...please, please, PLEASE! Moderation!!
I am so sensitive to perfumes, that I get immediate headaches that escalate into migraines in no time, and I work in customer service, so I have to constantly be in the presence of women and men who think more is better. I am right now sitting here, sick to my stomach, because of customers who just can't put a dab on, but have to apparently bathe in the stuff...
Please consider other people when you apply your favorite scent!
(End of public service announcement...thanks for listening. I'm off to try to breathe some fresh air.)

By Brandy on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 02:08 pm:

I agree and i also don't think they should have the perfumes scents inside of a magazine either = ) my husbands grandma was allergic to it

By Karen~moderator on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 02:10 pm:

I agree - sometimes it is SO overpowering, and as I mentioned in another post, it can also trigger asthma attacks.

Brandy, I hate those things in magazines!!!!!!

By Boxzgrl on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 02:15 pm:

I agree. When I worked at the vet I never wore perfume to work because I was constantly around people and in tiny exam rooms. When I do wear perfume I spray one spray in the air and walk through the mist before getting dressed, that way it's a light scent.

DH is one of those overbearing cologne wearing people, and he sprays it on his clothes, not his skin. I was dying while pregnant. I taught him some so he's slowly learning! I won't send him to you in the meantime, Janet.

By Unschoolmom on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 02:39 pm:

I once served a woman (when I worked at a bookstore) who absolutely knew how to wear perfume. It was beautiful (and must have been a really nice quality, perfume usually has me getting a headache) and I could only smell it as she steeped up to the counter and as soon as she took a step away the scent left. She left an impression and so I guess the perfume did what it was supposed too.

Melissa - I have a theory about people like your husband. When I went to high school we were bussed through a farming area where liquifyed cow poop (vile, vile stuff) was spread on the fields and yet people lived there. They would get desensitized to the smell and not even notice it. I think perfume/cologne abusers are the same. They think THEY have to be able to smell it, need more everytime to smell it and so end up dousing themselves. I think they'd be horrified if they realized what evertyone else smelled.

By Janet on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 02:56 pm:

My poor dd's are unable to use anything unless it passes the Mommy Test, and I know they'd love to! I tell them that the best way to wear perfume is so that you can't smell it unless you are right next to someone, and then it's still just a light scent. If you can smell someone coming, it's definitely too strong! Also, I've been very tempted to write to magazines who have the perfume... I usually don't even buy them. If I sound like a nasty person, but I can't begin to name the times when I've been sicker than a dog because of perfume! Including today

By Bea on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 04:15 pm:

I have a very sensitive nose. It doesn't take much to be TOO MUCH for me. I have a son who smells as if he bathes in his scent. It sickens me. I know most men don't have the ability to smell as well as women do. I had to teach my hubby moderation. He couldn't smell it so he thought it wasn't enough.

By Mommmie on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 04:57 pm:

I hear you! I like the smell of perfume, whether on me or someone else, but stopped wearing it years ago because so many *other* people can't tolerate it and you never know when you will be around those folks and I don't want to make them miserable. At the law firm where I work very few people (100+ people) wear any scents at all and the few that do are all women 65 or older and there's no telling them to stop. (And they are the ones with the super strong candles, too!)

I love the magazine inserts and stick them in my underwear drawer.

By Breann on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 05:01 pm:

While we are asking for things in moderation, what about smokers? Could smokers please not smoke by me? That smell makes my stomach churn.

Perfume doesn't bother me too much, but I guess if I HAD to be by someone that had overdone it (as in customer service employee) that would be unpleasant. I usually just walk away

By Lauram on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 06:07 pm:

I'm actually thinking my MIL was wearing perfume on Christmas- which may have contributed to ds's asthma attack.

By Dana on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 09:18 am:

I'm right there with you. I have missed productions that I paid for tickets because there is someone or several around me in stuff making me sick.

I no longer wear perfume, esp when I am around children.

My MIL no longers wears her favorite (around me) because she now knows it makes me ill. I heard my husband telling her the name of the horrible cologne he has in the vanity. I spoke up and requested that no one buy him cologne for Christmas until I can find one that doesn't cause me headaches. Poor DH. He loves wearing cologne, and all that stuff he has is so dreadful.

My mom came home from church this Sunday saying I would have never made it thru the service. She said the heater was up too high and all the women were wearing their new Christmas perfumes and all too strong! So glad I didn't go.

By Feona on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 03:16 pm:

You can never smell your own perfume. Who can smell their own perfume? I think it is impossible.

By Colette on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 03:35 pm:

yuck - I just put on some obsession that I got for Christmas and I had to change my shirt and I may take a shower to get rid of it - I only put on a tiny bit and it's all I can smell. YUCK!

By Breann on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 04:32 pm:

Feona, I think that's why a lot of people overdo the perfume. Once you put it on and go about your day you get used to the smell. Almost immune to it. People seem to want to add more throughout the day. They don't realize that they've just gotten used to the scent and that everyone else can still smell it just fine.

Colette, I have Obsession as well and it is quite strong! I like Eternity. Just a small dab gets me through the day!

By Wandilu on Friday, December 31, 2004 - 08:00 pm:

You would not believe the torment that I go through because of colonge.My dh and I even "church-jumped"(trying one church after another)trying to find one that didn't reek of it.I've had to leave my grandchildrens plays because of it.I have a sister that I can't go around very often because she wears a very strong kind.I was going to go on an outing with her and some more female family members that I was very excited about.I asked her not to wear colonge,as did my dh and ALL of the other females that were going.She refused to comply,saying she "felt naked" without it.So,needless to say,I didn't get to go.I cried for the longest time.