S/O Wearing Perfume

IMO, those who claim to wear a small amount of a light scent are the worst offenders. I work with a few ladies who make this claim. I can tell if they were in the elevator, in a room, or walked down a hallway before me because I can smell them.

ETA: When I encounter someone wearing heavy or excessive fragrance, my first thought is that they should try bathing and wearing clean clothes so they won’t need to cover up their stink.

Perfume doesn't usually bother me.. I don't have anything that triggers any kind of smell except those damn scented pinecones at Christmas time. That triggers an instant headache.

I don't wear it much at all. Maybe sometimes I will spray one of those BBW sprays on me.. but it is so little it really doesn't make a difference.

Any scent can trigger a 3 day migraine in me. If I'm around you for any length of time. Perfume, lotion, body wash, hairspray, deodorant, laundry detergent, fabric softener, laundry beads, soap, candles. Layers and layers of competing smells. Everyone is nose blind to so they just keep spraying more and layering more on. It's so bad. Some people's scent lingers after they've walked down a store aisle. I could smell many people through a mask.


I carry my own soap in my purse because some are so strong and linger on your hands.

I couldn't come in your house if you had candles burining or air fresheners. I couldn't ride in your car with an air freshener. I got my teeth cleaned and I could smell that the hygienist used Tide or Gain, some strong laundry detergent. I couldn't sleep in a bed with sheets washed in scented laundry detergent, scent beads, fabric softener.

A product smelling good makes no difference in how well it works.

I probably would have went more scent free on my own, if I didn't have this extreme reaction, as I've done more learning about fragrance and parfum. It's a known endocrine distruptor. It is allowed as a blanket statement to hide many other chemicals. The higher fragrance is on the ingredient list the more there is of it.

I don’t get migraines but I am sensitive to smells.

I think the worst offenders are shampoo, soap and lotion because everyone uses some or all of them. I find discount brands like Suave that have artificial flavors of “strawberries & cream”, etc. to be the most offensive. I also have extremely sensitive skin, so finding something I can tolerate for regular use can be a challenge.

One positive (for me) during covid times has been the decrease of public outings where I could be assaulted by someone’s fragrance. I don’t miss getting a mouthful of perfume when I take a bite at a restaurant.

I can cope with soap, shower gel etc but can not be near anyone wearing perfume. My chest tightens and my head starts hurting. The worst are patchouli, musk, lily and hyacinth. I feel like I’ve been hit between the eyes with a hammer. I can’t be around incense or candles either.

A parfumier told me people wear far too much scent. If you can’t smell it on yourself after a little while, you don’t need to put more on, it means it’s the most suitable for you and suits your body chemistry. Apparently.

I don't think it has to do with stronger...just the actual scent. A small amount of something that sets you off is the same as a large amount.
I can happily drench myself in some perfumes, but others I am really sensitive too and get an instant headache.
White florals do it to me, jasmine, tuberose and gardenia, if there's too much of those notes I start to feel sick and get a headache. I recently spayed the popular "Portrait of a Lady" by Frederic Malle and immediately felt so unwell that I had to go to a public restroom and scrub it off. I have no idea what set me off in that one.

Also the cheaper artificial scents are more likely to do it than the natural ones.
I have a friend who says just about every perfume gives her a headache. I recently bought a bottle of expensive perfume (the most I've ever spent) and she wanted to smell it...and I jokingly said that if she sprays it on herself then I don't want to hear a word about headaches.
She sprayed quite a good amount on and later drove home. She said she could smell it all the way home and still the next morning - but she didn't get a headache at all. So I do think the quality of the ingredients matters as well.


What?
I spray perfume on straight out of the shower...it has zero to do with not washing and covering up 'my stink'...what a ridiculous statement.

I stopped wearing perfume when I was nursing my son, I didn’t want to have his sensitive skin react to anything heavily scented, no matter how *lightly* I applied perfume I thought anything would be too strong. I’m just now getting back into it and I can only handle one spritz on myself.

I’m not sensitive to scents in that they trigger migraines or headaches, but sometimes really well meaning older women in my life pile the scents on - I assume because they’ve used the same perfume for years and years and they become nose blind to it, so they have to add more and more to feel like they can smell it on themselves.

My mom is a pretty bad offender. I think she smells fine and she doesn’t trigger a headache, but when she leaves after a visit her perfume is all over my son. We always say “oh grandma must have been here you smell like her!”

For me it's mostly artificial scents. I can smell my strong essential oils no problem. But when it's cologne, body spray, hair products, etc. I can taste them in the air and they give me a headache.

I think part of the problem with people that say "I don't put on a lot" or whatever is that they become nose blind if they wear the same thing all the time. They just don't smell it, so they have to keep putting on more. Just like people who live near a wastewater treatment plant or a paper mill or some other smelly place; they just don't smell it anymore.

I bought a dress at a thrift store one time. It smelled strongly of perfume. I loved the dress, so I bought it anyway. I washed it several times, including with baking soda. I could NEVER get the smell out, so I had to get rid of it.

I used to like wearing perfume—my favorite was Arpège, for all you old-timers out there. In my 30s, I worked on a locked psych unit where all the patients AND staff smoked. As a result, I developed a sensitivity to perfumes, scented candles, etc.

It seems like scent-wearing has diminished in recent years, which I appreciate. Except for Axe-wearing adolescent boys.

I am sensitive to some scents. It seems to be some florals, but I honestly don't know which ones in particular. For most of my life, I've gotten headaches from strong perfumes.

I use unscented anti-perspirant, buy the laundry detergents that are fragrance free and usually only buy candles or soaps in vanilla or fruity scents. I don't seem to have a problem with those, although I will become nose-blind to them.

I never use perfume or cologne.

I have issues with some perfumes, sometimes. Typically strong scents when I am forced to be close to the source for awhile---think behind someone in church or sitting next to someone on a train/bus/subway.

Now, I have a cousin who has a terrible reaction to one specific brand of men's cologne--it doesn't even matter which of their colognes it is. One time she was babysitting and the baby's father had put the cologne on before dropping off the baby, and just the "secondhand" scent of the cologne on the baby had her throat & eyes itching soon after the baby was dropped off.

DH is allergic to many scents. Like throat swells, can't breathe, anaphylactic shock kind of allergy. While he is annoyed when he encounters a scent that causes a reaction, he typically will not say anything to the offender. He will physically get up and leave a room/building if he has to, ask to switch to another seat/table, etc. because he knows that people are allowed to wear perfume. The exception is, he will say something to someone who has an overwhelming amount of scent on. He doesn't say it's terrible or that it is wrong, but he will say "The amount of perfume/cologne you have on is very overwhelming for me and I need to excuse myself"

ETA: We had to switch hotel rooms one time in Cancun after our concierge setup a romantic roses & champagne surprise in which she sprayed the room down with some kind of room spray. We felt so bad but it never would have dawned on us that someone would spray so much in a hotel room. Next time we booked, we made a note regarding scents/fragrance.

I, in general, really like smells. Unless you are completely over the top with perfume, I enjoy different scents. My house always smells too whether that be a wax burner or candles or incense. In my house, I usually choose food scents.