People Are Confessing the Weird Smells They’re Obsessed With, and It’s… a Lot to Process
Get a whiff of that. There are moments when the internet accidentally stumbles into anthropology. Not the kind with dirt under the fingernails and grants from prestigious universities—but the kind where thousands of adults voluntarily announce the scents that make their brains light up like a raccoon discovering an unlocked trash can. This is one of those moments. A simple prompt— What weird smells do you love? —and suddenly humanity reveals itself not through politics or productivity hacks, but through gasoline nostalgia, cat breath devotion, and an alarming number of people who believe the olfactory experience of bleach is basically a personality trait. What follows is not a list. Lists are for people who think IKEA smells “cozy” and don’t want to unpack that any further. What follows is an examination of who we are, what broke us, and why our noses are apparently feral. Smell: The Sense That Goes Straight for the Childhood Trauma Sight is polite. Hearing asks permission. Tas...