Does anyone you work with wear so much fragrance that it makes you feel sick?

[redqueen]

Is there any polite way to address this?

Why is fragrance still so popular at the workplace?

I was in the elevator with a woman who had so much on I could smell it walking 20 feet behind her, as we walked in from the garage this morning. If I hadn't already been late I would have waited for the next one... but at least her noxious fumes didn't make me feel physically ill.

Whatever this co-worker is wearing... I just spent more than a few seconds around him (which is the usual thank goodness), and I now feel ill. Ugh... :(

[Louisiana1976]

1. Never had that problem--what has bothered me is either body odor or ......

the smell of someone who takes garlic. Yuck!

[redqueen]

4. I've had to have a talk with an employee

about body odor in the past... when I worked for a small company. That was not pleasant.

Here we have some employees with that issue, but it doesn't make me ill, thank goodness.

[Deep13]

2. Around here sickening smells are reserved for scented candles.

:(

[RadiationTherapy]

3. My entire working career.

I only wear baking soda as deodorant and essential oils (not dark ones, i.e. patchouli, sandlewood, musks) for odorants. I usually mix a citrus or floral with mint or eucalyptus with water and use a mister. My lack of use of marketed fragrances makes me super sensitive to others'.

[redqueen]

5. I'm not normally so sensitive...

I get annoyed sure, but this is the fist time it's ever made me feel sick. I think it might be some knock-off of a popular nice scent, because I recognize it... but it's never made me feel sick before.

[mgcgulfcoast]

12. i use wild honeysuckle

[dropkickpa]

6. Nope, it is verboten in my workplace.

We have a shower and I have made staff go use it when they are too stunk up with the nastiness. It's awesome, since I am allergic to most perfumes.

I address simply by saying "Perfumes, fragrances, scented lotions, and colognes are forbidden in this facility. You must shower before entering. Here's a towel. Soap and shampoo are available inside the locker rooms."

[NJmaverick]

7. Tell your coworker you think you may have an allergy to his cologne or whatever he is wearing

that might be a nice way to put it.

Sort of like this- Start rubbing your eyes. Then say, "wow, I think I have an alergy to the the fragrance you are wearing" "it's making my eyes itch and it's giving me a tickle in my throat (throw in cough)".

[redqueen]

8. Thank you!

That is perfect. :)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Not ordinarily.

There is one woman who occasionally wears a scent that I just don't like; it's sort of awful and cloying, like a lot of scented candles. But I wouldn't say it's strong enough to knock you over at a distance. It's not a problem where I work.

But I do remember when, at a former job, I got in an elevator with a guy who had apparently bathed in some particularly vile men's cologne like Hai Karate, and that was pretty nauseating.

[LiberalEsto]

10. What is this "work" you mention? nt

[elocs]

11. Well, I don't work with anyone so it's not a problem. n/t

[Parche]

13. sometimes

i just tell them....:hug::loveya:

[bigwillq]

14. Doesn't really bother me.

Most times I like the smell. I've been known to over fragance at times.

I'm sure there's things you do that piss people off.

[yellowdogintexas]

17. this is about making people sick. I have reactions to scents also and

can be thrown into sick headache status pretty quickly by the wrong scent. Many common household cleaning supplies also do this to me. A person with severe reactive airway problems (like asthma) could actually be put in danger .

Perfumes and body sprays make my throat burn, the inside of my lungs feel irritated and give me a headache. I wish it were only that it pissed me off or was just a scent a didn't care for. I have to avoid the perfume area of department stores too. At least the sample ladies now hand out scented cards instead of arbitrarily misting the customers.

Interestingly, I find it is the men who overdose these days.

[redqueen]

18. It doesn't piss me off.

It's annoying but not that much.

No need to get defensive. It's really not a big deal to me... it only is now because it actually made me feel sick.

[suninvited]

15. I have only had a fragrance bother me one time

and it was very odd. I was at work, feeling perfectly fine. A woman came in my office for her orientation, which takes about 45 minutes. Within minutes of her arrival my nose was running, my eyes were swelling and I was feeling like I couldnt breath very well.

Since I was signing the lady up for a service that cost roughly $8,000, I tried like hell to work through it! My eyes started to swell shut and I was beginning to gasp for breath so I finally had to excuse myself and get the director to finish up.

The weird thing was it wasnt a bad smelling fragrence, and it wasnt that strong. I have never had a reaction to a fragrence since that day.

[Skittles]

16. I just tell them, whatever scent you're wearing, I can still smell it from yesterday

they tone it down after that - believe me, a lot of people just don't fucking know, usually because people are too "polite" to tell them

[redqueen]

19. "Polite"?

Uh... ok.

[Skittles]

21. the way I see it

it is impolite not to let someone know they're doing something to offend you. If you don't tell them you stay upset and they don't even know why.

I'll give you an example. I once started a new job where several people warned me about the hygiene habits of a certain girl, who often smelled bad and had greasy looking hair. As soon as I got to know her I talked to her about it. Turns out this gal had grown up in extreme poverty and just did not know she needed to bathe / wash her hair/ wash her clothes more often, and she took immediate action to correct this. Everyone had been too, er, polite to say something to her yet thought it was fine to make cracks about her to each other.

[redqueen]

22. Well in case you didn't notice, it doesn't offend me nor do I make cracks.

Like I said, I find it annoying, but it wasn't a big deal till I actually started feeling ill after having to be around it for long.

So while you've experienced that behavior with others, it's unfair to project it onto me.

I do consider it rude to make comments to complete strangers on elevators about this stuff. YMMV, obviously.

[applegrove]

20. I had a guy at a job come into my office and tell me he was allergic the fragrances & perfumes.

I rarely wore perfume so I didn't get that he was hinting I was the problem. I just rinsed my hair really quick and my hair always smelt like shampoo. I wish so much he had been direct with me because I sometimes miss things if people are beating around the bush.

[Texasgal]

23. we're not allowed to wear any fragrances

I'm an RN and I think it's kinda been an unwritten rule.