I have become highly sensitive to perfumes and colognes. It started when I was pregnant and it’s gotten progressively worse since. I can’t even be around people with cologne and perfumes without my eyes starting to tear up. My nose starts to run and I begin to sneeze. If the exposure is long enough, I start to get headaches too.
This curious situation seemed psychosomatic to me at first. Maybe I just don’t like their cologne and that’s why I am having a reaction. Unfortunately it wasn’t that easy.
I first noticed the problem when a number of visitors came by to see the baby and their perfume made me want to hurl. I didn’t understand why they were wearing perfume to see a baby in the first place because I know how sensitive baby skin can be. But that’s neither here nor there. Then one day in a conference, a guy sat two seats down from me. I could smell his cologne from where I was sitting. When I actually left the meeting, the smell of his cologne was on me. I spent a couple of minutes thereafter in the bathroom trying to clean off the smell from my clothing.
That’s when I realized it wasn’t the smell so much as the obscene quantity of perfume and cologne that people wear that gets to me. I occasionally wear perfume but my spritzes don’t go past 3 pumps. I don’t think everyone should be subjected to my scent. I even tend on the lighter side by pumping twice.
I realize that a lot of the people that wear scents are certain ethnic groups. While I understand that it's cultural and tied to how someone presents themselves, I don't think that others should be tortured by your choices. I don’t think that people should leave a trail like Pepe le Pew wafting behind them when they wear perfume.
Why do people need so much cologne or perfume? If you shower on a daily basis, the smell of cleanliness usually works and isn’t offensive. I guess I also don’t understand because perfume is expensive. If you have enough money to pour a whole bottle on yourself on a daily basis, it just seems excessive to me. I guess people want to make an impression by having their scent linger in the air days past the time they were even in that room. There have to be other ways to make an impression on people without choking them or spending so much money. I always thought a witty comment or a good handshake and nice smile always made a good impression on others. Guess I'm old fashioned and nose sensitive.
2 comments:
Excessive perfume or cologne can be annoying and even make you gag. People must not realize how large that scented cloud around them is since they likely can't smell their eau de toilette within a few minutes after spritzing it.
The more you wear a fragrance the less you smell it so people think they aren't wearing enough and we all suffer the overwhelming smell.
The oils are the worst! Any amount is awful. And it seems to be a favorite of huggers. Oh, great, now I'm wearing it and I'll stink until I get home to shower.
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