A new nationwide study has revealed a list of Londoners’ favourite fragrances, with some surprising results.

As well as Londoners’ love for the smell of roses (48 percent), the scent of vanilla (44 percent), freshly ground coffee (38 percent) and freshly baked bread (38 percent), the list also included petrol (28 percent) and sharpie pens (16 percent).

Tennis balls (14 percent), nail polish remover (14 percent) and chlorine (12 percent) were also on the list of Londoners’ top scents.

The research into fragrances, commissioned by vaping brand blu, also revealed that 9 percent of Londoners adore the smell of stilton cheese, while 4 percent can’t get enough of the whiff of cigar smoke.

Also on the list of Londoners’ favourite scents are fresh roses (48 percent), vanilla (44 percent) and the sea (35 percent).

It seems that scents that remind us of our favourite times of year are particularly popular, with mulled wine (14 percent), pine needles (13 percent) and fireworks (10 percent) all on the list. While sun cream (14 percent) evokes memories of happy holidays.

In fact, 86 percent of Londoners believe that smells can transport them back to happy times in their life, like their childhoods, weddings and holidays.

The study also found that 81 percent said that scent had a really big impact on their mood, with 44 percent saying that they actively surrounded themselves with fragrances that calmed them or made them feel better.

And scents can also impact on Londoners’ love lives, with 41 percent of people claiming they wouldn’t have a second date with someone who wore perfume or aftershave that they didn’t like.

And you might want to hold off on applying that expensive scent before a date, as 65 percent said they’d rather be with someone who smelled of a freshly washed t-shirt than aftershave or perfume.

And 59 percent said that if someone is wearing a former partner’s scent they immediately think of their ex.

Colette Flowerdew-Kincaid, Digital Content Manager at blu: says “While the more obvious, conventional smells like bacon frying and freshly ground coffee have topped the list of favourites, what’s interesting to see is that Brits clearly have a love for some fairly weird smells too – particularly things like petrol and chlorine! But no matter what our favourite aroma might be, it’s great that some can take us back to happy memories like a holiday on the beach or help us feel more relaxed.”

Edinburgh and Stoke on Trent were the cities most appreciative of strange smells, where 30 percent of people said they liked unusual scents in each – compared to a national average of 28 percent.