Ladies of that age in this office tend to buy and use bargain-basement hairspray. I can recognize it a mile away, because my mom and grandma used to use it: Aqua-Net or White Rain. It has an acrid stink like no other product.
I’m in this age group, and I make sure that my products are either scentless or have some very mildly sweet accent.
Aquanet: Holy crap, I thought I was the only one who would push that theory.
Over-primping is a contributing factor. Every thing must be ‘just so’, so it’s extra hair spray, extra starch, extra anything that covers, secures, moisturizes, hides, bolsters, etc. These products just don’t smell as purty as basic fresh shampoo/conditioner with light body soap. Lots of polymers, alcohol and other drying agents.
It is why you can be 12 cars behind the lead car at an intersection, see nothing more than 2% of the back top of a female’s head and be able to pin down their age in .37 seconds. Because that 2% of her head that you see from 12 cars back has a certain ‘primped’ factor that screams the age. Try it. It’s an amazing thing.
Hee. we’re not very primpy up here, but this reminds me of the paranoia I would feel when I used to primp. Spray deodorant to not get white stuff on my sleeveless dress, Static Guard to keep the dress laying correctly, mousse, hairspray… :eek: Job interviews I was very conscious of my chemical aura.
Lanolin and Geritol. It takes awhile to get the mixture exactly right but once you do - watch out! The blue hairs come a-running. Its like Axe body spray for the leisure suit crowd.
I dimly remember reading something many years ago about that “old people smell” that indicated that as we get old, we start to generate and give off a set of chemicals.
Given that I’m about to turn 46, I’m not looking forward to generating my own Old Person Funk.
Is this women-only? Because my husband’s in his mid-50s and he smells sweet and fabulous. If he didn’t believe me, I’d know. I’m extremely attuned to smells.
That said,I had a friend who was in her early 50s. She wasn’t a primper, but for about six months she had this strange smell. It wasn’t BO or any other yuk, but just like you describe: sort of acrid. However, it went away. Don’t know how, don’t know why. I never asked her. But away it did go.
I’m sure that provides no clues, but … well, there it is.
It’s a brand of products covering body spray, body wash, perfume, soap, makeup, deodorant, face powder, etc.
It’s called Ol’ Phartress. It’s based on the premise that women will never admit that their shit stinks like everyone else. If this is too far-fetched, put on a pair of yellow hunting glasses when among them.