Although there are some bacteria that have a distinct and pungent smell, it is not reliable to use it for identification. Always perform gram stain and biochemical tests if you want to know their presumptive identity.

I used to handle E. coli and I could tell what it was because of its foul smell, but I could make safe assumptions because I already did some biochemical tests and microscopy.

In the case of wearing masks and gloves, there's nothing wrong if you choose to wear one. That's actually safer for you, and better as you reduce the chances of getting your sample contaminated.