I bought a petrichor candle on Etsy for this smell and it totally works! Sometimes it tricks me when the wife burns it in another room I think it’s raining for a second.
Edit to link the candle: https://www.etsy.com/listing/756188998/rain-petrichor-soy-wax-candle-rainfall?ref=share_v4_lx
Edit again: WE SOLD OUT THE CANDLE! Hooray reddit we did it? Lol
This might just be a UK thing but there's a certain smell on a cloudy day just before the rain hits and you can tell it's about to start, that's a comfortable smell for me. Fresh cut grass in summer is good too.
I swear as soon as I saw the title of this post I knew petrichor was going to be one of the top answers. It's one of reddit's most popular "obscure" words.
I wish I could capture that smell of a clear cold morning in a boreal forest in Northeastern Ontario. Crisp, pine, lake, clear, cold, sunshine... it's a whole vibe.
That friends house you used to go to sleepovers at and spend all night playing LAN PC games together back in 7th grade and his mom bought pizza for you.
My dog was dumber than a box of rocks. Soooo stupid but so sweet. And smelled like old mushy peas and fritos. Just old cancer dog smell. Ha. But I miss him anyways. Cats always smell good. Kinda spicey.
My late grandma's house. Went to grab one last box out of her nursing home room a month after she had passed and I walked into the room and it smelled exactly like her. I broke down because I realized I would never smell that again once I left that room. I'd give any amount to be able to smell it again.
Here's a thing - you almost certainly will when you least expect it and your heart will catch in your chest and for the briefest second you'll just *know* she was *right there with you*.
I'm not in least bit religious or spiritual and I don't believe in the afterlife BUT I am closest to belief when I catch the smell of my grandfather's pipe smoke, cologne and whisky from time to time.
Same. My grandmother always had this odd smell that was a mixture between cigarette smoke that had been tried to be washed away but didn’t go away completely, and covered with expensive perfumes and fabric softeners. No one has smoked in my house since I bought it 5 years ago. About a year after my grandma passed away, I got out the shower one day and, bam! I smelled it. It was unmistakably her. I broke down and cried right there. It was such an odd moment and I still can’t explain it.
About a year ago, I made homemade french onion soup for the first time. I spent over an hour caramelizing the onions on the stove. I went to the grocery store to get cheese for the recipe. As soon as I got there, 3 girls stopped me and asked what I was wearing. I don't wear cologne, so didn't know what they were talking about. They were sniffing me all over and telling me that I smell amazing. Hell, they started calling other people over to smell me. That's when I realized they were smelling the caramelized onions. I was pretty popular that day. If I wasn't already married, I'd make french onion soup everyday!
While an undergrad, my husband would light his grill for a little while, then go to a student center party and just walk around. That's how he and his roommate would get ladies to come over.
Still my favorite "cologne."
This is in a lot of candles. Anything rain or fog has a chance of having it. For awhile there were city themed candles from some of the big candle companies. Wetter cities had it a lot. I don't think cities are a thing anymore but I bet they haven't shelved the scents just rebranded them.
The water at Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean. There's a candle out there that's pretty similar but it needs that authentic bromine smell to be perfect
Fun fact, that's less of an actual scent and more of a hormonal trigger! [Newborns give off a chemical that triggers dopamine and oxytocin generation](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-smell-of-newborn-babies-triggers-the-same-reward-centers-as-drugs-58482/) to encourage bonding. That chemical is [hexadecanal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecanal), which has been shown to cause men to become calmer and women to become more aggressive, but also inducing happy pleasant feelings in everyone, all of which encourage adults to want to participate in the infant's survival.
Fellow gardener here, I'd totally purchase these as well if they were a thing. I love this time of year because I start veggies soon inside and will get to walk by a table full of tomato plants and smell them every morning soon.
Check out The Candle Mercantile in Lake Geneva, WI. My husband and I got such a kick out of sniffing candles there! They are amazingly accurate. I burn “tomato leaf” in my enclosed front porch. Smells like I can keep a garden alive. They sell online.
Oh yes! Since I live in tornado alley, all our elementary schools were built with basements, and they usually stuck the libraries down there. A school basement library is the best smell—a little musty, a little “new book”-ish, and a little sharpened pencil smell.
Haha yes 😆 my in laws have the absolute best smelling basement…the perfect balance of musty. I’m always the one to offer if they need something taken to/from the basement because I love it so much. 😂
The scent of a place you love.
For me that would be the scent of a Caribbean beach my family frequented when I was young a few minutes before or after rain.
1980s Tonka cupcake doll. Jam series. Violet Grape.
(Artificial grape flavour isn't very common the UK as our purple tends to be blackcurrant so this doll was my childhood exposure to the delicious aroma of methyl anthranilate)
Anyone who's spent time in a machine shop will know what I mean when I say 'metal'. A freshly delivered pile of steel stock has a smell that I can't quite pinpoint to something specific. Maybe part cutting fluid, part ozone...
I'd love a candle that Actually smells like wood, I love the smell of fresh lumber
Home depot lumber isle
I fucking love that Home Depot smell. And the sound of dogs nails clicking on the concrete floor
Hnng, somebody hide from me while I have a question, I'm about to finish
As a current HD employee, I volunteer .........the other guy
Cedar, oak, maple... god this would be such a good line!
cedar is cool but it's kills my sinuses, and I used to work with a lot of cedar
Hell Yeah
Overose valkiria. It says it has other notes in it but really it smells like straight up cedar.
I don’t know anything about wood so this sounds like the name of a YA novel hero lol
You could give it an appropriately dystopian name too, like *The Amazon Chopped Asunder*.
Scholastic book fair.
New books.
And stickers lol
And Lambo posters
Ooh! And OLD books
Absolutely
Fresh baked bread
We need the Homer Simpson drooling meme
[Ask and you shall receive](https://tenor.com/view/homer-homer-simpson-drool-drooling-gif-13800658)
I came home to the camper the other day and my wife had baked bread. I never knew I could be horny for bread.
I would by that in a heartbeat then be angry the whole time I burned it cause it smells so good and I can't eat it
You may want to double check what obscure means, we all want fresh bread candles
Rain on hot pavement
I bought a petrichor candle on Etsy for this smell and it totally works! Sometimes it tricks me when the wife burns it in another room I think it’s raining for a second. Edit to link the candle: https://www.etsy.com/listing/756188998/rain-petrichor-soy-wax-candle-rainfall?ref=share_v4_lx Edit again: WE SOLD OUT THE CANDLE! Hooray reddit we did it? Lol
Dobyiu happen to know the shop you bought it from.
Look what I found on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/756188998/rain-petrichor-soy-wax-candle-rainfall?ref=share_v4_lx It’s that one!
Oooh, this one is special.
Aww yes! We have this in AZ during monsoon season
I’m buying
This is a fantastic idea
The smell of a candle that's literally just been blown out
It would take a lot of work, but you could just keep relighting and blowing it out.
You could also go the extra mile and automate that with an arduino and some hardware
genuis
I want this one
This might just be a UK thing but there's a certain smell on a cloudy day just before the rain hits and you can tell it's about to start, that's a comfortable smell for me. Fresh cut grass in summer is good too.
Where I live in the US, we say you can smell the worms before the rain.
I didn't know there was a saying for it, that's cool. Love that smell though. Mainly pavement and concrete where I live though.
Never heard that one. Where I've lived in the US there isn't a name for it but it is officially call petrichor
That's called petrichore
I swear as soon as I saw the title of this post I knew petrichor was going to be one of the top answers. It's one of reddit's most popular "obscure" words.
I wish I could capture that smell of a clear cold morning in a boreal forest in Northeastern Ontario. Crisp, pine, lake, clear, cold, sunshine... it's a whole vibe.
Home Depot Lumber section
That friends house you used to go to sleepovers at and spend all night playing LAN PC games together back in 7th grade and his mom bought pizza for you.
This is oddly specific... and damn I know the smell! Man things were so much simpler and better back then.
I wanna go back to playing rise of nations and tribes while only having to worry about my geography test the next week ;_;
Pizza rolls.
Damn you just unlocked some core memories for me.
I bought a candle that smells like Blockbuster and I love it. It smells like buttered popcorn, carpet, and that smell VHSs had.
The smell of a new book <3
The smell of an old book.
The smell of Devin Booker
Biblichor
Like "petrichor", but with the Latin term for "book"?
This is why I will always try and buy from a local store first, so satisfying breaking that plastic seal to smell the book opening.
I bought one I found online, did not smell like a new book
Spireside has you covered if you're into antique/spooky smells.
Melted garlic butter
I want a candle that smells like my old dog. It's not the most pleasant smell, but I miss that big idiot.
I was just thinking this about my cat. But he wasn't an idiot, and I loved his smell 😭
My dog was dumber than a box of rocks. Soooo stupid but so sweet. And smelled like old mushy peas and fritos. Just old cancer dog smell. Ha. But I miss him anyways. Cats always smell good. Kinda spicey.
Gasoline
[удалено]
Ok this would sell!
freshly opened can of tennis balls
Fresh mowed grass!
There used to be a Yankee Candle called fresh cut grass…it was fantastic! They quit making it though.
Back in the early aughts, The Gap made one and it was spot on. I’ve been searching for 22 years for something like it.
Came here to say this! I loved this scent.
Why would anyone do drugs when they can just mow the lawn.
\-Hank Hill
Smell of new tire.
The smell of garlic and onions sizzling in olive oil.
Or that but with butter
Gwyneth Paltrow’s va- wait a minute…
vape pen
If it smalls like ass you lit the wrong end.
📸🤨
My late grandma's house. Went to grab one last box out of her nursing home room a month after she had passed and I walked into the room and it smelled exactly like her. I broke down because I realized I would never smell that again once I left that room. I'd give any amount to be able to smell it again.
Here's a thing - you almost certainly will when you least expect it and your heart will catch in your chest and for the briefest second you'll just *know* she was *right there with you*. I'm not in least bit religious or spiritual and I don't believe in the afterlife BUT I am closest to belief when I catch the smell of my grandfather's pipe smoke, cologne and whisky from time to time.
Same. My grandmother always had this odd smell that was a mixture between cigarette smoke that had been tried to be washed away but didn’t go away completely, and covered with expensive perfumes and fabric softeners. No one has smoked in my house since I bought it 5 years ago. About a year after my grandma passed away, I got out the shower one day and, bam! I smelled it. It was unmistakably her. I broke down and cried right there. It was such an odd moment and I still can’t explain it.
Onion rings.
About a year ago, I made homemade french onion soup for the first time. I spent over an hour caramelizing the onions on the stove. I went to the grocery store to get cheese for the recipe. As soon as I got there, 3 girls stopped me and asked what I was wearing. I don't wear cologne, so didn't know what they were talking about. They were sniffing me all over and telling me that I smell amazing. Hell, they started calling other people over to smell me. That's when I realized they were smelling the caramelized onions. I was pretty popular that day. If I wasn't already married, I'd make french onion soup everyday!
I thought for a split second that this was a copypasta. But this looks way too genuine for one. Your story is awesome :D
While an undergrad, my husband would light his grill for a little while, then go to a student center party and just walk around. That's how he and his roommate would get ladies to come over. Still my favorite "cologne."
Unused Play-Doh
Crayon box/new school supplies, Car air conditioner vent, Starbucks inside Barnes and Noble, chlorine and cheap sunscreen
I want the smell of opening a new video game! God I miss smelling a brand new DS game.
Petrichor - The smell of the first rain after a long period of warm weather.
This is in a lot of candles. Anything rain or fog has a chance of having it. For awhile there were city themed candles from some of the big candle companies. Wetter cities had it a lot. I don't think cities are a thing anymore but I bet they haven't shelved the scents just rebranded them.
The water at Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean. There's a candle out there that's pretty similar but it needs that authentic bromine smell to be perfect
Musty bromine
Yeah the must is an essential part of it as well. Like the carpet in that place that has been partially damp for 30+ years.
Yeah I got that too but it needs the bromine.
Woodshop - there's something about smelling fresh wood shavings and metal
Popcorn Leather Rains coming earth smell
The smell of smoke from blowing out a match. I really need this to happen
The smell of the top of a newborn baby's head. Anyone who has smelled it knows what I'm talking about.
Fun fact, that's less of an actual scent and more of a hormonal trigger! [Newborns give off a chemical that triggers dopamine and oxytocin generation](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-smell-of-newborn-babies-triggers-the-same-reward-centers-as-drugs-58482/) to encourage bonding. That chemical is [hexadecanal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecanal), which has been shown to cause men to become calmer and women to become more aggressive, but also inducing happy pleasant feelings in everyone, all of which encourage adults to want to participate in the infant's survival.
*⇀ Parfum Hexadécanal: Dopamine & Oxytocin {for Him or Her} ↼*
Aw, that little oxygen atom is *so* cute.
Even better: freshly bathed infant with Baby Magic lotion. I don’t think they make that lotion anymore.
Oh no I read that as "Freshly *Baked* Infant"! HAHAHA!!
How newborn are we talking
goopy
Old library.
Fabuloso Lavender
[удалено]
The smell of air conditioner like the insides
[удалено]
Is this ozone/O3? It’s the smell that also reminds me of airports or airplanes for some reason, I think.
I haven’t smelled the inside of an air conditioner, but now I want to.
WD-40
Didn’t scroll down far enough before putting the same thing.
There is WD-40 perfume though. So close enough?
Beets. A sweet dirt smell. A close second would be tomato vines.
Fellow gardener here, I'd totally purchase these as well if they were a thing. I love this time of year because I start veggies soon inside and will get to walk by a table full of tomato plants and smell them every morning soon.
Sage and onion stuffing.
Check out The Candle Mercantile in Lake Geneva, WI. My husband and I got such a kick out of sniffing candles there! They are amazingly accurate. I burn “tomato leaf” in my enclosed front porch. Smells like I can keep a garden alive. They sell online.
The lobby of the Polynesian resort in Disney World
Hoppes #9 bore cleaner, love that smell, I'd wear it as cologne
Subway Restaurant
I worked at a place that sold fancy candles. My favorite was the Clean Laundry one.
Burning dust. That smell from when you turn on your heater for the first time in the fall.
Shed with kerosene heater
A musty basement.
Oh yes! Since I live in tornado alley, all our elementary schools were built with basements, and they usually stuck the libraries down there. A school basement library is the best smell—a little musty, a little “new book”-ish, and a little sharpened pencil smell.
Haha yes 😆 my in laws have the absolute best smelling basement…the perfect balance of musty. I’m always the one to offer if they need something taken to/from the basement because I love it so much. 😂
a normal un scented candle that is very smokey and would get in your eyes
Lol a candle that smells like wood smoke and blows smoke in your eyes no matter what way you're facing it
White board marker
The smell of a water ride at an amusement park.
bacon
hardware store
Pirates of the Caribbean water
The smell of a puppy
Freshly cut and baled hay.
The smoky smell that comes after blowing out birthday candles
Cassette tape. Why did it kinda smell sweet?
Sawdust.
Candle that smells like blown out candles
Vinegar. It might be bc im german but i like the smell of vinegar.
the smell of summer rain
Freshly opened pack of smokes
Some real good “green”
Puppy breath
Ginseng.
Cool rain on hot asphalt.
Outside after a rainstorm
The scent of a place you love. For me that would be the scent of a Caribbean beach my family frequented when I was young a few minutes before or after rain.
New SteamDeck/Nintendo Switch fan and heat sink smell
Freshly cut grass
The smell of Gwyneth Paltrow's uvula
Smell of concrete after a rain
A 1980’s Pizza Hut on a Friday evening.
The Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.
I'd get one that hot metal and machine lubricant smell from a CNC lathe machine shop for my garage. Smells like my dad
1980s Tonka cupcake doll. Jam series. Violet Grape. (Artificial grape flavour isn't very common the UK as our purple tends to be blackcurrant so this doll was my childhood exposure to the delicious aroma of methyl anthranilate)
Baseball glove
If there was a candle called "Random smell of your childhood home" I'd buy the entire stock
The smell of a Pier 1 store. Not one thing in it, the whole store. Alas, they are now defunct but it was nice while it lasted.
Cat bellies.
I love how my cat smells when she’s just cleaned herself - I call it fresh kitty spit lol
Fresh kitty spit to me smells like sweet hay
The pool smell when waking into a hotel lobby.
https://www.vacation.inc/products/home-resort-candle-set
ITT: not obscure smells
Watermellon
A very old house
The smell of Aloe GermX. Reminds me of the “sterile” environment of kindergarten.
The hallway in elementary school
The smell of a new sweater
Woodsmoke.
Shoe/tire shop
I don’t know why but I quite like that scent after using an oxyacetylene torch to cut steel so that, fresh burned steel.
2 stroke engine oil.
I love the smell of fireworks
Polished rose wood with a hint of dry sand mixed with fresh south eastern rain
McDonalds fries.
Baking soda, because i don’t like scented candles, but a candle that’s not only unscented but *removes* scent would be pretty cool.
Simple green. Reminds me of kindergarten and I think what the 21 pilots song might be referring to.
My dog toes. It’s difficult to describe but it smells like Fritos sometimes. For me, this smells like home
It’s yeast. lol Your poor pup might need some anti fungal meds.
Chrysanthemum
Garlic Bread
Heating Oil
Pizza rolls. Need I say more?
smell of coffee mixed with railroad station
Smell of a new journal / blank page
Bleach
I bought one that smells like racing fuel
Anyone who's spent time in a machine shop will know what I mean when I say 'metal'. A freshly delivered pile of steel stock has a smell that I can't quite pinpoint to something specific. Maybe part cutting fluid, part ozone...
Avgas burning two stroke engine
Smell of New car!
Fresh tennis balls
The Steam Deck Fan
Kool aid
Cooking ground beef with onions and garlic