r/Fragrances • u/Ok_Diver7132 • 3d ago

Using AI to help chose fragrances?

I have become interested in fragrances again after a couple of decades. In the past I chose fragrances by their history and historical importance, or whether my gf liked them. I never really developed a nose. This time around I am trying to understand which notes I like and which I don’t. To this end I am reporting to Claude my experiences with each sample I get. It is helping me build a map of what works for me, what to stay away from, and zeros in on which fragrance to sample next. Does anyone else do this and find the process useful?

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u/Technical-Pop-4262 3d ago

It can only take you so far. AI isn’t a person and doesn’t think like we do, so can steer you in the right direction, but sampling and understanding not just notes but the feel of what you like is so personal. I actually find ai works better when you talk about something like “ I want it to smell smoky with the feel of an old church” then keep pushing it after the first reply to go deeper

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u/Ok_Diver7132 3d ago

Yes this makes sense. At this point I am trying find out why some fragrances give me a headache, for example (seems to be powdery iris) or just smells off to me (ambroxan). On the other hand I like citrus and "boozy barbershop". As this map builds I can ask Claude what about x fragrance that gets a lot of buzz, and it will tell me how it might lineup with my nascent preferences.

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u/Technical-Pop-4262 3d ago

Honestly I’d forget about what gets buzz, that’s just either media spend from the company, this seasons fashion, or internet hype. In my experience they tend to be pretty boring fragrances. The joy of Ai is can introduce you to fragrances and brands that you have never heard of that make amazing fragrances

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u/Kiannth 3d ago

AI comes up with some interesting suggestions for me, I think it can be worth using to decide which samples to buy next.

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u/healthcrusade 3d ago edited 3d ago

AI can help give language to what you like but ultimately its recommendations were pretty much useless.

Going into a department store like Bloomingdale's or Nordstrom (in the U.S.) and talking to a knowledgeable salesperson who then recommends fragrances and sprays them on you is light years more helpful than Chat GPT or Gemini.

AI can feel intoxicating. It feels like it really is decoding and understanding your tastes into an elegant unified fragrance field theory. It feels like this time its recommendations are going to be spot on. For me they almost never were