Is there a certain smell that makes you sad?

I don't know if it's exactly sad, but maybe more nostalgic or melancholic. When I smell Evening In Paris perfume I am always reminded of my Mother. She passed on in 1976 and that was her 'trademark perfume.' I kept a bottle of it that she had on her dresser, I never wear it, but if I want to remember mama or feel her memory, all I have to do is open up the bottle. I have the same memory trigger with Old Spice...it takes me back to my fondest Uncle I grew up with. One sniff and I'm a teenager again. It's funny how a smell can take you back to memories in the past. The one smell that brings me the most profound saddness is when I am driving along and smell a house on fire. What's different from that smell other than wood burning, is the smell of the oil, metal melting etc. When I smell that I am taken back to the time when my Dad's house was hit by lightning and burned to the ground. It is not a smell to be forgotten, and triggers the most horrible memories of that day watching it burn.

Oh boy CrazyNurse, you have just touched on a subject that I have recently had some experience with. A few days ago, a friends daughter had just gotten a bottle of sweet honesty cologne from Avon for her birthday. As soon as I opened it I was assaulted with memories of my own youth. I have been struggling the last cou-le of months with the fact that I am beginning to go through menopause, grappling with the fact that my youth is behind me and I am beginning a new era of my life. Smelling her sweet honesty hit me so hard, I was totally take aback. It was the favorite of my teens, along with strawberry skinny dip. It is funny how something so innocent can send us to the edge like that.

For me it has to be the smell of cut grass. This always reminds me of my childhood, playing in the park after the parkkeeper has just gone round with the mower, leaving a long pile of grass which we use to kick everywhere. Also the smell of damp leaves, it floods back memories of making piles and running through them. I must admit I spent most of my childhood playing in our local park....sweet memories!!

there are certain smells that reminds me of something or someone. I can't say its just some bad memory or all. there is a certain smell that reminds me of a person.A smell of a certain perfume reminds me of a friend who used it.

Yes, it is the only cologne that my dad would wear "Canoe" and when I smell it I automatically think of him. It makes me sad because he is no longer here. My mom is still alive and she too only would use one perfume her whole life "Shalimar" so one day I know the smell of that perfume will trigger a sad memory also.

Ya , the smell of food when your stomach is full makes me sad as i am not able to eat anymore..

The sense of smell, I am told, is located closest in the brain to the part of the brain that governs memory. So the quickest way to memory, according to some people is through the sense of smell. There are some hair care products and soe room fresheners that smell like a lilac fragrance my grandma used, so it is actually more of nostalgia than sadness for me.