I want to smell like food

August 17, 2010 5:43 PM

Help me smell like food! I found this hair stuff that smells vaguely of nutmeg, and it occurred to me how much I like that sort of smell. Are there any personal hygiene products that smell like food or spices? Excluding the typical fruit and vegetable scents, of course.
posted by seiryuu to health & fitness (39 answers total)

Bath & Body Works is your mecca.
posted by amro at 5:45 PM on August 17, 2010

Like every men's cologne, ever? They called it "Old Spice" for a reason. But maybe you mean women's care products.
posted by GuyZero at 5:50 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Aveda has some wonderful herbal/spiced products that are both a pleasure to use and effective. I'm familiar with the Men's line, the scent of which I'm very fond, but certainly worth scoping out. Pretty easy to score samples if you can find a brick-and-morter retail shop—I'd try it out first, given the relatively high price.
posted by alexandermatheson at 5:51 PM on August 17, 2010

Take a look at Demeter fragrances. Tomato? Curry? Waffles? Check.
posted by magicbus at 5:52 PM on August 17, 2010 [4 favorites]

I have Demeter's lime and ginger scents, but they don't have the one I most want: cardamom.
posted by artifarce at 5:53 PM on August 17, 2010

They're slightly on the pricier side, but Philosophy makes lots of yummy-smelling products. You'll probably like both the Fruits and Berries and Sweet and Indulgent lines of products.
posted by sanitycheck at 5:55 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

It's a little bit pricey, so have someone gift you the Origins' Ginger collection. My mom got my a kit of Ginger stuff this year and it smells like Heaven -- simultaneously spicy and sultry and sexy and homey. Refreshes me every morning I use it. Also, bonus: ginger is apparently an aphrodisiac.
posted by aintthattheway at 5:56 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

You will like this one: Crabtree & Evelyn's Naturals Botanical Body Butter, in Cocoa Butter, Nutmeg, and Cardamom. Smell lasts all day, but it's not too overpowering -- but definitely, nutmeg and cardamom. Sounds weird, but I think it goes well with Samsara perfume -- adds some vanilla and tonka to it, which changes the lotion from very foody to more spicy.
posted by Houstonian at 6:01 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Seconding Aveda.

Burt's Bees might also be worth a look-see. They have a hand cream with almond oil that smells like delicious baked goods - but in a good way, not a "why do you smell like candy?" way.

There are lots of bar soaps scented with edible botanicals and/or their oil - any health food store should have a small section of these. I see clove, mint, almond, and rosemary a lot, but there are plenty of other options as well.

You could also look into essential oils, but be careful - a lot of seemingly harmless oils can have really unpleasant effects on the skin. Do your research before applying any essential oil directly to your body.

I would steer clear of Bath & Body Works - the scents are artificial and in my opinion very few of them really smell like the food they're trying to imitate.

Also, Old Spice does not smell like anything edible. There are some spice and botanical notes, but to me it mostly smells like musk, cedar, that sort of thing. But then most perfumes have botanical/edible components - that doesn't mean the resulting scent actually smells like the herbs/spices in question or anything that would be good to eat.
posted by Sara C. at 6:02 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

LOVE Philosophy's Cocoa and Eggnog scents, especially in the middle of winter when (at least around here) you really need a lift in the shower in the morning to feel human again. Dr. Bronner's Peppermint castile soap in summer -- I swear it actually makes you feel less hot when you get out of the tub. (Though beware, if you have cats they may want to nom you afterwards, mine always do). Lush Happy Hippy for grapefruity tasty and Cynthia Sylvia Stout for lemon + beer (no really, it smells AMAZING, and works really well on my curly hair).

Lush in general has a lot of tasty foody type body care stuff.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 6:06 PM on August 17, 2010

My male best friend loves Bath & Body Works' brown sugar and fig scent. I can't testify as to how much it actually smells like brown sugar and fig, but it is certainly interesting.
posted by punchdrunkhistory at 6:06 PM on August 17, 2010

I was in love with Aveda's Clove shampoo for a while - it's earthy/spicy but subtle and less 'herby' than some of their stuff. And - bonus! - it would probably blend well with nutmeg.

(Avoid the conditioner though, it does NOT have the same scent.)
posted by ella wren at 6:10 PM on August 17, 2010

I'm guessing that the "hair stuff that smells vaguely of nutmeg" is Bumble and bumble's Sumotech. If not, well, try that! Burt's Bees Garden Tomato Toner is pretty excellent too. Also: Yes To Carrots and Yes To Cucumbers are lines of soaps and hair products. Of the two, the cucumber is much more convincing.
posted by AkzidenzGrotesk at 6:25 PM on August 17, 2010

Aveda's Scalp Balancing shampoo smells like cinnamon. One of the few shampoos I've used wherein I used to specifically look forward to catching a whiff of my hair throughout the day.

I stopped using it after a while, though, because I didn't notice any real effect on my scalp and decided I preferred waking up to the smell of their Rosemary Mint line of products. Which I also can't say enough great things about, either smell-wise or quality-wise.
posted by Sara C. at 6:38 PM on August 17, 2010

A male friend sometimes wears Eau des Baux from L'Occitane. I have a hard time detaching myself from his neck whenever he does and I'm around.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 6:40 PM on August 17, 2010

Oh, also, I love and use the Cinnamint toothpaste from Tom's of Maine.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 6:43 PM on August 17, 2010

I was excited to come in and say that my deodorant (Secret) smells like chai ice cream, but it's a lady product. And also discontinued.

It's all fragrance no hygiene, but a lot of what comes out of the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is spicy and masculine.
posted by itesser at 6:48 PM on August 17, 2010 [4 favorites]

I have this spray hair wax called FUDGE from my hair salon. It smells great, like chocolate frosting.
posted by smalls at 6:48 PM on August 17, 2010

nthing Aveda.
posted by roomwithaview at 6:52 PM on August 17, 2010

Seconding Lush. One of my favorite scents is their Pied de Pepper cream, which people tend to pass over because it's intended for feet. It smells exactly like chai.
posted by Metroid Baby at 7:00 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Do some research about herbs that are actually healthful for complexion and hair and whatnot. Peppermint oil for the hair, lavender for the skin, etc. It's easy and very usually "cleaner" than straight up storebought stuff (full of chemicals). My wife makes what she swears is the world's best face scrub from oatmeal and a few different essential oils.

Do be careful because some of the oils are pretty strong and can sting or burn if overused. But in the right amounts, they're effective and luxuriously aromatic.
posted by carlh at 7:04 PM on August 17, 2010

I was excited to come in and say that my deodorant (Secret) smells like chai ice cream, but it's a lady product. And also discontinued.

Indeed, and that's a sad thing for those of us who liked chai armpits, but they did rework it into a vanilla-ish one. The peach one is more or less the same as it was before, but the apple one's been replaced with pear.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 7:04 PM on August 17, 2010

Half of everything that Lush makes is almost edible. Their soaps don't just smell like food products, they contain food products: Marmalade (well, citrus peels), figs, vanilla pods, etc... It's actually a little annoying to be poked by a sharp vanilla pod, but dammit if it doesn't smell like creme brulee.
posted by mhum at 7:12 PM on August 17, 2010

Along the line of the Demeter suggestions, you should also look into CB I hate perfume, a line by the same perfumer that started Demeter.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:13 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Not product, but same effect. When I cook with spices, stuff flies everywhere, and sometimes my hair smells like cinnamon all day. I imagine you could get the same effect powdering yourself with cardamon, or dabbing a little vanilla essence here and there. ;)
posted by Ahab at 7:22 PM on August 17, 2010

Some great Lush products with food smells, and which are not fruit and vegetable:

Mange Too massage bar: white chocolate and honey
Honey I Washed the Kids soap: honey, caramel
Smitten hand lotion: almond
Flying Fox shower gel: honey
Creamed Almond & Coconut shower soap: almond, coconut
Freeze shower gel: peppermint
Sonic Death Monkey shower gel: chocolate, orange
13 Rabbits shower gel: chocolate
Porridge soap: brown sugar, molasses, oatmeal
Gingerman soap: ginger
Vanilla in the Mist soap: coffee and vanilla

All the lip treatments...

There are loads more, these are just the ones I can think of in addition to the ones already mentioned, and excluding fruit/veg.

So, so much of Lush's product line smells like food... because they specialize in no preservatives, so they use lots of fresh natural ingredients, many of which come from food. (I agree with the previous comment that Bath & Body Works products smell synthetic and weirdly fake, not really approximating the actual scents of food.)

(Lush used to have a massage bar called Nutts that smells exactly like fresh ground peanut butter, but I don't see it anywhere, might be discontinued)
posted by pineapple at 7:28 PM on August 17, 2010

Yep. Just rubbed a quarter teaspoon of concentrated vanilla essence through my hair, then dusted it with a tiny bit of powdered cinnamon (not cassia, but true cinnamon), powdered star anise, and a tiny piece of very well pounded kaffir lime peel. Shook it all out, and I smell AWESOME! Thanks for the idea!
posted by Ahab at 7:33 PM on August 17, 2010

Philosophy, Demeter, Lush, CB I Hate Perfume
posted by ifjuly at 7:34 PM on August 17, 2010

I love the scent of cardamom and sometimes put a teabag of it in with the drawer of clothes..
posted by lundman at 8:21 PM on August 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Dr. Bronner's soaps are pretty cheap compared to the rest of the stuff on here, and they come in some pretty interesting "flavors" including an almond that smells really nice, IMO. They are harmless enough that you can brush your teeth with 'em.

On a completely different note, my wife recently brought home shampoo with "placenta extract" in it. <gag>
posted by richyoung at 8:32 PM on August 17, 2010

Kiss My Face has a lot of good spice smells.
posted by two lights above the sea at 8:32 PM on August 17, 2010

Aesop have some lovely stuff, though they're a bit pricey.

I discovered them when a friend of mine wore some to a party. She's an old friend, I've known her for years, and it's always been happily platonic. When she approached I went to kiss her cheek as usual and the moment I caught a whiff of her scent I suddenly wanted to consume her. I wanted to eat her up. It took a little restraint to refrain from kissing her neck and nibbling her ear lobe and just drown myself in her skin. I'm actually salivating right now, just remembering it.

I think that was the mandarin facial scrub. Something citrussy, certainly. If you get some, please use it with caution.

I might have to go lie down
posted by twirlypen at 8:33 PM on August 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Seconding Dr. Bronner's Peppermint soap. The Almond scent is great, too.

I love the way Weleda's Sage deodorant smells.

While I haven't tried them myself, I just read a rave review of Molton Brown's Black Pepper line of men's products.
posted by Majorita at 8:40 PM on August 17, 2010

Lots of health food stores will have natural hand-cut soaps, and there's usually a variety that's an opaque off-white soap with brown swirls, made of powdered cinnamon and nutmeg. Usually in the $3-5 range, too.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 11:30 PM on August 17, 2010

Anthropologie has some interesting scents available, although a little pricey. I once found a fresh cut grass perfume there.
posted by _superconductor at 5:55 AM on August 18, 2010

Possets perfume oils. She's got chocolate, she's got bakery scents, candy, fruit, spices -- you name it.
posted by Ouisch at 5:59 AM on August 18, 2010

Seconding CB I Hate Perfume. They sell small sizes too, so you can check out a bunch of different scents. I've got a cologne that smells like gasoline and freshly cut grass and the missus has one that smells like sweet tea.
posted by electroboy at 7:12 AM on August 18, 2010

Carol's Daughter has some of the most wonderfully aromatic, fruity, herby smelling products around. I love the Caribbean Punch line because it makes me smell like the beach all year round. The Almond Cookie collection is awesome too ... and the products are amazingly moisturizing, and cruelty free!
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 8:49 AM on August 18, 2010

The most delicious smelling of all the delicious smelling Philosophy products is Cinnamon Buns 3-in-1 (shampoo, shower gel, bubble bath). It smells better than the real thing. Be careful, though. Someone might try to take a bite out of you.
posted by Mael Oui at 9:31 PM on August 18, 2010