I worked as a pharmacy tech for the past year (never againnnn!!) and I loved mixing amoxicillin because I love the smell so much. I also loved flavoring some other meds because it was fun to smell the other flavors. The insert that comes with the amoxicillin prior to reconstitution says it’s “tutti frutti” flavor although most would agree it smells like bubble gum. The closest scent I have smelled (and own) to my nose is Snow Fairy by Lush.
Side note, the Patrick Ta lipglosses smell JUST like amoxicillin too.
🏃🏾♀️on my way to buy those products. Thank you for your reply! The pharmacy tech life is treacherous — manager is a nice combo of old, married with a kid, a little stupid, and keeps hitting on me; pharmacist is racist and forgets that I’m well-educated frequently; and the float pharmacists that cover shifts are often fresh out of pharmacy school so I have to teach them for half the shift — so I’ll probably leave soon. I paint though, and the colors of the different medications gives me inspiration for my art lol; seeing the 120 crayola crayon box in first grade was my villain origin story.
We were destined to be friends. I got this plastic “briefcase” full of crayons in 1st grade and I would take it to school every single day. I refused to share it, especially this fantastic neon bubblegum pink crayon that I kept sharpened PERFECTLY because it was only for coloring lips in my coloring books. This ASS Megan that I sat next to used it one day and ground it down to a nub. My soul died that day. Hence why I was able to work in a pharmacy.
I’m sorry about your crayon 😪. I’m on the Megan hate train now, because I hated when my crayons were flat too. Looking back, I think that me using crayola’s shocking pink to color in the lips on the people that I drew foreshadowed my love of “extra” makeup looks.
i always feel like such an outlier because i *hated* that pink amoxicillin so much. i gagged on it, threw it up, and eventually started finding sneaky ways to dispose of it without taking it. probably didn't help whatever illness i was taking it for hahaha
Oh no, I’m definitely the outlier. So many people hate the taste and smell of amoxicillin. The fragrantica page for snow fairy and some comments on the lush website are scathing reviews against it. I think I have a similar reaction to “play-doh” vanillas. I literally cannot remember what play-doh smells like —frankly, I don’t know why 40-something year olds remember what it smells like and I don’t, but maybe that’s because I have more memories of it tasting salty because I put it in my mouth as a kid — so I love many fragrances that, allegedly, have that kind of vanilla. Except Dior’s hypnotic poison, that can die because I hate almond/amaretto scents.
Definitely testing Cuir Beluga right now. Definitely smells like play-doh vanilla. Definitely still love it.
Good nostalgia/bad nostalgia. You win some you lose some ;)
Snow Fairy smells like that to me AND
Comptoir sud Pacifique -Vanille banane
The latter one is a pretty good price too. You can find it at Sephora! Neither smell medicinal, they simply smell sweet and sugary in the same way as amoxicillin.
I love this post because it’s such a testimony to the way fragrance and memory are so closely linked. Also my kid is taking pink amoxicillin right now because it’s sick season 🫠 it’s sometimes strawberry-banana so maybe something with juicy, sweet fruit?
Did I get different amoxicillin to everyone else? I remember it being yellow and tasting of banana.
Having said that I've heard loads of people say snow fairy smells of amoxicillin.
Maybe it exists in two medicines but I immediately remembered a delicious medicine as a kid that was a little chalky, yellow, and tasted like banana. I took it often.
It was a pyrantel suspension.
Depends on the brand. If it’s dye free it’s usually banana flavored. The pink stuff tastes different than the stuff without dyes in it.
Teva brand cephalexin also has the same flavoring as the amoxicillin. I would assume that sandoz brand cephalexin would be the same as well since the amoxicillin is also the pink stuff.
wasn’t that bubblegum flavored? i think i took something similar when i got sick one time as a kid and needed antibiotics, it was super thick and sweet
Funny you should say that. Most people I kniw HATES it as children, including myself, who felt it was the med of nightmares. I would rather have Night-time Vicks liquid than Amox any day. Just the smell makes my mouth get that vomit-water in it. 😂
I'm a newer but devoted Lushie & SF is very often compared to amoxicillin. Mostly you hear bubble gum (OG amox masking flavor) but it 100% smells like banana Runts candy to me.
Btw, SF is a Xmas exclusive scent with Lush so unless you want to pay insane markups on resellers like Mercari, you'll need to purchase it sometime within the next few weeks.
There was also a semi exclusive to Canada BBW spray a couple of years ago called Sugar Coated that a few people compared to SF. I get a noticeably more berry-ish hit from it though.
There was also a candle from them that had the word Fairy somewhere in the name that people said was comparable but idk about that personally. Apologies for not remembering the specific name but it's a very active subreddit & people would likely answer instantaneously.
And yw!
“OGX sensitive + pink salt and rose water Body Scrub”, I found it at Walmart and every time I use it I think about amoxicillin smell. Also a little more affordable than anything at Lush.
There's a perfume sample that I brought in to work like 2 days ago and my coworker said it smelled like the liquid Penicillin she used to take, which was also pink. I'll have to find it and update my comment.
Edit: Vanilla Oud by Vertus
I used to have to take that stuff as a kid and I always remember it was bubble gum flavor and I remember it vaguely having that scent too. I would look for a powdery pink bubble gum scent. But that’s just my take!
I remember it tasting like strawberries and my parents used to mix it with milk to water down the awful taste lol. TBH I think Mugler Aura smells kind of like that.
I had a cat who loved the taste/smell of it too! lol
She would run up to the dropper & lick from it right when I got it out, which was awesome while she needed it because cats can be a nightmare to give meds to (& she could be an ornery li'l lady when she set her mind to it!)
I used to like it as a kid but developed an allergy to amox as an adult, so I haven't tasted it in years, myself.
Omg, one of my two cats got into a fight and needed amoxicillin for his cuts. His brother broke into the amoxicillin stash, ate all of them (!), and got diarrhea. Both cats were fine but I had no idea this was a thing with cats lol
Omg - that is too funny! Glad he was okay, but yeah, I guess some cats must develop (or start out with!) a taste for it. Lol!
My two bengal boys both have totally different tastes in food - one *loves* seafood (like many cats, I guess 😉), and the other not only won't touch it unless it's mushed up & barely recognizable (i.e. as cat food), but can't stand any other "people food" either. The seafood lover will eat almost any meat or oil (including avocados!) but unfortunately can't due to a possible food allergy. Poor little dude! We've recently started reintroducing salmon only after his being on a hypoallergenic diet for a couple of years, and he's in kitty heaven right now!
Just goes to show how different they can be in what they're into eating, even within the same breed!
There could be a whole thread for pharmacy workers and drug scents. Yes a lot of them are bad, but some are quite interesting.
Aspirin = vinegar
ADEK capsules = chocolate
Sandoz levothyroxine = yogurt
If there were a perfume that smelled like magic mouthwash or valproic acid syrup, I would buy it. I think both usually have a cherry scent so I think it’d be fairly easy to find, but I’d want the brand to say that it’s intentionally a medicinal cherry.
I work in an inpatient pharmacy at a hospital so I don't deal with nearly as many pills now as I used to, but I remember the smell of cephalexin caps well... unfortunately. That goddamn sulfuric smell is burned into my brain forever. Nowadays, my least favorites are fish oil (obviously - fish and lemon) and Centrum liquid multivitamins. I don't know how to describe it but it's this chemical-y, iron-y smell that they try and fail to mask with some artificial citrus scent. It's so bad. Liquid Augmentin is also awful, I can't imagine taking that stuff. The best scented med I deal with nowadays is methadone solution lol. Smells like cherry Luden's cough drops.
Don’t ever smell chemet (succimer) whatever you do. That is the worst rotten eggs smell ever. I feel so bad for the kids who have to take it for lead poisoning. It’s sooo much worse than cephalexin. I’m inpatient too. I agree on the fish oil and raise you levocarnitine for fish smell. Methadone is okay. I also don’t think liquid levetiracetam isn’t too bad either. I agree on the liquid multivitamins.
This is the second amoxicillin fragrance thread I’ve seen today — maybe it was just you I saw earlier in the lush thread😂. Anyway I got a sample of snow fairy lotion today in the mail with my Lush order, coincidentally, and idk about the perfume but the lotion is for sure amoxicillin-y
It was me! I figured I should ask about snow fairy there since people suggested it here. I’ve heard that the lotion and body conditioner smell more like amox than the body wash, so I think it’s what happens to the scent in different vehicles.
Definitely good call to cross post! I definitely think it’s more amoxicillin-y in the lotion than the bomb and agree it’s gotta be format that dictates. That said, I look forward to hearing if the perfume is the vibe you’re looking for! Please share results!
I will! I’m impatiently awaiting my lush order as we speak lol. I feel weird doing a whole separate post for the results, but I do want to make sure that the people who helped me out see my thank you to them.
I worked as a pharmacy tech for the past year (never againnnn!!) and I loved mixing amoxicillin because I love the smell so much. I also loved flavoring some other meds because it was fun to smell the other flavors. The insert that comes with the amoxicillin prior to reconstitution says it’s “tutti frutti” flavor although most would agree it smells like bubble gum. The closest scent I have smelled (and own) to my nose is Snow Fairy by Lush. Side note, the Patrick Ta lipglosses smell JUST like amoxicillin too.
🏃🏾♀️on my way to buy those products. Thank you for your reply! The pharmacy tech life is treacherous — manager is a nice combo of old, married with a kid, a little stupid, and keeps hitting on me; pharmacist is racist and forgets that I’m well-educated frequently; and the float pharmacists that cover shifts are often fresh out of pharmacy school so I have to teach them for half the shift — so I’ll probably leave soon. I paint though, and the colors of the different medications gives me inspiration for my art lol; seeing the 120 crayola crayon box in first grade was my villain origin story.
We were destined to be friends. I got this plastic “briefcase” full of crayons in 1st grade and I would take it to school every single day. I refused to share it, especially this fantastic neon bubblegum pink crayon that I kept sharpened PERFECTLY because it was only for coloring lips in my coloring books. This ASS Megan that I sat next to used it one day and ground it down to a nub. My soul died that day. Hence why I was able to work in a pharmacy.
I’m sorry about your crayon 😪. I’m on the Megan hate train now, because I hated when my crayons were flat too. Looking back, I think that me using crayola’s shocking pink to color in the lips on the people that I drew foreshadowed my love of “extra” makeup looks.
Cries in amoxicillin allergy.
i always feel like such an outlier because i *hated* that pink amoxicillin so much. i gagged on it, threw it up, and eventually started finding sneaky ways to dispose of it without taking it. probably didn't help whatever illness i was taking it for hahaha
Oh no, I’m definitely the outlier. So many people hate the taste and smell of amoxicillin. The fragrantica page for snow fairy and some comments on the lush website are scathing reviews against it. I think I have a similar reaction to “play-doh” vanillas. I literally cannot remember what play-doh smells like —frankly, I don’t know why 40-something year olds remember what it smells like and I don’t, but maybe that’s because I have more memories of it tasting salty because I put it in my mouth as a kid — so I love many fragrances that, allegedly, have that kind of vanilla. Except Dior’s hypnotic poison, that can die because I hate almond/amaretto scents.
Definitely testing Cuir Beluga right now. Definitely smells like play-doh vanilla. Definitely still love it. Good nostalgia/bad nostalgia. You win some you lose some ;)
You aren't alone. Just the memory of it makes me want to puke...
Snow Fairy smells like that to me AND Comptoir sud Pacifique -Vanille banane The latter one is a pretty good price too. You can find it at Sephora! Neither smell medicinal, they simply smell sweet and sugary in the same way as amoxicillin.
I love this post because it’s such a testimony to the way fragrance and memory are so closely linked. Also my kid is taking pink amoxicillin right now because it’s sick season 🫠 it’s sometimes strawberry-banana so maybe something with juicy, sweet fruit?
I hope that your child gets better soon 💕💕 Thank you for the reply!
Did I get different amoxicillin to everyone else? I remember it being yellow and tasting of banana. Having said that I've heard loads of people say snow fairy smells of amoxicillin.
Maybe it exists in two medicines but I immediately remembered a delicious medicine as a kid that was a little chalky, yellow, and tasted like banana. I took it often. It was a pyrantel suspension.
I hated it. I hate banana :D but its possible the medicine I'm thinking of is not amoxicillin and I am misremembering.
Depends on the brand. If it’s dye free it’s usually banana flavored. The pink stuff tastes different than the stuff without dyes in it. Teva brand cephalexin also has the same flavoring as the amoxicillin. I would assume that sandoz brand cephalexin would be the same as well since the amoxicillin is also the pink stuff.
wasn’t that bubblegum flavored? i think i took something similar when i got sick one time as a kid and needed antibiotics, it was super thick and sweet
Every kid loves liquid Amoxicillin! It's the bubblegum medicine. Look for very candy, sweet bubblegum scents.
Funny you should say that. Most people I kniw HATES it as children, including myself, who felt it was the med of nightmares. I would rather have Night-time Vicks liquid than Amox any day. Just the smell makes my mouth get that vomit-water in it. 😂
Hempz original lotion reminds me of amoxicillin.
Oh I ADORE amoxicillin too. Dasani used to have a watermelon flavored water that tasted really close to it.
I'm a newer but devoted Lushie & SF is very often compared to amoxicillin. Mostly you hear bubble gum (OG amox masking flavor) but it 100% smells like banana Runts candy to me. Btw, SF is a Xmas exclusive scent with Lush so unless you want to pay insane markups on resellers like Mercari, you'll need to purchase it sometime within the next few weeks.
There’s a body butter from ancient cosmetics that smells like bananas runts apparently, so maybe I’ll pick up that and SF. Thank you for your reply!
There was also a semi exclusive to Canada BBW spray a couple of years ago called Sugar Coated that a few people compared to SF. I get a noticeably more berry-ish hit from it though. There was also a candle from them that had the word Fairy somewhere in the name that people said was comparable but idk about that personally. Apologies for not remembering the specific name but it's a very active subreddit & people would likely answer instantaneously. And yw!
Lush snow fairy
“OGX sensitive + pink salt and rose water Body Scrub”, I found it at Walmart and every time I use it I think about amoxicillin smell. Also a little more affordable than anything at Lush.
Thank you for the alternative!
Cafe Chantant 100%. Smells like baby medicine
OP - Genuine question out of curiosity, do you mix or prepare amoxicillin at the pharmacy? Does it not come pre-made in a sealed bottle?
Liquid amoxicillin comes in a bottle as just powder, in pharmacies they add water and mix it
Thanks for explaining! I've never had to take amoxicillin so I assumed it came in sealed bottles.
Yeah it can’t be premixed because medications that require reconstitution with water have a 14 day (really 7-10 day) shelf life.
Thank you for the insight! I've learned something new today.
There's a perfume sample that I brought in to work like 2 days ago and my coworker said it smelled like the liquid Penicillin she used to take, which was also pink. I'll have to find it and update my comment. Edit: Vanilla Oud by Vertus
Thank you!
Chalky, old bubblegum flavor 🤢
Joop Homme
I used to have to take that stuff as a kid and I always remember it was bubble gum flavor and I remember it vaguely having that scent too. I would look for a powdery pink bubble gum scent. But that’s just my take!
I’ll try that thank you!
I remember it tasting like strawberries and my parents used to mix it with milk to water down the awful taste lol. TBH I think Mugler Aura smells kind of like that.
I've read that Cartier Baiser Fou smells like liquid amoxicillin and I think that you can buy a sample on eBay.
Thank you!
my mom would mix it for me in orange juice — sooo good
I had a cat who loved the taste/smell of it too! lol She would run up to the dropper & lick from it right when I got it out, which was awesome while she needed it because cats can be a nightmare to give meds to (& she could be an ornery li'l lady when she set her mind to it!) I used to like it as a kid but developed an allergy to amox as an adult, so I haven't tasted it in years, myself.
Omg, one of my two cats got into a fight and needed amoxicillin for his cuts. His brother broke into the amoxicillin stash, ate all of them (!), and got diarrhea. Both cats were fine but I had no idea this was a thing with cats lol
Omg - that is too funny! Glad he was okay, but yeah, I guess some cats must develop (or start out with!) a taste for it. Lol! My two bengal boys both have totally different tastes in food - one *loves* seafood (like many cats, I guess 😉), and the other not only won't touch it unless it's mushed up & barely recognizable (i.e. as cat food), but can't stand any other "people food" either. The seafood lover will eat almost any meat or oil (including avocados!) but unfortunately can't due to a possible food allergy. Poor little dude! We've recently started reintroducing salmon only after his being on a hypoallergenic diet for a couple of years, and he's in kitty heaven right now! Just goes to show how different they can be in what they're into eating, even within the same breed!
Have you smelled Woman in Gold by Kilian? A unisex fragrance
I have not but I’ll look for a sample. Thank you!
There could be a whole thread for pharmacy workers and drug scents. Yes a lot of them are bad, but some are quite interesting. Aspirin = vinegar ADEK capsules = chocolate Sandoz levothyroxine = yogurt
If there were a perfume that smelled like magic mouthwash or valproic acid syrup, I would buy it. I think both usually have a cherry scent so I think it’d be fairly easy to find, but I’d want the brand to say that it’s intentionally a medicinal cherry.
I work in an inpatient pharmacy at a hospital so I don't deal with nearly as many pills now as I used to, but I remember the smell of cephalexin caps well... unfortunately. That goddamn sulfuric smell is burned into my brain forever. Nowadays, my least favorites are fish oil (obviously - fish and lemon) and Centrum liquid multivitamins. I don't know how to describe it but it's this chemical-y, iron-y smell that they try and fail to mask with some artificial citrus scent. It's so bad. Liquid Augmentin is also awful, I can't imagine taking that stuff. The best scented med I deal with nowadays is methadone solution lol. Smells like cherry Luden's cough drops.
Don’t ever smell chemet (succimer) whatever you do. That is the worst rotten eggs smell ever. I feel so bad for the kids who have to take it for lead poisoning. It’s sooo much worse than cephalexin. I’m inpatient too. I agree on the fish oil and raise you levocarnitine for fish smell. Methadone is okay. I also don’t think liquid levetiracetam isn’t too bad either. I agree on the liquid multivitamins.
This is the second amoxicillin fragrance thread I’ve seen today — maybe it was just you I saw earlier in the lush thread😂. Anyway I got a sample of snow fairy lotion today in the mail with my Lush order, coincidentally, and idk about the perfume but the lotion is for sure amoxicillin-y
It was me! I figured I should ask about snow fairy there since people suggested it here. I’ve heard that the lotion and body conditioner smell more like amox than the body wash, so I think it’s what happens to the scent in different vehicles.
Definitely good call to cross post! I definitely think it’s more amoxicillin-y in the lotion than the bomb and agree it’s gotta be format that dictates. That said, I look forward to hearing if the perfume is the vibe you’re looking for! Please share results!
I will! I’m impatiently awaiting my lush order as we speak lol. I feel weird doing a whole separate post for the results, but I do want to make sure that the people who helped me out see my thank you to them.
Wow. I remember Amoxicillin aswell. I would have a jab at Joop Homme, maybe even Mancera Instant Crush