Perfume is Unfashionable and Inconsiderate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These threads are so weird to me because I am definitely "scent sensitive" in that I notice smells very easily and more than others do. But I have no allergies or medical issue that make the smells affect me. I just notice them, even subtle smells, good and bad.

But I don't view that as a reason to demand other people stop wearing perfume. That's bizarre to me. I get if you have an allergy or similar and therefore can't work near someone wearing strong perfume. In that case, ask for an accommodation -- makes perfect sense (scents, ha!).

But to demand that all the old ladies at the Kennedy Center stop wearing their perfumes? To get angry about smelling someone else's perfume in a waiting room or standing on line at the post office? This just seems so controlling to me. Sometimes other people's perfume bothers me, but it's a temporary annoyance, something I notice and then forget about. I don't go home fuming about some woman on the bus and her heavy perfume.

These complaints are like eavesdropping on people and then complaining that their conversation is dull. Just move along. It doesn't concern you.

+1

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Look, it smells weird and pretty gross to some of us. Not everyone thinks your perfume smells good. You seem very upset to learn that given how you are lashing out. I don't really care. I am just saying there is an unpleasant scent that is in 95% or so of perfumes. Since you don't smell it, why do you care that other people can? Why do you need all of us to pretend we think it smells good?

Crazy, you are the only one lashing out and upset. Multiple people are telling you that. I also don’t wear perfume so your continued false claims are wildly entertaining. 😁You really do need to be seen by a doctor, but seems like a psychiatrist is more appropriate.

You certainly seem rational and calm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Look, it smells weird and pretty gross to some of us. Not everyone thinks your perfume smells good. You seem very upset to learn that given how you are lashing out. I don't really care. I am just saying there is an unpleasant scent that is in 95% or so of perfumes. Since you don't smell it, why do you care that other people can? Why do you need all of us to pretend we think it smells good?

Crazy, you are the only one lashing out and upset. Multiple people are telling you that. I also don’t wear perfume so your continued false claims are wildly entertaining. 😁You really do need to be seen by a doctor, but seems like a psychiatrist is more appropriate.

You certainly seem rational and calm.

You’ve proven to be nuts over and over and over. But keep going. We know you can’t help yourself.

[Anonymous]

It is definitely something to see how panicked perfume wearers get at the idea that not everyone thinks they smell good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is definitely something to see how panicked perfume wearers get at the idea that not everyone thinks they smell good.

And it’s delightful that the anti-perfume brigade are repeatedly that no one cares about their neurosis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't you perfume fans smell the metal-scent in perfumes, even high end ones? Why do you want that on you?

I am saying this kindly - there is something wrong with you and you probably have an underlying autoimmune condition. It is extremely attractive to the healthy men I want to date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't you perfume fans smell the metal-scent in perfumes, even high end ones? Why do you want that on you?

I am saying this kindly - there is something wrong with you and you probably have an underlying autoimmune condition. It is extremely attractive to the healthy men I want to date.

How thirsty you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Sorry, I will keep wearing a minuscule dab of J'Adore, or Poison, my two favorite perfumes. I have a very sensitive sense of smell and a tiny dab goes a very long way. Feel free to tell me that you can't stand the way I smell. I won't be offended, but I will keep doing something non-lethal that makes me happy.

Also, my son has anaphylactic allergies to peanuts and tree nuts, and I do not appreciate that people like you demand that others cater to their sensitivities when others need to carry Epipens for their lethal allergies and navigate potentially deadly situations, often daily, without making a big deal out of it. As a general rule, I've noticed that the people with the biggest burdens in life don't make the most noise.

I find this surprising. No one is equating the two risk levels. But the same argument is often used with allergies, e.g. I should be able to eat peanuts if I want to.

[Anonymous]

It is extremely attractive to the healthy men I want to date.

The End.

[Anonymous]

Perfume takes my breath away. I have had to leave my seat just to breath clear air. People if you must wear perfume, please dab a tiny bit so that only someone up close can smell it, no everyone within 5 feet of you. It's awful when you stink.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perfume takes my breath away. I have had to leave my seat just to breath clear air. People if you must wear perfume, please dab a tiny bit so that only someone up close can smell it, no everyone within 5 feet of you. It's awful when you stink.

Couldn’t be bothered to read the thread huh? A dab is exactly what the perfume wearers here keep saying they do, over and over and over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1) You undermine your argument by claiming it's "unfashionable" when what you are really saying is that it is inconsiderate in certain settings. It's only unfashionable to you because you don't like it; that's actually irrelevant if your main argument is that it is inconsiderate to people who are sensitive to smells.

2) Requesting that people wear minimal scents in an office setting, especially in an open office, is pretty reasonable. I don't think you can ask people to go totally scent free, but it is reasonable to expect people not to go heavy on perfume and to keep other scented items to a more minimal level as well, out of consideration for others.

3) If you do work withs someone whose perfume (or shampoo or body lotion or whatever) aggravates you, you can definitely ask for an accommodation. Just raise it with your immediate supervisor. They will probably just move you to another area, though depending on the work environment, they might issue a blanket request for people to tone down scents in the office.

4) But consider that your perfumed coworker genuinely does not know it bothers you. Perfume used to be much more common (and older women tend to go a little heavy on it, perhaps because their olfactory sense is not as strong) and in some cultures, heavy perfume is common and encouraged. Try to be a little more sensitive to the fact that not everyone's life revolves around your personal needs. You deserve a workplace that is comfortable and healthy for you, but your colleagues are not instantly "unfashionable and inconsiderate" for doing something they likely have no idea bothers you.

5) Many of us wear perfume regularly but do not do so while working in cubicles in an open office, and our perfume use isn't bad simply because you have had a bad experience with perfume wearers at work. I wear small amounts of perfume while working from home that are probably detectable when I go to my kid's school or go grocery shopping or get coffee. I don't see the difference between this and using a strong smelling shampoo or laundry detergent. I find the scent calming. If it bothers you, feel free to move away. Though unless you have an allergy, you might want to consider that it's okay to deal with the various smells of other humans for fleeting moments throughout the day, and that variety is the spice of life.

You wear perfume working at home? Either very weird or early onset Big Boomer Energy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Complaining about perfume is hypochondriacal and entitled.

This is the correct answer. If someone has time to complain about this, they have too much time on their hands.

Subjecting people to your pungent chemical stink in enclosed spaces is what's entitled. And it ages you, BTW, all you aging DCUM moms who like to pretend to be young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Figured I would start another thread since posts keep getting deleted in the perfume thread.

I have asthma and have trouble with fragrances. This is very, very common now. At this point anyone who is wearing perfume is being willfully inconsiderate to others around them. And for those of you who think it bothers no one, maybe people are scared to tell you. I had a lovely coworker who sat on another floor that I purposely avoided seeing in person because of her perfume. I don’t think she ever realized.

Are you still working in the office during COVID and not wearing a mask? This would be the only way you'd smell your coworkers.

Masks block droplets, not tiny scent particles.

But you knew that already.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also really allergic to perfume or any kind of scented product. It's a shame. I used to love wearing Coco Chanel.

No one should wear perfume to work or every day activities. Save it for nights out.

I suffer from migraines and had to stop attending live theater, symphony performances and other concerts because of the people who bathe in cologne/perfume/after shave lotion prior to a ‘night out’. I got tired of having to walk out on an expensive ticket because someone else’s inconsiderate behavior resulted in hours or days of agony for me.


Perfume/cologne should be applied in very small quantities, able to be smelled only by you and someone who gets very intimate with you.

Would wearing a mask help?

Probably not. If I can smell your fart, which has traveled through your underwear and pants and through my mask, there is no stopping perfume (or covid for that matter) either.

You are not quoting those idiotic Right wing "harrrrr harrrrr if I can smell a fart masks don't work" drivel memes, right? Because you're an intelligent, educated person who understands what masks do and don't block and are meant and not meant to block, right?