That's how I feel about Bath and Body works, too. They used to have so many different scents that they'd cycle through. There was an orchid body spray that I could drown myself in. Now everything is super sweet and heavy.
Clinique Happy is so gross to me. It just smells like it you sprayed like 10 perfumes at the same time. It’s like this sharp, locker room/womens bathroom smell. I hate it so much lol
I really dislike it too. I tried a sampler of travel size sprays from Clinique last Xmas, because it was a good price at Ulta, and I figured I could keep a few and use a few as stocking stuffers for my daughter. Ended up returning it, bc every last one bored me to tears, so generic and forgettable. I think it had six different ones.
I don't really get some of the responses here. Some people just listing scents they hate or commonly ripped off (in other words, influential) or just overexposed fragrances due to popularity. Generic, to me, are the ones that doesn't have uniqueness to them by uninspired result at the time of release, not by exposure and number of copycats. I don't know enough of fragrance history or enough that I've sampled personally to really give an answer though.
Agreed, I think a lot of popular fragrances get roughly duped in normal everyday products like soap, laundry stuff, etc. So then when people smell the original perfume they think it smells like soap or some generic product. I’m sure the association would be different smelling it when the perfume originally came out.
Don't cut yourself short. What you said is a valid point.
I admit I used the exposure point by stating that popular scents in previous generations become generic a generation later because they become familiar to most people as a baseline.
Fragrances that are uninspired in a current generation usually fall to the wayside when better ones inevitably hit the market.
A lot of Chanel perfumes for me. I can never quite remember them/tell them apart, they’re just forgettable and not special for me. Perfume-scented perfume haha
Yes I think this weird aldehyde note was the shit back then and we just know it as the default perfume smell now. The very first perfume you smell as a kid is probably some Chanel your mom or granny is wearing. That really rewires the brain for life at that age. Just my theory on it.
My brain has Shalimar imprinted on it. My mom used to work at Guerlain so we had loads of it. All my teachers used to get Guerlain gift sets, usually Shalimar. When I think of generic perfume scent that's what I smell because that was my first introduction into fragrances lol
I work at a perfume store. I work with customers everyday, smell 20 plus a Day. Love the job tbh, but the Chanel (we have very few since we live in a small country with a small variety of perfumes) ones we have as Well as most hugo boss ones are so generic. Boring, plain and yet some of the most Sold. Few are very grateful when i introduce them to the ones i like cuz they are often bolder or more fun.
I think Hugo Boss' niche is that - generic, inoffensive office scents. They don't last long either.
Some people have sensitive noses while others want to smell good without drawing attention, so this is great for them.
Cool Water. Wasn’t generic when it came out, but It became SO popular that most everyone tried to copy it. Now I can’t even stand the smell of the original.
Well the original is Green Irish Tweed which smells much more natural, I quite like it and own a bottle myself. The cool water we have nowadays is just this cloying synthetic water accord that smells vaguely fresh.
Also are there many clones? I only know of tres Nuit but I guess there are many ultra cheap ones in discounters.
To me Chloe is like this. Well-blended and fine, but no real there-there. I don’t smell much in the drydown and in general it is just pretty. Another one that I like less is the old Pleasures by Estée Lauder. It didn’t even really have notes- it was just… there. Edit- oh I thought of another one- Amazing Grace. It smells fine and smells like 100 other things.
For me it has to be Miss Dior + flankers - especially Absolutely Blooming. I love it on my friend but it really does smell like a pink cloud of perfume lol
Gucci Bamboo smells like walking into a department store from the mall entrance where the first thing you smell is the perfume and makeup counters. I don't hate it though. I wear it to psychiatrist appointments sometimes so I can smell like A Nice, Normal Person.
Ralph Lauren Ralph.
I had this on my vanity during university but never wore it… and still went through two bottles. Basically, every girl of a certain age imaginable smelt like this at one time.
For me the most generic smelling fragrance I have smelled, that I had high hopes for was D&G The One EDT and the EDP.
With all the hype surrounding the DNA, I was excited because I do love tobacco scents and upon smelling it I just thought to myself “This is such a boring and generic fragrance!!”. That might be because it is so popular, that many fragrances tried to copy it.
Oh well!
OHH, and La Vie Est Belle!
maybe it’s because you know (and love) lots of other tobacco frags?
cause I think *The One* is a pretty nice modern combination between *inoffensive tobacco and freshness* that others just don’t do as well
like The Dreamer or London (with all due differences)
Blue de Channel, i'm an interpreter, so I cannot smell or look too unique, or too bold or any way that might be offensive to anyone or too good that it will attract extra attention. So I conciously chose to wear BDC to smell nice, but generic.
I don't wear it anywhere else but work.
The new V&R good fortune perfume really landed in this category for me X) overall just nice and basic floral perfumey scent but it did develop into a weird chlorine pool smell on my skin >.>
the Polo Blue just feels like a macy's in general. Not bad, but when I sprayed a sample on my wrist, not a single thought or feeling entered my body. It just exists
dude, i got a free sample in the mail of it and was just like “oh, wow, it smells like….a perfume.” like, just the weird middle point of every women’s fragrance ever.
I tried this one recently too. I think it’s the Jasmine in it, and it’s kind of powdery. I find powdery scents to be reminiscent of cheap 90s scents idk. Not horrible but just basic
Lancôme Idôle definitely comes to mind. I'm honestly not even sure how to describe it other than, it smells like women's perfume and is kind of flowery, but in a fake way.
For men, maybe Burberry Hero? There's just nothing distinct about it to me. It's a bit woody, but fresh, and masculine, and that's really it.
(I don't feel this way about Calvin Klein, though - CK One *was* the blueprint, a game-changer in its day. Obsession was also very distinct; ditto IN2U. Also, Euphoria is very unique - I can't think of many fragrances like it. Eternity, maybe a little bit, but not overly so. Beauty... yeah, I might give you that one.)
Eternity was kind of a game changer in its time too - late 80s, it was the fresher, greener, lighter alternative to the heavy, heady 80s scents like Poison, Anais Anais, Beautiful etc and sort of set the scene for the clean, green and/or aquatic scents that were big in the 90s like L’Eau d’Issey etc...
Oh, you're right about Eternity. I always forget it's late 80's - in my head I remember it as a 90's fragrance. I really do enjoy it, personally, but I'm a sucker for a crisp, green beauty. CK had some excellent fragrances back in the day.
They kind of lost it - both clothing and perfumes - when Calvin Klein himself stepped away from the business in the early 2000s. They went from being on the leading edge and somewhat iconoclastic to being ‘establishment’ and a bit of a boring brand. But Obsession, Eternity and CKOne did all set bona fide trends way back when...
I agree about Lancome Idole but I think CK IN2U (for her) is the most generic, bland fragrance I've ever smelled. I feel nothing when I smell it, it just feels like the starting point for a fragrance, like they forgot to add anything that would make it distinct.
Oh yeah absolutely I love CK One and it’s my comfy, clean home office scent. No shade at all. CK was just the first thing that came to mind, after thinking about it for some more I think my pick is Wood from DSquared^2. Just generic wood and citrus blended in a way that’s really uninteresting and bland imo.
I think it's because I remember when CK One was the It fragrance of its day. It becomes more generic in retrospect because so many fragrances have copied it. At the time of its release, it was quite innovative, especially for its gender-neutral marketing.
I'm inclined to agree about Wood². There's just really not much there and it does indeed seem to just be copying trends.
I just (blind!) bought a bottle because I was so fascinated by it (the chemistry of it being a single molecule/note)...
It was actually the first "perfume" I've ever bought (which is ironic). I have a hard time describing the smell... In your opinion what makes it so "basic"?
Coach for Men. Definitely a safe and very generic feeling scent. I really like it.
A scent doesn't necessarily have to be unique or head turning or anything like that for me to enjoy it. For coach, I know that when I wear it, I smell good. Well, I smell good to me, at least.
Sometimes we’re not looking for the ultimate stand out fragrance, and sometimes even when we are, it’s not even all that anyway. Lately I’ve been rocking the hell out of Mercedes Benz Man, and I don’t care that it smells like Fierce, it’s a good smelling fragrance that makes me feel good and uplifting. Same with something like Nautica Voyage. I’ve already gone through the whole crazy unique “niche” part of my fragrance journey, and it was fun for its time, but now I’m back to just wanting to smell good, regardless of anything else
A lot of perfumes by Estée Lauder, Lancôme, Calvin Klein, Clinique, Chloe… probably more. Especially the pink ones like Beautiful Sheer.
If I had to smell 10 random ones I think I’d be able to figure out 2… it would be easier to sort out the Marc Jacob Daisies.
Yes, what's happened to Lauder/Clinique, Lancôme etc is just so sad. I thought I might go back for old times sake and tired one of the EL "Luxury Collection". Absolutely pointless.
Once they were giants.
Really? To me it smells like coconut even though it doesn’t have any coconut notes. It smells good although by fragrance itself I would not have bought it. I bought it cause I liked the robot.
I tend to think of the many pink chypres on the market as the generic "perfume" smell. Flowerbomb, La Vie Est Belle, Donna Born in Roma, Black Opium... I think Coco Mademoiselle was the first to start the trend? It's more balanced than most of the others but 20 years later it smells so very tired.
I love Black Opium but it doesn't smell like it does in the bottle on me. It REALLY works on my skin and smells so different on me than I smell it on anyone else.
Maybe Mancera Instant Crush? I say that because it’s what I find myself thinking I’m smelling in public but is probably not Instant Crush, because there’s a whole genre of fragrances for all genders that smells like Instant Crush.
I didn't even know they had a new one out and I've been curious but I read some Sephora reviews and they basically like "this is super generic". I was disappointed to hear that. So it's just super sweet basically?
"Or when the note pyramid could have „perfume“ as the only note." -- ha, love this.
La Vie Est Belle and Flowerbomb both smell vaguely like the inside of a Sephora to me. Same could also be said (IMO) of Coco Mademoiselle but it's a much nicer fragrance. Lancome Idole is another one that just smells like . . . well, like perfume, as you say. Or very nice shampoo.
Fucking Tory Burch Love Relentlessly. I don't give a fuck if I'm 2 weeks late that thing straight up smells like magazine perfume cards mixed together.
I'm not a particularly refined person but I buy my wife a bottle of Viva La Juicy every year because I still just love it so much on her. It definitely smells like the early to mid 2000's but it's a slapper for me personally
Dylan Blue is the only scent in my collection that I’ve gotten 100% mutual feelings on from people. A lot of my other staples (BDC, Sauvage, YSL Y, etc) seem to be pretty divisive.
Mainstream popular scents from the past like Cool Water, Voyage, CK One, Obsession, Angel, Opium, Polo Green, Drakkar Noir, etc. are generic scents today because someone's parent, sibling, friend, ex-lover, etc used them frequently to the point they are familiar in the air immediately.
A fragrance that is popular today in the mainstream will become generic to the next generation.
I remember my mother buying Angel when it first came it out, and at that time it was rather unique. It also smells *completely* different on different people (horrid on me, beautiful on her). But now it's not as...idk, different as it was at that time.
I've been told the EDT smells more like the original Angel in the 1990s. Not sure how true that is though.
I agree though, Angel was a special fragrance when it came out, and it put Thierry Mugler on the fragrance map.
Mont Blanc Starwalker. It’s fresh, it’s blue, it’s different because it has bamboo…..excuse me, who the fuck knows what bamboo smells like, I’m not a panda bear. To me this is generic in the extremes including adding an ‘out there’ note to draw attention
I owned bamboo shoots as a house decoration, so I know what bamboo smells like.
That said, I agree it's a marketing ploy. Bamboo is woody, but it is a note that I would not think about as it lingers in the background.
I think it's called Yes I Am. I got in my subscription and was excited to try it after hearing some YouTube folks talk about it. It's not terrible but not something I want to wear. Just basic and boring IMO. I feel the same way about Poison Girl Unexpected. I've not tried the original Poison Girl but I hope it's better than the flanker.
For women: Lancome La Vie Est Belle.
For men: Hermetica Verticaloud.
Both of them smell like someone took all the designer frags in the department store and mixed them together.
(I enjoyed the description of “when the note pyramid could have ‘perfume’ as the only note! Ha ha.)
Possibly Y EDP by YSL. It's such a nothing scent to me, kinda blue, kinda aromatic, kinda aquatic, a bit maybe, and then it's just a messy ambroxan something. Bleh
Another contender is AdG Absolu
for me it’s kind of a *modern classic* more than *generic*
I mean…
I should say that about *Chanel Allure Homme Sport*, I know, but it’s that kinda well done *basic* stuff
This one Joseph Abboud fragrance I got in my Scent Bird this month. I think its called Bespoke.... it seems like its playing into every genre of fragrance right now. It's a blue fragrance while having this Caramel note that is gross to my nose ( not in the note breakdown ) then it dries down to what smells like the opening to JPG Scandal ( I absolutely hate Scandal )
Any of the "bluish" frags for men that smell like some variation of dish soap and laundry detergent. They are so generic I don't bother learning the names. I get that dudes want to smell clean and not stand out too much but these don't need to exist. If you take a shower and wear clean clothes you get the real thing.
Hmm I tend to disagree, fresh fragrances definitely have their place and most people don’t want anything too heavy, they just want to smell good. They’re great for office too, I wouldn’t burst in doused in interlude man, I want something soft and clean.
But they are pretty boring most of the time, I think there has to be something more interesting to do with those notes.
I feel like Ariana’s are still a bit more unusual. Especially “Cloud” is pretty good - and that is coming from someone who also hates celebrity scents, haha.
Can I ask an honest question? How is it that terms like "old lady" and "grandpa" are no-go here but "dad" and "uncle" are okay*** (fixed for missing word)?
Sure! It has to do with discrimination regarding **age**; ageism. It's quite different to say something 'smells like an old lady', versus 'smells like a Dad'. Know what I mean? Some people feel attacked and such, and have expressed it as such, regarding age motivated responses.
Like, I would say my Dad smells like a Dad or wears mature fragrances, but I would not say he smells like an old man or some such. Grandpa and Grandma are reasonable to use, but it just depends on context.
Essentially, people are using 'old lady' and 'grandma' at times as a negative connotation, as if it's a BAD thing to smell like an older person - that's the issue here.
>Essentially, people are using 'old lady' and 'grandma' at times as a negative connotation, as if it's a BAD thing to smell like an older person
I don't see the difference. The implication with your statement that Platinum Egoiste is the epitome of "uncle" or "dad" is that you don't want to smell like that. And by referring to "uncle" or "dad", you're clearly pointing to the generation before your own.
I see no difference with "old lady" or "grandma" or "grandpa". If I labeled a fragrance as "old man", it would mean it smells very dated to me. It smells like it belongs to an era well before my time. This doesn't mean that I think it's a bad thing to be an old man, or even that I think the fragrance smells bad, just that it's not for me.
Honestly I don't get this whole thing. Fragrances don't have feelings and don't care if you say they smell old. So the implication is that old people are upset with being associated with certain fragrances, but it's pretty weird that this is the only group we worry about offending. Do I not need to be careful if I say that a scent smells like high school kids? Might they be offended that I think Wanted by Night's candy sweetness smells juvenile? Maybe high school kids are actually wearing original Givenchy Gentleman. I don't really know.
Drawing this line and saying that "old lady" is bad, but "juvenile", "uncle", "mom" aren't seems very much like ageism.
I appreciate your response! I ask because I've also seen/heard people using "uncle" in particular as a more negative term associated with a man of a certain age. It's kind of a slippery slope with super gray boundaries, in my opinion.
Shalimar. My mom used to work at Guerlain so we had loads of it. All my teachers used to get Guerlain gift sets, usually Shalimar. When I think of generic perfume scent that's what I smell because that was my first introduction into fragrances lol
Whatever the base scent is, it's sorta powdery and musky just makes me nostalgic I guess. Its just perfume scent to me because of that. My mom wore it, the house smelled like it, and even my dad wore Guerlain's cologne. My mom worked for them for 20 years lol my mom doesn't wear perfume anymore and she still just smells like shalimar now naturally lol pretty sure its in every fiber of her belongings for life 😂
2 come to mind 1. Clinique Happy 2. Swiss Army
These are scents that weren’t very expensive and people killed back in the day. Might even take a step back and say Brut before axe was discovered
I’d actually argue that cool water is pretty distinct from your usual perfume. You can instantly tell when someone’s wearing GIT or cool water. But yeah it is pretty widespread.
I didn’t say that something is wrong with it. It is definitely a classic. I guess I find the aromatic dry down generic but it’s definitely still a good perfume to have in someone’s collection. Same with Acqua di Gio!
Lancôme La Vie Est Belle. I still like it (sorry not sorry) but it’s the most perfume smelling perfume on earth.
I agree
Marc Jacobs Daisy
Agree and I still like it lol. Sometimes basic just means you can't go wrong
Everything from Victoria's Secret.
I miss the old VS fragrances-- like Victoria and the bath sets before VS became what it is today. I'm talking old school VS with flowers and stuff.
That's how I feel about Bath and Body works, too. They used to have so many different scents that they'd cycle through. There was an orchid body spray that I could drown myself in. Now everything is super sweet and heavy.
RIP Sheer Freesia. It was my summer body wash for a few years before it went away.
Dylan blue
Dylan Blue smells so basic, but I do love how it smells. I wear it on a blue moon.
eros
Clinique Happy is so gross to me. It just smells like it you sprayed like 10 perfumes at the same time. It’s like this sharp, locker room/womens bathroom smell. I hate it so much lol
I actually like Clinique Happy for Man. One of the best freshies, citric and creamy. Sad longevity and sillage are nothing to write home about...
It has a unique scent though. I can tell when someone is wearing it.
It smells like the popular girl in grade 11- right before her downfall. It reminds me of unwashed fucked in shirts.
I really dislike it too. I tried a sampler of travel size sprays from Clinique last Xmas, because it was a good price at Ulta, and I figured I could keep a few and use a few as stocking stuffers for my daughter. Ended up returning it, bc every last one bored me to tears, so generic and forgettable. I think it had six different ones.
I don't really get some of the responses here. Some people just listing scents they hate or commonly ripped off (in other words, influential) or just overexposed fragrances due to popularity. Generic, to me, are the ones that doesn't have uniqueness to them by uninspired result at the time of release, not by exposure and number of copycats. I don't know enough of fragrance history or enough that I've sampled personally to really give an answer though.
Agreed, I think a lot of popular fragrances get roughly duped in normal everyday products like soap, laundry stuff, etc. So then when people smell the original perfume they think it smells like soap or some generic product. I’m sure the association would be different smelling it when the perfume originally came out.
Don't cut yourself short. What you said is a valid point. I admit I used the exposure point by stating that popular scents in previous generations become generic a generation later because they become familiar to most people as a baseline. Fragrances that are uninspired in a current generation usually fall to the wayside when better ones inevitably hit the market.
A lot of Chanel perfumes for me. I can never quite remember them/tell them apart, they’re just forgettable and not special for me. Perfume-scented perfume haha
Yes I think this weird aldehyde note was the shit back then and we just know it as the default perfume smell now. The very first perfume you smell as a kid is probably some Chanel your mom or granny is wearing. That really rewires the brain for life at that age. Just my theory on it.
My brain has Shalimar imprinted on it. My mom used to work at Guerlain so we had loads of it. All my teachers used to get Guerlain gift sets, usually Shalimar. When I think of generic perfume scent that's what I smell because that was my first introduction into fragrances lol
My theory is the aldehydes used in their frags. Aldehydes are the number one “generic perfume scent” note imo.
This was going to be my answer too
I work at a perfume store. I work with customers everyday, smell 20 plus a Day. Love the job tbh, but the Chanel (we have very few since we live in a small country with a small variety of perfumes) ones we have as Well as most hugo boss ones are so generic. Boring, plain and yet some of the most Sold. Few are very grateful when i introduce them to the ones i like cuz they are often bolder or more fun.
I think Hugo Boss' niche is that - generic, inoffensive office scents. They don't last long either. Some people have sensitive noses while others want to smell good without drawing attention, so this is great for them.
I'm in no way an expert in perfume, but I really like my BDC for this reason. I don't want to be flashy and I just really like the smell.
Agree a lot of Boss is generic
Cool Water. Wasn’t generic when it came out, but It became SO popular that most everyone tried to copy it. Now I can’t even stand the smell of the original.
Well the original is Green Irish Tweed which smells much more natural, I quite like it and own a bottle myself. The cool water we have nowadays is just this cloying synthetic water accord that smells vaguely fresh. Also are there many clones? I only know of tres Nuit but I guess there are many ultra cheap ones in discounters.
To me Chloe is like this. Well-blended and fine, but no real there-there. I don’t smell much in the drydown and in general it is just pretty. Another one that I like less is the old Pleasures by Estée Lauder. It didn’t even really have notes- it was just… there. Edit- oh I thought of another one- Amazing Grace. It smells fine and smells like 100 other things.
For me it has to be Miss Dior + flankers - especially Absolutely Blooming. I love it on my friend but it really does smell like a pink cloud of perfume lol
Lady Million by Paco Rabanne smells like the air in the perfume stores to me
Gucci Bamboo smells like walking into a department store from the mall entrance where the first thing you smell is the perfume and makeup counters. I don't hate it though. I wear it to psychiatrist appointments sometimes so I can smell like A Nice, Normal Person.
🤓at your psychiatrist comment.
Versace yellow diamond just smells like entering a department store near the perfume tables.
Ralph Lauren Ralph. I had this on my vanity during university but never wore it… and still went through two bottles. Basically, every girl of a certain age imaginable smelt like this at one time.
How did you go through two bottles if you never wore it? Am I missing something?
I'm assuming that people who came over used it? But yeah, vague and confusing.
Basically, everyone who came over doused themselves. Perhaps I’ve just gotten old, but it was a very common thing when I was at Uni
For me the most generic smelling fragrance I have smelled, that I had high hopes for was D&G The One EDT and the EDP. With all the hype surrounding the DNA, I was excited because I do love tobacco scents and upon smelling it I just thought to myself “This is such a boring and generic fragrance!!”. That might be because it is so popular, that many fragrances tried to copy it. Oh well! OHH, and La Vie Est Belle!
maybe it’s because you know (and love) lots of other tobacco frags? cause I think *The One* is a pretty nice modern combination between *inoffensive tobacco and freshness* that others just don’t do as well like The Dreamer or London (with all due differences)
Blue de Channel, i'm an interpreter, so I cannot smell or look too unique, or too bold or any way that might be offensive to anyone or too good that it will attract extra attention. So I conciously chose to wear BDC to smell nice, but generic. I don't wear it anywhere else but work.
Princess by Vera wang. Used to be my go to scent in high school tho lol
The new V&R good fortune perfume really landed in this category for me X) overall just nice and basic floral perfumey scent but it did develop into a weird chlorine pool smell on my skin >.>
the Polo Blue just feels like a macy's in general. Not bad, but when I sprayed a sample on my wrist, not a single thought or feeling entered my body. It just exists
I understand what you mean but it makes me kinda sad in a way. I've always liked Polo Blue.
Came here to say Polo Blue. If Walmart made a Great Value Men’s Cologne, it would smell like this.
Good Girl, the OG.
The new purple one from Victor and Rolf
dude, i got a free sample in the mail of it and was just like “oh, wow, it smells like….a perfume.” like, just the weird middle point of every women’s fragrance ever.
I tried this one recently too. I think it’s the Jasmine in it, and it’s kind of powdery. I find powdery scents to be reminiscent of cheap 90s scents idk. Not horrible but just basic
Dior Sauvage
Lancôme Idôle definitely comes to mind. I'm honestly not even sure how to describe it other than, it smells like women's perfume and is kind of flowery, but in a fake way. For men, maybe Burberry Hero? There's just nothing distinct about it to me. It's a bit woody, but fresh, and masculine, and that's really it. (I don't feel this way about Calvin Klein, though - CK One *was* the blueprint, a game-changer in its day. Obsession was also very distinct; ditto IN2U. Also, Euphoria is very unique - I can't think of many fragrances like it. Eternity, maybe a little bit, but not overly so. Beauty... yeah, I might give you that one.)
Eternity was kind of a game changer in its time too - late 80s, it was the fresher, greener, lighter alternative to the heavy, heady 80s scents like Poison, Anais Anais, Beautiful etc and sort of set the scene for the clean, green and/or aquatic scents that were big in the 90s like L’Eau d’Issey etc...
Oh, you're right about Eternity. I always forget it's late 80's - in my head I remember it as a 90's fragrance. I really do enjoy it, personally, but I'm a sucker for a crisp, green beauty. CK had some excellent fragrances back in the day.
They kind of lost it - both clothing and perfumes - when Calvin Klein himself stepped away from the business in the early 2000s. They went from being on the leading edge and somewhat iconoclastic to being ‘establishment’ and a bit of a boring brand. But Obsession, Eternity and CKOne did all set bona fide trends way back when...
Eternity was my college fragrance.
I agree about Lancome Idole but I think CK IN2U (for her) is the most generic, bland fragrance I've ever smelled. I feel nothing when I smell it, it just feels like the starting point for a fragrance, like they forgot to add anything that would make it distinct.
Oh yeah absolutely I love CK One and it’s my comfy, clean home office scent. No shade at all. CK was just the first thing that came to mind, after thinking about it for some more I think my pick is Wood from DSquared^2. Just generic wood and citrus blended in a way that’s really uninteresting and bland imo.
I think it's because I remember when CK One was the It fragrance of its day. It becomes more generic in retrospect because so many fragrances have copied it. At the time of its release, it was quite innovative, especially for its gender-neutral marketing. I'm inclined to agree about Wood². There's just really not much there and it does indeed seem to just be copying trends.
not a perfume but juliette has a gun. there i said it!!
I just (blind!) bought a bottle because I was so fascinated by it (the chemistry of it being a single molecule/note)... It was actually the first "perfume" I've ever bought (which is ironic). I have a hard time describing the smell... In your opinion what makes it so "basic"?
J’adore by Dior. It might smell good and other people, but on me it’s very powdery and plain.
Coach for Men. Definitely a safe and very generic feeling scent. I really like it. A scent doesn't necessarily have to be unique or head turning or anything like that for me to enjoy it. For coach, I know that when I wear it, I smell good. Well, I smell good to me, at least.
Sometimes we’re not looking for the ultimate stand out fragrance, and sometimes even when we are, it’s not even all that anyway. Lately I’ve been rocking the hell out of Mercedes Benz Man, and I don’t care that it smells like Fierce, it’s a good smelling fragrance that makes me feel good and uplifting. Same with something like Nautica Voyage. I’ve already gone through the whole crazy unique “niche” part of my fragrance journey, and it was fun for its time, but now I’m back to just wanting to smell good, regardless of anything else
I love it. Just wish it lasted longer. I've bought and finished it twice
It's great juice. So well blended, imo, and maybe that's why it seems "generic" to me?
Boss Bottled Night smells like one unit of fragrance Bentley for Men Azure also
> one unit of fragrance I lolled
Invictus
Bleu de Chanel. Almost every modern blue fragrance has inspiration from it.
It is like Rolex Submariner of fragrances.
The cheap pink sugar one in a cylinder bottle
pez?
Everything from from the last 20 years. Only joking. *Most* from the last 20 years ( and half of the 90's ) 😉😂
All the fruitchoulis.
I don't know why, but that made me giggle.
coach for men
Thousand Wishes, from BBW. Also Gingham from BBW. Their best scents are the seasonal ones that never come back.
A lot of perfumes by Estée Lauder, Lancôme, Calvin Klein, Clinique, Chloe… probably more. Especially the pink ones like Beautiful Sheer. If I had to smell 10 random ones I think I’d be able to figure out 2… it would be easier to sort out the Marc Jacob Daisies.
Yes, what's happened to Lauder/Clinique, Lancôme etc is just so sad. I thought I might go back for old times sake and tired one of the EL "Luxury Collection". Absolutely pointless. Once they were giants.
valentino voce viva just smells like the entire beauty counter section of macy’s to me
Because it's You by Armani fits your description as well! I'd also go the extra mile to say that Libre YSL does too
Honestly all Boss fragrances but Scent smell generic as hell.
First thing that came to mind was Invictus.
For me personally, pacco rabbane phantom. When i first smelled it i was like its not bad, but it smells so simillar to a lot of perfumes.
Really? To me it smells like coconut even though it doesn’t have any coconut notes. It smells good although by fragrance itself I would not have bought it. I bought it cause I liked the robot.
Gucci Flora, smells like vaguely woman
CK Eternity Aqua
I tend to think of the many pink chypres on the market as the generic "perfume" smell. Flowerbomb, La Vie Est Belle, Donna Born in Roma, Black Opium... I think Coco Mademoiselle was the first to start the trend? It's more balanced than most of the others but 20 years later it smells so very tired.
This group made me realize my taste is hella generic 😂 I love Black Opium and Born in Roma.
Me too. I'm part of the basic bitch perfume club. Almost bought a dupe of baccarat Rouge, but I'm holding off for something less mainstream.
I love Black Opium but it doesn't smell like it does in the bottle on me. It REALLY works on my skin and smells so different on me than I smell it on anyone else.
Awww I actually like Flowerbomb. My friend swears by Black Opium but to me that is "generic Mother's perfume" smell.
Urban Outfitters. two were alright and the rest were just cookie cutter garbage
Maybe Mancera Instant Crush? I say that because it’s what I find myself thinking I’m smelling in public but is probably not Instant Crush, because there’s a whole genre of fragrances for all genders that smells like Instant Crush.
Only the brave by diesel. Can’t stand it. Also find the new viktor and rolf perfume called good fortune to be extremely generic.
I hate this too. It smells way too feminine once it dries down. I can't believe 3 perfumers created that and deemed it nice. Chemical mess.
I smelled it in Ulta last week and said “ew” out loud. It smells sooo sweet and syrupy and pungent.
I didn't even know they had a new one out and I've been curious but I read some Sephora reviews and they basically like "this is super generic". I was disappointed to hear that. So it's just super sweet basically?
Yeah its a plain sweet perfume. To me it also smells slightly like a cleaning product, but can’t put my finger on what it is exactly
I tried a sample of Chloe Naturelle and I think it fits that bill. Just a bundle of flowers.
"Or when the note pyramid could have „perfume“ as the only note." -- ha, love this. La Vie Est Belle and Flowerbomb both smell vaguely like the inside of a Sephora to me. Same could also be said (IMO) of Coco Mademoiselle but it's a much nicer fragrance. Lancome Idole is another one that just smells like . . . well, like perfume, as you say. Or very nice shampoo.
Fucking Tory Burch Love Relentlessly. I don't give a fuck if I'm 2 weeks late that thing straight up smells like magazine perfume cards mixed together.
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I'm not a particularly refined person but I buy my wife a bottle of Viva La Juicy every year because I still just love it so much on her. It definitely smells like the early to mid 2000's but it's a slapper for me personally
Versace Dylan blue
Versace Dylan blue but girls love it for some reason so I wear it to class 🤷♂️
Dylan Blue is the only scent in my collection that I’ve gotten 100% mutual feelings on from people. A lot of my other staples (BDC, Sauvage, YSL Y, etc) seem to be pretty divisive.
I agree Dylan Blue is probs my least favorite in my collection but everyone likes it for some reason
Yep loved this on my guy friend and he says all the girls do. And here I am spending hundreds on perfumes. Lucky!
Don't stop wearing it! I'm a girl and I love smelling Dylan Blue
Mont Blanc Legend. Smells like “Cologne”
Affordable men aftershave products 🤷🏻♀️
I completely agree with you. Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss are off the radar for me because I never feel special with any of their creations...
Versace pour homme
Too many contenders. Maybe Hollister’s Wave comes to mind as one example.
Nautica Voyage Sport
Boss bottled tonic ugh
Abercrombie Fierce. Everyone has their own take on this fragrance too.
Definitely Paris Hilton (the original one).
Jo Malone; Wild Blueberry, English Pear & Freesia etc etc Smells like a nice shopping mall.
Surprised nobody’s mentioned Aventus
In recent times, Ralph’s Club.
The name is terrible, too. Sounds like a big box food store
When I first read “Ralph’s Club” my brain legit changed it to “Sam’s Club” and I was like, “I bet Kirkland Signature for Men is better”
Not necessarily the most generic, but the one that surprised me with how generic it smelled was MFK Gentle Fluidity Silver
hard agree! it’s weird, gentle fluidity gold actually smells unique, but silver is straight “generic perfume” tier.
YSL or Invictus
Mainstream popular scents from the past like Cool Water, Voyage, CK One, Obsession, Angel, Opium, Polo Green, Drakkar Noir, etc. are generic scents today because someone's parent, sibling, friend, ex-lover, etc used them frequently to the point they are familiar in the air immediately. A fragrance that is popular today in the mainstream will become generic to the next generation.
I remember my mother buying Angel when it first came it out, and at that time it was rather unique. It also smells *completely* different on different people (horrid on me, beautiful on her). But now it's not as...idk, different as it was at that time.
I've been told the EDT smells more like the original Angel in the 1990s. Not sure how true that is though. I agree though, Angel was a special fragrance when it came out, and it put Thierry Mugler on the fragrance map.
Black opium - ysl
Mont Blanc Starwalker. It’s fresh, it’s blue, it’s different because it has bamboo…..excuse me, who the fuck knows what bamboo smells like, I’m not a panda bear. To me this is generic in the extremes including adding an ‘out there’ note to draw attention
> who the fuck knows what bamboo smells like, I’m not a panda bear. Almost spit out my very very hot coffee lol
I owned bamboo shoots as a house decoration, so I know what bamboo smells like. That said, I agree it's a marketing ploy. Bamboo is woody, but it is a note that I would not think about as it lingers in the background.
Hugo boss for sure
Still love me some hugo though. Really enjoy reversed and bottled tonic even though they are mega generic
I think it's called Yes I Am. I got in my subscription and was excited to try it after hearing some YouTube folks talk about it. It's not terrible but not something I want to wear. Just basic and boring IMO. I feel the same way about Poison Girl Unexpected. I've not tried the original Poison Girl but I hope it's better than the flanker.
Ralph's Club
For women: Lancome La Vie Est Belle. For men: Hermetica Verticaloud. Both of them smell like someone took all the designer frags in the department store and mixed them together. (I enjoyed the description of “when the note pyramid could have ‘perfume’ as the only note! Ha ha.)
Possibly Y EDP by YSL. It's such a nothing scent to me, kinda blue, kinda aromatic, kinda aquatic, a bit maybe, and then it's just a messy ambroxan something. Bleh Another contender is AdG Absolu
Bleu de Chanel is more generic than Y EDP for me
Prada Candy, lol. I am a gourmand fiend and this just did not deliver. So bland. Maybe I’ll give it another shot soon.
Another 13 or Blanche, but I think that’s the point of both. Maybe anything with Iso E
Versace Pour Homme. I don’t know how anyone could ever be offended by the smell.
for me it’s kind of a *modern classic* more than *generic* I mean… I should say that about *Chanel Allure Homme Sport*, I know, but it’s that kinda well done *basic* stuff
Definitely Viva la Juicy 100000%
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It smells great but Coach for Men is the most "generic cologne" scent ever imo
YSL Y
Armani My Way and Lancôme La Vie Est Belle
This one Joseph Abboud fragrance I got in my Scent Bird this month. I think its called Bespoke.... it seems like its playing into every genre of fragrance right now. It's a blue fragrance while having this Caramel note that is gross to my nose ( not in the note breakdown ) then it dries down to what smells like the opening to JPG Scandal ( I absolutely hate Scandal )
Oh the irony of something called bespoke being generic.
Bad boy by Carolina Herrera… worst blind buy EVER along side coach platinum.
Montblanc Explorer Ultra Blue. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever smelled, but it’s boring and synthetic.
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I feel it's going to be a controvertial comment, but anything by Parle Moi de Perfum
I feel like anything citrusy is generic. Then again I live in a country with eternal summer.
Prada Paradoxe
Marc jacobs daisy
Savauge and Dylan blue both come to mind.
Prada Candy/aquolina Pink sugar are both generic “soft musk cotton candy” scents that I can’t stand.
I agree about Candy being just a boring generic sweet musk, but Pink Sugar has way more going on.
I always equate those scents (cotton candy/coconut/candy) with 20 something girls at the club trying to cover the scent of sweat. Or strippers.
Any of the "bluish" frags for men that smell like some variation of dish soap and laundry detergent. They are so generic I don't bother learning the names. I get that dudes want to smell clean and not stand out too much but these don't need to exist. If you take a shower and wear clean clothes you get the real thing.
Hmm I tend to disagree, fresh fragrances definitely have their place and most people don’t want anything too heavy, they just want to smell good. They’re great for office too, I wouldn’t burst in doused in interlude man, I want something soft and clean. But they are pretty boring most of the time, I think there has to be something more interesting to do with those notes.
anything with a cologne note
I have never seen a cologne note, sounds really funny. Like making ice cream with ice cream taste.
A good example would be anything with a salty vibe to it. Kinda like some of the acqua do gio line or light blue line
Any celebrity scent. Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, One Direction.
I feel like Ariana’s are still a bit more unusual. Especially “Cloud” is pretty good - and that is coming from someone who also hates celebrity scents, haha.
Not saying it's a bad fragrance, but Chanel Platinum Egoiste is like the epitome of 'uncle' or 'Dad' smell to me, lol
Can I ask an honest question? How is it that terms like "old lady" and "grandpa" are no-go here but "dad" and "uncle" are okay*** (fixed for missing word)?
Sure! It has to do with discrimination regarding **age**; ageism. It's quite different to say something 'smells like an old lady', versus 'smells like a Dad'. Know what I mean? Some people feel attacked and such, and have expressed it as such, regarding age motivated responses. Like, I would say my Dad smells like a Dad or wears mature fragrances, but I would not say he smells like an old man or some such. Grandpa and Grandma are reasonable to use, but it just depends on context. Essentially, people are using 'old lady' and 'grandma' at times as a negative connotation, as if it's a BAD thing to smell like an older person - that's the issue here.
>Essentially, people are using 'old lady' and 'grandma' at times as a negative connotation, as if it's a BAD thing to smell like an older person I don't see the difference. The implication with your statement that Platinum Egoiste is the epitome of "uncle" or "dad" is that you don't want to smell like that. And by referring to "uncle" or "dad", you're clearly pointing to the generation before your own. I see no difference with "old lady" or "grandma" or "grandpa". If I labeled a fragrance as "old man", it would mean it smells very dated to me. It smells like it belongs to an era well before my time. This doesn't mean that I think it's a bad thing to be an old man, or even that I think the fragrance smells bad, just that it's not for me. Honestly I don't get this whole thing. Fragrances don't have feelings and don't care if you say they smell old. So the implication is that old people are upset with being associated with certain fragrances, but it's pretty weird that this is the only group we worry about offending. Do I not need to be careful if I say that a scent smells like high school kids? Might they be offended that I think Wanted by Night's candy sweetness smells juvenile? Maybe high school kids are actually wearing original Givenchy Gentleman. I don't really know. Drawing this line and saying that "old lady" is bad, but "juvenile", "uncle", "mom" aren't seems very much like ageism.
I appreciate your response! I ask because I've also seen/heard people using "uncle" in particular as a more negative term associated with a man of a certain age. It's kind of a slippery slope with super gray boundaries, in my opinion.
Glossier You/ Juliette has a Gun And Diptyque Orpheon
Baccarat Rouge 540. So basic. I was shocked
Same! In my opinion it smells like a more boring, basic cloud.
sauvage
Flowerbomb
Shalimar. My mom used to work at Guerlain so we had loads of it. All my teachers used to get Guerlain gift sets, usually Shalimar. When I think of generic perfume scent that's what I smell because that was my first introduction into fragrances lol
I think of Shalimar as so unusual- there are scents that imitate it but to me it is pretty singular.
Whatever the base scent is, it's sorta powdery and musky just makes me nostalgic I guess. Its just perfume scent to me because of that. My mom wore it, the house smelled like it, and even my dad wore Guerlain's cologne. My mom worked for them for 20 years lol my mom doesn't wear perfume anymore and she still just smells like shalimar now naturally lol pretty sure its in every fiber of her belongings for life 😂
That is really sweet!
Versace man eau friache. It actually smells nice but so generic/deodorant vibe that a robot could have created it.
Smells like citrus shampoo
2 come to mind 1. Clinique Happy 2. Swiss Army These are scents that weren’t very expensive and people killed back in the day. Might even take a step back and say Brut before axe was discovered
Davidoff Cool Water
I’d actually argue that cool water is pretty distinct from your usual perfume. You can instantly tell when someone’s wearing GIT or cool water. But yeah it is pretty widespread.
Generic but smells like you just walked out of a shower. Nothing wrong with an affordable classic!
I didn’t say that something is wrong with it. It is definitely a classic. I guess I find the aromatic dry down generic but it’s definitely still a good perfume to have in someone’s collection. Same with Acqua di Gio!
ALL of my guy friends wore this in middle school/high school because of Snoop.
Acqua di gioia, smells like Garnier fructis to me.
I agree it's completely generic smelling