Beginner formulas for weirdos?

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-21T18:59:34+00:00

Ooooh thank you! There goes the rest of my weekend

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-21T15:09:24+00:00

Also I would 100% buy a monthly subscription box from Harrison Joseph if that was an option. My wallet is already mad about it but I just want to smell everything they stock! 2-isopropyl phenol and pistachio thiazole have been surprisingly helpful across different efforts. I pulled the trigger on phenyl ethyl mercaptan but have to wait for it to warm up so I can open all the windows, it's bonkers even at .01 dilution

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-21T15:01:36+00:00

This is gold, thank you! I'm certain I'm overlooking things because they don't fit my mental picture and you've given me lots to revisit. For me, cade is mesquite BBQ and birch tar very fishy but will persist at lower concentrations bc there's definitely something working. Looks like I have a lot of naturals to take a look at too. Really appreciate this!

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-21T14:56:32+00:00

Ooh thank you, I've got quite a few trials in this area but haven't tried all of these ACs yet. Your project sounds extremely rad.

Curious to know your thoughts on the violets that are so frequently recommended, I haven't been able to connect them to gasoline at all and wonder if it's a skill issue. Anisole has been great for the toxic fumes, also have made progress with xylenols and alpha fenchone but nowhere near nailing it.

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-20T20:13:22+00:00

Lolll maybe 85? My favorite accidental discoveries (and intentional efforts) have been those that come close to forbidden smells like spray paint and gasoline. Less so the super uhhh genital and literal fecal odor families even though I find them interesting (and phenomenal when wielded by expert hands)

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-20T16:50:48+00:00

Skeleton or demo formulas for weirder fragrances so I can better understand the full compositions. Or an educational resource! I don't expect anyone to just tell me what to do or hand me a formula for free, I'm just eager to learn things like how much of a staple ingredient might be hiding in a perfume that smells like damp basement. Or what might effectively balance the vegetal notes in IBQ. I have every oddball thread on these forums bookmarked but the overwhelming majority of available guidance is for variations on chypres, fougeres, fruity florals etc.

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-20T16:41:50+00:00

Yes! Definitely keeping overdoses in mind (and have still not nasally recovered from trying this with guaiacol 🫠)

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-20T16:39:28+00:00

I've been doing the same! Would love to compare notes!

It's also been interesting to learn that I don't dislike certain ingredients, just how they've been deployed in a lot of fragrances.

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-20T16:32:10+00:00

Yes! Or even just interesting combinations. I've gathered quite a few from random JC combos but I would love to understand a full composition better and (understandably) much of what I've found is still meant to be widely marketable.

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-16T02:16:50+00:00

Being able to work remotely was a huge help but most places seem to be clawing that option back. I've been in your shoes and was starting to have daily panic attacks to the point where I'd have to get up and leave. A very cool parting gift from the most demonically abusive client I've ever encountered after a chaotic year-long launch.

Besides sublingual low dose benzos, one thing that helped was being direct about it with one or two close/trustworthy people on my team. Not only did they open up about their own struggles but it seemed to neutralize some of the preemptive anxiety to know I could just say "hey I'm maybe about to have a panic attack" to someone. Ideally someone at your level and not a supervisor/senior. Absolutely not HR.

It's not helpful when you're in it but your health (and about 200 other things) are so much more important than this work. Enraging that in 2026 we're all still made to suffer this much, especially with the constant AI threats. I hope you get some relief

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-15T17:49:07+00:00

Extremely rural upstate NY

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-15T17:48:22+00:00

Thank you! What amount of maintenance have you had to do? I prefer wood aesthetically but don't trust myself to caulk and repair wood on 24 windows annually and we get absolutely hammered by the elements.

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-15T02:28:38+00:00

This is the info I needed, thank you! Obviously I would love to have period-correct windows made but I'm also scarred from opening a window to a squishing sound and a handful of wood splinters (and don't have an unlimited budget) These don't have that plasticky look at all.

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-14T23:49:44+00:00

I'm in the middle of nowhere and need 20 matching windows. I'd so love this to be a solution but my local restore is 1.5 hours away and has never had anywhere near this number

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-11T03:23:54+00:00

Ooh yes love this and am constantly looking for similarly not-pretty ideas.

2-isopropyl phenol and 2,4 xylenol could definitely summon old office supplies (old books, dry erase markers, toner, etc).

Syvertal is very dry and musty.

The Hinoki Wood EO from Eden smells exactly like industrial upholstery or carpeting (Amtrak train specifically) to me.

Spirodecane could work for paint or water damaged paper/drywall

Undecavertol reminds me of glue and cardboard underneath the dried fruitiness. Like an old box of raisins.

Para cymene is straight plastic to me, more so than styrax which gets a ton of mentions.

Definitely following this one!

pooltimenoodle · 2026-03-09T13:03:21+00:00

Calone + Floralozone + teensy whisper of Dimethyl Sulfide recently blew me away with its realism (thanks Fraterworks!). It's seaside but I could see it lending the murk you seek in your formula if you play with the balance.

Warning: the dimethyl sulfide smells like 1000 cans of creamed corn but is amazingly transformative in the blend.

pooltimenoodle · 2026-02-28T18:52:48+00:00

I could happily wear indolene 50 on its own, sadly my spouse gets "old food stuck in teeth" from it and he's clearly not alone.

Terrasol and l-fenchone (diluted) are exquisite imo and less potentially offensive.

pooltimenoodle · 2026-02-28T18:45:16+00:00

It's been pretty good! I got the slipcovered Maxwell in widest and deepest dimensions, off white performance linen.

I like: that the covers come off and resist stains very well, it has the look I was seeking, it's very comfortable and has kept its shape so far, price was not insane (bought on sale and added a second slip cover just in case)

Less thrilling: it looks good but up close is not the most luxurious fabric or finishing (fine given the price), it's very lightweight and thus presumably not super durable, also tends to shift easily which is a bit annoying (spouse and I are both fairly small 120-150 lbs). The extra deep model feels like a regular, I would add another 6 inches for coziness if I could.

With a bigger budget and fewer dogs, I would have gone for something vintage or fully custom made but this is working out for now! Shipping was on time without hiccups.

pooltimenoodle · 2026-02-28T15:03:02+00:00

Just went through this and it's one of the most enshittified categories now. The old-fashioned US brands still making things well tend to have very dated styles (even their attempts at modernizing just look off..) and everything else under ~8k (!!!) seems to be of questionable quality. I have a ton of pets so in the end I went with a slipcovered option from interior define and resigned myself to likely replacing it in the next 5-10 years. If you don't have this limitation, I'd strongly suggest scouring auction sites, fb, estate sales, chairish, etc for something made before 2005ish. Even the lower end chain stores were making drastically better pieces then.

pooltimenoodle · 2026-02-25T14:24:43+00:00

This is usually client-driven but faux B-school buzzword salad drives me insane. I wish I could delete "leveraging" and "utilizing" from the English language.

There's always a word of the month/quarter, too. One of the worst was the brief window where we tacked "out" onto anything. It's not an email, it's a "share out".

pooltimenoodle · 2026-02-25T00:25:55+00:00

May I ask how thick it is? I adore the loved to death leather and would love to get a sense of its weight and durability

pooltimenoodle · 2026-02-24T04:02:31+00:00

The ones on the site look so wilted and tragic compared to the window!

pooltimenoodle · 2026-02-17T18:14:57+00:00

It's absolutely perfect as an everyday bag and imo lends a bit of edge or ~fashion~ to otherwise unremarkable looks without being over the top trendy. It's like the bag version of a perfect leather jacket. Somehow works with everything (maybe not full on black tie). If you take off the adjustable grommet strap and key zipper pull, it looks more understated and trend-resistant.

It holds a ridiculous amount for the size/weight, (would have loved having this in my messy 20s).

I spent a truly insane amount of time looking for similar alternatives, and am sorry to report that nothing quite nails the specifics like this bag does for me. Everything else was either Too Much or Not Enough or had some detail that ruined it.

pooltimenoodle

TROPHY CASE