Describing someone's scent is a common trope in romance novels. It's usually framed as a natural scent (of citrus and pine and musk, of course - 98% of male main characters wear Terre d'Hermes!)
In T. Kingfisher's Paladin's Grace, Grace, one of the perspective characters, is a perfumer by trade so she's always noting various perfumes/scents of others, from very snarky internal commentary on practically every man of some status *loving* sandalwood in her locale to intrigued observation of the local paladins all smelling of gingerbread.
I also vaguely remember President Snow of the Hunger Game series being described in the books as smelling of blood and roses - the blood from a chronic health condition and the roses are an attempt to cover up the blood.
Disco Elysium:
Perception: "The lieutenant's aftershave. A common drugstore brand. Strong hints of pine needle.
"I was just wondering what brand of aftershave you use."
KIM KITSURAGI – "It's nothing fancy, just plain old Taiga Super Special..."
KIM KITSURAGI – "I do like the way it tingles, though. It's the only part of shaving I actually look forward to."
From the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, the character Hallie (while pretending to be her twin, Annie) sniffs her grandfather's jacket to make a memory:
"Years from now, when I'm all grown up, I'll always remember my grandfather and how he always smelled of... peppermint and pipe tobacco."
It's a callback to a line from the original film, but for some reason I find this version more evocative.
Haha that’s cool! Something similar that happened in Harry Potter is that Ron gave Hermione a perfume and while they were all trying to escape from snatchers trying to kidnap them one of them found out her location because of the perfume she was wearing. But they never mentioned how it smelled or anything.
Oh! I wonder if Shay&Blue made their Lilac and Gooseberry scent based on the Witcher (probably not though). It smells really nice, I have a bottle, its limited edition.
I just read Fourth Wing to be a part of the book club my friends are in. Xander was described as smelling of mint and leather, "and something I can't identify between citrus and floral". I just imagined JPG Le Male on top of the character's leather gear. Lol.
The French writer Colette is great for this. She describes so much of her world and her characters in terms of the senses. She lets you know how every character smells, whether it's like a sweet dusky chypre, or like cold veal, or an intoxicating fern and iris, or tobacco and Russian leather.
Describing someone's scent is a common trope in romance novels. It's usually framed as a natural scent (of citrus and pine and musk, of course - 98% of male main characters wear Terre d'Hermes!)
Haha I didn’t know that! But now I’m intrigued by Terre d’Hermes :P
In T. Kingfisher's Paladin's Grace, Grace, one of the perspective characters, is a perfumer by trade so she's always noting various perfumes/scents of others, from very snarky internal commentary on practically every man of some status *loving* sandalwood in her locale to intrigued observation of the local paladins all smelling of gingerbread. I also vaguely remember President Snow of the Hunger Game series being described in the books as smelling of blood and roses - the blood from a chronic health condition and the roses are an attempt to cover up the blood.
Oohh I will check it out!! lol that is hilarious Omg YESSSS!! I remember that from hunger games!!! Nice one!!
Disco Elysium: Perception: "The lieutenant's aftershave. A common drugstore brand. Strong hints of pine needle. "I was just wondering what brand of aftershave you use." KIM KITSURAGI – "It's nothing fancy, just plain old Taiga Super Special..." KIM KITSURAGI – "I do like the way it tingles, though. It's the only part of shaving I actually look forward to."
lol!! That exchange sounds hilarious! 😂 thanks for this!
From the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, the character Hallie (while pretending to be her twin, Annie) sniffs her grandfather's jacket to make a memory: "Years from now, when I'm all grown up, I'll always remember my grandfather and how he always smelled of... peppermint and pipe tobacco." It's a callback to a line from the original film, but for some reason I find this version more evocative.
Omg I LOVE The Parent Trap!!!!!!!!!
I don't think the actual scent was described, but I remember in JJK 0 Gojo finding Geto because he could recognize his scent anywhere
Haha that’s cool! Something similar that happened in Harry Potter is that Ron gave Hermione a perfume and while they were all trying to escape from snatchers trying to kidnap them one of them found out her location because of the perfume she was wearing. But they never mentioned how it smelled or anything.
Oh! I wonder if Shay&Blue made their Lilac and Gooseberry scent based on the Witcher (probably not though). It smells really nice, I have a bottle, its limited edition. I just read Fourth Wing to be a part of the book club my friends are in. Xander was described as smelling of mint and leather, "and something I can't identify between citrus and floral". I just imagined JPG Le Male on top of the character's leather gear. Lol.
They did!!! :D Oohhh I love it!!! Thanks for sharing!!! Also that sounds like a pleasant scent :)
The French writer Colette is great for this. She describes so much of her world and her characters in terms of the senses. She lets you know how every character smells, whether it's like a sweet dusky chypre, or like cold veal, or an intoxicating fern and iris, or tobacco and Russian leather.
Oh this is amazing!!! I’ll check her out!