So, this gal I watch on YouTube* was doing a section on weird fragrances and she mentioned Knead, which was done for the Auntie Anne’s brand by the folks at Demeter (makes sense) and is allegedly a dead ringer for the smell of Auntie Anne’s pretzels … I’m guessing this is an American thing? They’re a mall kiosk food — these big, doughy pretzels with a choice of toppings/dips. Apparently there were lines around the block to buy this thing at the pop-up in SoHo and it sold out almost immediately, and now you can only get some if you pay stupid money on eBay. Did I buy it? Nope, I didn’t even know about it, although I admit curiosity would probably have separated me from $24 for a bottle. Do I want to wear it? Hmmmmm. It does beg the question, doesn’t it? Do you want to smell like your mall memories of wolfing one of those down while walking from Old Navy to Sephora? The idea of that miasma wafting around me all day invites thoughts of regret and some faint but persistent nausea – much like the pretzel itself, although that doesn’t stop me from eating them. Did anyone here snag some Knead and try it?
YouTube gal also mentioned Crumb Couture by Snif in passing – she likes it a lot, she’s on board with smelling like a jam-laden croissant. Well. Turns out it’s pretty easy to get a sample online, so I did. It’s described as “an ode to the scent of the golden pastry that’s guaranteed to end up on your chest, lap, and floor.” Carolyn and I both tried it. It’s a nice gourmand and it smells mostly of jammy fruit, I’m not sure I’m getting much of a bread note after the warm, yeasty opening fades. It does smell delicious, and it sticks around, and at $65 for a 30ml bottle it’s practically free if using perfume math. Nothing about that cheapo bottle says “tasty” to me, though — it looks like makeup remover.
It got me thinking about Bois Farine – anyone remember that, one of the early L’Artisans? Pretty sure it’s still in production, and the nose was Jean-Claude Ellena and it was based on some flower in Réunion that smells like bread. (OK I just googled, and yes.) Can we pause for a moment and think about how amazing and weird a lot of those OG L’Artisan scents were, especially for their time? Boy, those were the days. Anyhow I wanted to love Bois Farine but it was more bois than farine and it smelled like wet cardboard on me. I ended up swapping my bottle, which is too bad. I’d love to smell it again.
Then my mind wandered to Barbara Bui Le Parfum which always smelled vaguely bready to/on me, although it’s described as a woodsy oriental (Anne Flipo, 2004.) I have three bottles which cost almost nothing online years ago, and whoa, those days are clearly over! I gave it a spritz to refresh my memory. I adore its powdery, amber-y, bready sweetness, like the smell of Japanese milk bread, although to some folks (heliotrope alert!) I think it smells like Play-Doh. Fine, more for me. Perfect on a cool, cloudy fall day.
Are there any yeasty / bread-y scents you like? Do you want to smell like a pretzel?
* Youtube Gal is Hannah Louise Poston, who talks about beauty, fashion, living well with less, and all sorts of other things. She’s also a tango dancer and has a book of poetry out, and I enjoy her content and thoughtfulness in general.
Heya March,
My mate Scotty smells all iris as yeasty bread dough. Even a smidge of iris can ruin a fragrance for him, such a bummer.
Portia xx
PG Cuir Veneum smells of rye bread and beer to me. someone used to make a sweet brioche perfume, but buttery scent/diacetyl (I’m guessing) makes me a bit queasy.
That makes total sense. I was actually thinking about that re the croissant fragrance … the buttery/bread note was interesting and fun, but I could see it being unpleasant if it had stuck around.
I love the smell of fresh bread – my husband bakes sourdough for us and has for about 8 years – but I don’t want to smell like fresh bread, not even a little. Does that make sense?
Well, yes. I’ve spent some time thinking about it. I like gourmands (in general) and I have some tolerance for sweet fragrances, but somehow smelling like bread via fragrance does not appeal.
…. do you know…I’ve never had one of those mall pretzels? EVAH! I suspect it’s because I’ve never been a huge pretzel fan… and I don’t even know what they smell like (because I am AGED! and my mall days are over, mostly)
Ha! Did you have mall days? I think I had an above-average amount due to the kids, it was easy to go to 3 – 4 stores and get everything taken care of like clothes. Those pretzels were a standard bribe for good behavior.
Oh man, I loved Barbara Bui, but not enough to chase the crumbs! Such a great comfort scent. DH has taken over the bread baking, much to my waistline’s detriment.
I looooove freshly baked bread, and I’m fortunate (unfortunate?) enough to have some options nearby. I’d eat a whole loaf with good butter given the opportunity.
Great reviews March! I miss those early L’Artisans and affordable prices too! I’m not a food scent lover, and I don’t predict I ever will be. Our local mall has two Auntie Annie stands, so a person can’t escape that smell of yeasty pretzels. I never sniffed the BF or the BB sadly. Coincidentally I am wearing a newer Ann Flipo scent today: FM Synthetic Jungle (2021). It’s very green with BWF energy.
I still remember sniffing a bunch of L’Artisans somewhere in Paris and losing my MIND, I spent hours there. And that wonderful shop Art With Flowers. I really liked Synthetic Jungle!
me, too (on the Synthetic Jungle) – I love the electric green/BWF combo.
I am not a huge fan of bread, either in scents nor irl, though I do love the living daylights out of a crunchy crust, hot, with a slather of butter.
I LOVE Auntie Anne’s and would LOVE to smell like a pretzel!
I just got some samples of Fueguia 1833 Quilombo, which smells like a dulce de leche-stuffed croissant. I didn’t get a bottle, because I have more perfume than I can use in a lifetime, but it smells amazing, so I kind of regret it.
Oh lord I would 100% want to smell like a dulce de leche croissant, and also to eat one. Must google; is it no longer available? Looks like … no.
No, it is! https://www.fueguia.eu/products/quilombo They even do these lovely large sample sets of 5x5ml!
Remember Lagerfeld’s Liquid Karl? It smelled like baked bread. Food scents don’t appeal to me. Bois Farine DID smell like wet carboard and boiled peanuts.
Ha! So it wasn’t just me with the Bois Farine! It was interesting but not appealing. I do not remember Liquid Karl, sounds fascinating!
I’ll be up to my elbows in dough on Thursday & Friday. First bake after a summer break.
Our house smells wonderful once the bread is in the oven.
Do I want to smell bready? Not unless I’m baking
Yessssss baking season! I spent awhile a few years ago doing those no-knead loaves and man they were good. It’s incredibly hard to get anything to rise at this altitude as a home baker so now I just stick to things like cookies.
Ooo…. Didn’t realise altitude made a difference to the fermentation. Interesting, I wonder why. I thought it was only the temperature that made a difference.
As long as it’s sourdough your gut biome will survive.
See nerdy again.
I’ve been refreshing my sourdough starter after a summer break from baking. I’m planning a sourdough sandwich loaf & mini loaves like Hovis used to make.
That sounds absolutely fantastic. It’s a good thing our local bakeries are nearby but not, say, next door or I’d be living on bread.
You could get those pretzels in the city in the UK where my son went to university. Used to bring them home when I visited him. This post speaks to me as hot buttered toast is my diet staple currently— like breakfast and lunch. My gut microbiome must be screaming in agony. As to the question, no — though I’d love to smell (when I can again …) that pretzel perfume.
Hot buttered toast is a good, bland option though — you’re not missing/being weirded out by the lack of scent. I hope that pretzel fragrance winds up at some sample seller, I’d get ahold of some.
Lol. A no here too. Nor do I want to smell like dough. I will happily munch on raw dough though – dough breath?
Hm, not raw bread dough for me, but cookie dough absolutely. And I still haven’t died of … what is it they warn about? Salmonella? Ehhhhhh.
In a word, no.
I do like lostmarch laan ael (sp) but that’s as close to bready as I’d like to get. But if I want to smell like a pretzel I’ll just get a pretzel.
Nope, I don’t want to smell like a pretzel, lol.
I got out my bottle of Lostmarch Lann-Ael, thank you for the reminder to give it a sniff Tom. I always enjoyed this fragrance as more of a vanilla with sweet cream but you are correct, it has a bread-y note.
I’m pretty sure Lostmarch is still available too! I should get a bottle. I’m still working through my decant of the Hexennacht Cornflake Girl which is the only scent I’ve ever smelled that smells pretty similar to Lann-Ael’s weird apple-hot cereal.
I prefer the classic — regular with salt, none of that cheese or other nonsense.
Yes, the classic. And when my mother baked bread she’d practically have to stand over the loaves with a shotgun to keep her spawn from consuming it before it cooled and set properly.
To this day good, fresh bread with good butter could be a meal.
And, of course, sometimes it IS a meal. I’ve eaten an entire baguette, for instance, and lived.