• About
  • Login to comment
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Perfumers
  • Perfume Houses
  • Shop for perfume
  • Resources

Most repulsive to your modern nose

Posted by Robin on 17 May 2017 4 Comments

If you were to travel back in time to British Colonial America, I suspect that it wouldn't be the smell of dung in the streets that would be most repulsive to your modern nose, but the scent of the people.

[...] White people of the time rarely bathed in the modern sense. The removal of all clothes prior to treatments, exfoliation, massage, and submersion in water for the sake of getting clean were exceptional to Colonial Americans to the point that when they are noted in diaries and records from the time, they're discussed as a novelty, usually done by the rich and eccentric. Within my pristine bath egg, I enjoyed the sort of full-body, steamy soak Queen Elizabeth I only took once per month.

— Tracy Robey visits the Spa of Colonial Williamsburg. Read more at Colonial Williamsburg Has a Luxury Historical Spa at Racked.

Filed Under: perfume in the news

Advertisement


4 Comments

Leave a comment, or read more about commenting at Now Smell This. Here's our privacy policy, and a handy emoticon chart.

  1. Oakland Fresca says:
    17 May 2017 at 11:25 am

    Totally strange. I’m too dumbstruck to object.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      17 May 2017 at 12:06 pm

      :-)

      Log in to Reply
  2. chocolatemarzipan8 says:
    17 May 2017 at 3:16 pm

    Well I would have been one of those “eccentrics” because the smell of not bathing for even a week would probably have me dry heaving.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      17 May 2017 at 3:38 pm

      I guess people were used to it!

      Log in to Reply

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Advertisement

Search

From NST at Twitter

  • Ancient Egyptian Perfumery Workshop Series offered by Illuminated Perfume with Egyptologist Dora Goldsmith -- 8 cla… https://t.co/2msCu1dufT, 45 mins ago
  • Updated info on Jo Malone Highland Heather, Mallow On The Moor, Melancholy Thistle & Wild Achillea… https://t.co/C8BlVy2hCW, 59 mins ago
  • "How scientists are decoding what the past smelled like" (cnn) https://t.co/jdiy07ZXfh, 5 hours ago
  • "ArtSEA: A seaweed-scented dip into the abyss at the National Nordic Museum" (crosscut) https://t.co/qdhw2os2jV,
  • "Why All the Cool Kids Smell Like Pistachios Right Now" (harpers bazaar) https://t.co/LbGd9vvrdE,

Browse by...

Topic

Perfume talk New fragrances
Shopping Books :: News
Body products Home fragrance
Polls Another subject

Date

February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022

Prior months

Author

Robin Jessica
Angela Kevin
Erin Guest Author

Tag

Celebrity perfumes
Cheap thrills
Collector bottles
Perfumista tip series
Video
The complete tag index

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

3 April ~ damage poll
15 April ~ swap meet

6 May ~ spring reading poll
20 May ~ splitmeet

Back to Top

Home
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy

Shop for Perfume Online
Perfume Shopping in New York
Perfume Shopping in London
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Links
Perfume Books
Fragrance Awards

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2023 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.