I was discussing fragrances with some friends recently, and someone mentioned being "trapped" in an office cubicle next to someone wearing noxious perfume. This lit off a spate of complaints from everyone about their least favorite scent, and in almost every case it involved a scenario where they were in an enclosed space (usually at work) with someone wearing it.
When you work in an office with other people, you're essentially cooped up for about 8 hours with a limited air supply. Under these circumstances, you want to smell like nothing at all, or like something very subtle and universally pleasant. Even things that may smell nice at the first whiff or two can get really annoying by the 4th, 6th or 8th hour.
Perfumes that you love to wear socially, drifting in and out of parties, on a date, shopping with friends, running errands with family, or even to the theater can be too much for the office. (In a theater you're only next to someone for an hour or two at a time, and the ventilation is usually better!)
Some people have reactions to fragrances that you wouldn't expect. Strong, distinctive odors like patchouli or carnation can be offensive in the wrong circumstances, but there are some subtler fragrance ingredients that give people problems. A few days ago, was wearing a subtle, high-quality floral scent that I don't normally wear, and my husband got a splitting headache. He usually loves the perfumes I wear (with rare exceptions) and I was really surprised that this one caused a reaction. It was days before I could get him to smell anything without having a headache. I can imagine him stuck in a cubicle next to someone wearing this scent. Egad.
So, here's my list of tips for cubicle dwellers. Your fellows will thank you!
- Practice impeccable personal hygiene if you work in an office.
- Use unscented or subtly scented shampoo, hair products and other toiletries.
- Go to www.westofparisboutique.com, and enter the word "office" in the search window on the upper left for fragrances that are subtle and nearly universally pleasant and therefore recommended for office use.
- Even with these, be very careful to use a light touch.
- DO NOT REAPPLY at your desk! (Especially with sprays.) Even if there's no one around at the moment and you think no one will notice, your office mates will notice a cloud of scent when they return.
- This is one circumstance when EDTs (the lightest form of scent) are much preferable to EDPs or perfumes.
