Meet The "No, Thank You" Scents That Send Out Anti-Intimacy Vibes

Modern perfumery is constructed to attract. Traditionally, at least.

For decades, the overarching narrative has been that smelling delectable will result in romantic or sexual attention. The currently trending fragrance families, like gourmands and skin scents, promise to do just that.

But in 2025, not everyone wants their scent to send out a mating signal. The political and social climate is riddled with attacks on reproductive rights. Women have other pressing issues on their minds — thus there’s a new movement that’s turning long-upheld scent practices on their heads. Meet the world of man-repelling fragrances.

Perfume That Says “No, Thank You”

On online fragrance forums, there has been an influx of exchanges like this one pop up, in which users ask for perfume recs that make men run away.

Uninviting fragrances as a business idea has legs. Think about the girlies who’ve deleted the apps and are on self-imposed boy bans, or the ones who are pouring into their own cup by dating themselves. Others simply want to grab a solo barside martini without their perfume broadcasting an open invitation to make conversation.

“My boyfriend thinks this fragrance smells like a just-peed-on urinal cake.”

In order to repel, one must first understand what attracts — and that is learned behavior. “Attraction is cajoling the familiar and touching on known pathways of the sensory route,” says Elena Vosnaki, a historian, fragrance expert, and editor at Fragrantica.com. “Tried and tested scents and notes work because they have succeeded before. It's a matter of conditioning: we smell them around a context that promotes dating.”

They also work by conflating vision and olfaction. “What sexually attractive women or men choose to wear then becomes sexually attractive by association,” Vosnaki adds.

“But in a rush to distance others, don’t forget to center the only taste that matters: your own.”

In order to create distance, she says one must turn to the opposite of what is thought of as attractive. “Cold scents re-creating vampire fangs or snowy shivers via the synergy of cool elements and with bitter notes create apostasy and a sense of awe,” says Vosnaki of one example. Other off-putting aromas found in perfumes include metallic notes, horse accord (yes, really), and dirt.

But in a rush to distance others, don’t forget to center the only taste that matters: your own. “I've noticed a recent trend where in an effort to be as repellent as possible, people are reaching for scents that they themselves don't even enjoy, which defeats the whole point of perfume,” says Emma Vernon, host of the Perfume Room podcast. “You, the wearer, have to center your own taste. Otherwise, you've essentially just swung to the other side of the pendulum: from seeking external validation to external disapproval.”

Wear Your Emotions In Your Sillage

Even for those not actively looking to repel others, scent’s role in people’s lives has expanded exponentially. Fragrance is expected to mirror all your facets instead of just being an olfactory Tinder.

At the fragrance manufacturer Givaudan, perfumers have been using cues other than love and attraction — namely, complex inner worlds — to create scents. “There are a lot of narratives in fragrance around seduction, but a lot of people want to use perfume in a way that will communicate their real self and send subliminal messages to others,” says Arnaud Guggenbuhl, the brand’s global head of marketing, insights, and image. He notes these messages can be of the “this is who I am, take it or leave it” variety, or can be portals that open the door to your inner world.

“It smells like the color black, the absence of light, being covered in cool dirt in your final resting place.”

As a result, fragrance is being used as feeling. When I want to bestow myself with strength, I turn to Ganymede by Marc-Antoine Barrois, a signature scent that channels intergalactic BDE and acts as my liquid courage. It's a steely, near-metallic juice, which has somehow managed to make leather accords transparent and space-like. When I feel the need to touch grass, I reach for a different shade of green: Chloé Atelier des Fleurs Cedrus Intense, which smells like forest bathing in a bottle.

Below, Bustle has tapped a bunch of fragrance nerds — including perfume brand founders, marketing experts, reviewers, and researchers — to create a ‘fume-centric road map for people who experience discomfort with the traditional “attracting a partner” positioning around fragrances and want to wear something that sends a different message.

“Vyrao Mamajuju, composed by Meabh McCurtin, is strange, otherworldly, and yet totally compelling. It uses frankincense, sandalwood, and an earthy clay accord to project and instill a very profound sense of self-assuredness and confidence. You feel like you’ve just doused yourself with some primordial emanation that’s emerged from the bowels of the earth, but it’s precisely this ancient quality that makes it feel so right. It makes no apology for what it is, and by extension, it makes you feel that you don’t need to make any apology for what you are.” — Dariush Alavi, founder and editor of perfume blog Persolaise.com and author of Le Snob: Perfume

“Frankincense is the main star of Amouage Purpose 50, composed by Quentin Bisch — this time, it’s supported by vetiver and patchouli, all of which combine to create an immensely powerful statement on... well, purposefulness. For me, Purpose 50 is a sound: It’s like an extremely low, ultra-bassy thrum that is just constantly playing on a loop, almost causing the air around you to vibrate. When you wear it, you feel like you’re radiating this sonic force field — the composition is remarkably single-minded, lucid, and authoritative, and it seeks absolutely zero affirmation from anyone else.” — DA

“Eris Ma Bête is a beguiling, animalic, aldehydic, floral cocktail. My boyfriend thinks this fragrance smells like a just-peed-on urinal cake; I completely disagree (though it's precisely its feral qualities that lure me in). I see this skanky, bubbling elixir as a love letter to the roaring animalics of the ‘70s and ‘80s.” — Emma Vernon, host of the Perfume Room podcast

“Moth & Rabbit Parasite is one of the most cerebral scents in my collection, which I describe as blooming, sterile filth. It’s a fragrance inspired by themes of class, capitalism, and family in the film Parasite. To me, it smells like an abandoned hospital where stagnant water pools and flowers bloom simultaneously. It's stunning and haunting.” — Vernon

“Marlou Poudrextase is poopy doll head meets teen deodorant. A realistic skin scent, this is what the armpit of your favorite blouse that you never actually get dry-cleaned might smell like. It's sweaty and fecal, and simultaneously powdery and clean. In no way subdued, but entirely tender.” — Vernon

“In Maison d’Etto Rotano, manure meets moss and musk. It contains an actual horse accord and evokes saddles, stables, horse hair, and... poop. I think this is a modern masterpiece. It's the fragrance equivalent of those time-lapse videos where you see people evolve and change over the course of years condensed into one palatable minute. In that way, Rotano feels like an olfactive zip file of life: birth, love, sex, pain, pleasure, death — you experience all of those themes in here harmoniously and simultaneously.” — Vernon

“Chypre fragrances project a level of confidence in themselves and a cerebral attitude, encompassing perfume-y, cold, and bitterish notes such as oakmoss, artemisia, and vetiver. Take Estee Lauder Knowing or the classic Bandit by Robert Piguet: They are frequently viewed as extremely sophisticated and very aloof, and their wearer is often seen as a specimen of womanhood who would partake of The Financial Times on a regular basis. They're at odds with anything that’s trendy right now.” — Elena Vosnaki, historian, fragrance expert, and editor at Fragrantica.com

“Whereas iris is considered comforting and elegant, Iris Silver Mist is the mad Ophelia of the perfume world, a fragrance so melancholic and doom-like that it resembles the cold hands of a dearly beloved dead one.” — Vosnaki

“La Liturgie des Heures is intensely cold and rather spooky, marrying the resinous depths of sacred materials of Middle Eastern and African origin with a veneer of cool soapy aldehydes and cypress notes creating the effect of the crypt rather than the gregarious congregation of a church in Christmas.” — Vosnaki

“I wore Odeur 71 up until we started D.S. & Durga. It was completely different than anything I had known as perfume — my previous scents had been a Betsey Johnson fragrance that is nearly undetectable on the internet and ‘90s-era Issey Miyake for men. Odeur 71 claimed to smell like dust on hot lightbulbs, fountain pen ink, warm photocopier toner, and freshly welded metal. I loved it for how weird it was.” — Kavi Ahuja Moltz, co-founder, D.S. & Durga

“Diptyque L'Eau Papier fits perfectly into the ‘no thank you’ category with its very linear, powdery musk profile that's almost rice-y in character. It's comforting, homey, and chill — alluring in its own way but not seductive. It creates a gentle but definitive boundary against shenanigans.” — Kudzi Chikumbu, fragrance and lifestyle content creator at Sir Candleman

“Guerlain Bergamote Fantastico Extrait 11 evokes freshness, and the person wearing this becomes the star. Because of that, they don't need external validation, especially not from potential suitors. With its zesty, fresh, green energy but complex profile, this scent embodies someone who knows exactly who they are.” — Chikumbu

“Frederic Malle Hope is a shield against anyone who doesn't have something substantial to bring to the table. It's incredibly bold with its oud, smoke, pink pepper, and leather notes — very deep and suitable for any gender, while still being elegant. This is the CEO fragrance. The wearer only wants to interact with people who are worth their time. It might intimidate some people away, but that's exactly the point.” — Chikumbu

“Balmain Carbone, a dark musk, is a polarizing scent. It's very leathery and can be a bit disturbing for some people. When you wear it, it reveals an internal glow, something we call in French ‘lumiere noir,’ or black light. It’s not overpowering or in your face, but it has this atmospheric, glowing, dark light aura that is absolutely incredible.” — Arnaud Guggenbuhl, global head of marketing, insights and image, Givaudan

“I smelled Moodeaux Punkstar for the first time a couple of months ago and it smells like pure rebellion. It's loud and fruity at first and then settles onto the skin with unexpected leathery notes. I love the fragrance, yet it's anything but pretty. It evokes an inner confidence — a daringness to be bold — in a world that often wants us to fit the mold.” — Ingrid Nilsen, chief creative officer and co-founder of The New Savant

“Fischersund Faux Flora Discovery Set is a fragrance masterpiece. Each of the five scents in this set represents a moment in time from birth to death. One of my favorites is Death. It smells like the color black, the absence of light, being covered in cool dirt in your final resting place. There's a haunting sense of peace that lingers within the perfume and its beauty is devastating. It's the antithesis of life itself, which in turn creates a sense of joy for being alive.” — Nilsen