To not understand why some people wear such heavy scents?

[clingclangclong]

Before MIL leaves the house to get a pint of milk and the daily mail (cringe) she showers with a branded, highly scented body wash, then applies the same scented accompanying body cream ALL OVER her body, then spritzes herself liberally all over with the accompanying perfume.

After this she puts on full make up (primer, foundation, powder, blush, eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara, lip liner and lipstick.) I have found that when make up, especially foundation and lipstick, is applied heavily, it has a strong smell too.

You can smell her upstairs with doors closed before you can see her, before she enters any room, and if you get in a car with her you have to hope you do not already have a queasy stomach or are prone to migraines. The DC and the pets smell of her after she has been around them, and I have to wash all bed linen, towels etc after she leaves because it is just covered with smell.

I have known other people similar, but not quite as bad as MIL. Is it a generational thing? Or am I just being a sensitive little sausage? And surely if you have laid on a scent that heavily you can smell yourself?

Would you not wash the bedlinen and towels after any guest?
So your mil enjoys products to make herself look/feel better in her opinion,you do not. Neither of you are wrong but your listing of the makeup seems a bit odd.

My perfumed pet hates are the older ladies who breaststroke with their coiffed dry hair in a fug of perfume. Not good when you're coming up for air in a brisk front crawl.

Also the teenagers who mark their territory with their Lynx and girly equivalents when they enter my classroom which already has eugh de greasy adolescents. I'd rather open the windows and door to flush the stagnant air through rather than add more layers of stench.

Many people who slather it on have a poor sense of smell especially as they age or smokers. Someone I knew who had a lovely but strong perfume had lost her sense of smell during an illness and stuck with her perfume that she knew smelt pleasant as insurance.

Maybe she likes it?

I'm really not a fan of perfume and don't wear it in the daytime at all.

I love a nice clean scent - a nice smelling shampoo/conditioner on your hair and nice clean clothes that smell faintly of washing conditioner - that's much nicer IMO than perfume.

My MIL carrier bags smell of her perfume. The Easter eggs were passed onto us (as shes not speaking to me at the moment) and the bag smells so defo not her.

Not a problem if you're not one of the people it triggers headaches in, if you are it is horrible. I'd rather smell BO or cigarettes than strong perfumes for that reason, they might be unpleasant but they don't make me ill as the likes of Poison do.

Scents smell different to different people.
DS1's friend's Mum uses so much fabric conditioner I have to open all the windows when he leaves. However I find I stop smelling my own perfume after a while so I think you just get used to it.

I believe that as you age, your sense of smell deteriorates, so what smells like a subtle spritz to you is sensory overload to others!

I don't like overly perfumed smells either op. I used to work in a hospital so the smell of old English rose air freshener makes me want to puke! There's a guy who does some work for our office sometimes, I swear I can smell him from the next room... Talk about overdoing it...

I think it sounds like she tries to take care of her appearance, which is lovely. She'd probably be really upset if she knew that you washed things she's used to get rid of the smell. I don't think either of you are in the wrong, you're just of different opinion. I personally like the smell of perfume but perhaps I'm one of those people that make other people wince by smelling of perfume and make up myself

I don't mind a waft as I walk past people, but being stuck on a plane or in a theatre with strong perfume wearers is a nightmare for me, so pick your occasions and it's ok.

All my older relatives do this. I once got into a car with my gran, aunt and mother and recoiled at the heady atmosphere. hideous!

FIL visits us every Sunday. Dd is in the bath when he arrives, I can smell his aftershave upstairs, through two closed doors. I know he is here. He has a sneaky fag on his way over then hides the smell with the aftershave. If he was younger I'm sure MIL would think he's having an affair, seeing the OW on a Sunday evening. It's never as strong as a Sunday evening. The lovely smell of dds shampoo mixes with the aftershave, I feel ill on a Sunday evening, I can taste it.
It's now Wednesday morning and I can still smell it, the sun is shining on the seat he was sitting on and it's worse. I have leather sofas thank goodness but the smell lingers.
House is back to normal by Thursday, then he visits Sunday evening. Repeat.
I think it's Old Spice he uses.

This is one of my biggest pet hates. Sometimes people merely walk past in the street and their scent sticks in my nostrils for a good half an hour afterwards. I hate strong fabric conditioner on clothes too, the really OTT floral ones. Definitely gives me an almighty headache being around someone that's piled it on. It's not just women either, I've been on dates with men where the one thing that's put me off is their strong aftershave and it's been an utter deal breaker . So I feel ya. You can smell my mum for an hour or two after she's left, if she hugs you it sticks on your clothes till you've washed them.

Having said all of this I kissed a man on New Year's Eve and the dress I wore STILL smells of him even though it's been washed and four months have passed . I text him to tell him after I'd washed it and he said its million by Paco Rabanne. It smells lovely so I don't mind but jeez, how overpowering is that to stick for MONTHS on WASHED clothing as well.

Also second lush giving me a headache. I order their stuff online for this very reason

Back in the day there were two v.v.v.strong perfumes. Poison was one, can't remember the other. However I boarded a long haul flight on which I was a frequent flier,sat in my pre-booked window seat which had just one seat next to it. A girl sat there, drenched in one of those. I had rising panic as I tried to breathe through my mouth and not smell it. Eventually, tho, I went up to the cabin crew and said I just couldn't take it anymore and please, please could they reseat me somewhere. Actually I begged, near to tears at this time. But sardine section was full, as was business class. So they transferred me to 1st, where I drank champagne all the way to my destination.

A lady I know has her small bungalow full of those air 'freshener' sprays in every room puffing their obnoxious gas at you at every turn. Her tiny second bedroom becomes littered with Xmas presents for her large family and one year I offered to bring a pile home and wrap them for her, so came back with all the clothes, etc.for the Grands + a carrier of rolls of wrapping paper. She'd been collecting them since the January sales and all were heavily pregnated with the stink of the poundland freshener she used, including the wrapping paper, as did my house . Couldn't take it anymore, claimed it triggered my asthma (partly true) and returned the lot for someone else to do. Best will in the world but that smell got everywhere in my place and it took ages of all windows and doors open for it to dissipate.

Yanbu I hate walking through the perfume/aftershave "slick" that some folk leave in their wake.

YANBU! I had an asthma attack in Tesco last night due to this very reason. This particular person could have very well dipped herself in a vat of perfume before leaving the house with how strongly it smelled.

Poison, Obsession, Georgio Beverly Hills and Rive Gauche are my most hated. Agree about some air fresheners too, the village hall where I do a pilates class installed an industrial sized squirter with a sort of cherry fragrance which gave me a headache every week till it was removed again (after several of us complained).

I love a strong perfume smell! I don't normally wear any myself but like it on other people.

Because they like it. That's literally it. There is nothing to analyse.

Any perfume is far better than BO from armpits or the smel l of cheese feet from one of our customers - I asure you op the footman makes me want to retch, it's more than grim

Disagree with whoever said foundation doesn't smell.

All make up smells. You might not be able to smell it but that doesn't mean it has no smell.

This is just a post to bitch about your MIL.

You can smell her make up???? Don't be such a sensitive little... I can't actually bear to say it.

Momamum - it was probably Georgio Beverly Hills. I love perfumes, I must have at least 12 of them (mostly by Guerlain), my favourite is Mitsouko.

Giorgio Beverly Hills. God, remember that? My college room mate used to reek of it... 20 years ago, that was! And I still remember the smell.