Wrist rescue party: Fragrant first aid

first aid mainstream
Does this ever happen to you? You spritz or dab a new scent you’ve been dying to try, and after a few seconds, it’s instant FAIL? This happened to me not too long ago. I was so looking forward to sniffing Creed’s Aventus for Her, seeing as it had a green apple note in it, and I’ve really enjoyed that in several older scents. So imagine my surprise when I put it on and got hit with an undertone of oud? Oud? Really? Didn’t even see it listed in the notes or I would have been much, much warier of it. (Begging forgiveness from Musette, who really liked this, and any other fans out there.) So immediately my brain goes into emergency management mode: What do I have that might be able to rescue this? What fragrant first aid can I apply to mitigate the olfactory damage?

My standard go-to is Le Couvent des Minimes Eau des Mission cologne for this kind of rescue mission, but the Aventus for Her was too bright/floral to really work well with that. So I went poking through my samples and happened upon Tom Ford’s Venetian Bergamot. It’s fresh, it’s bright, and it just might be strong enough to render fragrant first aid to my wrist. And what do you know? A spritz of that did the trick and kept me from cringing every time I got a whiff of my wrist. Now I’m not going to wear this combo again anytime soon, but it is nice to be able to salvage something that was previously nearly unwearable and might have made me want to do harm to myself.

What about you? Do you have any scents that you reach for when the going gets rough and you need immediate first aid? Or do you head straight for the extra-strength Tide?

The only fragrance I really experienced a whopping case of GET.IT.OFF.NOW.BEFORE.I.RETCH. was Byredo’s M/Ink (sp?) and that sent me to the Tide posthaste and then everything else and his brother applied after that to mask what remained. Of course, some of you may really like that one, and I say, more power to you if you can wear it, but honey, you can happily have my share and more. 🙂

P.S. Am feeling better and so is the computer, so thank you for your well wishes and patience last week.

  • Bill Tse says:

    I’ve recently had two similar experiences. Both with Tauer perfumes. I had high hopes for them, but once they were on my skin I could only think about floor cleaner… I persisted for an hour but still couldn’t bear it so I scrubbed with soap. Although that didn’t help much…
    I covered that smell with LAP Dzongkha, which worked quite well.

    • Ann says:

      I hear you, Bill! Much as I love Andy’s creations, sometimes there’s something in some of them that just doesn’t agree with me at all. But too funny that Dzongka came to your rescue (see above comments). But hey, it did the trick, right?

      • Bill Tse says:

        LOL, funny how people’s tastes are different! Yeah I agree with you, something in some Tauer scents just doesn’t work with me… I think it’s their citruses that don’t agree with me.

  • GrandmaGaga says:

    I always have a pump bottle of un-scented lotion at the ready…spread that liberally over the offending area, rub it in, then wipe off with an un-scented sturdy baby wipe…all gone!

    • Ann says:

      That’s an interesting way to do it! I had not heard of those steps but it sounds like a winning operation. Thanks for sharing!

  • Eldarwen22 says:

    Can’t remember the last perfume that I’ve had to scrub off immediatly. But if I am wearing a perfume that I do find annoying after a while, Dawn dish soap usually works. If the Dawn doesn’t work, a rubbing alcohol and Tide works wonders.

    • Ann says:

      Good to know about the Dawn, eldarwen. Will give it a go and see if will work at least as well as ye olde Tide.

  • HeidiC says:

    The only two really awful scrubbers I can think of are Laine de Verre (smelled like a hospital, plus something that put my hackles up) and Jasmin et Cigarettes — the old ashtray smell was making me sick, and I tried to layer Fumerie Turque over it to rescue it, but nope. Alcohol and soap and lotion to try and remove it.

    • Ann says:

      Hello, dear! I’ve not tried either of those but I could see how they might not agree with you. Did alcohol and soap do the trick? Maybe I’m not using the right kind of soap 🙂

      • HeidiC says:

        I was using an exfoliating soap — I think it has orange peel in it? — anyways, I think that took off a couple of layers of skin.

  • Mals86 says:

    Soap is the first line of defense. If it’s REALLY bad, then a dash of my unscented deodorant on top, and then a spritz of something I like in a different location. Actually, if it’s a sample I’m unsure of, I have started testing on the back of my hand, in that fleshy area between thumb and first finger, as it’s at least easy to wash off.

    If you ever need a good vicarious cringe, go watch Katie Puckrik’s video of her testing Secretions Magnifique. She’s dabbing it on and saying she can’t smell it yet, and I’m muttering, “You should stop now,” under my breath, and then she dabs more and more and I’m clutching my chair and saying, “Oh, honey, you are going to REGRET THIS,” — and then she registers it. Oh my.

    • HeidiC says:

      Ha! That video is like the perfume world’s version of watching reactions to the Two Girls One Cup video!

    • Ann says:

      Howdy, Mals! So nice to see you today. Hope your family is well; are all the kids in college by now? 🙂 Like you, her video puts me in train-wreck observer mode (“No, no, pleeease don’t do it” — this isn’t going to end well at all). And sure enough, it doesn’t!

  • jenbat says:

    A good soap, then KissMyFace Coconut body lotion, usually does the trick. I had to do it recently for Tom Ford’s Vert D’Encens and (gasp!) Dzongkha.

    • Mals86 says:

      I hate Dzongkha too. Actually, I hate quite a number of Duchaufour thingies, and I’ve begun to postulate that there’s a particular vetiver material he likes to use that smells like dirty, scummy pondwater to me.

      • Ann says:

        Ladies, I see the circus scent is not a favorite today; I’m not wild about it either. And good to know about the KMF lotion; think I’ve got some around here somewhere.

      • Bill Tse says:

        LOL! Dzongkha is my rescue scent!

  • fragroom says:

    Thanks for the humorous post. Got so many “rescue remedies”. Anything from Comme des Garcons will do the trick.

    • Ann says:

      You’re welcome — glad I can laugh about it now, too, ha! And I agree, many CdG scould do some heavy-duty “rescuing”.

  • Klara says:

    the Felce Azzurra soap a/o body powder are my go-to rescue 🙂

    • Ann says:

      Not familiar with that, Klara, but glad it does the trick! Always good to have first-aid remedies on hand.

  • Tara C says:

    I wear M/M Ink. :-). As for unpleasant perfumes, I don’t usually try to hide the misery with something else, I go straight for rubbing alcohol and then soap. If it’s just something unexciting, then I might layer over top.

    • Ann says:

      You go, girl, for being able to wear that Byredo. I don’t think Secretions Magnifique could have been any worse on my skin (or stomach). But on the right person (like you), it’s probably terrific!