With the rage of celebrity fragrance past its peak, manufacturers have been seeking other novel methods of marketing perfumes in their pursuit to promote new scents. Now smell this, and hold onto your delicate olfactory senses and tender noses, as we dive into the weird and wacky aromatic world of peculiar perfumes.
Flame, a body spray for men produced by the famous fast-food chain Burger King was launched earlier this week, and being sold at a New York restaurant and online at their appropriately named website, firemeetsdesire.com.
Touted as a gift idea for the meat-loving man who has everything — barbecue-scented cologne — Flame is being promoted as “the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat.”
Sniffing out an opportunity in the marketplace, a manufacturer in Egypt developed a men’s fragrance which was designed to smell like cigarettes, while the Stilton Cheesemakers’ Association in the UK commissioned a women’s scent to promote its famous cheese. Presented in a glass bottle with a marbled appearance similar to that of blue cheese, the company claims the scent is wearable and doesn’t smell quite as bad as a block of cheese, but mimics its earthy aroma.
Weird Scents provides free samples of their unique (to say the least) novelty scented unisex colognes in fragrances such as Grease Monkey, Money, Burning Rubber, and Boiled Crawfish which are in testing stages.
They claim the scents aren’t just for people, but can be used on objects to imbue the item with a long lasting fragrant scent to make them smell good — or bad, depending upon your perspective. The catch? You’re asked to tell them what exactly you think about them once you’ve tested them out.
L’Artisan Parfumeur has Dzing! designed to smell of the circus — the aroma of the great cats, the sawdust in the ring and the leather whip, but critics have claimed this is false, stating that it smells like a new fur coat that has been rubbed with a very creamy mint toothpaste. Not gel. Paste.
Bored with the usual ways in which you can use your DNA - cellular repair or forensic identification? My DNA has a scent just for you — you do the usual buccal swab DNA collection at home, send it in, and get an exclusive fragrance created for you.
Blotter stripes used for designing perfume
Demeter Fragrance carries a plethora of bizarre and oddball scents including Black Pepper (we already know what happens when one accidentally inhales a healthy dose of this spice) and Play-Doh for ”Those fresh-from-the-can, full-of-potenial, childhood memories.” The wide range weird of fragrances offered also include:
Clean Windows
You know how it smells right after you have finished cleaning glass and it’s squeaky clean? Well, it’s like that moment captured in a bottle.
Dirt
Made to smell exactly like the dirt from the fields around the Pennsylvania family farm.
Dust
Based upon the more typical fine bits of fabric or dirt that give off a familiar and ‘comfortable’ odor.
Earthworm
Said to be a deeper, darker, richer version of Dirt, reflecting not the worm itself, but where it lives, deep in moist soil, on the floor of a forest covered with decomposing leaves.
Fireplace
Capturing a small part of this tradition with the wonderful, cozy comforting scent of the fireplace on a cold winter’s eve, it smells exactly like your sweater after sitting for hours in front of a wood fire.
Fresh Hay
The smell of fresh cut hay on a hot summer day.
Funeral Home
Demeter describes it as smelling like a funeral — a blend of classic white flowers: lilies, carnations, gladiolus, chrysanthemums with stems and leaves, with a hint of mahogany and oriental carpet.
Holy Water
When Demeter came out with their Holy Water scent, New York Magazine wrote that Madonna had been approached to do a scent with this name, which was apparently too sacrilegious even for her. The designer describes their controversial scent as providing good memories of church — the porcelain font, ozone scented water, and oak scented pew.
Laundromat
In celebration of the anniversary of the invention of the first Laundromat in Fort Worth, Texas, Demeter says their version of Laundromat cologne is the cleanest scent they know.
Lobster
Not for the faint of heart and probably their most obtuse fragrance, the cologne is a combination of the sea, sweet meat, and a hint of drawn butter.
Mildew
Inspired by the mildewy smell of first turning air conditioners in spring.
Paint
Apparently just as the name implies, the smell of drying paint.
Paperback Books
Like a dusty old copy of a novel, your home can always smell like your favorite first edition classic book — this scent is sweet and just a touch musty.
Pipe Tobacco
A rich, deep, moist, and pungent fragrance, with touches of both sweetness and spice — everything you could ask for from a fine tobacco accord. In reminiscence of dear old dad, the designer also has Whiskey Tobacco cologne.
Poison Ivy
Demeter thought it was high time Poison Ivy gave people something better than a rash, so they decided to capture the great, fresh smell of Poison Ivy without the itching and scratching.
Swimming Pool
Swimming Pool is the lingering memory of the pool water on the skin, to savor the Summer, anywhere, anytime.
Stable
Fresh Hay, muck, and sweet animal sweat — that’s as real as it gets.
Vinyl
The smell of vinyl seats from 1970’s, or a sort of PVC jacket from the same era. The company notes that because they don’t chill and filter their fragrances, the cologne will have flakes or precipitate in it, a natural byproduct of mixing this unnatural fragrance oil into an alcohol base.
