Latest Posts by kakieoan - Page 2

220 Scents

This is a companion resource to Words To Describe Scent.

Arguably our most evocative sense, the sense of smell is an underused tool in writing descriptions and settings. Nothing transports me into the book I’m reading as effectively as the memory of some familiar scent, or some distant one awoken from the deepest parts of my brain. This is simply a list of recognizable scents, categorized by the “type” of scent or the kind of environment where it might be found:

(1) Natural scents are those that your character may expect to find in relatively undeveloped areas like while hiking a mountain, on a quest through a dark forest, or during an epic faceoff with their arch nemesis on a beach in the rain. These may also be found in more developed areas like a local park, and even in a peaceful oasis in a highly industrial area.

(2) Fruit/Vegetable scents are useful in many settings, so your character doesn’t have to work on a farm to use this list – though it certainly would come in handy for a farm setting! Our characters encounter these scents in the homes of loved ones, in inns where they rest for the night during a long journey, and while running through the palace orchard to warn the King of an impending attack.

(3) Florals, Herbs & Spices – perhaps the most fragrant and versatile category. Floral descriptions may be used for bouquets at an old flame’s wedding, or for a lover’s perfume left over on the pillow. Your character may encounter herbs & spices anywhere from a busy street market to a witch’s brew in an isolated mountain house.

(4) Industrial scents are those, in general, associated with humans, civilization, and development. These will typically be found in cities or wherever there are people. You may also notice that most of these would be generally considered unpleasant. That’s not to say pleasant scents don’t exist where there is development, just that the development itself usually doesn’t smell great. The beautiful scents from any of the other four categories can be, and often are, found in developed areas… especially those of the last category:

(5) Food! Your character’s favorite café, their mother’s kitchen when they were a child, the lunch their best friend used to share with them, the last Christmas meal at their ex-lover’s home, the cocktail they were drinking when they met their arch nemesis – the list is endless and endlessly evocative.

Use wisely and enjoy!

Perfumes for the  Bombshell Scholar/Student/Librarian

Jazz Club by Maison Martin Margiela

1888 Xerjoff

Library by Solstice Scents

Milano Caffe by Abdes Salaam Attars Perfumes

Whispers in the Library by Maison Martin Margiela

O, Unknown! by Imaginary Authors

Coco Eau de Toilette by Chanel

Oeillet Pourpre by Guerlain 

Nirvana Bourbon by Elizabeth and James

Naomi Campbel by Hugo Comte for Interview Magazine - April 2021

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3QkOmsBpG1/?igshid=9q3ayy7jgtlq

Vintage Buffalo 90s black leather boots on etsy

steph shiu, ibby sow, and lee jeno wearing peter do for nyfw

Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, “Not As Smart As I Think I Am”

Submitted by a-sea-of-memories.

Zapotec Bride from Juchitán de Zaragoza - Pieter Hugo

Sunday Evening by JoeLius DuBois Porter

Louise Glück, from “Marathon”, Poems 1962 - 2012

the next kiss i kiss will leave us feelin richer

robert wun ss23

Rainer Maria Rilke, "You who never arrived." The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke (translated by Stephen Mitchell)

two toned pearl butterfly

“One touch wasn’t enough.”

— Dave Smith, from “Looking Up,” Looking Up: Poems 2010-2022 (Louisiana State University Press, 2022)

“The earth turned to bring us closer, it spun on itself and within us, and finally joined us together in this dream.”

— Eugenio Montejo, from “The Earth Turned to Bring Us Closer,” The Trees: Selected Poems (Salt Publishing, 2004)

“I whet my lips to speak your name. To kiss your hands, curling into the posture of prayer, they could almost have been carved from stone. I swear: If idolatry was my only sin, then it’s because god wasn’t watching.”

— Torrin A. Greathouse, from “Ekphrasis on Nude Selfie as Portrait of San Sebastian,” Poetry (vol. 221, no. 2, November 2022)

“Even before I touch you: how you start to imitate the way the ground fog wavers across the grass. Some nights the dew seems to soak the stars. Your laugh settling in the corners. Your words weeding the flowers.”

— Richard Jackson, from “Things I Forgot to Put on My Reminder List,” The Heart as Framed: New and Select Poems (Press 53, 2022)

Twilight pendant

Clarence River Floodplain, Northern NSW Australia [OC] 2587 x 3449 - Author: Stu_Murphy_Artist on Reddit

“…and my whole being is aching for a green, silent spot…”

— Kahlil Gibran, in a letter to Mary Haskell, from Beloved Prophet: The Love Letters of Kahlil Gibran and Mary Haskell, and her private journal

i-D

The Elevator Issue, no. 191, October 1999

“No wonder I am mesmerized by your tongues’ small fires glowing with desire.”

— M.J. Iuppa, from “Marigolds,” Amethyst Review (2022)

Matthew Dickman, from “Montpelier” [ID in ALT]

Vicente Aleixandre, ed. by Lewis Hyde, from A Longing for the Light: Selected Poems; “The Explosion”

[Text ID: “I devoted myself to one endless afternoon. / I’ve loved you every moment of that afternoon.”]

Marianela Nunez and Federico Bonelli in rehearsal for Acosta’s Carmen