I sat at the receptionist’s desk today while she was at lunch (we rotate her lunch coverage) and now I am in perfume hell. Gag. My hands smell like her perfume. My hair smells like her perfume from it being on the phone. My neck smells like her perfume. My eyes are itchy and watery, and the smell is almost enough to make me sick. Gag.
Nasty perfumes should be banned. Especially when other people have to use your phone. *cough, cough, gag*
22 replies on “Perfume Hell…”
Nasty is relative. My sister loves perfumes like Joop and White Musk, which bring me near to throwing up. A lot of women wear those kinds of scents, too… the horror of it. It smells like ass.
But, some women also need to realize that you become adjusted to your own perfume. As in spray once, or twice. No more. If you don’t know what I mean, switch perfumes for a day, and you’ll see how little is enough.
We have had two receptionists leave (fired); both of which wore perfume that quite possible closed my esophagus when they walked by, or even came into the office in the morning…BAN IT, FORBID IT!
I hate certain perfumes. There are some that just make me throw up the second I smell them.
I used to argue with a manager about one girl who doused herself in the most horrid stuff and would get as close as she could to me on purpose. We worked in a restaurant as cooks and customers complained but they never did anything to her. I actually got so furious that I asked the manger one day, can you not smell that nasty ass shit she has on or do you like the smell of sweaty balls cause that’s what it smells like. They told her that day that she couldn’t wear that anymore as it was upsetting customers. I heard them laughing later about my sweaty balls comment though. 😀
I have heard of a motion somewhere to adopt the “scent-free” workplace. Darned if I can remember where it was though. Seems a bit extreme, but certainly people should use some sense before bathing in their favorite scent.
You need to fight back. Bring in some perfume of your own, or better yet, spray Febreeze everywhere when you get to her desk. There are just some people who like to stick up the place, I think it’s all about them having a less sensitive sense of smell. For those of us who are sensitive to smells, a little goes a long way, and it’s distracting.
My mom has the worst perfume! (Hi, Mom — love you!) When she hugs you it just infects your entire being. When she says goodbye in the airport you still smell like her all the way back in Texas! And she won’t try anything else, despite how “strong” you have suggested the current “perfume” is…. If only they would stop making it!! 🙂
We used to have a receptionist that wasn’t heavy on the perfume, but she was heavy on the foundation. Every time I would have to use her phone, her orange foundation would irritate the holy heck out of my skin. It was all stuck in the cracks and crevices of the phone. It was so gross. That’s why I started carrying anti-bacterial wipes whenever I went up. 😉
I think it should be a 1 spritz maximum for scents in the workplace. Luckily I don’t have that problem at my current position but there have been times when I’ve just about keeled over from someones over-purfume-ed-ness!
A former morning producer where I work used to do that. I swear he bathed in his cologne. And it was nasty smelling too! You could litteraly smell him 50 to 100 feet away. It was horrible.
There’s a lady in our church who wears a lot of very overpowering perfume. She gives you a hug, and you smell like her for weeks. She’s nice, so I tolerate it. Why do some find it necessary to shower with perfume?!
What a lot of people don’t realize is that some people are ALLERGIC to perfume.
My husband is one of those. He can’t even walk with me into a department store, where those perfume ladies spritz me before bothering to ask if it’s okay. Even if I am alone, it’s not okay, because some of that crap smells AWFUL!
I can use a light *fragrance mist* around him without a problem, but dousing myself in it is not an option. Not that I want it to be! A light fragrance is nice, but there is no need for anyone to BATHE in the crap!
Melissa…that foundation thing is just plain NASTY! When applied properly, it should NOT be coming off on everything!
Ugh.
We have a receptionist here that marinates in perfume. You can smell her as you enter the building and you know everywhere she’s been by the trail of perfume she leaves behind. I complained to my boss who told me that I was being ridiculous and he would only address it if I brought in a doctors note. Considering the guy smoked in his office until about 3 months ago, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Anyone hiring?
I have created a package (mailer) which contains professionally printed signs for homes, offices, classrooms, workplaces, houses of worship, etc. to promote “Fagrance Free Zones” and Fragrance Free policies. Can I be of any assistance to you or your readers in this area? If so, I can be contacted at: cfs-mcs@gci.net
Most Sincerely,
Kathleen Houghton
I am dying to tell you…Your Perfume is Killing me!
http://www.geocities.com/fragrance_free_101/
Your Perfume is my Poison:
http://www.geocities.com/maggie_panion/
PEW !!! For God’s sake !! go in the bathroom and wash off that sickening sweet perfume crap!!! I work at a sewing plant with about 60 women. I’d say about 40 of them soak all their clothes and their bodies in perfume every morning. It gives me a headache, makes my throat swell, plugs up my sinuses etc., etc.,– even after I go home at night I can still smell it AND taste it in my throat.And what are they wearing it for? We’re like…working !! I wonder if anybody knows that most men don’t like perfume – they’d rather you smelled like cookies . Somebody–HELP!!!
What about male coworkers who wear cologne so strong is actually smells like bug spray, causes your eyes to water and you to cough and weeze? I’m the receptionist and this guy just has no clue how extremely strong his cologne is!!
I too have the same problem with cologne and scented products that people at work insist on wearing. I have to sit in MY OWN work space and be subjected to someone else’s disgusting perfume scent ALL DAY LONG becauase it lingers in my workstation. And then I start to get a headache and by the time I go home I have a full blown agonizing migraine that I CANNOT get rid of. I really can’t take it anymore. It really is making me sick. I have come to realize that perfume/fragrance is a trigger that sets off my migraines. This has happened to me now at least 4-5 times since I have been working here. I am going to a neurologist to get tested for my headaches. Thsee people who wear perfume JUST DON’T GET IT.
I work with a guy who wears so much cologne that you can smell him when he first opens the door to our office. I have asthma and allergies and I start to sneeze and wheeze shortly after he gets to work. I have tried to ask him not to wear as much, but he still arrives to work smelling like he took a bath in it. A customer even complained that he smelled bad. What should I do? My job is literally make me sick.
I’ve had the hardest time (faintness, sore eyes, headaches) since my office moved into a building with windows that don’t open. I asked HR to put together a fragrance-free policy, and then had to ask the HR assistant if she would please consider not wearing her perfume (which you can smell for half an hour after she walks through somewhere), and she responded in a disappointing and nonprofessional manner, making it a point to walk by my office with an even heavier load of the toxins. Since she’s best friends with the HR director, this has been a political disaster. I wish I didn’t have to awkwardly ask for the favor of each individual to not wear perfume – it embarrasses them and feels disempowering to me. Each time someone new is hired, or I get a new client, I have to face whether or not to confront someone once again. It would be so much easier if people left their perfume at home. I can’t imagine that any man would be attracted to that!
Fight back. Make a liquid concoction of some frozen squid and water in the blender. Keep well chilled then apply as a spray to their furniture and carpets, then go on vacation for a couple of weeks cause its gonna get nasty.
I have recently been developing an allergy like reaction to perfumes. I have two very obese women on either side of my cubicles that like to use heavy amounts of perfume and air fresheners to counteract their sweat smells.
I’ve decided that I am going to bring in my gas mask and keep it at the desk, also a small bottle of liquid ass available from http://www.liquidass.com ought to do the trick of at least getting them to move past the sprays. Especially if I can add it to their perfumes. 🙂
It is not only about likes and dislikes. It’s about allergies. I have actually liked the scents of some perfumes or colognes, but they still caused severe allergic reactions. I get an instantaneous migraine, my throat closes up, etc. I am a teacher in a third grade class. Yes, I have 8 year olds coming to school reaking of cologne (mostly boys) after I told them that I and another student were allergic. One boy brought in the bottle and was spraying it in the room. When I sent a general parent letter home with my students explaining the situation, the parent of this same boy said she wasn’t signing the letter because it was her son’s right to wear cologne. I guess that the other child and I have no rights where our health is concerned. Her kid may as well be bringing a loaded gun to school. In my 19 years of teaching, one of my students died of an asthma attack (at home) and that is one too many. I don’t want to lose another student. I am not a smoker, but if I were, would this woman like it if I blew second hand smoke in her son’s face. Probably not! Same difference. What’s ironic is that these highly scented people could be giving themselves cancer or other health concerns by wearing their scent. Because of trade secrets, perfumes and colognes are not regulated by the FDA. When analyzed, some perfumes have been known to have traces of pesticides. Isn’t that special. Ok, let them kill themselves, but don’t take me with you!