Anybody Else Allergic to Perfume? Does it Make You Sick?

[leftyladyfrommo]

I wish I could find some really light stuff that just kind of gives a little whiff of something that smells really good.

Can't even do that - it all makes me sick. And if I am around someone else who wears anything I just have to leave.

Especially Este Lauder. That stuff is all so strong.

[datasuspect]

1. yep

pig pheromones are extraordinarily unsexy.

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. HUH? Pig what?

Am I way behind the times again?

[datasuspect]

4. pheromones are like sex attractants

humans have them too.

most perfumes have pig pheromones in them.

[NewWaveChick1981]

3. My sister is.

:hug: She has a terrible time with most perfumes. However, she likes the one I wear and doesn't sneeze around it. It's light and subtle. :)

[Mutley]

5. It doesn't make me sick

It just makes me sneeze.

[bif]

6. The inserts in magazines

Make my nose plug up. I can barely read Vanity Fair these days.

[AirmensMom]

35. You can request fragrance-free magazines.

They leave the inserts out and mail the magazines in plastic. :hi:

[yellowdogintexas]

7. Oh yes, I opened a fall sale book from Macy's yesterday and

even through the bad cold I was irritated by those fumey cards.

I RUN from the spray ladies too.

I used to love JeReviens by Worth ..the only scent I ever found that did not irritate my respiratory system. I haven't seen it in years.

[musette_sf]

22. re JeReviens

http://www.fragrancenet.com/f/net/wf_items.html?cat=01293&cur_letter=j&gender=W&mv_pc=ZgoogleUnassigned8

still available

[yellowdogintexas]

44. thanks, I will check that out!!! nt

[querelle]

8. No. Not Allergic

But I don't like it when people buy it by the barrel and wear it all at once. Fragrance is supposed to be subtle. BTW, I stopped wearing it ages ago. It's forbidden at my office due to the fact that so many people have environmental allergies and some of my friends as well.

Q

[In_The_Wind]

9. I'm not allergic to it but my nose doesn't like most of 'em.

Especially if it smells like somebody has taken a bath in it! :grr:

[leftyladyfrommo]

10. Yea, that is pretty rude. It is so annoying to so many people.

Men and women should just wear a little so that you can smeel it if you get really close.

Unless you are me and I can't wear any at all - and can't stand it on other people, either.

[bumblebee1]

50. Speaking of taking a bath in it.

My husband and I went out for dinner. There was a woman sitting behind him that smelled like she took a bath in perfume. He paid the bill and walked outside. When he got up to pay, the perfume smell hit me. Unfortunately, when he's around perfume, his sinuses close up. My late mother-in-law was also the same way around heavy perfume. I usually wear light colognes or body sprays. In my job, we're not allowed to wear perfume or cologne. The smell interferes with clothing inspections. You can't tell the difference if the smell is you, a co-worker or the cloth.

[1gobluedem]

11. Not perfume itself, but perfumed detergents, etc., yes

In fact, I think the red welts that have suddenly broken out on my arms signify that I'm allerge to Bounce with Febreze which I bought on a whim instead of the unscented ones I usually buy.

I can't stand any heavy perfume or cologne especially patchouli oil. It gives me a horrible headache.

[Katina]

19. my daughter was allergic to those dryer sheets

as a little kid. The doctor told me to stop using them, and not to use any fabric softener and only wash the clothes in a low sudsing dertergent like Tide. Once I did that, she had no more problems.

I like a light perfume used sparingly, like spritz it in the air and walk under the mist. There is nothing more over-bearing than overly perfumed or cologned people. It makes me choke. :thumbsdown:

[China_cat]

12. Yeah, I have severe breathing problems

and being around just about anything scented ends up with me being on oxygen. I can't go out anymore to nice restaurants or to movies or other places where there will be a crowd because I know there will be at least 3 people wearing enough perfume/scent of some kind to land me in bed for a week.

I really get tired of having to go to Home Depot if I want to get out and be able to breathe when I get home.

[leftyladyfrommo]

13. And other people aren't very sympathetic.

That's what i've found - they could care less. So if you have problems you are just kind of on your own.

[China_cat]

14. Exactly.

[ChickMagic]

15. I can't stand to be around it

When I absolutely, positively have to wear something, I use "Sweet Honesty"
by Avon. It seems strong at first, but diminishes very quickly. It's the only
one that doesn't make me gag.

[LostinVA]

16. YES -- I've been told it's made from toxins

A magazine was on my desk yesterday, and I started feeling very, very sick -- lightheaded, sick, scratchy throat -- I realized it was from perfume samples in the magazine. People with perfume standing near me also make me feel this way.

Ugh.

[AirmensMom]

26. That's exactly right.

"Fragrance" is a proprietary ingredient, so the companies don't have to reveal what chemicals they are using ... and they certainly don't have to tell the consumer. Any product with "fragrance" listed as an ingredient (perfume, shampoo, laundry products, etc.) contains a chemical soup of questionable ingredients. I've also read that not only are many of the chemicals toxic, but no one has ever studied the effects of mixing them together.

:scared:

[LostinVA]

31. Yup, that's exactly what I had a "consumer chemist" tell me....

[AirmensMom]

32. Maybe someday

the rest of the country will wake up and stop supporting the fragrance industry. One can hope.

Did the "consumer chemist" say anything about dryer sheets? I've read that the chemicals in them are especially toxic when heated! :wtf: :scared: I know how sick they make me ... What's suprising is how anyone can use them.

[LostinVA]

33. He used to work for a large corporation making stuff like that

I'll give you a hint what he thinks: everything he can buy "fragrance free," he does.

He teaches now.

[AirmensMom]

34. Anyone who has doubts

should listen to him, then! :yourock:



It's good to know I'm not alone. :pals:

[u4ic]

49. You know you're not alone, sweetie

Especially on this issue...:hug: :loveya: :hi:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

17. I am hyper sensitive to scents...

be it perfume, incense, strong flowers like Oriental lilies, or smoke of any kind. I have terrible nasal allergies and my nose just go NUTS when I have strong scents around. :(

There are some scents that I can handle. You may laugh, but something I use for a "scent" is cooking vanilla! The smell doesn't bother me at all and everyone else seems to like it. :) I think smelling vaguely like cookies or baking is attractive. I just use a drop or to on my wrist.

[leftyladyfrommo]

36. Yes - there are some spices that don't seem to bother me

like cinnamon and allspice - and those smeel good to other people.

[YankeyMCC]

18. Not allergic but very sensitive

it seems like the majority of people I encounter wear way to much perfume or cologne.

He's a particularly (and to me vexing) example. Hiking along the Franconia ridge at about 4000FT on a cold and VERY Windy day and a woman walks by me and she's wearing so much perfume even in the high wind the stench nearly knocks me over as she passes me at about 3 feet away.

And I mean the stench of perfume not body order.

[musette_sf]

20. I love perfume but anything by Estee Lauder

makes me ill and always has. i get stuffed up and slightly nauseous.

that being said, my current faves are Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker (light, a bit musky, quite pleasant) and L'Interdit by Givenchy (was created for Audrey Hepburn).

the mineral makeup company Aromaleigh makes natural scents that are actually quite nice. they are all a bit foody for me (I do not like foody scents) but foody scents are the rage these days.

on edit: re magazine scent strips - they smell nothing like the actual product applied to the wrist. no similarity whatsoever. they just make the magazine smell bad. i think the person who could "select" a scent from a magazine scent strip is smell-impaired to begin with.

[Pool Hall Ace]

21. I stopped wearing scents to work

because of co-workers with severe chemical sensitivities. Some people think they are just being melodramatic, but the sensitivity is very real.

Anyway, I don't think anyone should be able to smell me unless they are practically on top of me.

[AirmensMom]

27. Thank you, Pool Hall Ace!!!!!

I had to go out on disability with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities because my co-workers thought it was funny to wear MORE fragrance when I asked them to wear less. The longer I worked in that environment, the sicker I got. It is a very real illness. I'm glad you're sensitive to your co-workers. I was told by my HR department that they have a right to wear the stuff ... which apparently superseded my right to breathe clean air.

:hug: :yourock:

[Madrone]

42. There's a lady where I work that's suffering the same fate.

She's complained and complained - and all the bimbos she works with (we are in different departments, different parts of the building) now HATE HER because she dared speak up. She's tried to be nice about it - but it doesn't work. And they wear tons more perfume just because - or so it seems. One of my bosses/friends refers to the high stench of perfume when someone walks by as an air slick - and that's as apt a description as I've ever heard. It doesn't bother ME - but I have a lot of sympathy for those it does bother.

All the company did for the woman I mentioned above was disallow the high maintenance women in her department from burning scented candles (WTF do you need to burn candles in your office for, anyway??) and buy her a ionizer air cleaner to keep by her desk.

Not only is she miserable because of the gallons of perfume wafting in the air, she has the pleasure of being hated and undermined by the women she works with every day.

[catmandu57]

23. The knock off versions bother me

The copies of expensive perfume that they sell in gallon jugs so that people can pour it on, that stuff tears my head up.
I never noticed it until the late eighties when they started this "if you like____then you'll love_____" I could smell that crap from across a room women splashed it on so freely, it gives me a sick headache.
I use scent free shaving gel and don't use any kind of after shave or cologne.

[KurtNYC]

24. Estee Lauder - White Linen

instant headache

[Katina]

25. Estee Lauder Youth Dew

takes my breath away, it's scent is suffocating...and my MIL LOVES it! :puke:

[RazzleCat]

28. I use lotion

I find that any perfume is too strong, but I can by a scented lotion, mix it with some unscented lotion (too many times the lotion is too strong on its own) and then apply. I end up with a nice light scent that you are not going to smell till your hugging me.

[Katina]

29. may I hug you?

:hug:

[AirmensMom]

30. Not allergic, but still sick.

It's called Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS). It might be accurate to call it chemical poisoning, considering the nasty stuff they put in fragrance these days and what it does to people who have this illness.

I can't stand to be around anything containing artificial fragrance -- perfumes, shampoos, laundry products, etc. Most people don't understand and accuse me of faking the whole thing. But some ... like Joani and MissHC! :applause: ... make a special effort so I can visit with them without getting sick.

There are more and more products out there made from natural botanicals that you might be able to tolerate. I like www.bathpetals.com and am able to tolerate their products well.

[seemunkee]

37. Try Cool Water by Davidoff

I don't care for strong scents and neither does my wife but she likes this stuff and it is not overpowering.

[zanne]

38. I don't like having to smell it all the time.

The thing I hate about wearing a scent is that I can't smell anything else all day!

[seemunkee]

39. She doesn't wear it often

She smells good enough to me without it.

[zanne]

41. Awwwwwwwwwww.

You should tell her that.

[Divameow77]

40. I find that

if I lightly spray perfume on my pressure points before putting my clothes you can't really smell is unless you are very, very close.
I think a big mistake a lot of people make is spraying it on their clothes.

I woould take the smell of perfume any day over body odor ;-)

[Gidney N Cloyd]

43. I react very badly to many fragrances. People don't understand it's a

CHEMICAL issue. It's not about whether it's a nice scent or a disagreeable scent. It's not even necessarily about how strong the scent is. I've nearly coughed up a lung from being exposed to some very pleasant smelling perfumes. I get hives and mood swings, too.

What I don't understand is why people will believe that chemicals in medicines can make you feel better but not that chemicals in other things like perfumes can make someone feel worse. They just think we're being whiney. Unfortunately there're several large industries out there working to maintain that misperception.

[AirmensMom]

55. Well said, Gidney!

:applause: :yourock:

[youthere]

45. I like perfume but I cannot stand it when women (or men)

wear it too heavily. You spritz it in the air and walk through the mist-you do NOT douse your clothing with it. There is no fragrance in the world that smells good when you have marinated in it. I've always been told that if you can smell your own perfume, you have too much on.

[TrogL]

46. Makes my throat lock up, can't breathe

It seems to be mostly the "floral" stuff.

[barb162]

47. It doesn't bother me, but I know some people who are

really sickened by it.

Try Shalimar or the age old classic Chanel No. 5

[Polly Hennessey]

48. Smells Great

I love perfume. Wear it all the time. Today I am wearing Baby Powder by Burberry. Just use the perfumes/colognes lightly, it is meant to be subtle. I am, however, worried about all you poor dears who are so allergic to smells ---- how do you exist -- do you stay indoors all the time in sanitized houses? What happens when you are in a room full of people, all those nasty, musty people smells and outside all those icky exhaust smells. What about natural smells: grass, flowers, trees, skunks, birds, mint, basil, on and on and on. One of life's great gifts is being able to smell, smell, smell all the great stuff -- natural and artificial. Please don't be mean to me, I just enjoy all of life.

[AirmensMom]

56. Yes.

I stay home a lot and can't work any longer. You have no idea how limiting it is. And I love pretty smells. Fortunately, natural smells don't bother me at all. It's those chemical fragrances that are nasty and harmful. Enjoying life shouldn't mean poisoning someone else's environment.

One of life's other great gifts is to be able to breathe.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

58. We 'poor dears' aren't allergic to SMELLS! Did you even

glance at my earlier post? It's about 5 up, #43.

[blonndee]

51. Weird, Estee Lauder stuff seems to generate

allergic reactions. My dad will VOMIT over White Linen, and even I, who have no serious allergies, have become ill over Estee Lauder's Pleasures.

My mom wears lots of different perfumes, and one always makes me ill: Dolce and Gabana. BLECH! Something about that fragrance makes ME sick and want to puke, makes my eyes and nose burn like some kind of toxin.

I hardly wear anything for fear of offending. The only thing I wear is jasmine oil from the health food shop.

[gkdmaths]

52. I work (live)

in a "fragrance free" facility - all I ever get to smell is rank B.O.

I wish I just coulndt smell. That's all.

No perfume, no armpit, no rotten feet or ass. Just let me whiff the rockrose a little in the summer.

[SeattleGirl]

53. I'm not, but I can't wear any around my mom.

She has some respiratory problems, so I never ever wear perfume around her.

[fortyfeetunder]

54. No more perfume for me for over 10 yrs,

It happened the day I wore something, and within a couple of minutes I had a throbbing headache. Packed all my perfumes and sent back to a dear relative.

Meanwhile, I've settled for aromatherapy. I only use a limited palette of essential oils as perfumes, if I use them at all.

[femmocrat]

57. Oh gawd, yes.... it gives me a migraine.

Why can't people be more considerate? I can't stand walking through department stores!!!

[meow2u3]

59. Colognes like Tag and Axe inflame my nose

I really can't take it when some guy bathes in cologne. My nose starts to swell, I can't breathe, and I must.leave.the.room.now!!!

[NC_Nurse]

60. Gives me a headache.