I decided that the smell wasn't pleasing. This unpleasant scent didn't really make me recall any memories or feel any type of way. After smelling it, I was just hoping that the scent would go away after it came out of the wash.


10. Fish and tater tots:

On Sunday night, my mom decided to cook fish and tater tots for dinner. The smell first crept into my room from the kitchen, and this smell summoned me outside where I later asked my mom in the kitchen when it would be done. The smell was so decadent and compelling that I felt exited and impatient at the same time. In this moment, I remembered a time where I was at my grandma's house and she was cooking the same type of fish, and I was as exited to eat it as I was now.

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