I'm so over your perfume!

23 Mar

I can’t breathe.

I can’t BREATHE.

I CAN’T BREATHE!

Is there anyone between the ages of 14 and 72 that still thinks perfume fragrance is attractive? Please tell me you don’t.

What’s wrong with perfume (other than the fact that you are seriously forcing me to consider living in a bubble?)

Contrary to what you might think, your perfume does not come from flowers, nor does it come from the sweet juices of whatever citrus fruit it is supposed to smell like. It’s made with chemicals. Toxic, polluting chemicals…most of which are likely contributing to your headache, depression, asthma, allergies, rash, sinus pressure, or sore throat.

I’m clear that I suffer from multiple chemical sensitivity, but don’t think you’re in the clear just because you don’t get an obvious reaction to your fragrance. WAKE UP. Ever heard of ethanol? Formaldehyde? Acetone?  Yup. In your perfume.

Would you spray formaldehyde into the air and walk through it? I didn’t think so. So stop polluting my personal space. Get rid of it.

TIPS: ”Unscented” often means masking agents. High quality essential oils or flower extracts.

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7 Responses to “I'm so over your perfume!”

  1. Deborah March 23, 2010 at 3:58 pm #

    I do! I love my Marc Jacobs perfume. What can I say? My path to total wellness is a slow one, and there are certain things I can give up more easily than others.

    That said, I’d prefer not to poison anyone, and I am always open to solutions and healthy alternatives. Instead of restocking my Marc Jacobs, I may look into other resources like the following:
    http://www.natural-living-for-women.com/organic-perfume.html

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply
  2. rachel calveric March 23, 2010 at 5:05 pm #

    Finally a post that I can actually fully 100% back you on! yay! We are really starting to see eye-to-eye. I hate hate hate perfume. It gives me an instant headache and I can taste it.

    I hired a nanny and couldn’t even sit in the car with her. i had to let her go. THEN I just found a very sweet college student as a babysitter and she wears so much I can barely breathe. Can I say to her that I hate it???

    Reply
  3. thewellnessbitch March 23, 2010 at 10:58 pm #

    Rachel: We told our babysitter up front about our sensitivities and our need for her to respect them. I think it’s a fair thing to say to someone kindly, “I’m allergic to perfume, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t wear it when you work here.” It’s not In-Your-Face Wellness Bitch-style, but ok.

    Don’t forget the parfum fragrance in shampoos, deodorant, body lotion, after shave, etc. If you are bothered by the perfume, it’s likely other fragranced products are causing you trouble, too.

    Reply
  4. Alison March 23, 2010 at 11:01 pm #

    I’m curious.. do you notice a big difference between (mildly-applied) perfume and essential oils? I find essential oils very strong as well (actually sometimes stronger than perfume or “body spray”), although I do like certain scents. I don’t wear perfume anymore, and hate overdone perfume, but I must say I do like a bit of a scent as long as it is not too musky or like sandalwood. I don’t really like “men smell” (especially mixed with BO) so a bit of cologne does it for me.

    Reply

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