Fragrance-Free Workplace?
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » EDS Lounge

free skin care · Thu Nov 24, 2005 10:22 am

My brother got a promotion at Cingular Wireless(used to be AT&T) and will be travelling to Vancouver a few times per year. He was told not to bring cologne because it is a fragrance-free workplace. Is this common? I wonder if it is just cologne & perfumes or entirely fragrance-free?

I haven't heard of this here in the states, but there probably is some.

-Cheri

free skin care · Thu Nov 24, 2005 11:56 am

Interesting. I am guess here...I think because Cingular Wireless do a lot of sales jobs and cologne and perfumes are of personal preference and taste so they don't want customers to be affected by the them in any negative way. For example, some people are allergic to certain fragrance or some people might just hate the fragrance the sales is wearing. I think a fragrance-free workplace is more common in jobs like sales and other service-oriented business. I don't think he needs to be completely fragrance-free, just not have any strong fragrance and no cologne.

free skin care · Thu Nov 24, 2005 1:42 pm

I've heard of it in a few places. Just means one or two of the staff are allergic to fragrance and have bad reactions...

free skin care · Thu Nov 24, 2005 5:47 pm

Have heard of this as well, which is ok if the scent is overly applied, but sometimes I think some instances of political correctness is going too overboard.

free skin care · Thu Nov 24, 2005 7:09 pm

I think it is becoming more common; as are nut-free workplaces. I am all for it. It sucks going to work and getting sick due to an allergic reation.

free skin care · Fri Nov 25, 2005 6:25 am

I personally wish this would be done in my office! I have asthma and so many people put far to much on!! I sometimes have to run for my ventolin...Also it worries me incase I have a full blown attack.. Sad

free skin care · Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:55 am

I do think this is a really good idea, I know several women who wear perfume that is far too strong and after a while it just gives you a headache, also strong smells and certain scents can trigger off migrains in people.

free skin care · Fri Nov 25, 2005 1:17 pm

the offices i know that do this is b/c one of the executives is the one having the reactions. Headaches are pretty common. I get migraines from CK Escape.

If it's bothering you tell the HR person...or politely tell the person whose scent bothers you that you're getting sick and could they put on less or try another fragrance.

It's usually ladies who put WAY too much on that bother me. My gym is now a scent free zone cuz some ladies there were bathing in it and then sweating on the machines and ewww...it wasn't pretty.

free skin care · Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:42 pm

I'm the only woman in my office, and no one ever complains about my perfume. If they did, I'd probably bring up their foul language, cigar smoking, and maybe even body odor. I still wouldn't want anyone to suffer because of my perfume though.

-Cheri

free skin care · Sat Nov 26, 2005 11:28 am

I wear perfume, but I'm generally in favour of such a policy because I sometimes feel ill from strong scents. I wish Mugler's Angel could be banned Neutral

free skin care · Mon Nov 28, 2005 2:56 am

how bizarre. Can we ban ugly/miserable people as well?

I would hate to think I couldn't have a spray of something in the morning, I do object to those who OD on it, the same as I'd object to B.O Confused

If it were causing migraines or something then that's fair enough.

free skin care · Tue Nov 29, 2005 6:15 am

I wish my agency would subscribe to the fragrance-free environment because I’m one of those people with a hyper-sensitive sense of smell so when someone has applied enough of some heavy, cloying perfume to float the Armada and I get stuck standing next to that person in line or on an elevator, it immediately triggers a blinding migraine which feels like someone is driving an ice-pick into my brain!

My sensitivity to smells is so bad that until the magazine industry got sued a couple of times until they finally stopped including 15 different perfume samples in a single issue of Vogue or Cosmo or whatever back in the mid-to-late 90s, I couldn’t even browse through an issue of a fashion or beauty magazine without instantly being struck with a headache so bad that all I wanted to do was curl up in to a fetal position and die!

For the record, the only sort of perfume fragrances I can tolerate are vanillas, musks and – believe it or not – Bare Escentuals signature “Escentual” scent....

Anyway, I say that if someone can smell your scent from 50 yards away and their eyes begin to water, you’re wearing too much perfume! People who wear a spritz of scent that can only be smelled if one nuzzles your neck or sniffs your wrist, that doesn’t bother me.

free skin care · Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:42 am

haha, yes I wear perfume everyday, but am so careful not to overdo it especially with the asthma. We have 1 lady who wears Clinique Aromatics by the bucket load, its such a strong fragrance that all I smell all day is this, even my lunch tastes of it! By the end of the day I feel sickly and headachy.

That is 1 perfume to go very easy on! Rolling Eyes

free skin care · Tue Nov 29, 2005 10:49 am

Gucci wrote:

We have 1 lady who wears Clinique Aromatics by the bucket load, its such a strong fragrance that all I smell all day is this, even my lunch tastes of it! By the end of the day I feel sickly and headachy.

That is 1 perfume to go very easy on! Rolling Eyes

Yes, it is heavy floral or heavy "oriental" scents that have my eyes rolling up into the back of my head and diving for my migraine pain meds!!

People should be taught that if their perfume/cologne/after-shave can be smelled by someone standing 2 feet away, then they are wearing way too much.

free skin care · Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:14 pm

I have mixed thoughts on this subject. I work in a very large company and boy some people take things to the extreme. On one hand people poor the smelly on and makes my eyes water and I sneeze all day. On the other hand, I guess it is better than smelling people that stink. I don't know what is worse, the smell of smoke or the smell of a person who went swimming in perfume.... Rolling Eyes

free skin care · Tue Dec 13, 2005 12:15 pm

I vote for banning perfume. I give myself four injections a week to help me deal with my allergies so let me tell you that people with heavy perfume do not help my allergies one bit.

Why not use a nice shower gel before going to work and save the perfume for the weekend? I spend more time with my co-workers than I do with anyone else so it is important for me to be in an environment that does not make me sick.

Just my thoughts.

Automatic Message

If this is your first visit to the EDS Forums please take the time to register. Registration is required for you to post on the forums. Registration will also give you the ability to track messages of interest, send private messages to other users, participate in Gift Certificates draws and enjoy automatic discounts for shopping at our online store. Registration is free and takes just a few seconds to complete.

Click Here to join our community.

If you are already a registered member on the forums, please login to gain full access to the site.