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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Perfume in the office

206 replies

Aninabertsi · 13/06/2025 11:01

Why???!! Why do people think I would want to smell them from 30 feet away!? Or have the same taste as them? If you must use perfume, why not just use a small amount so only if I stand directly next to you I can smell it not all the way across the office (open plan office at that)...I can't think or concentrate on what I'm doing because all I can think off is this effing smell. Sorry for the rant but I think it should be banned

OP posts:
Dangermoo · 13/06/2025 17:03

Idontjetwashthefucker · 13/06/2025 16:58

Don't mind it, but I do mind when you get on a plane and person sitting next to you smells like they've sprayed copious amounts of every perfume in duty free. I've asked to be moved on planes for this reason

😂🙄

Confusedbylifeingeneral · 13/06/2025 17:04

Not sure if it is an allergy or not but it gives a headache and brain fog. Just selfish.

KimberleyClark · 13/06/2025 17:07

I agree OP. Get a body lotion in your fragrance for the office, much more subtle effect.

Ponderingwindow · 13/06/2025 17:08

It’s really surprising how many people think that without added fragrance they will smell.

if you need perfume or fragranced products to smell acceptable, then you have poor hygiene.

Dangermoo · 13/06/2025 17:11

Ponderingwindow · 13/06/2025 17:08

It’s really surprising how many people think that without added fragrance they will smell.

if you need perfume or fragranced products to smell acceptable, then you have poor hygiene.

Or maybe they just want to smell feminine or masculine. Fancy that.

Gettingbysomehow · 13/06/2025 17:12

It's as bad as microwaved fish in my opinion.

EBearhug · 13/06/2025 17:22

Travellingpants · 13/06/2025 13:29

Because you have a choice with cafes. You have no choice about sitting in work for 8 hours.

No choice if you work in a cafe.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 13/06/2025 17:25

DoodlesMam · 13/06/2025 14:54

I don't think those of us who suffer would mind a subtle spritz of some fresh nice day wear eau de toilette like a cologne (for example how about ck1 or Chanel Chance).

But going to work in an office in a full 'on the pull' musky evening perfume is horrible and antisocial. I'm neuro, migrained and asthmatic and it's just a health hazard .

To give people the benefit of the doubt perfumes can smell different to different people. I can't bear CK1, it's fine on other people but if I wear it it makes me feel sick. I'll stick to a couple of sprays of my Gucci Jasmine.

I remember being told on here that my 2 sprays of perfume is far too much and pretty much the same as bathing in it!

Aninabertsi · 13/06/2025 17:26

EBearhug · 13/06/2025 17:22

No choice if you work in a cafe.

That's would be your work place then wouldn't it?

OP posts:
EBearhug · 13/06/2025 17:27

Aninabertsi · 13/06/2025 17:26

That's would be your work place then wouldn't it?

Yes, that's my point - it's only customers who have a choice. Those for whom it's their workplace don't.

KeineBedeutung · 13/06/2025 17:28

hairbearbunches · 13/06/2025 11:41

I've never really understood why people would willingly smother themselves in that much chemical. If those same people were told to douse themselves in actual chemicals, that they knew to be chemicals, they would be up in arms and likely refuse to do it.

Dior Poison was bad enough back in the day. Now it seems every damn perfume uses that scent as its benchmark to smell stronger. Gross.

Perfume IS actual chemicals.
Water is a chemical.
Oxygen is a chemical.
Humans comprise entirely chemicals.
The whole world is made of chemicals.

KimberleyClark · 13/06/2025 17:30

KeineBedeutung · 13/06/2025 17:28

Perfume IS actual chemicals.
Water is a chemical.
Oxygen is a chemical.
Humans comprise entirely chemicals.
The whole world is made of chemicals.

You knew what she meant.

KeineBedeutung · 13/06/2025 17:32

twelfthdoctor · 13/06/2025 12:20

I work at Lush and am always worried I'm reeking up public transport on my way home and that people will think it's intentional and obnoxious... I'm completely nosebleed to it but after an eight hour shift the smell clings to you so strongly. Always get strangers asking what scent I'm wearing, but once overheard a woman near me ask her partner 'what that awful migraine inducing stench was' 😭 sat near them discussing it for it for several stops before they got off, hopefully not because of me!

Edited

I used to smell of the chemistry lab some days when I was a student - some days it was pear drops, other days it was 💩 like. Honestly, I'd be glad you sat beside me and cancelled me out. 😉

Xmasbaby11 · 13/06/2025 17:35

I love strong perfume and aftershave. I can think of numerous bad smells I’ve endured at work (mostly BO, bad breath and microwaved fish) but never over strong perfume. Do others notice it or do you think you’re very sensitive? It’s a tricky one, I don’t think you can really police perfume unless it’s exacerbating asthma etc not just a smell you personally dislike.

JaninaDuszejko · 13/06/2025 17:46

KimberleyClark · 13/06/2025 17:30

You knew what she meant.

I have a PhD in biochemistry and I really don't know what people mean beyond 'I don't know what that word means and therefore I think it's bad'. As I said above there's nothing that makes something 'natural' benign or something 'artificial' bad. In fact, the most harmful substances all come from natural sources (and one of those is regularly injected into people's faces for vanity).

Ponderingwindow · 13/06/2025 17:56

JaninaDuszejko · 13/06/2025 17:46

I have a PhD in biochemistry and I really don't know what people mean beyond 'I don't know what that word means and therefore I think it's bad'. As I said above there's nothing that makes something 'natural' benign or something 'artificial' bad. In fact, the most harmful substances all come from natural sources (and one of those is regularly injected into people's faces for vanity).

It’s pretty difficult to have an online conversation where we start discussing the individual chemical components of various perfumes and personal care products. People say chemicals instead of typing out Benzyl acetate or camphor, but those of us with allergies typically know which ingredients or classes of ingredients are causing our reactions.

HerNeighbourTotoro · 13/06/2025 17:58

hairbearbunches · 13/06/2025 11:41

I've never really understood why people would willingly smother themselves in that much chemical. If those same people were told to douse themselves in actual chemicals, that they knew to be chemicals, they would be up in arms and likely refuse to do it.

Dior Poison was bad enough back in the day. Now it seems every damn perfume uses that scent as its benchmark to smell stronger. Gross.

What the... are you on about with chemicals?
This level of misinformation is criminal.

HerNeighbourTotoro · 13/06/2025 18:00

KimberleyClark · 13/06/2025 17:30

You knew what she meant.

Keine is right.
Arsenic is a natural ingredient, it is however not safe to ingest. People are idiots and sadly bite crap like 'perfume are chemicals' and repeat it like mantra feeling very smart.

HerNeighbourTotoro · 13/06/2025 18:05

Aninabertsi · 13/06/2025 14:07

I think a lot of people take it very personally on here :) did it hit the nerve? I was never talking about people using a little bit of perfume. what I am saying is, if someone can smell you across the office, that is too much and should hopefully be clear to people BUT it evidently isn't...

What if... let's say you have a really annoying voice- why should you coworkers have to hear it?
Or if they just dont like your personality, why should they suffer being around you. It's just one of those things.

I think overusing perfume is not cool in closed spaces. You are right, you dont have a choice and may not like someone else's choice of scent of the day. But Id be more pissed off with bullies and a lot of other things before perfume. It's true that projection is very important to many people and many want to create an impression, the modern perfume are full of aromachemicals allowing perfume to last longer and project more. But it's also Western culture to be all 'me me me'. You dont see it in workplaces in many Eastern countries as much.

I also dont like companies policing it and introducing bans- I know it's rife in the US and Im happy UK is not following suit.

TheTecknician · 13/06/2025 18:25

One young lady I used to work with often smelled of coconut and vanilla. It wasn't unpleasant but definitely unmissable. I politely enquired and she readily explained it was the Surf laundry liquid her mum used! Conversely, another woman in our department daily reeked of sweat from the off in the morning, i.e. 5 a.m. How she managed that I'll never know. She was repeatedly told to improve by female management but nothing changed. I don't work there any more but I expect she still stinks. The Surf aroma was much more preferable!

HonoriaBulstrode · 13/06/2025 18:34

What if... let's say you have a really annoying voice- why should you coworkers have to hear it?

Well if you can be heard over the other side of the office/restaurant/railwaycarriage, then you should keep it down a bit, regardless of whether your voice is annoying or you have the golden tones of Joey Maynard. Only the person you are actually having a conversation with wants to hear you.

KeineBedeutung · 13/06/2025 18:36

KimberleyClark · 13/06/2025 17:30

You knew what she meant.

I know she used the term chemical incorrectly. 🫣

KeineBedeutung · 13/06/2025 18:37

JaninaDuszejko · 13/06/2025 17:46

I have a PhD in biochemistry and I really don't know what people mean beyond 'I don't know what that word means and therefore I think it's bad'. As I said above there's nothing that makes something 'natural' benign or something 'artificial' bad. In fact, the most harmful substances all come from natural sources (and one of those is regularly injected into people's faces for vanity).

Also have a degree and PhD in Biochemistry. 👍

KeineBedeutung · 13/06/2025 18:39

Ponderingwindow · 13/06/2025 17:56

It’s pretty difficult to have an online conversation where we start discussing the individual chemical components of various perfumes and personal care products. People say chemicals instead of typing out Benzyl acetate or camphor, but those of us with allergies typically know which ingredients or classes of ingredients are causing our reactions.

The word 'chemicals' is pretty meaningless without adding which type, or at least which group, of chemicals. So many people wrongly think chemical=bad or dangerous, but everything is made of chemical(s). 😬

LaMarschallin · 13/06/2025 18:40

HonoriaBulstrode

regardless of whether your voice is annoying or you have the golden tones of Joey Maynard.

What if your Kenwigses make other people's eyeballs hurt?
Or if you're Mary-Lou and should just be killed?