Statistically Favorite Scent

[elbow]

This is a really interesting topic, and it started me thinking. (Uh-oh). I'm a real computer idiot, can't to spreadsheets and things like that, but I broke my wish lists down into 4. Things I want to try, things I've tried and was OK with, things I've tried and hated, and things I've tried and loved. Only 5 scents have made it onto my Need a Bottle list: Bathsheba, Uruk, Obatala, Sea of Glass, and Paramatman. And that's the problem! They seem to have absolutely nothing in common! Does anybody see something I'm missing? I'm just baffled!

 

(I'd add the descriptions, but that's computer magic that's beyond me. Off the cuff, what I remember is:

 

Bathsheba-Carnation, plum and musk

Uruk-Almonds, saffron and jasmine

Obatala-Coconut meat, shea butter, and fresh water

Sea of Glass-no notes listed, but I get Lilies

Paramatman-Orange blossom, sandalwood and champaca

 

Well, variety is good! But even though these blends don't have notes in common, one can still make observations like: you're clearly comfortable with a range of florals, you like scents that are clean and fresh with a hint of warmth, you favor blends that are "pretty" without being overly femme-y.

 

You start to see clearer patterns when you add more data. Keep trying stuff and adding it to your lists, and give them another look a year from now -- it's amazing how much you can learn! In the meantime, a look at your "tried and hated" list may also give some helpful clues about your tastes.

[rix]

Hey, thanks for the help, guys! I appreciate it. So I started listing, not just the 5 bottles I want, but the the 9 bottles I actually own, to see if I could isolate some notes I like. At first I thought it seemed like I like blends that are 3-5 ingredients, strong and simple, like Aristocratic Couple, The Wet Nurse and the Old Monk, and Our Hearts Condemn Us. But then I noticed the ringers, the complicated ones, with 6-12 individual notes, like June 23,1868, Serpents with Glittering Eyes and Forky Tongues, and Sol Invictus 2000. (2000? Am I reading that right?!!? It was one of the first bottles I bought.) 6-12 different notes- florals, fruits, woods, spices and incense. And there's still not much in common between them:

 

2 Frankincense 3 Lilies

2 Musks 3 Sandalwoods

2 Champaca 3 Vanillas

2 Orange Blossoms

 

So this is surprising! I LOVE vanilla and coconut, but only have 3 and 1, respectively, and I don't find any of the vanillas to be particularly strong, not that I'd notice it. I've always liked woods and incense, so that's not new, but I didn't know I liked lilies so much, or orange blossoms at all. I've always liked fruit, peach and apricot especially, but while I loved it in Aristocratic Couple, I hated in in Depraved. I like sandalwood, I like rose, and I like patchouli, but Rakshasa just did not work, and that's the only 3 notes in it. I'm not even sure what champaca is, (some kind of incense-y wood?) but I seem to like it!

 

Going by the numbers, 9-5 in favor of the simpler blends, I think Paramatman is my perfect scent, since it only has 3 notes (Orange Blossom, Sandalwood, and Champaca), and all 3 are on the recurring list. It did blow me away at first scent, so, maybe.

 

So I guess I'm going to be staying up late, making notes on ...notes!

 

Oh, for completists...the other 3 bottles I own are Ask the Nearest Hippie, A Forest Reverie and In Templum Dei, which at least are consistent in having a hemp/cannabis head shoppy scent, opium smoke and smoky liquidambar. My Evil Twin must be a pothead!

Edited November 22, 2015 by nekan

[sprout]

I want to do this analysis because I see it will have good predictive value for blind bottles and guessing which scents will be winners. In part I'm a little worried about taking the magic out of the smellies or unintentionally excluding blends that would unexpectedly work.

 

That being said, I'm going to do this anyway. I've noticed that I seem to have a bimodal predilection for scents, first type is crystalline, musky and cold; second type warm, spicy, resinous and sweet. I wonder if this will skew my results or perhaps reveal a common denominator?

[elbow]

nekan: Keep in mind that a notes list is not an ingredients list. There is more to these blends than Beth sees fit to spell out for us. So this kind of analysis is not an exact science, by any means.

 

sprout: "Bimodal predilection" is a wonderful phrase.

[lady_pandora]

It is, and I'm bimodal too! I seem to have at least two big categories, which I might overgeneralize into Spicy Vanilla and Incensey Rose, and then I have some randoms that don't fit either category, and sometimes they appeal to me because they're like nothing else I own. And you can put a little citrus with either category too.

[Klepz]

This is such a great idea! I'm going to hit my spreadsheet and can't wait to see what I find. Not only will it tide me over until Yules are released, but maybe it will help me narrow down my Yule purchase

[Klepz]

 

Sugar: 12

Vanilla: 12

 

Cream or Milk: 7

 

Cake: 5

Clove: 5

 

Amber: 4

Chocolate: 4

Cinnamon: 4

Incense: 4

Nutmeg: 4

White Musk: 4

 

Blackberry: 3

Coconut: 3

Honey: 3

Ginger: 3

Patchouli: 3

Pumpkin: 3

Saffron: 3

Tea: 3

 

It's interesting that woods and resins don't show up, because when I first started trying BPAL in 2009, I gravitated toward incense, dark musks, woods, etc.

 

I guess this categorizes as.. milky spices.

 

[freyasfae]

 

I've been trying to figure out why I've been getting some pretty "meh" imps lately. They're not bad, just not for me. I typically go for scents that sound just lovely in the description, but then I noticed that imps in my favorites pile didn't sound exciting on paper but I adore them just the same. So I put it to the test.

 

I took all the descriptors from my top 40 scents and tallied the notes.

 

What I came up with was totally surprising! I would have sworn up and down that I had more ozone. And all that vanilla??

Note # Of Appearances on Favorites List (>2)

Vanilla 11

Red Musk 5

Tea (Green, Black etc.) 5

Amber 4

Black Currant 4

Orange, Mandarin etc. 4

Milk and Cream Descriptors 4

Honey 4

Balsam, Rosewood, Oakwood etc. 4

Honeysuckle 3

Leather 3

Lemon 3

Lily 3

Marine 3

Neroli 3

Ozone 3

Plum 3

White Musk 3

Of course, this is just how often the word is mentioned. For instance, a lot of scents had only a hint of vanilla. I can't think of many that I have that are dominant vanilla (bahaha, dominant vanilla! )

(Also noted, because I'm a nerd and I can't stop myself, favorites are still a selected group from descriptions that sounded good originally. It's possible that there are notes out there that I never ever would have considered that are fantastic for me. The word "note" doesn't even look like a word at this point.)

Based on this, does anyone have recommendations? It would be greatly appreciated

I know a lot of you like to use the excel spreadsheets too Anyone else try this out?

 

 

I know I have found my people when they use spreadsheets to figure out their favorite scents. I just started my BPAL journey, received my first order of imps in November, and just ordered some ole Yules from Etsy BECAUSE I CANNOT WAIT AND I MUST SMELL THE YULES! Now, I am going to have start a spreadsheet...

[Klepz]

 

I know I have found my people when they use spreadsheets to figure out their favorite scents. I just started my BPAL journey, received my first order of imps in November, and just ordered some ole Yules from Etsy BECAUSE I CANNOT WAIT AND I MUST SMELL THE YULES! Now, I am going to have start a spreadsheet...

 

 

Ooooh welcome!! BPAL Spreadsheets are an art form. It's good to start right away! I had to retroactively create my spreadsheet 4 months after I started BPAL (typing that out made it look like I started taking a drug ) and it wasn't easy to remember everything.

[freyasfae]

 

 

I know I have found my people when they use spreadsheets to figure out their favorite scents. I just started my BPAL journey, received my first order of imps in November, and just ordered some ole Yules from Etsy BECAUSE I CANNOT WAIT AND I MUST SMELL THE YULES! Now, I am going to have start a spreadsheet...

 

 

Ooooh welcome!! BPAL Spreadsheets are an art form. It's good to start right away! I had to retroactively create my spreadsheet 4 months after I started BPAL (typing that out made it look like I started taking a drug ) and it wasn't easy to remember everything.

 

 

Well, the screw the rest of my workday. *Opens up Google Sheets.*

[lycaenide]

I know its all about the blending, rather than the individual notes, but I still really like this idea and think it's pretty cool! I tried it with all of the perfumes that I currently own that I love and found this:

 

Tonka/Vanilla x5

Dark Fruits x3

Honeysuckle/Jasmine x3

Sandalwood x3

Cinnamon/clove/nutmeg x2

Geranium x2

Green tea x2

Leather x2

Myrrh x2

Patchouli x2

Rose x2

Sage x2

 

I already knew that I loved vanilla and tonka scents, and honeysuckle/jasmine type smells, so I'm not surprised they came up frequently. But some of the others surprise me - I thought I hated patchouli and sandalwood! And I had no idea that the perfumes I like included sage, myrrh, geranium or cupboard spice smells.

 

I'm still really new to BPAL, so if anyone could recommend any scents based on these notes that would be fantastic! :')

 

Edit: Oh and as far as categorising, I just realised that my scents basically skew towards warm vanilla smokey smells or light florals with a bit of tea or citrus.

Edited December 8, 2015 by lycaenide

[madscientistdh]

These are the notes that came up more than once among my top 12 favorites.

Musks- 8 (red, blood, skin, sexual, egyptian, white)
Dragon's Blood-3
Patchouli- 3
Myrrh- 3
Rose/Rosewood- 3
Tea- 3
Myrtle- 2

Leather- 2
Herbs-2

Amber-2
Honey-2
Pear- 2

Vanilla- only one?? What?

I'm surprised there aren't more foody-clean ones on this list, to be honest.

[bitterstar]

Oh wow you guys inspired me to fool around with spreadsheets!

 

The only real surprise for me was how many times "woods" (of various types) was listed as a predominant note in my favorite scent. I know I like woodsy, earthy scents but it came up a lot.

 

Woods: 10

Rose: 9

Musk: 7

Saffron: 6

Orange blossom/neroli: 6

Vanilla: 5

Coconut: 4

Carnation: 4

 

Frankincense, Sandalwood, Bergamot, Honey and "Incense" showed up three times each.

[russetfox]

I am gonna have to find an easier way to list notes to somehow figure this out. I don't have a lot of favorites just yet as I am brand new, but to make a tally and figure out fav notes for future orders would be awesome. I have like 124 (41 pending) oils to categorize and test... and that does not count whatever frimps I get from pending orders... I drove off the deep end and am now gonna hang myself with spread sheets....

[LizziesLuck]

I am gonna have to find an easier way to list notes to somehow figure this out. I don't have a lot of favorites just yet as I am brand new, but to make a tally and figure out fav notes for future orders would be awesome. I have like 124 (41 pending) oils to categorize and test... and that does not count whatever frimps I get from pending orders... I drove off the deep end and am now gonna hang myself with spread sheets....

 

Do you already have a copy of the BPAL spreadsheet of doom, or are you trying to make your own? I would be lost without my BPAL spreadsheet, and I would not want to try to make one myself from scratch! link here if you don't already have one.

[russetfox]

Mine is from scratch, it is the google link and I have made good use of this forum and copy and paste If I attempt to use that sheet of doom it will be my doom as I try and collect anything and everything I can, but I just got in this and am focusing on the present and future with minor journeys into the recent past.

Edited December 29, 2015 by russetfox

[kajacana]

I love this idea!
I'm not organized (or patient!) enough to figure out the stats for my whole collection, but I thought of 15 favorites off the top of my head and tallied up the notes in those. I wasn't very precise... I know there are differences in types of amber, types of musk, types of milk, etc., but for the sake of this experiment I just lumped them all together.

In order of frequency, out of 15 oils, here are the notes that appear more than once:

Amber: 6
Cream/Milk: 6
Musk: 6

Vanilla: 5

Sugar: 3
Patchouli: 3
Coconut: 3

 

Oudh: 2
Tea: 2
Water: 2
Wood/Bark: 2
Rum: 2


Very interesting!

My list leans craaaaazy gourmand, which is not at all a surprise.
I'm kind of shocked that patchouli shows up three times (Sumatran red in So Below, aged in Mary Read, white in Edith Cushing -- so all over the map there).

[Ashinros]

I have a personal spreadsheet of my inventory and wishlist. This was pretty fun to do!

 

Musk (mostly Musk, Red, White) - 15

Trees (all sorts) - 13

Teas (all types) - 8

Rose (all types) - 8

Vanilla - 8

Lemon - 8

Sandalwood (mostly Red and White) - 7

Honey - 6

Mint - 5

Carnation - 4

Bergamot - 4

Opium, Ozone, Mandarin, Orange - 3

 

Kindof a surprise, but good to know! I kindof knew teas would be pretty high, but I had no idea there were so many trees in my favorites 0w 0

[Lucide]

Interesting idea! I compared the notes of all the bottles that I own (23).

 

Vanilla - 10

Patchouli - 6

Spices - 5

Sugar - 4

Coconut - 4

Amber - 4

Ginger - 4

Wood/trees - 4

Honey - 4

Lemon/lime - 4

Cream - 3

[kajacana]

Interesting idea! I compared the notes of all the bottles that I own (23).

 

Vanilla - 10

Patchouli - 6

Spices - 5

Sugar - 4

Coconut - 4

Amber - 4

Ginger - 4

Wood/trees - 4

Honey - 4

Lemon/lime - 4

Cream - 3

Hey, we are really similar!!!

Ginger and honey didn't show up in my list, but I love those too (though pure honey tends to go baby powder on me, and I do better with things like honeycomb or honey mead).

[elbow]

So, if anyone is tempted to take this deeper down the rabbit hole... here's a screenshot of how I track this stuff. Every new scent, once tested, gets logged under each note it contains, in the column that best describes my experience with it. I've found it really fun to put together and see patterns develop, not to mention very useful when trying to remember which notes I've had good experiences with. This first segment looks fairly ambiguous, but farther down the list, there are notes it's very clear that I like (Benzoin!) and dislike (Jasmine!).

 

Edited December 29, 2015 by elbow

[freyasfae]

I am currently on Winter Break and have been spending each morning testing like crazy and taking lots of notes. I have found that breaking down by stats isn't all that helpful for me because blending makes such a difference. For example, I thought I didn't like jasmine, but one of my favorite scents, Wilde, has jasmine. After some testing, I realized it really depends on what jasmine is blended with, AND I tend to like night-blooming jasmine which is actually not a jasmine and in a totally different family (in the potato family as opposed to jasmine which is in the olive family). I did learn I generally can't stand honeysuckle, especially in combination with jasmine. I have also learned I really like dirt smells which was news to me.

[russetfox]

Took me a good bit, but I ranked 16 of my stash, two of that are not actually skin tested and ranked low anyway, but in my top liked oils, I have leather, red musk, myrrh, and various floral. I need to learn better control of excel/google doc, the ranking and tracking would be a lot easier if I could properly make use of macros.

[octic]

Vanilla: 15

Non-rose florals: 12

Sugar/marshmallow: 11

Amber: 8

Musk: 8

Milk/Cream: 6

Cinnamon: 5

Incense: 5

Nuts: 5

 

Cocoa: 4

Other woods: 4

Sandalwood: 4

Honey: 3

Patchouli: 3

Plum: 3

Rose: 3

Strawberry: 3

 

Apricot: 2

Cake: 2

Caramel: 2

Coconut: 2

Ginger: 2

Oak: 2

Popcorn: 2

Rum: 2

Snow: 2

Vetiver: 2

 

Unsurprisingly a very warm and foodie collection.

Edited December 31, 2015 by octic

[Klepz]

I've spent my winter break streamlining my perfume collection and improving all of my spreadsheets. Best break ever! After retesting and re-organizing according to my changed taste in perfume, the list above is still mostly sweet spices, but there are only 3 milk/cream blends my skin can tolerate. I wonder what happened. Thank goodness Egg Nog is still one of them (thank you, booze notes?).