Are there any products you can’t or won’t use because of scent? Share!
There are some moisturizers that are too heavily fragranced with floral-like scents that I just can’t handle personally. Lip products that taste soapy are also hard to wear.
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Revlon ColoStay Whipped, it makes me nauseous! 🙁
Stuff with eucalyptus. Way too strong for me!
I love the formula and look of Maybelline’s Color Elixirs and used to wear them often, but ended up stopping in the meantime because of the weird soapy taste/smell that made them (or at least some of the colours) unpleasant to wear 🙁 I also don’t use my Anna Sui nail polishes because while I’m fine with rose scents, it’s so strong that I actually find it nauseating, and I’m not usually sensitive to scents at all.
i can’t handle the color elixirs either. they have such a terrible scent/taste.
I know what you’re talking about. I loooooove the rosy scent of Anna Sui polishes but when I was pregnant I couldn’t get near one. I thought that my whole drawer reeked of artificial, medicinal nauseating rose.
My face is very sensitive to fragrance, so anything with a fragrance is out (sunscreen, cream, foundation, powder, cleansers, etc). That eliminates a lot of brands that are known for putting fragrance into skincare and makeup.
For the most part, I try not to use scented cosmetics apart from some lipsticks and the guerlain pressed meteorites (which smell amazing).
Oh absolutely.. if a lip product is overly perfumed. Like a floral scent, or anything heavy like that I just can’t deal with it. I had a lip treatment that had pumpkin seed oil in it and I couldn’t stand the smell.
Yes! Tarte’s Bronzing Serum! I received it as a sample and was pretty excited to try it out. I put it on and immediately wiped it off. So gross.
Hah! Good one. You are talking about Gucci…soapy lipstick taste. All those expensive moisturizers like Chanel, Dior, etc. So strong of a smell that I can’t even sleep with the scent. I like to know what the men think.
The first thing that comes to mind is Gucci, namely the lipsticks. It’s both the strong perfume smell and the perfumey, soapy taste. I usually won’t buy floral scented lipsticks. About the only fragrance I can tolerate is vanilla. And, I only buy scent free facial products.
I cannot use any of Benefits skin care line due to the heavy perfume scent. It shocked me that they decided to heavily fragrance these products.
I’m allergic to many artificial dyes and fragrances, so I have to be careful. I can’t use any lotion or body wash with fragrance, and I react to some makeup with fragrance but I never know until I try it. I also don’t like really floral or soapy scents, or makeup that smells like a chemistry lab.
Rimmel love Kate lipsticks! gorgeous colors but they smell like potpourri… bad potpourri. Leaves me with a headache. The smell lingers for hours.
Yes! I don’t mind and actually like the violet scent of Guerlain. But , the heavy florals give me a haeadache. I pre-ordered Charlotte Tilbury’s Magic Cream from Beautylish when it launched. When I received it, I was finishing another cram and set it aside. So, by the time , I had opened it and checked it out enough to realize how strong the scent was, it was probably too late to send back. Ton top of it, I read the amazing reviews and talked myself into giving it a fair chance. I just can’t hack it.It lingers too much for me. So the 99% full jar has sat in my cabinet. I am not sure what to use it as. It is nice on the skin.It is so heavily fragranced that i am a bit worried about irritation. Also,I love Perricone skincare. But, the cold plasma..those comments about the smell..no joke..gross.it’s intolerable. They say fish smell mostly. To me,it smells metallic mixed with fish..like fish in a can on your face,lol. Im not doubting it works good. But, it kept me up..the smell. I had to wash it off in the middle of the night! Other smells, I am good with. Amorepacific moisture creams have a faint shitake mushroom smell.it’s weird. But,it grows on you. I did notice Guerlain has some skincare.I would love to try it sinnce I do love that fragrance in the meteorites. But, with no counters near me,it is pricey. There is no way to get samples that I am aware of. I don’t know why.It seems like Guerlain is slowly going away. The Sephora and Nordstrom stopped carrying it.I live near a higher end shopping area. It perplexes me. i wonder if they are leaving the states! Ugh..that would stink!
Lancome Dual Finish powder and Guerlain Meteorites. Such a shame too because they are both quite nice but my skin hates fragrance.
By Terry Lipstick. Love the colour and the texture, but the scent is horrible. Not parfumed, more chemical, I don’t know…
When it comes to lip products, I like it when there’s a scent or taste as long as it’s not so overpowering that I just can’t wear it. Some companies put scents in their blushes/foundations and those actually irritate my face since my skin is sensitive. I don’t get the logic of face products that have a heavily perfume smell to them. When it comes to body butters or lotions I always prefer ones with something natural like a coconut scent and one that’s not infused with a lot of chemicals because they just burn my skin. L’occitane would heal my skin during winter months but the fragrance was so heavy and would burn when I applied it and the smell wasn’t even that pretty in the first place. There is a time and place for fragrances and can be a total plus when done right but when done wrong it can be the one reason why a product is a miss.
I love L’Occitane’s hand creams but the fragrance irritates and dries out my skin 🙁
I have just put on some of the l’occitane divine extract as I am for an early night resting in bed and the scent (medicinal ? herbal?) is overpowering, yes but not as annoying as I remembered it . This thingy is just a sample, unopened since September.
I have returned several mascara a due to their scent. Strongly scented products near my eyes are a deal breaker for me.
I have had that issue too. They smell like eggs, or funk. I hate smelly mascara!
Heavily-fragranced skincare products are a no-no in my book. I also can’t really wear fig-scented lipsticks. There’s nothing to do about that. I really don’t get along with fig!
Anything fake cherry scented. To me, this smells like childhood illness and despair – I used to have to take an absolutely noxious medicine that was ‘cherry’ flavoured. Needless to say, in desperation my mother taught me to swallow pills at what was apparently an unprecedentedly young age, LOL! >_< Real cherries are delicious…but no-one uses actual cherry essence (or whatever) to scent their products when they make them 'cherry'… *shudder*
Soapy lip products are hard too, but more so when the soapiness is taste rather than just smell.
I’m lucky in that I don’t have problems with scented products but there are 2 items I can’t use because the smells are really unappealing to me. One is Neutrogena’s body oil (in Canada, I’ve not been able to find the unscented version) and the other is Burt’s Bee’s baby oil – again, I find the smell just off-putting.
If they just smell a bit weird or bad, i may, but if they have a bitter taste i won’t use them, no matter how nice they smell or how pretty they are….i got many lip products like that…no return policy in Romania, sadly. Considering moisturizers, they must be almost or fragrance free. Eyeshadows sometimes smell of baby powder but that’s just the talc in them…but i do own some that contain vanillin. They smell nice. I guess it’d be a problem if i use them in a big amount near the waterline.
To name some…Maybelline Colorsensational glosses in the tubes, Rimmel Vinyl glosses, Flormar glosses, Essence glosses and lipsticks (minus a frosty gold one), a Bourjois gloss…etc
I don’t like anything to floral. Im not a fan of floral scents at all. Especially lavender or rose scented things, I cant stand the smell of rose or lavender they give me headaches. I use to be a bit funny with Guerlain because of the violet scent but I can just about cope with that.
I want to love Guerlain’s Meteorites, but it’s so heavily fragranced that I had to return it! And I adore violet- just apparently not all over my face.
Nothing from Clarins (except sunscreen) or REN. I feel like I want to rip my face off by the end of the day!! Strong “lipstick rose” smell in lip products is also a big turnoff.
Same goes for Too Faced eyeshadow primer. The smell made me switch to NARS.
Anything too minty is not my thing. But if the product is really awesome I’ll still use it though, despite the smell.
Burberry blushes– why do they have to put perfume in a blush? Such a shame.
Lancôme skin care products!! Any moisturizer samples I get with a GWP get used as body cream. They may smell nice but I’m not slathering perfume on my face!
SO TRUE!!!!
Moisturizers, serums, toners, sunscreens, primers and foundations — basically anything that comes in liquid form and goes right on my face — with any kind of fragrance in them at all, artificial or natural, are extremely likely to upset my sensitive skin and/or set off my rosacea. I actually can’t wear many products on the market because of this. If there’s a bit of fragrance in a powder that I apply over a base of other products it may not be a problem. Scents in lip products don’t always upset my lips, but sometimes do. I’m not a fan of fragrance in any skin care or make up, though. I don’t like all those different scents competing with each other. It’s not like you’re going to apply only one product.
Can’t wear any MAC lip products — at best, the fragrance dries out my lips; at worst, I’ve actually gotten blisters from it! Same with OCC, Burt’s Bees (peppermint scented products), Kat von D, Maybelline, Revlon (some)… the list goes on!
Yeah, I can tolerate MAC’s chemical vanilla smell just for the sake of their matte lipsticks that I find amazing.
Pretty much all high-end skincare is out for me because of the overwhelming fragrance. Not only does it bother my nose and my sensitive skin, but I believe it’s damaging to the skin – not exactly an enticement to pay big bucks. I wish a high end company would offer a fragrance-free, alcohol-free skincare line. I can’t tolerate heavily scented floral lipsticks either.
I love the color range of milani lipsticks but I never reach for them because they smell disgusting.
I used to love Lush Karma kream, but lately I have been finding it way too overpowering.
As a rosacean, anything like washes, creams, serums, concealer, foundations/BB’s and blushes with fragrance will burn me. This includes “natural” fragrances and essential oils. Lipsticks and eye products are not such a problem since they do not touch the rosacea-affected areas, but anything strongly perfume-y will repel me. Fragrance is not skincare, to quote Paula Begoun.
Moisturizers, lipsticks and lip glosses with fragrance.
The UBD pocket rocket literally give me nausea. I can’t take it!
Anything Estee Lauder, but especially the lipsticks. EW.
agreed… it’s just awful!!!
L’oreal lipsticks.the floral taste and scent are strong and persistant.
I think L’Oreal lipsticks smell waxy…blah. But I still wear them.
L’Oreal lipsticks. The original formula scent is horrible and old lady perfumy. The old Nars lipgloss formula smelled like melting plastic. I haven’t picked up the new ones, so maybe they’re better.
Lancome skincare
I keep fragrance out of my beauty as much as possible. All my skincare products are fragrance free, and most of my makeup as well. The exception is lipstick and gloss, since I have so many lippies from before I learned how irritating fragrance can be, but I hope to start including some good fragrance free lippies in my stash soon. 🙂 And I have had eczema since I was a child, so I’ve always had to use fragrance free soap and body moisturiser – even my detergent for clothes has to be! I’m definitely quite uptight about fragrance because I’ve been burned by products with irritating ingredients before, so now I’m extremely wary of anything even potentially irritating.
The liplicious lip glosses from Bath and Body Works. The scents are so sweet/strong, I just can’t wear them!
No… Unless whatever is creating the scent causes an adverse reaction to my skin, I have no issues.
I’ve always lived in a large, Metropolitan city, and there are a million random scents around me at any given time, so I’ve developed a tolerance for smells-even “offensive” ones. I also have a very acute sense of smell, so maybe that attributed to my tolerance…?
Any strong, heady perfume, particularly florals, really put me off. I also can’t take really strong, synthetic fruity scents. NYX lip glosses and L’Oreal lipsticks are probably the worst culprits for me.
Nars lip gloss!
Me too! Supposedly they’ve reformulated, but I can’t handle the smell.
I used to love the scent of MAC lipsticks…then I got pregnant. During my first pregnancy I couldn’t stand the smell of my MACs. I went nine months without wearing any of my favorite colors. The smell didn’t bother me as much during the second pregnancy. But now I don’t find the scent as yummy as I did pre-children. I think scenting lipsticks is silly unless it’s a mint scent to compensate for breath mints.
I can’t use any Maybelline lipsticks, which is a crying shame because the formulas are quick decent and the colours are fantastic… but I can’t get them anywhere near my face. I also can’t use a lot of philosophy products because they smell so herbal, tends to give me a headache.
I agree with you on the Maybelline lipsticks. I had three or four of them at one point and had to get rid of them because I could not stand the smell which is a shame because they were good lipsticks 🙁
I had to throw away my Urban Decay Naked lip gloss in Nooner because of the scent 🙁 Loved the colour, but I couldn’t stand having it anywhere near my nose.
I can’t use anything rose or heavily floral scented, as my husband is allergic to most of it.
I have a LORAC lipgloss that is so heavily cotton candy scented, it made me nauseous. I haven’t worn it since. I have a Max Factor cream puff powder that was so heavily perfumed, I had to let it sit out unopened for two weeks before I could stand it. It still has some perfume scent to it, so I rarely wear it.
I really don’t like anything scented on my face, apart from lip products. I can handle Guerlain’s violet OK, though. As for lips, nothing to strong. I avoid cotton candy, soapy/playdough/chemical, anise/licorice, floral, and cheap artificial orange, cherry and grape.
I still wear it, but the milani lipsticks make me want to gag!
they are terrible lol
Any Lancome mascaras! They’re so perfumed that they make my eyes sting and stream! And Aveda’s Tinted Moisturiser. It smells like paint!
I’m definitely not a fan of fragrance in skincare or makeup – I can tolerate small amounts (Aucoin Skin Enhancer, when used sparingly on the face)…..but the one product I recently tried that earned a firm “lol, no” was Caudalie’s Divine Oil. It’s not because I don’t love fragrance – I do! I just think it belongs where it belongs. For luxury in a product, I’d look elsewhere – texture, application, packaging even – anywhere but slamming me in the face with unnecessary fragrance.
So while the fragrance itself wasn’t unpleasant to me – the amount of it absolutely was.
Opening the sample vial, I was really shocked – for something of an all-purpose skincare product – no freaking way would I cover my skin in that much of any fragranced product, but especially one aimed at being beneficial to the skin – it’s counterproductive and unnecessary.
I find the scents on Chanel’s skincare overwhelming.
I’m kind of a perfume junkie, so my moisturizers and any leave in hair products have to be scentless. So does my body lotion unless I’m layering a particular scent.
Any Rimmel lip gloss is a big no no for me. Its smells makes me think of squeaky soft plastic for some reason and I just can’t get past it. Other then that I’m not too awfully sensitive to fragrance.
Cover Girl lipsticks, yuck!
Anything with a strong rose scent, can’t stand roses!!
Any scented body lotion. They give me a headache.
Christine, if you don’t mind me asking which lip product tastes soapy to you? I never had that happened to me 🙂
Maybelline’s Color Elixir lipglosses more recently!
Dior’s Fluid Addict was similar for me.
I prefer if things had no scent but even drugstore brands do it. I really dislike loreal & lancome lipstick. Which is a shame because i like the formulas. Both are so overpowering in a not pleasant scent!
I got some Fresh facial primers from sephora for my “birthday month” a few years ago. I was pregnant and had morning sickness. The smell of the rose makes me so sick. I refuse. Even the thought makes me sick lol. Another pregnant killer was dolce and gabana light blue. My husband bought it for me, it’s still full and in touched. 🙁
I love the D&G Light Blue : )
It’s like everyone smells like Light Blue. It is a lovely scent and I understand why it is loved but there are plenty of other fragrances around…
I know what you mean: I got hooked on it the summer of 2005 and my mother who rarely likes perfumes etc loved it. Since then she doesn’t want to even check other perfumes or eau de colognes etc… and now my sister in law and little nieces use it. So I got them the same same same every Christmas.I moved on of course but have still a little bottle in my collection.
Strong perfume scents that are added to facial products are my pet peeve. I recently tried the Ponds Luminous BB (CC?) cream and although I loved the formula and color, I won’t be able to use it because it had a strong perfume scent that lingered for hours. Why do companies do that to otherwise good products? Hope in a Jar smells like a wet dog, but I don’t think it is added fragrance in that case, just something about the odor of the active ingredients. Also I agree with the comments about Rimmel lipsticks, they have a really nasty scent so I stopped buying them.
Moisturizers, foundations — I prefer unscented everything on my face, except for a pleasantly scented lipstick or gloss whose scent disappears soon after applying.
Worst betrayal for me was Becca’s original tinted moisturizer (LSC or Luminous Skin Colour) which was unscented and a HG product for me, then a few years later they started putting scent in it, which totally killed it for me. I think Becca almost killed the whole line/company when they did that, as it was a betrayal of many of their most loyal customers, and Becca then disappeared from many department stores (e.g. a local Neiman Marcus) and specialty brick-and-mortar stores (e.g. a local Sephora) after that. Becca has been harder to find since then, it’s nearly all online, and when you do find it, popular colors are often out of stock.
I couldn’t stand the original Maybelline Fit Me liquid foundation due to scent. I’ve heard it has been reformulated, and don’t know about the current product with regard to scent or lack of scent.
Yes WILDOVE, I love Becca’s tinted moisturizers. I noticed it has a very light chocolate scent, really faint. I think Sephora carries most of Becca’s cosmetics.
Like many of the comments above, I am also allergic to scented products on my face. I have very sensitive skin, so when a product is meant to be for sensitive skins and is perfumed, I have just wasted my money. Sukin moisturizers for night time was so heavily perfumed I now only use it as a body moisturizer.
I can’t stand the scent of Elizabeth Arden’s 8 hour cream. I know there’s an unscented version, but the smell of the original has turned me off from trying it. I don’t like the way Lancome powders, lipsticks, and creams smell; it’s so overwhelmingly floral and not in a pleasant, fresh way. Products that have a very strong scent of anything (vanilla, grapefruit, lavender) give me headaches.
I can’t think of any products that I didn’t like the smell of – well there are tons of perfumes that are way too strong and/or sweet.
I avoid scented products as a general rule. Lightweight fruity or foody (e.g., vanilla) scents can be okay for lip, body, or hair products, but anything floral is right out. I am allergic to most flowers to begin with – both as a fragrance and an active ingredient. I also have super sensitive skin and rosacea, both of which do not play well with fragranced products. I do use a few things with light scents but on the whole, I avoid the high end stuff, as the companies seem to think that in order for a product to be deemed ‘luxury’ it has to smell ‘luxurious’. Ugh.
Agreed, the soapy lippies are AWFUL. I think what’s worse is that they seem to really linger too, much more than a lot of lippy scents/tastes.
Doesn’t the smell of cosmetics go away once applied? I’ve never ‘smelled my cheeks’ after applying – I’m a little confused here. Same with lipsticks – once applied do you still smell them?
I don’t. : /
I can smell Guerlain’s Kisskiss but I find the scent uplifting. It’s the sweet taste I can’t stand.
Yes, Shiseido Moisturizer Bio-Performance Advanced Super Restoring Cream…the smell….old lady, yuk
I noticed serums smell a certain way. I have tried Christian Dior, Clarins, and Lancôme and they all caused me to break out. I am starting to think they are not for me. Most of them are strongly scented for my sensitive skin. I will continue to use olive oil and vitamin E creams. My skin is too sensitive to try different products that causes breakouts.
Avon ANEW moisturizer or cream or whatever they call it. That stuff rocks but stinks to high heaven. I had to toss it.
any facial product (cleanser, moisturizer, serum or cream) with any kind of scent at all.
any perfume other than an all natural scent smells like rubbing alcohol to me.
Foundations with fragrance. Big NONO.
Most of the Bath and Body Works body creams that come in the tubes I can’t use because because it contains an ingredient or something that when it sits on my skin, it starts to smell really awful due to the way it reacts with my natural oils or something that I can’t really explain. Other than that, there aren’t any products that I can think of off the top of my head that I can’t use because of its scent.
Definitely. Gucci lipstick & foundation, Dior lipstick, Guerlain lipstick and foundational and others with perfume.
NYX Liquid lipsticks
I agree about the Color Elixirs. I just can’t stand the perfumey smell, and threw mine away. I would totally buy more had they been unscented or sweet-scented. Don’t like anything too floral or minty.
I hate scents in lip products and yes weird ones in sunscreens too.. 😛
Maybelline Color Elixirs and L’Oreal Prive Lipsticks, blech!
Yes, I like the Rimmel London Kate lipsticks but the smell is so repulsive that even if they came out with a shade that was one of a kind I had to positively needed in my collection, I wouldn’t buy it because of how terrible the smell was.
All skin care products with fragrance.
Ok, it’s hard to admit but I absolutely hate Erno Lazlo cosmetics because of that ‘scent’ or the lack of it. Also, lipsticks that have a sugary taste really turn me off. I don’t get the point of lipsticks and lip glosses tasting sweet.
The one product that immediately comes to mind is Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm with SPF 20. I cannot describe what it smells like but it’s just baaaaad! Since I need to put it on my face (including under my nose) it’s hard NOT to smell the chemical vs waste smell it has. By the by, I do adore most UD products. This one was just a stinker!
I also don’t like lipsticks that have a bad smell or taste. It could be the prettiest color in the world but if it’s smelly it goes in the old circular file. This is just a random statement… I cannot think of a brand name off hand
I have a bunch of Chanel skincare stuff I don’t like to use because it’s so strongly fragranced. I’m afraid it might irritate my sensitive skin
Many – specifically almost all the scented lotions and stuff (excluding soaps and perfume sprays) from Bath and Body Works because stronger scents causes inflammation in those with eczema and psoriasis (like me).
Guerlain bronzer :(! I usually can’t handle fragranced cosmetics, but as a bronzer junkie, I really, really wanted to like, hell, love it. The smell was just too strong and made my eyes water. And since my local Sephora didn’t carry Guerlain at the time, I bought the bronzer online; and so it ended up as one of the very few products that I have ever returned. I haven’t been particularly tempted to buy from the brand since, but got a mascara sample once a while back. And even their mascare smelled of roses (I guess?)! So of course I ended up giving it away immediately :(.
Perricone’s Blue Plasma—can’t stand the fishy smell on my face and Benefit Brow Set. The wax smells horrible. to
Loreal lipstick! Makes me feel sick, I just can’t get over the smell.
melt cosmetics’ “by starlight” & “space cake” that i ordered in may 2014 . they smell like crayons . D;
the other 3 from that same order are more bearable .
i did purchase “dark room” & “6six6” this past november & was pleasantly surprised at the new vanilla cupcake scent .
hopefully their future batches of lippies will smell like those !
I have allergies and very sensitive skin so there are many products I cannot use. For example Physician’s Formula has a horrible smell in some of their products. As much as I enjoy some of their make line I can’t handle the smell. As well as many high end products with strong perfume smells. I hate putting on lipstick that not only smells like a perfume counter at Macy’s but tastes like one too.