Ms. Perfume Lady has joined my work group

[Haole Girl]

I cannot STAND her perfume. It's disgusting. I mean, really awful. I've avoided this particular woman at every turn and now she will work side-by-side with me.

Tell me this... just tell me...

how can some people NOT realize how awful they smell?!

:puke:

[Odin2005]

1. I'm thankful my new GF is not a perfume person

I can't stand perfume, WAY too overpowering.

[Haole Girl]

2. Saw your thread...

I'm so happy for you! It's a great time of the year to have someone to be close to. :-)

[Odin2005]

4. Especially in FARGO! The wind chill here is -20!!!

[Haole Girl]

5. That's not even human!

:scared:

[Odin2005]

11. Perfectly normal around here!

:)

[Forkboy]

3. They should wear perfume, not marinate in it.

If they leave a puddle behind they're wearing too much.

[Haole Girl]

7. I may use that...

the puddle part. I agree, btw.

[Forkboy]

14. I use a lot of public transport...

...and there are many women out there who could use this tip. I was literally gagging on the bus Tuesday because of some woman who didn't get this basic lesson. I was right behind her and I thought I'd never make it to my destination without hurling. And to be fair, some dudes are just as bad with the Old Spice shit.

I think women like a man who smells natural...like onions and sweat....

:hide:

[Haole Girl]

18. Just a little bit of Grey Flannel is nice

Just the tiniest amount though!

[Forkboy]

47. I don't know that one.

But if it doesn't burn my nostril hairs I'm all for it.

[MadMaddie]

58. ha..ha.. onions and sweat

too funny!!

:rofl:

[surrealAmerican]

6. She probably wears way too much ...

... because she has very little sense of smell. Plus, of course, if she always wears the stuff, she will have become "desensitized" to that particular odor.

[Haole Girl]

9. I'm sure she is desensitized

It's gone on for years. :-(

[femmocrat]

8. That is a shame.... Is there some way you can tell her that it bothers you?

I can't stand perfume. It gives me a migraine. I have told people, "Please excuse me, but I'm allergic to perfume"..... as I back away. It's really inconsiderate of them to wear it in the workplace.

[Haole Girl]

10. I don't know...

I don't tend to be tactful when I have really strong feelings on a subject.

I'm going to try to work the opposite shift she works. Next mission... to find out which shift she works!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. Try faking violent coughing and sneezing.

After hacking and wheezing "uncontrollably" for awhile, you could very apologetically say something like, "I'm *so* sorry, but I seem to be terribly allergic to perfume. I hate to ask this of you, but I really can't work like this -- when we are going to be working together could you please not wear it? I don't want to have to go home with an allergy attack and leave you with extra work..."

[Haole Girl]

16. I did that last night

The coughing uncontrollably. Only I wasn't faking. :-( I didn't say anything to her because I knew at that point it just wouldn't come out of my mouth politely.

[debbierlus]

60. Just be gently honest with her. You don't have to do a huge song and dance to avoid confrontation

Just tell her (gently) that you find her perfume too strong, and it gives you a headache.

You can say things like 'I am really sensitive to perfume and smells, so it is tough for me to work around it'...

She might just apologize and stop wearing it (or at the very least, tone it down).

It can't hurt to try. Just be tactful. And, you can go to your boss and ask if they can create a company rule banning colognes and perfumes due to health issues. (Some people are allergic).

[bluedigger]

12. A little dab of Vick's Vapor rub under the nose.

Works great when exhuming corpses! Try it!

(The Vapor rub, not exhuming corpses.);-)

[Haole Girl]

13. Hopefully, I won't have to resort to that

But thank you for the tip. :-)

[Withywindle]

17. I've actually had to do that at work!

Due to a coworker who doesn't bathe. :puke:

[Haole Girl]

20. There was one of those, once...

THEY were talked to immediately, though, and never smelled like they needed a bath again. Thankfully!

[Withywindle]

22. This guy's been talked to several times.

He's just really not on the same wavelength as the rest of us. Island of Misfit Toys, my office.

[blueamy66]

49. I have this dilemma

How do you tell someone to "PLEASE TAKE A SHOWER"???

I want to put a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo on her desk soooo bad....

[Robeson]

19. Perhaps you could give her a more pleasant bottle as a gift for the holidays...

...at least something you could stand being around. And then you could suggest that with this particular brand, one is only supposed to use a short squirt.

[Haole Girl]

21. I have seriously considered this

But then I thought to myself "What are the odds she'd give up wearing a perfume she's worn for years and years...?"

:shrug:

[AsahinaKimi]

23. does she go though several of these a day?

[Haole Girl]

24. I think so!

The smell never wains.

[Maine-ah]

51. um, that's Chambord, not perfume...lol

[AsahinaKimi]

52. lol

She might do that too!

[myrna minx]

56. That's Chambord. Yum.

I could use a sip of that to warm me up right now. It's -14 here right now.

[kentauros]

25. "I'm sorry, I'm allergic to your perfume."

Sometimes being blunt and to the point is simply the best course of action. This is making you sick, and no telling how many others that have chosen to be just as "tactful" when it affected them badly. I know I've gagged and complained loudly in public when someone has walked by with a literal cloud of "scent" around them. I don't care if they don't like what they hear. To me, overpowering perfume is as bad as smoking indoors in public.

Now, if they smell like food, that's fine by me :9

[Haole Girl]

27. I'm going to think on this some more

Sometimes being blunt (often, in my case) just comes back to bite me.

[kentauros]

30. It's done the same to me, too.

But they get over it ;)

[Captain Hilts]

26. Ugh! People wear perfume so rarely now....nt

[Haole Girl]

28. Really?

Not rarely enough, I'm afraid.

[Captain Hilts]

35. Yes. Sales have declined a lot in the past 20 years. Like liquor and CDs, most is sold

as a gift between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.

[rcrush]

29. ewww I hate old lady perfume

You can smell them from 500 feet away!

[kentauros]

31. LoL!

:rofl:

So true, though.

[Haole Girl]

33. Do you ever wonder where they buy it?

:shrug:

[Sheltiemama]

54. The Vermont Country Store catalog.

It offers a good number of perfumes from past decades.

[rcrush]

32. When you walk into the room say "It smells like the Avon Lady died in here!"

And then make puking noises.

[Haole Girl]

36. OMFG!

That would be so funny!!

Noooooooooo....

:rofl:

[NMDemDist2]

34. mention it to your pal in HR

if you don't have a pal in HR, make one.

[Haole Girl]

38. Don't really have an HR dept, like in a conventional office...

but I've told our Manager already. In fact, before she even came into our group. They assured me they'll "talk with her & tell her to tone it down." I hope it's soon. Very soon!

[rcrush]

37. Is it worse than Sex Panther?

http://www.sex-panther.com/

[Haole Girl]

39. Yes

:rofl:

[rcrush]

40. I failed 9th grade geometry cause of old lady perfurme

I wasnt great at math and had to stay after a lot for extra tutoring. But my math teacher fucking REAKED of old lady perfume that I just stopped going to tutoring all together and just got high instead.

[AsahinaKimi]

41. I wonder if her husband uses this?

[kentauros]

46. I remember the ads way back when...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtwh3nQP5Uo

:P

[NYC_SKP]

42. Thank your lucky stars. Women who wear that much perfume are hiding something.

Maybe if that concept went viral they would rethink it.

hmmmm.

I don't have your problem, but when I'm near a dude with too much cheap cologne I figure it's better than smelling his B.O.

Maybe she's got stinkfoot or worse.

eeeeewwwwwww.....

[GreenPartyVoter]

43. Pull her aside and say, "I have trouble with perfume. Yours is very lovely but while we are working

together could you please not wear it? I'm sorry. Thank you for understanding."

[Sheltiemama]

55. I like this approach.

I've encountered perfumes that I like but that make me sneeze.

[Capn Sunshine]

44. just hang really close to her

and you can skip showering for a few days, giving you valuable morning DU posting time

[proteus_lives]

45. I hate perfume and cologne.

:puke:

It bothers my sinuses.

[EndersDame]

48. My puppy came home from the Vet's reeking of the Tech's Perfume!

One of my cat took a long sniff and sneezed!

[theNotoriousP.I.G.]

50. I've had a similar experience

but it wasn't perfume it was interviewing inmates at the county jail in these little tiny holding cells and boy howdy some of those fuckers stank like hell. My co-worker and I would dab a little bit of a oil based musk under our noses to keep from hurling. It usually did the trick.

[marzipanni]

53. "How do you tell someone their perfume makes you ill?"

Some'yahoo answers' to that question-
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080403082352AAiA35F

[Beverly Prather]

57. get a promotion out of your current spot

use that to your advantage,,, tell the boss that she is making you ill...put it in writting..file a grievance......get a promotion out of the spot your in..ask to move to the spot you want to be in

[debbierlus]

59. I don't wear it often, when I do I spray it AWAY from self and just run my wrists

Through the mist...

Essential oils are nice and subtle. Few drops in a water spray bottle. Nice, light, very clean smelling. My favorite is orange and ylang ylang, but one drop of sandalwood mixed with orange will set a man on fire.

[Haole Girl]

61. This thread is still alive?

It lives... just like the smell.

lol

[Mopar151]

62. I used to work with an otherwise classy lady

Who you could trail by smell!