IME, the worst perfume abusers are smokers, who think it covers up the reek of stale smoke, which it doesn’t. I don’t like smelling people who smell like dirty ashtrays, but I like smelling people who smell like a dirty ashtray that has has an inch of perfume poured into it even less.
PERFUME AND COLOGNE DO NOT ERASE THE SMELL OF CIGARETTES. THEY DO NOT EVEN MASK IT. THEY MINGLE WITH IT TO PRODUCE SOMETHING MORE VILE THAN EITHER SCENT ALONE.
There’s a PSA that needs to get made.
Personally, I don’t mind normal BO, which is to say, the way someone who showered in the morning smells after a long day, or the way my husband smells in the morning before he showers, or the way someone with generally good hygiene smells after a workout. I would much rather smell that than any perfume designed to mask normal body odors. And spraying yourself with Axe is not the equivalent of taking a shower.
However, if someone knows how to use perfume or aftershave the way it is supposed to be used I can live with it. Workplace rules about scents might be the result of one hypersensitive person who can’t be around anything, but more often, they are a “one person shits his pants, everyone wears a diaper” rule. One person doesn’t understand moderation, or the correct way to wear perfume, and stinks up the place. Yes, there is a correct way. You don’t wear your underwear on your head, and you don’t use more than a couple of drops (or one spritz from an atomizer) of scent.
Personally, I don’t normally wear perfume, but when I have worked with Deaf-blind people, I whipped up something in the kitchen with essential oils and alcohol. We had one person with a very sensitive nose, and low language, and she could find people when we all had our own scents. I used it really, really sparingly, and the one person I knew who was very sensitive said it didn’t bother her. I asked her directly, because I had to deal with her at shul twice a week, and one day was the same day I was with the DB clients, and I asked if I needed to go home and shower. She said no. I used to put one drop one my hands, and run my hands over my hair, then wash my hands.
I haven’t used a scent since I stopped working for that agency, though. I really don’t like them.