There's a certain smell that makes me smile involuntarily—and then smile bigger because I know the reason I'm smiling is because I'm a lovesick fool and honestly—it's kinda nice.
His beard oil, mixed with sea air, sunscreen, and sand. Bake with a few hours of sun, add a splash of coconut.
It's incredibly specific, I know—but it's the smell of summer afternoons, date nights sharing pizza at 2 am on the beach, it's the smell of falling in love. It's the smell of years together, sunscreen on the kids, coconut conditioner on five heads of curls.
It's the smell of us and I grin like a fool every time I smell it.
Reddit user migue30 asked:
"What smell, when you smell it, instantly makes you happy?"
I'm not the only one out here smiling like the cat who caught the canary. Lots of us have happy smells.
We Love Carbs
"Bread that just come out of the oven"
- Appropriate-Elk3686
"I worked a couple summers in construction."
"One Saturday morning I was at a concrete pour on a site that was just down the street from an Aunt Millie’s bakery that was going full tilt. So the whole job site smelled like fresh bread."
"It was wonderful and also torturous."
- agsieg
"This smell reminds me of my grandfather."
"We used to have a restaurant and he made fresh bread all day every day. I would walk into the back room and just get this overwhelming sense of calm and warmth whenever there was bread on the table, or about to come out of the oven."
"I miss my grandfather."
- Adam_Ohh
GiphyLost Love
"Woodsmoke is a big one for me. A LOT of my childhood was spent around campfires with family."
- SirSilverscreen
"I used to unconditionally love the smell of a campfire."
"But I live in Oregon and that smell was ruined for me in 2020. Living in Salem the sky was shades of yellow, brown, orange and red, and when you tried to breathe outside it burned."
- SgtVinBOI
"Yup. California here; smelling smoke just makes me sad now, but it used to make me smile so big."
- lonabirdie
GiphyLadies Night
"Whenever me and my best friend are getting ready to go out, she always sprays this particular perfume on the both of us before we go. It’s always the same perfume, and we’ve used it ever since our first night out."
"So once in a while I’ll catch a whiff of this perfume in public, and I’ll immediately think of out nights out and all of the fun times we’ve had while wearing this perfume."
"She moved to a bigger city a couple months ago, so we don’t see each other as much anymore. That hasn’t affected anything though, thankfully ❤️"
- frankie-downhill
GiphyJob Satisfaction
"I've been a baker for going on 20 to 25 years (approx.), and the smells never get old."
"Fresh baked bread, cheese and garlic pullaparts, cinnamon buns. 1/4 of my job satisfaction is just the atmosphere."
- voidinherent
"Oh mate. Working in subway and being on an open and when you take out the cookies that are literally still burning hot and the smell just fills the room… that smell used to make my mornings, not gonna lie."
- L0WEffort
GiphyThe Beans
"Coffee beans."
"Not coffee already made. It has to be coffee beans. When I walk down the aisle at the store, I stand there like a moron and take it all in."
- xex00
"My grocery store had a section where you can grind the beans yourself and they have novelty flavors like Carmel, hazelnut, pumpkin spice etc."
"I could spend hours sniffin'."
- bubalub-
"Oh gosh yes."
"My first job was at a cafe & I loved just breathing in all the bean smell as I got the shop ready. The beans (whole or ground) smell like 20x better than coffee when it's made."
- Firefly128
"There used to be a small family run coffee roasting business by my school."
"Every Wednesday they would roast their freshly imported coffee beans with their front door wide open, the whole street smelled of freshly roasted coffee."
"They retired a while ago and I regret not buying up the rest of their stock."
- WedgeTurn
GiphyHair
"A girl's freshly shampooed hair."
- wisedond0n
"I get it. My husband getting out of the shower is a happy smell too."
"It's the clean, crispness of his soap carried by the burst of humidity that pours out when the door opens."
- Summerie
"Guys can do this too!"
"I bought a coconut scent conditioner and it made my hair smell so great a guy smelled it and wanted to buy the same conditioner."
- Vagabond21
GiphyA Love/Hate Thing
"Lavender."
"I don’t think I actually like it, though. My wife loves it & our youngest said it helped him sleep & relax."
"The smell reminds me of them, and of him when he was a baby. Just happier times even if they were sh*tty times."
"I hate the smell of lavender, but it’s just so nostalgic I can’t help but like it."
- FondleMyPlumsPlease
GiphyMechanic Smell
"Used engine oil, dad was a mechanic and when he came home I used to hug him and his overalls smelled like it."
"Since he’s passed away I smile every time I smell it."
- strong_tea_baggins
"Yep, that grease and gas smell of a garage does it for me too."
"Combine it with cheap bar soap, and instantly I see my grandpa in my mind."
- screamingcheese
GiphyGrand-Smells
"My Grandpa's coat."
"I got it after he died, and it still smells like him. I keep it safe and pull it out every once in a while."
"I put my head in it and I'm a little kid again. It's been really helpful these last few months."
- Jalambi
"I have no idea what it was but the smell of my late grandma's basement."
"It certainly wasn't mold, I've smelled plenty of that."
"Even years after she's passed, it still smells like it down there. I have no idea what it is but it's over of the most nostalgic things for me."
- DirePanda072
GiphyMom In A Bottle
"I both love and hate the smell of Vanderbilt perfume."
"My mom wore it exclusively. I took her bottle when she passed away suddenly a couple years ago."
"When I was a teenager and first working, I asked her what she wanted for Christmas because I could finally get her something with my OWN money. She told me Vanderbilt perfume."
"So I did, but I was sure I had no idea what it smelled like. So when I got it home, I opened the box and took the cap off the bottle to sniff. I realized immediately that it smelled like 'Mom in a bottle.' "
"I had no idea she wore perfume. I thought that was just how she smelled."
- No_repeating_ever
GiphyBath & Body Works
"Japanese cherry bloom from Bath and Body Works."
"My grandma sprayed that sh*t EVERYWHERE in her home and it reminds me of her practically raising me as a child and all the fun summers me and like 20 other cousins spent with her."
- we-buy-ugly-people
cherry blossom love GIFGiphyTrash Bags?
"Bare with me... scented trash bags."
"Like, flower scented and stuff. Your probably thinking 'that's a nice smell but why exactly that?' "
"It all has to do with my favorite game of all time. Red dead redemption 2."
"I may be crazy but I SWEAR I had that smell the whole time from chapter 1-4. It's now almost a representation of that sh*t that was about to go down."
"Lots of death and sh*t happens and I don't know if the trash bag in that room was scented or what, but I remember that smell. Now the scented trash bag smell and the excitement of the game are associated."
- Difficult_Clerk_4074
GIF by Vulture.comGiphyOld People Smell
"You know that old people smell?"
"Whenever I smell that smell, I get hit with an instant wave of nostalgia. I would think back to when I used to go to my nana’s house and do fun things with her."
"Sadly though, she passed away 3 years ago so smelling that smell is like revisiting her and that’s why I love old people smell."
-
Old Woman Vintage GIF by Archives of Ontario | Archives publiques de l'OntarioGiphyName That Tune
"There's a memory from 1968..."
"My dad owned several restaurants, including 3 drive-ins."
"I was taking a morning class at the high school where I was a rising senior, and an afternoon course at the local Junior College. This was to qualify for an advanced course I wanted in the next fall. I had like 30 minutes to make the transition, which was 10 miles apart."
"I arranged with the manager of Shawnee Drive-In #2 (there were 3) that every day at 12:05 he would have my lunch (2 hot dogs with mustard and onions, a chocolate shake and french fries) waiting on the counter, and my favorite song playing on the jukebox."
"I would pop in, wolf down my lunch by the time the song ended, and run out the door, hop in my 67 GTO and haul ass to the JC."
"To this day, If I hear that song on the radio, I can still smell those hot dogs. And if I make hot dogs with mustard and onions (by our old recipe), I can hear that song in my head."
"But I cannot NAME that song to save my life without that smell to reference."
- TnBluesman
Hot Dog GIF by Shaking Food GIFsGiphyJoyride
"Driving with the windows open along the pacific coast highway in Santa Cruz, CA always fills me with joy."
"The smell of the ocean & the trees is unbeatable!"
- soiledmyjeans
Ocean Driving GIF by BermemesGiphyHappy Stink?
"I was in the middle of a two-week business trip, doing something incredibly stressful that I had been dreading for months."
"I was homesick for my husband and dogs and overall it was just a tough two weeks."
"I was staying in a downtown area and everyday I’d walk to the location. Downtowns are full of smells, mostly bad, and this one was no exception."
"As I was walking back to the hotel one day, I got a whiff of something that smelled bad but made me noticeably happier - my brain 100% associated this smell with happiness. It was such a weird feeling, but I finally placed the smell."
"It was wet dog 😂"
- yas_okay
shake it off border collie GIFGiphySafe On The "Stoep"
"The smell of coffee mixed with cigarettes."
"When I was a kid, me and my sisters used to go visit my aunt and her husband on their farm for about a week during the first terms school holidays."
"Being farm people, there was no sleeping in ,so while we would sit in the kitchen and eat, my uncle would sit in the 'stoep' (patio) and drink strong coffee while having a smoke."
"That smell would drift somehow into the kitchen. As an adult, it just makes me feel warm and safe when I get whiffs of that smell every now and them."
- PheeaA
Home House GIF by Raw FuryGiphyA Florists Favorite
"To me, the smell of fresh cut Pine."
"It smells like Christmas to me. I'm a Florist and when you work in a shop, you will spend part of Nov. and the whole of Dec. working with it."
"It was literally the only thing I could smell in my Shop. It's on your clothes and shoes, all over your hands. You take it home with you every night. You eat it, breathe it."
"I love all the different varieties I got to work with and how the all felt different in my hands. Juniper, White Pine and Princess Pines are my favorites."
"The work is hard, but it's rewarding and that smell takes me right back to it."
- Ihavefluffycats
christmas tree GIF by Rachael Ray ShowGiphyA United Family
"The smell of pizza."
"When I was a child my family was more united. I can still remember that we went every week to eat pizza together, I was about 4 or 5 years old."
"But just smelling the pizza brings back memories of better times..."
- MikeAngel65
I Love You Reaction GIFGiphySo... turns out we're all a bunch of sentimental saps.
Honestly, it's cute.
Group hug, everybody.
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Reddit user FunChemical3182 asked:
"What is the weirdest animal fact you know?"
Like Perry
"Platypus glow blueish green under ultraviolet light."
"They also don’t have nipples, they just exude milk from glands under the skin and the baby’s lap it up."
~ WakingOwl1
"They have electrolocation in their bills that lets them detect their food under water."
~ DrPlatypus1
"And they lay eggs."
"The more I find out about them the more I understand why people first thought they were fake."
~ Reidroshdy
"After seeing all these platypus facts I am convinced these things are aliens that have been abandoned on Earth."
~ SeattleOne206
Kapow!
"Mantis Shrimp have 16 different sets of cones. Rods and cones are in your eyes. Cones see color, rods see light and motion."
"Dogs have 2 sets of cones—green and blue. Humans have 3 sets of cones—green, blue and red."
"Mantis Shrimp are seeing colors we can't comprehend and explains why they're very colorful."
"That’s not even the strangest thing about them."
"They can also punch as fast as a .22 bullet which cause a cavitation bubble which boils the water around them at temperatures of several thousand Kelvins."
~ RigzDigz
GiphyTerrible Twos
"Cats have the mental capacity of a 2-year-old which makes a lot of sense."
~ Alive_Ad823
Cats Dragging GIFGiphyLike Tinder
"When a female sloth wants a mate she'll hang onto a tree branch and just scream."
~ Remarkable_Sink2542
GiphyGood Thing They're So Small
"Dragonflies are the most successful predators on Earth."
"When lions choose prey they have like a 10% chance of catching it."
"African painted dogs—who hunt in packs—have the highest kill rate of any mammal, successfully catching 51% of their prey."
"When a dragonfly locks onto a target, it has a 99.9% success rate!"
~ PurpleInevitable2103
GiphyOn A Swivel
"Owls have really long necks, but it's hard to notice that because their feathers are so fluffy."
~ ergonaut
GiphyWhat About Cousin It?
"Sea otters are the most densely furred animal with 600,000 to 1,000,000 hair follicles per square inch."
"Dogs have about 15,000 per square inch, humans on average are between 800 to 1,290 hairs per square inch."
~ atom1129
Giphy
Sucker Punchers
"Octopus punch other fish for no reason—so, for fun."
~ Samanthalynn8915
"There's a direct correlation between species' intelligence and dickish behavior."
~ TheDesktopNinja
Looks Are Deceiving
"Polar bear fur isn't white—it's translucent (for most frequencies of light). And they have black skin underneath."
"So polar bear fur lets all the light through to their black skin to warm them—except for a few visible frequencies to keep them camouflaged as white."
~ seedanrun
GiphyWho's Going To Attack One‽‽
"Honey badgers can turn their a**holes inside out and use the smell to deter attackers."
"Not sure what exactly has the guts to attack a honey badger, but if they have the courage to do so, the badger sure as hell isn’t gonna make it easy."
~ nonexistantauthor
GiphyBig Momma
"The Blanket Octopus exhibits the highest degree of sexual dimorphism known."
"Females: About 6 feet across."
"Males: About one inch."
~ Fabulous-Pause4154
High Times
"Dolphins will intentionally use puffer fish to get high."
~ altkaldra
"They upset blowfish so they inflate, and therefore emit poison. It gets the dolphins high. Then they pass it around, literally."
~ smack4u
"Not just the dolphins. I recently saw a video about 10 animals that like to get high. Very interesting."
~ s137leo__
"Lemurs do that with giant centipedes/millipedes too."
~ chubbyknuckles420
Fabrizio Frigeni on Unsplash
Better Than Bike Helmets
"Woodpeckers' tongues wrap around their brains to cushion them from the vibrations of slamming their face into trees all day."
~ we_made_yewww
"Their tongues also have barbs to grab bugs out of the holes."
"Their brains have additional cushioning because, you know, they spend their days smashing their face as hard as possible into trees."
~ RhynoD
Detachable Organs
"Argonauts [paper nautili] are small octopuses that are too lazy to have intercourse."
"They detach their penises and toss them into the open sea to mate with female argonauts."
"The detachable 'd*ck' is a tiny tentacle, complete with suckers and sperm, that develops in a cavity under the eye of a male argonaut [paper nautilus]."
"When it's time to mate, the tentacle explodes out of the cavity, instantly killing the male argonaut. The tentacle then swims towards a female argonaut to insert itself."
"Sexy, huh?"
~ Schwarzes__Loch
What's your favorite weird animal fact?
Tough guys put on a facade that indicates to others that they always know what's going on.
But their confidence doesn't always match their intellect, which is probably why they cover their insecurities by walking around and trying to show everyone who's really the boss.
If that's the case, they should keep their mouths shut because not everything that comes out of their mouth needs to be heard.
Yet, it can be amusing to everyone else.
Curious to hear examples of these, Redditor PrototypeShadowBlitz asked:
"Reddit, what is the stupidest thing you've heard from the 'alpha male' community?"
You might find these guys at a bar.
The Dude Must Be Hungry
"Had a run in once with a group of young lads about something in a bar and one of them said we are top of the food chain bro and you will be the prey."
– insertitherenow
"'Whatever, mall ninja" -proper response."
– TheEighthLord
If The Shoe Fits
"That they were an alpha male."
– I_Have_A_Name37654
"The use of 'Alpha Male,' unironically is every indication that you're dealing with a child's understanding of manhood."
– 88Dubs
Brat Pack
"Me and my bros are all alpha males."
– SonOfDadOfSam
"I was skiing one time and rode the lift with a guy that said, 'I don't feel no pain. I live with 5 roommates and none of us feel any pain.' Okay, bud. That's a really interesting coincidence."
– NicPizzaLatte
They sure thrive on making sexist comments.
Contagious Femininity
"A coworker said, 'I don't spend too much time with my girlfriend because I'll become too feminine.'"
– Lazy_Natural6154
"FELLAS IS IT GAY?!"
– aliebabadegrote
Sexist Categorization
"I have been called a beta for saying that my wife makes more money than I do. She works in a more lucrative field and is more educated than I am, so it makes perfect sense that she makes more than I do."
"So I came back, and this post has really blown up. There's just a few things I want to clarify."
"1- I have only ever been called a beta online."
"2- I work full-time in project management. I have a master's degree. I have a 6 figure salary."
"3- My wife has a PhD and works in finance. She also has a 6 figure salary, it's just a higher salary than my own."
"4- I'm sorry to anyone who might feel as though my original post misled them."
– ExaminationDouble240
It's Teamwork
"A real man would be proud of his wife for achieving success, and not fall for that sort of insecure bullsh*t."
"It's not a contest, that's the real joke here. Good on you for seeing the big picture."
– Mrbeardoesthethings
Do these roles about parenting sound familiar?
Childish Things Are Too Girly
"Real men don't take their kids trick or treating is one that I heard recently."
– constructionguy89
"Related. Guys who brag about not changing diapers, not playing 'girly' games, etc. Essentially guys who brag that their only contribution to fatherhood is money and masculine things like fishing or football. Even then some of them brag about not paying a lot of child support to prove they didn't let the system take advantage of them."
"I can't imagine a life so empty my only accomplishment worth bragging about was being a terrible parent."
– Green7000
This Woman's Work
"I was told that taking care of my kids is woman's work. Apparently it's concerning that I try to spend so much of my free time with them. Oddly enough the meatheads at my grappling club think it's sweet I occasionally have my daughters' hair clips on and nails painted."
– MrFunktasticc
People discussed rules in the bedroom.
Never Submissive
"That a man is turned off when their wife/girlfriend seduces them, because if she wants sex and shows it she is a sl*t, also making the man the submissive one…"
– kamalaophelia
Stifling Emotions
"Not the whole community, but was cuddling with a guy once and could tell he was trying not to get emotional over something that was bothering him. He said, quite literally, 'it's not alpha male behaviour.' I told him that I liked that he showed emotions sometimes, and he looked disgusted by the fact that I pointed it out."
– LambLifts
In high school, a classmate who was on the football team said I was a "sissy" for listening to classical music.
The other classmates laughed at me, which was hardly surprising since all of the guys on our unbeatable football team were considered stars on campus.
This kind of mockery was a typical day for me.
I can laugh at their idiotic comments now but back then, I don't know why I ever let them get under my skin.
We've all done things, or in some cases, regularly do things that others might consider weird.
Even so, we often feel no shame or embarrassment and embrace how unusual these habits are, and take our friends teasing or laughing at us for doing so in stride.
Sometimes, however, we might not like to advertise some of our unusual habits or actions and make every effort to keep them a well-guarded secret.
As raised eyebrows are much easier to take than blatant judgment from friends and peers.
Redditor Key_Nectarine_1969 was curious to hear all the weird things people have done which they still keep under lock and key, leading them to ask:
"What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done that you could only tell people anonymously?"
The Devil [Dogs] Is In The Detail...
"All throughout middle school, there was someone who tucked unwrapped Hostess Devil Dogs into the toilet paper dispensers in the bathrooms, so that when you pulled some toilet paper out, the devil dog would fall out into your hand."
"We had to have an assembly about it."
"That person... Was me."- bejeweled_sky
Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time
"Was drunk at an escape room with coworkers."
"It was an extreme one where you are handcuffed the entire time."
"I decided in my drunken state that it would be bada** to dislocated my thumb and slip off the cuffs like the movies."
"It wasn't."
"We got kicked out, my coworkers were weirded out and I had to go to the hospital."
"I quit a few weeks later."
"White collar wasn't for me."- Grotesque-penguin
The Bread Of Heaven
"Stole over 1,000 wafers from church because I really liked the communion wafers & didn’t know where else to get them."
"I felt really blessed & cursed for a long time."- hALLIEcinate
catholic the exorcist GIFGiphyRetracing Steps...
"Once I got off the subway in NYC and I was super early for an appointment."
"So I picked a random guy and just followed him on foot for like 30 minutes, pretending I was like a private detective or something."
"Always kept about a half block behind."
"He turned this way and that, and eventually went into a building I had lived in 9 years earlier."
"It was weird, and so was I."- OKsurewhynotyep
Hygeine Be Damned...
"I found a dead rat in a field when i was younger and kissed it bc I wanted to say goodbye."- qeleia
exercise push up GIFGiphyBad Decisions Have A Way Of Getting Back To You...
"We got super drunk and ate a ton of spicy food in New Orleans."
"Back at the B&B, the food started to come out the back side."
"I was sitting on the toilet sh*tting bricks of fire."
"At that moment, the booze decided to hang a u-turn."
"The trash can was out of reach and I couldn't risk standing up from the toilet for even 5 seconds."
"The closest receptacle was the bathtub."
"I managed to turn in such a way that I could keep shi*ting in the toilet while projectile vomiting into the tub."
"Both ended up clogged, and there was no plunger."
"I had to call the owner to explain that I had destroyed both their toilet and their tub simultaneously."- HoopOnPoop
Things Best Left To Professionals...
"My partner is weirdly prone to cysts."
"I had to drain a 3 inch cyst on her back (thankfully she had a dr's appt the next week), then multiple other little cysts on her legs and chest."
"I never told her to her face but that first giant cyst literally haunted me, the amount of pus and blood I saw....good heavens."- SleepyBiologist
uruguay spot GIF by sargentoPezGiphyAt Least A Lesson Was Learned...
"When I was walking to school one morning, I saw a kid (7-8 yo?) kicking a dog."
"I ran over & kicked the kid and asked him how it felt."
"He ran off and no one saw."
"Still not sorry."- sneezyailurophile
All Creatures Deserve Love
"I was extremely socially isolated as a child and tried to make friends with the coyotes who lived in the woods by our home."
'I caught one in a snare and fed and kept her."
"I wanted a friend."- letthetreeburn
That's What Friends Are For...
"My wife and her best friend pick me up from a frat party black out drunk."
"Then they helped me take a sh*t on the toilet, wiped my a** and then gave me a shower and put me to bed naked."
"Don’t remember any of it."- nc3100
Party Love GIF by Chris CiminoGiphyNot The Right Kind Of Manure...
"One time I went outside at like 2AM and put the garden hose nozzle into my butthole and sprayed some water into it, then farted it out onto the lawn."
"Basically gave myself an enema with a garden hose."
"I did this because I was bored."
"My neighbour saw me and told my dad (lived at home at the time)."- WaspsInMyGoatse
A Little Fantasy Now And Then...
"When I was younger I joined an international dating site that I figured was a scam."
"Put a black square as my picture and gave myself a fake name, and then looked through their users."
"And after about 10 minutes I had like a 100 messages."
"Most of them were messages telling me how handsome I was or how these women fell in love with me at first site."
"Now I knew it was a scam but when ever I felt down or got rejected for a while I would pop back on the site and read a few messages."
'Yeah it’s kinda cringy and probably pathetic but it made me feel better."
"I would just turn off that logical part of my brain that knew it was a scam for awhile and just pretend I was this popular and desirable guy."
"And it honestly got me through the day sometimes."- Demonking3343
dating app GIFGiphyIf anyone says they've never done anything they're ashamed, or at the very least less-than-proud of, in all likelihood, they are lying.
Or, more likely, they understandably want to pretend that it never happened.
Which might be a little easier than harboring a secret.