# What's worse...Perfume or B.O. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 9, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371 "2004-06-09T00:03:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/21 "2004-06-09T04:14:51Z")
I’d rather have the perfume person. As others have said, perfume will fade. B.O. will only get _worse_. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/22 "2004-06-09T04:21:03Z")
I’m also perfume-sensitive/allergic, so I’d rather have the B.O. person. I have experienced this in action, in a way. There was an aerobics instructor at my gym who was apparently worried that her B.O. would be offensive, so she basted herself with perfume before workouts. If she was between me and the fan, I found it almost impossible to keep working out because I’d start having trouble breathing. The smell of honest sweat would have been far, far preferable. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/23 "2004-06-09T12:37:53Z")
BO is worse. It just intensifies, while perfume will eventually dissipate. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/24 "2004-06-09T13:35:30Z")
> [@Little Cloud](#): > > . . .I have told more than one stranger in an elevator ,“You are wearing _way_ too much perfume.” You do that in NYC? Has anyone decked you yet, or told you, “Really? Well, that is a _hideous_ outfit you’re wearing”? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/25 "2004-06-09T14:26:02Z")
BO is worse. Our security guard showers maybe once a week. He sits in a windowed foyer, baking. By Wednesday, he smells like a pile of hot garbage. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/26 "2004-06-09T14:34:46Z")
**IMHO** (hint, hint), It’s B. O. over perfume _by a nose_. But either way, I’d probably spend that entire car trip with my head sticking out the window like a dog. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/27 "2004-06-09T15:01:36Z")
I’d rather be stuck with the perfume/cologne person, as long as they didn’t continually re-apply it along the way. With B.O. not only can someone’s body keep making more and more of it, the odors can come from multiple sources. Most perfume/cologne weaers only apply it to certain areas. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/28 "2004-06-09T15:40:23Z")
The BO person would NOT be my choice. Does the OP have to choose one or the other for some reason? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/29 "2004-06-09T15:51:42Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Does the OP have to choose one or the other for some reason? Yep. B.O. Plenty and Fritzi Ritz are standing by the side of the road waiting for a lift. ---
**Author:** ![alimarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@alimarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alimarx)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/30 "2004-06-09T17:34:59Z")
Depends on the B.O. Just underarm isn’t so bad, but other odors that appear to emanate from other _crux_es, well… ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/31 "2004-06-09T18:04:30Z")
Well, since BO doesn’t make my throat swell shut and certain perfumes can, I’d have to go with the BO. ---
**Author:** ![nocturnal\_tick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@nocturnal\_tick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nocturnal_tick)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/32 "2004-06-09T18:15:31Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > At least with perfume, you can justifiably grab a damp papertowel at the first rest stop and ask them to please, please understand, but that perfume reminds you so much of 1) ex-lover/spouse or 2) tragically deceased mother that you’ll know they will understand when you ask them to wipe it off a little. Yeah, but couldn’t you use the same excuse for B.O.? 😛😃 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/33 "2004-06-09T18:35:37Z")
That’s one helluva choice… B.O. or _eau de toilette_. Can it be American B.O or does it have to be French? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/34 "2004-06-09T20:16:38Z")
I have a worse reaction to someone wearing too much perfume, but the big benefit of it is that its scent doesn’t linger nearly as long as B.O., and when it does start to fade, it smells rather nice. I’d rather be stuck in a car with someone wearing too much perfume. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/35 "2004-06-09T21:01:10Z")
I think I’d have to choose the perfumed person, but vile B.O. or not my poor mom would have to take them, because she’s violently allergic to a fair number of perfumes. Allergic to the point of horrible asthma attacks. It’s been a problem for her (due to jerks) at a couple of jobs. That’s a rant in itself, though. I used to have to endure my brother’s stench before the Air Force made him start showering more than once a fortnight or so. (I love that word.) Ick. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/36 "2004-06-10T00:46:53Z")
Odors have a tendency to cling to you, both physically and psychologically. I’d rather have someone’s perfume clinging to me over nasty body funk. ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371/37 "2004-06-10T02:37:32Z")
Eewww. “Nasty body funk” is bad enough, but clingy too? _gak_ Give me a perfumed body (or a plane ticket). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-perfume-or-b-o/249371.md?page=1)