Will You Keep Using a Product You Love Even If You Don't Like the Smell?

October 23, 2010

There are almost 80,000 beauty products on ShopStyle, and that's just scratching the surface. That's a whole lot of different scents. And while some of those products work wonderfully, others simply don't. But for the ones that do work for you, sometimes you'll find their scents to be amazing, while others don't quite make the cut.

Such was the case for me with Bare Escentuals Blemish Therapy ($28). I use it because it covers pimples nicely and even keeps the redness down, but the medicinal, sulfur-y smell leaves much to be desired. How about you? Do you have a smelly tale to tell?

9 Comments

deanna024 2 years

Especially with lipsticks! I don't care if it's the best color in the world, if it smells awful, I cannot stomach wearing it. And I wonder if it smells this best, what kinds of chemicals am I putting on my face? Thankfully, I found the Burts Bees lip shimmers, which actually have a nice pepperminty smell/taste, and they are all natural. I recommend them to anyone turned off by traditional lipsticks scents, like me.

kmbieker 2 years

I think had I been asked this a year ago, I would've said no, but since then I've discovered Josie Maran's lipstick... It smells terrible, but the color is wonderful (Precocious) and I get compliments on it all the time. I have to put a highly scented lip gloss over it just to make it bearable. It also tastes so bad that my boyfriend won't even try to kiss me if I'm wearing it. But, again, it's the perfect color, the one I didn't even know I was missing, so I will probably keep using it. And I agree about Philosophy's Purity Made Simple. I have a friend who swears by it and she has gorgeous skin, so I thought I'd try it. I think it smells like citronella candles, and when I'm done with this bottle, I will not be going back to it.

patriciamuller 2 years

Scents play an important role in beauty/cosmetics products for me. I think I enjoy scented things a lot more than the average person. Everything from candles to scented pens and, of course, beauty products. Clinique also turns me off for that reason too, even though I think they have some excelent products and I actually own quite a few. But when buying Clinique products I always automatically smell them like I do with everything else, just to realize "oh, yeah, all the products are fragrance free". And that's actually a good thing in terms of the quality of the products, because lots of people are sensitive or allergic to the chemicals responsible for the scents. I still buy Clinique because I like the products (same goes for some Neutrogena items), but I don't get as much enjoyment using them as I do with scented products - if that makes sense to anyone... Now back to the original question: it depends. If it has a weird but tolerable smell, it better be one hell of a product and deliver benefits and results that no other product can for me to keep using it. I have done it a few times and the very Bare Escentuals Blemish Therapy is a good example of this. But I have also stopped using products because of the scent. This is true for some self-tanners, lip glosses and hair products (mostly) for me. One scent that bothers me is the one in Philosophy's Purity Made Simple. I really don't like it. But most people don't seem to have a problem with it - or even like it. It's a great product and I still use it, but I can't use it every day.

Renees3 2 years

this is my main problem with clinique. I hate the unscented scent that is in their makeup! It's mostly foundation that bothers me, but I hate it, so won't use their stuff. I'm pretty big on scents, especially when it's on my face

postmodernsleaze 2 years

There's been a couple times where a product's smell isn't great, but it doesn't really bother me much. In that case, I'll still use it. But that rarely happens. If I don't like the smell of something, it seems to linger all around me throughout the day and I feel like I can't escape it. One of my super cheapie favorite products is NYC's Kiss Gloss. It's really sticky and really shiny (like Lipglass), and the clear one that is peppermint-scented is okay. But there's a cherry one that smells like the inside of a Halloween mask. So gross. I tossed it after two uses.

Morokea 2 years

Urban Decay's Pocket Rocket lip glosses left a nice sheen on my lips, but the smell of popcorn flavored jelly beans was so nauseating that I'll never pick another one up. Creme brulee scented indeed!

socalbeachgal 2 years

Unless the smell is really awful I will use up what I've bought, but will not buy it again. I've learned to ask for a sample to use for a few days to see if I can tolerate the smell.

dd sugar 2 years

I love b.e. Blemish Therapy and don't mind the sulfur smell---it's why it works! I did grow up with sulfur well water, so maybe that's why it doesn't bother me so much. I do keep the paper cover over the container holes and just knock a little out as I need it, so that might help. I'm a nurse--I've smelled worse!

ExtraRed 2 years

I had used one of the leading hair care products for many years and although they changed the packaging, the product remained the same. I needed to order more of the product and could not find at any online vendors. I could not imagine discontinuing a popular product among its users. Visiting the main website, all new products were being developed, and when available, the product had a terrible odor; I switched to another company and never tried any other products.

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9 Comments