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Thu Oct 26, 2006 9:15 am  |
Where do people get this stuff???
Yesterday on the commuter train, everything was fine until 3 stops before I got off, a girl sat next to me and suddenly enveloped me in a cloud of noxious vapor. Since I don't like to get up when the train is moving, I had to lean over next to the window where there is a draft of fresh air coming through a vent.
When I got off the train, I felt quite dizzy, but there was no place to sit down, so I stumbled on until I could reach the surface of the earth and some *refreshing* city air  . All day I felt a little ill and woozy.
Then today it happened again! This same girl with the deadly cloud around her. This time, in addition to leaning into the air vent, I covered my nose and mouth with my sweater.
Now I wear perfume (either something from France, or a mix of oils from Whole Foods) myself, so I know I am not having a bad reaction to scent per se.
Tomorrow I am sitting on the other end of the train. It makes a longer walk to my exit, but heck, breathing is worth it. 
Has anyone else had a reaction like this? You are not allergic to perfume as such, but you are exposed to someone wearing a scent so cheap and odious that it literally chokes the life out of you? |
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Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:19 pm |
Any type of strong foo-foo water (  ) gives me a headache. When I was in Eze, France several years back, we toured their famous perfume factory. Within five minutes, my head was pounding!
I would much rather smell like good, fresh, clean soap than flowers! |
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Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:46 pm |
Y'all are soooo spoiled. One of my clerks smells like a 2 week old coldcut sub! Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
I bought him a basket for Christmas with soap, shower gel, deoderant, scented candles, etc. Laughing..... If he wasn't so good at what he does, I'd try to transfer him to another office!
But, I DO know what you mean about what you so poetically called "toxic, asphyxiating perfume." Often, if it were used LIGHTLY, it probably wouldn't be so bad, but some people must literally douse themselves with the stuff. I know that sometimes, you don't pick up your own fragrance, but I do wonder why someone personally close to these people doesn't tell them (diplomatically, of course  ) to cool it. |
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Thu Oct 26, 2006 4:50 pm |
| There's this women at work-- I don't even have to see her to know she's there, I can just smell her. And usually she's not even close by. It's some awful stuff, probably classic Avon or something... yuck. |
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Thu Oct 26, 2006 5:04 pm |
OMG! I can relate - there was this girl at my old office that we used to call Pepe (as in Pepe Le Pew!) behind her back. Her perfume was enough to make you gag - ack!
I have to admit to being an offender myself, but only once (that I know of!). The guys in my office now are always telling me I smell nice and asking what perfume (Chanel Mademoiselle) I'm wearing so they can get some for their wife, girlfriend, daugther, whatever. But one time, one of the partners in a law firm where I worked let his (cheap-a$$) wife buy Christmas gifts for all the girls in the office. She chose Victoria Jackson's Vanilla perfume, which I'm sure she got at Big Lots or the Dollar Store! I wasn't wearing any fragrance that day, so when I opened the gift, I put some on. The rest of the girls glared at me and soon I figured out why ... the stuff was absolutely nauseating! Just nasty! Well, there was almost a mutiny - the rest of the girls went to my secretary and told her to do something about it! So, my secretary grabbed me by the arm and took me into the kitchen, got out the first aid kit which had pre-packaged alcohol pads in it, and MADE me try to wash the scent off by rubbing it down with alcohol!
But, I think I'd rather smell icky perfume than someone's really bad body odor or ... how shall I say ... evidence of their bad "hygiene"! We had a temp secretary working with us one day and all the girls kept complaining about her "smell." The office manager finally had to call the temp agency and ask them to call her and ask her to leave. The lady at the temp agency asked what the problem was, and one of the girls piped up in the background with "She reeks like the Newport Beach pier!" Ewwwww! |
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Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:06 pm |
| A lot of perfume gives me an incredible headache. So bad that I become nauseous and have to lie down. I'm really against "overperfuming." I don't like B.O., but at least it doesn't put me out for the rest of the day. Magazines are horrible about this nowadays. I have to take them outside and rip out the perfume ads before I can read them! |
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Thu Oct 26, 2006 7:29 pm |
Oh yes--I'm like Tosca. Certain strong fragrances give me headache-like feelings (hard to explain--it's not quite a real headache, but there's this "tightening" or constriction in my general sinus area and a bit of nausea).
I think the reason why people bathe in their horrible perfumes is that they a) have a poor sense of smell or b) have lost sensitivity to their fave fragrance (they can't really smell it on themselves as they've gotten so used to it being around. To compensate, they pile it on). |
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Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:54 am |
ya, a bloke that works with DH is a bit of a "brand" freak and SMOTHERS himself in Hermes fragrances every day - in summer when he was "on the nose" his solution was to slather on more perfume.  The guys used to gag and one actually FAINTED at his desk!! They all had a go at him, but he never changed.
I get headaches from most Estee Lauder fragrances and I also dont much like Hermes fragrances. Once someone sent me a "fake" 24Fauborg (or whatever it is) and I opened it not paying attentino and put some on my risk and almost died. I literally SCRUBBED my wrist but hours and hours later I could still smell the vile stuff. puke. It was like indelible. |
_________________
SKIN: combination, reactive to climate changes and extremely fair. "Women complain about premenstrual syndrome, but I think of it as the only time of the month that I can be myself." --Roseanne |
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Fri Oct 27, 2006 11:59 am |
Hey everyone, thanks for answering .
I did a *little* better today at the other end of the train. I got into a nearly empty car. However, at the next stop, someone just had to sit next to me even though there were probably 50 empty seats, and proceeded to jostle me and noisily shuffle her newspaper for the entire ride.
I think I need some of the off-putting perfume . |
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Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:51 pm |
One teacher at schoool wear very strong perfume - not cheap just one of those deadly strength ones.
I can't sit next to her at staff meetings or it gets up my nose and I can still smell it for hours after I get home.
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Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:22 pm |
My mom hates smelly stuff and has asthma, so I never wore perfume until I went away to college, I wasn't even allowed to paint my nails or take polish off in the house! I did anyway, I'd open the window in my room and leave the cotton balls in between the screen and the glass and shut it before she could smell it.
Whenever we'd go to the mall, we'd walk around the cosmetics or else she'd be really loud about the smell.
I think I love smelly stuff so much now because I was deprived. |
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Fri Oct 27, 2006 3:34 pm |
I've been in so many companies where HR has had to distribute leaflets on 'perfume use'.
Me, I love tropical and light scents like Issey Miyake but never wear perfume to work.
My mom loves stuff like Opium. If we are riding in the same car she is banned from using anything. I literally have to hang my head out the window or I end up really car sick.
I don't think my sense of smell is really that great but I have a definite like/dislike for scents. I once used some drugstore hair "refresher", I think it was lilac-scented? Anyway, after an hour at work I started getting so nauseous. I actually tried washing some of my hair in the company showers!
In the end I left really early, shampooed and felt better immediately. |
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Fri Oct 27, 2006 5:17 pm |
| Poor you, Rjez! Opium is one of my worst trigger scents. I actually wear perfume too, but I like the light scents like you. I've never smelled Issey Miyake. I might have to try it. |
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Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:12 pm |
| I know what you girls are talking about. I think it should be worn with the idea of getting just subtle hint of the perfume. If you can smell it and it is too strong then you have too much on. I wear Vera Wang Princess and love it. Do any of you like it? |
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Mon Oct 30, 2006 8:34 pm |
tosca - have you tried Tommy Girl? That's nice too. I know, I'm really "behind" the times on perfumes. I just don't wear enough to go through stuff and I usually find a new scent by smelling someone else and asking.
Another scent I like is by Fresh. Remember when that was the rage a few years ago? The one I have is Currant Marine or something like that. Anyway, the Fresh scents are more like citrus or outdoorsy rather than perfumes.
Lovelyme - I totally agree. Personally, I don't wear perfume to work BECAUSE my sense of smell is not great. I just know that if I can smell it - it's gotta be strong. And if it's light and I can't smell it ... what's the point? I haven't smelled Vera Wang's Princess but I read a review and I'm sure I'd like it ...now I want to go smell it!
What else do you guys like? |
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Tue Oct 31, 2006 12:38 am |
| Rjez, I've never tried tried Tommy Girl. I need to check it out. Right now, I'm using Armani Mania, but I can't say I love it. I have gotten a lot of compliments on it, though. I really like the new CK scent One Summer, but I haven't worn it, so it may turn funky on me. I also think I like Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker. It's slightly outside my norm. I rubbed a magazine sample on my arm, and it smelled good. I wish I could find one that smelled like Paves shampoo. |
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Tue Oct 31, 2006 3:13 pm |
Tosca, you could probably mix up your own blend that will get you close to the scent of Paves shampoo.
I found the ingredients for the shampoo, and the essential oils in it are:
Lavender
Geranium
Lemon
Orange
Clementine (citrus)
I thought the clementine EO might be hard to find, but I easily found a site that sells it.
Just add these to a carrier oil, and dab it on.
I've been mixing my own scents lately from oils from Whole Foods (the EOs already mixed in a carrier oil). A couple of days ago someone stopped me in the hall to ask what perfume I was wearing. That was a blend of rose, jasmine and Egyptian musk. My favorite is a blend of sandalwood and vanilla musk, but no one has stopped me to ask about that one . |
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Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:51 pm |
| Oh, thanks, MAC8! I didn't get you anything! I will definitely have to try that. |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 7:25 am |
I’m right there with you when it comes to perfume headaches – like I don’t spend half my life laid up with a migraine in the first place, I need to also worry about getting trapped in a confined place with someone who took a bath in one’s perfume/aftershave.
My motto is: if I can SMELL you before I can SEE you, then you’re wearing too bloody damn much fragrance. I mean, I think I’d rather smell someone with B.O. rather than be overpowered by some cloying perfume!
I’ve griped about this subject before when someone started a thread about “fragrance-free workplaces” or something a while back but to me, it’s no different than non-smokers bitching about second-hand smoke (yeah, I’m a smoker – at least until January 1st, 2007 when they increase the state sales-tax $1.00 per pack in TX...) being hazardous to their health (for the record, I think cigarette smoke stinks to high heaven too and therefore only do it outside in open/circulating air because I wouldn’t want to be trapped next to someone in a restaurant or bar toking up either).
Someone wearing too much perfume is just as dangerous to MY health because when someone wearing it comes within 50-feet of me, I am completely and instantly stricken with a blinding migraine – sometimes to the point where my blood pressure sky-rockets as a result and I get a intense nosebleed, which I call “blowing a gasket” (my neurologist says its my body’s way of relieving the intense pressure in my brain as pain intensifies from the vasio dilation of the blood vessels so that I don’t “stroke out”).
Besides that, it’s just bloody inconsiderate to force everyone to smell your perfume! I mean, wasn’t the whole point of annointing one’s body with scent was to entice someone of the opposite sex to lean in closer to get a better whiff of it? It was supposed to be a coy, come-hither invitation to come closer, not fell every human and insect within a 50-foot radius upon inhalation!
I actually nearly killed MYSELF this weekend with a perfume migraine...I was working on Lucia’s Silk Dust CP request, where she asked for Jasmine-scented powder, but we were afraid straight Jasmine would be too overpowering as the only note in the Silk Dust so I was using scent diffuser strips to test which of the “complimentary” EOs would work best to mix with and diffuse the headiness of the pure Jasmine oil (turns out Jasmine+Cinnamon or Jasmine+Vanilla were the best mixtures – who figures?!) and by the time I was finished, I was completely incapcitated, flat on my back on the floor. I actually had to call my mother to come over and empty the trashcan outside to dispose of the used scent strips because I was too ill to do it myself! The lesson learned here is that the next time Dr. CareKate decides to experiment with fragrance blends, she’ll take her laboratory and her happy ass outside to do it!  |
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Über-oily,semi-sensitive, warm/fair-skinned redhead, 38...Will swap/shop for members outside U.S. and/or make homemade skincare products upon demand-PM me for details. |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:12 am |
P.S. I love the perfume oils at Whole Foods, too! Personally, I’m addicted to the one called “Vanilla Musk” form the company called Nemat International – so much so to the point that I’ve actually ordered vats of it wholesale directly from the importer!!
As I said, I’m extremely susceptible to perfume migraines and the only scents that don’t “set me off” are vanilla-based fragrances and – believe it or not – BE’s signature “Escentual” perfume, which is actually a blend of 150 different EOs and absolutes! I think I have bought just about every single different variation of vanilla fragrance oil under the sun but my fave still remains the Nemat Int’l Vanilla Musk – none of the other “vanilla musk” scents I have tried quite have the same scent as that one. 
Expanding upon the suggestion from Mac8 about custom-blending one’s own signature scent: in addition to mixing the EOs with a carrier oil, you can also add a bit of beeswax or other wax/butters to create your own perfume solids or you can mix the EOs with perfumer’s alcohol or cheap vodka (!!!) to create an actual EdP. Below, you’ll find some recipe suggestions for both.
Also, I got this idea from Candy8865 as she sells what she calls “Fragrance Rollers” on herwww.candessence.com website, but it’s a fabulous idea so I don’t think she’ll mind if I share it (I hope!): when you mix your fragrance/EOs with a carrier oil, put them into one of those glass roller-ball tubes (like the Maybelline “Kissing Potion” lipglosses were packaged in back in the day) for easy application. Here are a couple of websites from which you can order them cheap: http://www.bestbottles.com/items.php?group=glass and http://www.wellnaturally.com/bottles/rollerball.html I have shopped with both websites and have not had any bad experiences with them.
Recipe for solid perfume, courtesy of Mabsy who got it from some other website (this was actually one of the very first DIY efforts I ever undertook!) and which I have embellished upon
What you need:
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Note: it’s difficult to judge exactly how much of each ingredient you’ll need because it depends upon the amount of perfume solid you wish to make and whether or not you want a softer or harder consistency but you can follow the guidelines below to help you judge:
• 40% of your mixture should be any cosmetic grade oil that is liquid at room temperature (i.e.: jojoba, sweet almond, avocado, grapeseed, olive, macadamia nut, etc.);
• 25% of your mixture should be any cosmetic grade oil that is solid at room temperature (i.e.: coconut, cocoa butter, mango butter, shea butter, etc.);
• 20% of your mixture should be any cosmetic grade wax (i.e.: beeswax, candelilla wax, carnuba wax, emulsifying wax, etc.) – may adjust as necessary if you prefer a harder or softer perfume solid;
• 20% of your mixture should consist of the actual fragrance/essential oils that you have chosen for your blend.
The above measurements are “weights” to assist you in calculating your own recipe using your own system of measurement (i.e.: ounces, grams, pounds, etc.).
What you do:
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Melt all of the carrier oils | waxes | solid oils/butters over low heat, i.e.: microwave in glass/plastic container at low heat for 10 second intervals until all ingredients are melted together into liquid.
Allow the mixture to cool slightly (may place container in freezer for a minute or two to “flash freeze” contents) then add fragrance/essential oils and stir until all ingredients are thoroughly blended and then transfer into small jars or containers (i.e.: lip balm pots or metal tins which can be ordered from Well Naturally at the link posted above).
The easiest way to transfer the solid perfume mixture into the containers is to purchase those inexpensive, “pointy” paper drink cups (like those on the outside of a water-cooler). Pour mixture into one of these cups and then cut off the point at the bottom and use it as a funnel, then toss out the used cup when you are finished!
And, finally, since Mac8 loves her homemade sandalwood/vanilla musk fragrance, she might get a kick out this one....
Recipe for “Love Tonic” (homemade pheromone fragrance, purported to be an aphrodisiac that will increase feelings of love), courtesy of Pioneer Thinking website
What you need:
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• small glass bottle or jar (preferably tinted or opaque to maintain efficacy of EOs);
• 3 drops sandalwood essential/fragrance oil;
• 2 drops vanilla essential/fragrance oil;
• 3 drops cedarwood essential/fragrance oil;
• 15 drops Bergamot essential/fragrance oil (optional – inclusion of this EO will impart a lighter note to the blend);
• ½ pint (300 ml) of 70% isopropyl alcohol or cheap vodka
What you do:
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Pour the alcohol/vodka into bottle or jar and then add the oils and shake well. Leave fragrances to “marry” in jar for at least one week until oils are emulsified with the alcohol, shaking bottle to remix.
Go easy on this stuff, a little goes a long way and you can always make more!
Note: you can follow the same basic recipe to create other homemade colognes, just substitute the desired fragrance/EOs with the ones listed above.
Happy fragrance-making, y’all! |
_________________
Über-oily,semi-sensitive, warm/fair-skinned redhead, 38...Will swap/shop for members outside U.S. and/or make homemade skincare products upon demand-PM me for details. |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:22 am |
'strong perfume at the workplace'
hey - what about people who wear strong perfume hiking or to the beach? those people crack me up. |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 10:31 am |
| Wow carekate, you've made me feel a whole lot better!! I used to think that I was the only person who got socked with blinding migraines from strong perfumes. Actually, it seems to be getting worse as I get older. When I was younger there were one or two perfumes that I could get away with wearing, but now literally anything except baby perfume puts me out of commission for a few days with a terrible headache. And the irony is, I LOVE perfume. What a cruel world! |
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27, sensitive/reactive/acne prone skin, dark brown hair, blue eyes, possibly the palest woman alive... |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 11:21 am |
Oh my carekate, thanks so much.
I have some airspray from Trader Joe's that has bergamot in it, plus I have the rest of the essential oils you listed for the Love Potion, so I'm going to see if I can't make an improved airspray tonight. Then I might spray it on myself also .
I'm sorry you and manslayerliz have such negative consequences from perfume . I'm 99.9999% fine with it, except for whatever that one girl on the train was wearing.
I also noticed that the jasmine is pretty strong. I first mixed jasmine & rose because I was trying to make "Rich Hippy" without spending $180 . Then I kept adding more and more rose, but that still wasn't doing it. That's when I dumped in the Egyptian musk (I'm a "dumper" and not a precise measurer ), and it worked miraculously to tone down the jasmine. It really is fun to combine the various oils to see what the results are. One can hardly go wrong, since they all smell so good to start with. |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 1:22 pm |
CareKate, your reaction to perfume-induced migraines ("blowing a gasket" - oh my!) scares me for you! I suffer from hormone-induced migraines every month, but they are nothing like what you've described - yours sound frightening!
Have you considered getting an air filter mask (kind of like a gas mask) to use when you're playing mad scientist in your beauty lab? It would probably be useful for you when mixing up powders and fragranced things. Just a thought. |
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Wed Nov 01, 2006 3:29 pm |
Thank you Carrie!! I am going to have to try this. I have none of the ingredients, so I guess I'll have to round them up. If anyone's doing these for sale, pm me, and I'll gladly pay you to do the work!
I'm sorry you have such a horrible reaction! People don't seem to realize what they do to those around them when they bathe in fragrances. I agree that perfume is supposed to be subtle and sexy. I don't understand the whole concept of making every room you enter reek. Bleah!!  |
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