# My co-worker's perfume is killing me! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 24, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930 "2006-02-24T16:20:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/81 "2006-02-28T12:53:13Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > Question from a non scent sensitive: > … > Example: I am currently using Bath & Body Works’ line of aromatherapy body washes and shampoo -[Jasmine Vanilla](http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2205178&cp=2073254.2198481.2198516&parentPage=family) shampoo and the Orange Ginger body wash from that same line. Do scents like that affect you as standard spray-on perfume does? I am scent-sensitive to a degree, and shampoo and body wash scents don’t bother me. I’m addicted to the Bath & Body Works line as well, and even use their body sprays instead of perfume. The scents used for shampoos and body washes don’t linger, or as **featherlou** said, leave con-trails. 😛 They’re just more subtle, and in the case of body wash, you _wash_ it off. With perfume, people tend to apply it, and then apply more, because they can’t smell it anymore. There’s some other ingredient in actual perfumes that gives me a migraine. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/82 "2006-02-28T12:58:15Z")
My leave in conditioner is closer to being a perfume than a conditioner, it does fade, but it takes a while and in the meantime I have a definite scent. I try to apply it well ahead of time if I’m going to an evaent so it has some time to fade, otherwise I’d be a scent offender. If I can apply it the night before (after washing my hair, an hour or so before bed) it has often faded enough that I can consider maybe wearing perfume. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/83 "2006-02-28T15:44:39Z")
> [@Bites When Provoked](#): > > \ > No wonder I like that place! 😃 (Of course, it plays hell with my hayfever, but I can get antihistamines for the couple of months that’s a problem.) You can’t win, eh? We get [Sick Building Syndrome](http://www.nsc.org/ehc/indoor/sbs.htm) here, in spite of our high-tech closed-system buildings. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/84 "2006-02-28T15:51:59Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > You can’t win, eh? We get [Sick Building Syndrome](http://www.nsc.org/ehc/indoor/sbs.htm) here, in spite of our high-tech closed-system buildings. I thought they’d decided the high-tech closed-system ventilation systems were what caused “Sick Building Syndrome.” You can’t open the windows to let in fresh air (and let out bad air), so you’re stuck recycling nasty fumes and stale air all day. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/85 "2006-02-28T16:15:48Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > \*If you spray your perfume on a cotton ball and put it in your bra, you will be able to smell it without offending everyone around you. I don’t wear purfume or makeup and haven’t since I was a teenager, but my mom used to wear Chanel No. 5 when I was a kid. What she’d do is stand up, hold her breath and close her eyes, spray a quick puff in the air in front of her and slightly above, then walk through it. She never ever sprayed it directly on her body. I never saw anyone else do it that way until I saw **Untamed Heart** with Marisa Tomei. Her character did that, though sitting down. I don’t know if that method would put more or less perfume on the body than a cotton ball, but it’s a possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/86 "2006-02-28T17:00:16Z")
> [@FaerieBeth](#): > > and the Orange Ginger body wash from that same line. That stuff is divine, but the lotion that goes with it is overpowering. I like to use the body wash and then spritz on some Ginger perfume from Origins. It’s very light and smells so good. I’m wearing it today, in fact, and unless someone got right up next to me I can’t imagine that they would be able to smell it at all. A lot of those Bath and Body Works spritzes are very light compared to perfume. You can spray your whole body and still not smell as strongly as if you’d doused yourself in Eau de Grandma. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/87 "2006-02-28T17:05:19Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > The bottom line is I enjoy my perfume and I don’t want to kill anyone BUT surely their are many more offensive smells then perfume. To many people, no, there are not. I’d rather smell raw sewage than perfume. Seriously. There must be some ingredient in perfume not found in many other compunds. Years ago I was helping my GF do research on a book. This required me to buy several women’s magazines. The stench of the ads was so bad I couldn’t read them. Even throwing them away did no good. I had to put the trash out on the street, and even then, it was a couple of days until I could stand to be in my apartment. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/88 "2006-02-28T17:27:24Z")
It’s really bad today, I wonder if she realizes why I have a fan on pointing away from me? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/89 "2006-02-28T17:59:37Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > It’s really bad today, I wonder if she realizes why I have a fan on pointing away from me? I’d bring it up to your boss again today. And tomorrow. And the next day. And use the words “I need you to take this seriously.” And if they don’t, talk to the coworker directly. Persist until you get fired. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/90 "2006-02-28T18:30:28Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > To many people, no, there are not. I’d rather smell raw sewage than perfume. Seriously. There must be some ingredient in perfume not found in many other compunds. > > Years ago I was helping my GF do research on a book. This required me to buy several women’s magazines. The stench of the ads was so bad I couldn’t read them. Even throwing them away did no good. I had to put the trash out on the street, and even then, it was a couple of days until I could stand to be in my apartment. Even though magazines now have a flap you need to open to get at the perfume sample, they still reek. The first thing I do upon buying a new mag is rip out all the perfume ads and throw them away. Not only do they stink, but they make it impossible to flip the magazine page by page. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/91 "2006-02-28T18:37:20Z")
I’m lucky in that I haven’t experienced this in any office I’ve worked often. BO has been more of a problem. However, I have gotten this in elevators. And when someone’s perfume or cologne enters the cab before the person, I always make a snide comment. Often, I find, in a crowded elevator, that others are thinking the same but they’re just too damn polite to say anything. Fortunately, I don’t suffer from an excess of politeness. If you are applying perfume by showering in it, last thing I’m worried about is offending you. ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/92 "2006-02-28T18:43:29Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > You are also bothering the asthmatics, allergics, and anyone else who happens to hate your particular brand of stinkum. And pregnant women. I’m very sensitive to smell to begin with, but now I won’t let coworkers wearing perfume into my office. I can still tell when they’ve walked by, though. I’ve asked them not wear perfume on staff meeting days, when we’re all cooped up in a tiny room for hours, but that doesn’t stop them from dousing themselves in the stuff on other days. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/93 "2006-02-28T18:57:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I’d bring it up to your boss again today. And tomorrow. And the next day. And use the words “I need you to take this seriously.” And if they don’t, talk to the coworker directly. Persist until you get fired. 😛 Damned funny! **tdn** , that cheered me up. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/94 "2006-02-28T19:16:28Z")
> [@vix](#): > > And pregnant women. People with medical conditions in general. At the hospital we have a “scent free” policy, because perfumes could cause direct harm to some patients. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/95 "2006-02-28T19:19:39Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Damned funny! **tdn** , that cheered me up. I was mostly serious, but hey, glad I could help. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/96 "2006-02-28T22:54:54Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > \At the hospital we have a “scent free” policy, because perfumes could cause direct harm to some patients. There may come a day when wearing perfume in public is simply not done. I know when I have taken job-search seminars, they always suggest not wearing perfume or cologne to interviews, because you don’t want to screen yourself out because your interviewer has a problem with the smell of you. I’ve worked for companies and gone to buildings/meetings, etc, that have “scent-free” policies. I think the bottom line is that as a civilization, we don’t need perfume any more (most everybody is washing themselves and their clothes regularly), and it causes more trouble than it’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/97 "2006-02-28T23:55:58Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > A lot of those Bath and Body Works spritzes are very light compared to perfume. You can spray your whole body and still not smell as strongly as if you’d doused yourself in Eau de Grandma. Not all of them. I LOVE the Warm Vanilla Sugar soap-it smells like freshly baked sugar cookies. But the body spray and lotion were just too damned strong. The body WASH, though, was delightful, as are the candles. My scent of choice is Gap Scents ‘Heaven’, and very very little at that. Or a very faint vanilla skin lotion which I use after my bath. But even then, I rarely wear them, or at least I only wear the lotion after an evening shower. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/98 "2006-03-02T11:21:28Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > You know, **calm kiwi** , I was thinking about this, and it occurs to me that this might be a cultural thing. Canadians are cooped up in our houses and offices for six or seven months a year, breathing stale air and not able to open windows. I think it is possible that we are more sensitive about people smelling up our stale air than other, less restricted cultures might be. I think you have a very good point (if not culturally certainly personaly), I have had never had a job where I couldn’t open a window. The present summer has been hot but we have no air conditioning, we have large open windows and doors and I spend at least some part of the day outside (two hour at minimum). When winter arrives the windows will close but I will still be outside for a couple of hours a day. Reading what you said made me imagine your situation a little more clearly. I don’t sit next to anyone, all day, in a confined space. I can see how you would be so atuned to and bothered by someone elses smell if that were the case. If it makes you feel better, while no one has ever complained about my one squirt of perfume, I took my shoes off at work the other day and a 4 year old told me my feet stink!..I was tempted to go home and douse them in perfume 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/99 "2006-03-02T17:44:24Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Not all of them. I LOVE the Warm Vanilla Sugar soap-it smells like freshly baked sugar cookies. But the body spray and lotion were just too damned strong. The body WASH, though, was delightful, as are the candles. > > My scent of choice is Gap Scents ‘Heaven’, and very very little at that. Or a very faint vanilla skin lotion which I use after my bath. But even then, I rarely wear them, or at least I only wear the lotion after an evening shower. I just popped in to say that bath and body’s Warm Vanilla Sugar is one of the best scents I have ever come across. **makes note to get to b&b to restock** Russell ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930/100 "2006-03-02T18:35:24Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > I just popped in to say that bath and body’s Warm Vanilla Sugar is one of the best scents I have ever come across. There’s a new one - Brown Sugar & Fig that’s really good. Similar to the Warm Vanilla Sugar, but better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-co-workers-perfume-is-killing-me/345930.md?page=6)