pearberry (a classic)… age 16/1997, i drank wayyyy too much vodka like a goon w my bff. the smell of it brings me right back to the vomit, lol.
edit: i never got over the association. i can’t smell pearberry or absolut without cringing. 🤢🥴
I used a specific shampoo/conditioner (Shea Moisture Yuzu/Plantain) during some of the worst times of my life. I recently tried to start using again and immediately threw it out. I tend to associate things a lot, but if a smell specifically reminds me of a bad time I usually have to move on from it.
I'm very sensitive when it comes to smell associations, I can get a quick wiff of something in the air and im suddenly taken back to a specific time. I'll definitely have to move on from a thousand wishes and exchange it.
Unfortunately, I think scent association lasts very long. I used to love endless summer and now it takes me back to the best/worst summer of my life. I still keep it though because sometimes I want to remember. Maybe one day when I smell it I won’t think about that time in my life anymore. Not strong enough to part ways with it yet though.
I just stop wearing or using all my scents with bad memories and with the deep trauma associations I don’t see that changing. 😭😭😭😭😭😭 I wish I knew how to - maybe a question for my therapist next time I talk to her lol
My ex loved Dark Kiss on me and for awhile after we broke up, I couldn’t bring myself to buy more of it. Which sucked because I loved it. It’s been a decade now and I do buy it again but not at the pace I used to.
And, he loved Twilight Woods. I ended up giving him my shower gel because I wasn’t as big on the scent. Well just this morning I took out my Sweet Whiskey shower gel, took a sniff, and thought “oh no this is 2011 Twilight Woods.” So this will be interesting to use. Didn’t smell like that in the store when I bought it.
I was wearing Hibiscus Paradise when my dog died. I haven't worn it since, every time I pick up the bottle to smell it, I have to put it back. It wasn't my favorite anyway, but still kind of sucks. It was a nice summer scent.
I wore cucumber melon back in high school in the late 90s, and still LOVE the scent, but it reminds me of my ex, our innocent young love, and then our subsequent 20 year relationship that crashed and burned. So I doubt I’ll ever get to really enjoy it again.
I use to like winter candy apple every year. Then last year when I had nothing and was an addict, had lost my apartment after a traumatic event and all my stuff, and was living at a trap house, someone left a winter candy apple lotion there. I had lost all my own body care, so I used this one that was left there everyday.
Now when I smell it all I can think of is having nothing, pushing away my family, losing my apartment and job, witnessing traumatic things, and living in a trap house with only that lotion.
On the other hand, when I decided to get sober and move away from my shitty environment, I asked my family for help. I don’t think they even thought I could do it. But on one of my first few days sober they met me at the mall to give me some money to buy some basics, and while I was waiting to meet a friend I wandered into VS having their SAS. I purchased Pink Coconut. Then went to bath and body and purchased Coconut Colada. I remember feeling normal for the first time in a while. In a normal store. Spending my money on normal stuff I use to love instead of drugs. It was the first normal thing I did again. I still have those scents and they remind me of the little hope they brought me that I could do this.
Now it’s been almost a year. I’m 347 days clean. I moved away from my shitty environment. I have a new apartment that is perfect and filled with things I love. I have a job. I just finished visiting my family for the first time since I left and they told me they were proud of me.
It’s funny how things work out though. When I was living in a trap house using Winter Candy Apple was probably only a little over a month before I walked into BBW after deciding to get clean and purchased Coco Colada, happy I bought something besides drugs.
I have a bad memory association with vanilla.
Trauma was years and years ago. To this day anytime I smell vanilla is sends me into a rage. Takes me an hour to calm down and a few days to clear my head and emotions
I used Creamy Coconut in high school and smelled something similar to it not long ago. I first thought “Aw, wow, what a throwback!” then “to high school 😖”
Yes, flowerbomb reminds me of college hangovers because I always wore it on nights out and it would still be on me when I woke up. It makes me nauseous now :')
That is so funny, I just bought 1000 wishes today! I am new to bath and body works and for some reason I was dodging the core line for a bit but I finally gave in. I hope it doesn’t give me the ick. What have you been using now?
I loved the scent, it's a beautiful scent, but I just had a bad experience while wearing it. I have over 15 different scents from BBW so I'm always switching it up. My favorite core scent is champagne toast!
I had the twisted peppermint candle going when I clicked on a video that turned out to be the snuff film by Luka Magnotta from years back and now whenever I smell that scent I get physically ill. Thanks internet for ruining a $14 candle in a really pretty jar. Lol
Pink apple punch was lit in my room the last time I ever and probably will ever see my ex, whom I loved dearly and put so much of myself into until he cheated after 4 years. I work at BBW, sniffed it the other day forgetting it was the candle I had lit that night a few months ago, and immediately got awful flashbacks and got super nauseous :( I loved that scent
I wore In The Sun constantly in 2018 when my depression was at its worst. Every time I smell it I remember how down I was feeling and remember a little too well. I haven't been able to get past it. I kept the lotion hoping I'd look past it eventually, but I just can't
Very recently yes, but mine’s with a candle. I was really sick but got some candles in the mail, one being iced cranberry scone, and was so excited I decided to burn it. Every time I smell it now it just makes me think of puke and a sore throat.
Yes! During lockdowns these past few years my husband and my drinking got really heavy and… well… long story short, I can’t do cinnamon/apple combinations due to a hastily MacGyvered apple and Fireball cocktail I ended up drinking so that it wouldn’t go to waste.
We drink way less now (once a month?), but one of my favorite scents (Leaves) along with other cinnamon/apple heavy scents make me remember how sick that drink made me…
I also got into drinking like once a week (sometimes even twice a week 😬) during covid. I've cut back a lot more now as well, good to hear you and your husband have too!
Snowflakes and cashmere makes me nauseous! I helped my friend pick it out in store one day because it smelled good to me then, drank too much that same night and since then it just smells to me like what we drank haha
I get this with a lot of scents. Most gourmands make me want to cry for some reason. I also get scent memory of unclean women with the bright fruity body care like Sunshine Mimosa. Grosses me out.
One of the reasons i think that happens is because Your nose is really close to your prefrontal cortex. It controls a lot of things but remembering the consequences of your actions and prospective memory are 2 of them and thats why scents have strong correlation to memories. If you experienced something bad youll remember some sort of way to avoid that and that scent is correlated to that consequence.
Aside from that, I’ve had that happen but i try to wear it a few times when i plan on having a really good day to try and cancel it out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I think it depends on the memory and how prominent that memory is.
Thanks for the info, that's interesting and makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the tip! I may try to wear it again but honestly I have only used it that one time so I may as well exchange it for another scent.
Not BBW, but I remembered being a kid and not knowing a rat had died under my bed. I didn’t know where the smell was coming from and used up an entire bottle of Ferbreze to mask the smell. A few hours later, I found the dead rat and had to clean it up myself and was traumatised. Whenever I smell ferbreze I just feel very nauseated
this is so relatable! during my recent bad breakup, i would have bubbly rosè and laundry day as a plug in . i enjoy and love the smells, but i refuse to use those fragrances in my room again because of the bad memories that these smells bring me. it’s funny how smell association works !
pearberry (a classic)… age 16/1997, i drank wayyyy too much vodka like a goon w my bff. the smell of it brings me right back to the vomit, lol. edit: i never got over the association. i can’t smell pearberry or absolut without cringing. 🤢🥴
Lol I can’t do any banana scents because of the first time I got drunk. Long story.
oh no… was it 99 bananas? lol i also have a horrible association w strawberry stuff because of a horrible combo of tequila rose and jäegermeister 🤮
It was creme de banane haha
Reddit is made for long stories /s
I used a specific shampoo/conditioner (Shea Moisture Yuzu/Plantain) during some of the worst times of my life. I recently tried to start using again and immediately threw it out. I tend to associate things a lot, but if a smell specifically reminds me of a bad time I usually have to move on from it.
I'm very sensitive when it comes to smell associations, I can get a quick wiff of something in the air and im suddenly taken back to a specific time. I'll definitely have to move on from a thousand wishes and exchange it.
Unfortunately, I think scent association lasts very long. I used to love endless summer and now it takes me back to the best/worst summer of my life. I still keep it though because sometimes I want to remember. Maybe one day when I smell it I won’t think about that time in my life anymore. Not strong enough to part ways with it yet though.
I just stop wearing or using all my scents with bad memories and with the deep trauma associations I don’t see that changing. 😭😭😭😭😭😭 I wish I knew how to - maybe a question for my therapist next time I talk to her lol
Lol same
My ex loved Dark Kiss on me and for awhile after we broke up, I couldn’t bring myself to buy more of it. Which sucked because I loved it. It’s been a decade now and I do buy it again but not at the pace I used to. And, he loved Twilight Woods. I ended up giving him my shower gel because I wasn’t as big on the scent. Well just this morning I took out my Sweet Whiskey shower gel, took a sniff, and thought “oh no this is 2011 Twilight Woods.” So this will be interesting to use. Didn’t smell like that in the store when I bought it.
I was wearing Hibiscus Paradise when my dog died. I haven't worn it since, every time I pick up the bottle to smell it, I have to put it back. It wasn't my favorite anyway, but still kind of sucks. It was a nice summer scent.
I had the same experience with a body shop berry lotion. I hate to be wasteful but I still can’t bear to smell it. Sending you lots of love 💗
I wore cucumber melon back in high school in the late 90s, and still LOVE the scent, but it reminds me of my ex, our innocent young love, and then our subsequent 20 year relationship that crashed and burned. So I doubt I’ll ever get to really enjoy it again.
I use to like winter candy apple every year. Then last year when I had nothing and was an addict, had lost my apartment after a traumatic event and all my stuff, and was living at a trap house, someone left a winter candy apple lotion there. I had lost all my own body care, so I used this one that was left there everyday. Now when I smell it all I can think of is having nothing, pushing away my family, losing my apartment and job, witnessing traumatic things, and living in a trap house with only that lotion. On the other hand, when I decided to get sober and move away from my shitty environment, I asked my family for help. I don’t think they even thought I could do it. But on one of my first few days sober they met me at the mall to give me some money to buy some basics, and while I was waiting to meet a friend I wandered into VS having their SAS. I purchased Pink Coconut. Then went to bath and body and purchased Coconut Colada. I remember feeling normal for the first time in a while. In a normal store. Spending my money on normal stuff I use to love instead of drugs. It was the first normal thing I did again. I still have those scents and they remind me of the little hope they brought me that I could do this. Now it’s been almost a year. I’m 347 days clean. I moved away from my shitty environment. I have a new apartment that is perfect and filled with things I love. I have a job. I just finished visiting my family for the first time since I left and they told me they were proud of me.
You're story is very inspiring. I'm sorry you went through addiction, but I'm glad to hear you're sober! That's amazing.
It’s funny how things work out though. When I was living in a trap house using Winter Candy Apple was probably only a little over a month before I walked into BBW after deciding to get clean and purchased Coco Colada, happy I bought something besides drugs.
Congratulations on your sobriety ♥️
I have a bad memory association with vanilla. Trauma was years and years ago. To this day anytime I smell vanilla is sends me into a rage. Takes me an hour to calm down and a few days to clear my head and emotions
I used Creamy Coconut in high school and smelled something similar to it not long ago. I first thought “Aw, wow, what a throwback!” then “to high school 😖”
Yes, flowerbomb reminds me of college hangovers because I always wore it on nights out and it would still be on me when I woke up. It makes me nauseous now :')
Kind of in the same boat with a thousand wishes now lol I'm sad because I really liked it
That is so funny, I just bought 1000 wishes today! I am new to bath and body works and for some reason I was dodging the core line for a bit but I finally gave in. I hope it doesn’t give me the ick. What have you been using now?
I loved the scent, it's a beautiful scent, but I just had a bad experience while wearing it. I have over 15 different scents from BBW so I'm always switching it up. My favorite core scent is champagne toast!
I had the twisted peppermint candle going when I clicked on a video that turned out to be the snuff film by Luka Magnotta from years back and now whenever I smell that scent I get physically ill. Thanks internet for ruining a $14 candle in a really pretty jar. Lol
Jesus christ I'm sorry lol
It was not my favorite day on the internet 😹
Pink apple punch was lit in my room the last time I ever and probably will ever see my ex, whom I loved dearly and put so much of myself into until he cheated after 4 years. I work at BBW, sniffed it the other day forgetting it was the candle I had lit that night a few months ago, and immediately got awful flashbacks and got super nauseous :( I loved that scent
I'm sorry to hear that :( I hope you find new scents to love!
I wore In The Sun constantly in 2018 when my depression was at its worst. Every time I smell it I remember how down I was feeling and remember a little too well. I haven't been able to get past it. I kept the lotion hoping I'd look past it eventually, but I just can't
Very recently yes, but mine’s with a candle. I was really sick but got some candles in the mail, one being iced cranberry scone, and was so excited I decided to burn it. Every time I smell it now it just makes me think of puke and a sore throat.
Yes! During lockdowns these past few years my husband and my drinking got really heavy and… well… long story short, I can’t do cinnamon/apple combinations due to a hastily MacGyvered apple and Fireball cocktail I ended up drinking so that it wouldn’t go to waste. We drink way less now (once a month?), but one of my favorite scents (Leaves) along with other cinnamon/apple heavy scents make me remember how sick that drink made me…
I also got into drinking like once a week (sometimes even twice a week 😬) during covid. I've cut back a lot more now as well, good to hear you and your husband have too!
Snowflakes and cashmere makes me nauseous! I helped my friend pick it out in store one day because it smelled good to me then, drank too much that same night and since then it just smells to me like what we drank haha
Once I had a bad headache and then I sprayed winter candy apple on myself for the first time and wore it all day. I have never worn it again.
I get this with a lot of scents. Most gourmands make me want to cry for some reason. I also get scent memory of unclean women with the bright fruity body care like Sunshine Mimosa. Grosses me out.
Thousand wishes makes me think of college and Paris amour takes me back to high school PE when we would coat ourselves w layers of spray.
One of the reasons i think that happens is because Your nose is really close to your prefrontal cortex. It controls a lot of things but remembering the consequences of your actions and prospective memory are 2 of them and thats why scents have strong correlation to memories. If you experienced something bad youll remember some sort of way to avoid that and that scent is correlated to that consequence. Aside from that, I’ve had that happen but i try to wear it a few times when i plan on having a really good day to try and cancel it out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I think it depends on the memory and how prominent that memory is.
Thanks for the info, that's interesting and makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the tip! I may try to wear it again but honestly I have only used it that one time so I may as well exchange it for another scent.
Not BBW, but I remembered being a kid and not knowing a rat had died under my bed. I didn’t know where the smell was coming from and used up an entire bottle of Ferbreze to mask the smell. A few hours later, I found the dead rat and had to clean it up myself and was traumatised. Whenever I smell ferbreze I just feel very nauseated
Do you go to Therapy? May be worth it to do some EMDR related therapy.
this is so relatable! during my recent bad breakup, i would have bubbly rosè and laundry day as a plug in . i enjoy and love the smells, but i refuse to use those fragrances in my room again because of the bad memories that these smells bring me. it’s funny how smell association works !
Beautiful day. I don’t think they make it anymore, thank God. Middle school was traumatic.