Opinions Wanted...What Is The Appropriate Amount Of Cologne/Perfume?

[The Great Escape]

I've always gone by the strategic area theory. Very, very small dabs at the back of my neck, mid-chest, both wrists and both thighs. I've never gotten complaints that it was too strong or bothered anyone. I typically only wear cologne when I go out for special occasions. Should a person never wear cologne/perfume out of respect to others allergies? Personally, I've only ever had one persons perfume (a lady at work) ever give me any problems. I don't wear cologne to work or to sporting events, etc. Just wondering what other DU'ers do in regards to this.

[LynneSin]

1. For work: ABSOLUTELY NONE!!!

But even I use Perfume from time to time (I love Prescriptive's Flirt and Calyx). I do the spray/walk method where I spray it into the air and then walk through it. Just enough to and some scent without making some poor soul's allergies go through the roof!!

[sniffa]

4. can i suggest you wear more of it

you're kinda ripe most days. :P

[LynneSin]

8. I thought you loved me

:cry:

[jonnyblitz]

19. perfume doesn't mask "ripe" it just mingles with it to make it worse.

[LynneSin]

32. Nothing is worse than a smoker who uses perfume to mask the smoke

:puke:

[Taverner]

2. Do you work in Sales or IT?

If Sales, then a bottle a day should suffice.

If IT, then don't use any, and for that matter shower monthly.

(FTR...I work in Sales and have worked in IT...)

[Love Bug]

6. Lol

Reminds me of a sales guy we used to have a work. I swear he left a vapor trail...

[sui generis]

10. makes you want to see what happens if you light a match!

:evilgrin:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

12. I'm in sales and apply scent strategically

BUT I did work with one VERY ripe IT guy once. :puke: It became an HR issue, so they gave him his own office instad of a cube. Do you believe it?

[MindPilot]

3. none

soap and water seem to work very well.

[Historic NY]

5. A little dab will do ya.....hate overpowering smells they make me sneeze.

I always ask my brother if he took a shower in cologne.

[sui generis]

7. a proper amount of fragrance -

should be just barely enough for someone in your closest personal space to faintly catch.

Fragrances are personal - for you and yours, not for the world.

One hard fast rule: NEVER wear fragrance to the gym, that means Tiffany or the concentrated smoke of an entire carton of Marlboro reds.

I wouldn't worry about allergies - if someone has them they're going to get out of your way anyway or should be treating them. If I had a problem like allergies I would be treating the allergies instead of trying to de-allergen the world - you know, the mountain vs. mohommad thing.

Rule of thumb: too much of a good thing is too much.

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Zero. There's absolutely no need for it, and it's pure environmental waste

anyway, and not good stewardship to support the perfume industry.

But, if a person abso-fucking-lutely feels that she/he has to wear the shit, the very smallest dab possible is sufficient.

Perfume/Cologne should be smelled only by the one person in your life who is emotionally closest to you, and only when they are tightly snuggled with you.

Anything is offensive to a lot of people.

People think that parking in a handicapped stall when they are not handicapped is wrong - when people learn that floating around the earth wearing shit that makes people with allergies stop breathing is wrong?

[jpgray]

14. A small amount can really stimulate your senses though

Especially if it's a small enough amount that it mixes with the person's natural body chemistry and becomes a unique scent, rather than something which resembles the overpowering reek of the counter at JC Penny's. It's not necessary and it is wasteful, but it can be enjoyable.

[flvegan]

11. I find something dead in the street and roll in it.

Therefore, I have no real "method" so to speak.

Dogs love me cuz I'm crazy sniffable.

[CornField]

13. On the hair

Scent clings to the hair and sticks around much longer. Since I'm kinda granola, I use a wooden comb with essential oils (patchouli is my favorite).

[Technowitch]

15. None

Or, at the very most, an extremely minimal amount.

I'm married to someone with extreme chemical/perfume sensitivities. Being in the presence of someone wearing a scent, especially anything incorporating musk, can bring on severe respiratory distress for her.

If you're going to wear cologne, just go with a tiny dab under each ear. That should be plenty. Anything more is overkill.

Funny thing is, perfume these days really does seem to be passe. And I've never come across someone and thought to myself, "What a lovely cologne/perfume he/she is wearing!" My usual reaction is more like, "Gawd, did they literally have to bathe in that shit?"

In other words, I no longer have any sort of positive reaction to smelling someone's perfume. At best, it's neutral; more often, I don't like it.

But that's just me.

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. I applaud your post and agree wholeheartedly

I, too, have never thought "Gosh, what a nice scent that is." Either I smell nothing, or I think "That smells like shit" or, as you said, "Did you have to bathe in that shit?"

[jpgray]

21. It's strange, 99 out of 100 times I've thought the same thing

But if you ever do come across a scent you really love on someone, it is extremely enjoyable.

[Missy Vixen]

17. The best and least problem-producing areas to apply

scent are the backs of the knees and the crook of the elbow. In other words, you'll smell nice to those who are close, but the allergy-producing byproduct won't happen unless one bathes in the stuff. I learned this tip from a former Estee Lauder rep; it's stood me well over the years.

I tried the "spray, delay and walk away" thing. It just doesn't work for me.

Julie

[The Great Escape]

20. Thanks....

I've known some folks that their cologne/perfume, arrives a few minutes before they do. The elbow, knee placement makes alot of sense.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

18. I've found as a rule...

the cheaper the perfume, the less of it one should wear. The exception being most Estee Lauder perfumes which are horribly strong and cloying and can cause migraines.

[sui generis]

23. can also be used to strip paint and poison the water supply

:evilgrin:

subtlety with fragrance is best. You don't want to BE your fragrance anymore than you want to BE your hair or your shoes. It's the whole package that matters.

[Missy Vixen]

33. LOL!

>The exception being most Estee Lauder perfumes which are horribly strong and cloying and can cause migraines.<

I used to wear White Linen years and years ago. It was fairly innocuous. I can't wear perfume or scent at all during the spring, summer and fall due to a beesting allergy, but when I do, I've "graduated" to much more expensive and subtle scents...well, that is, when I'm not wearing plain ol' lavender from Caswell-Massey.

Julie

[bertha katzenengel]

22. "Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?"

Used to have a lapel pin bearing this sentiment.

IMO just enough for you to smell yourself.

[Technowitch]

26. The "enough to smell yourself" is usually a bad idea

People become desensitized to their own smells rather quickly -- and think they need to add more.

Also, tobacco smokers have diminished capacity for smell -- and also tend to wear too much perfume.

[bertha katzenengel]

29. Hmm. Guess I'd better do a smell check, then.

:shrug:

[BigMcLargehuge]

24. just enough to knock seagulls off the dumpster behind the Circle K

[ET Awful]

25. None, I just spray myself with Febreeze on the way out the door

:)

[bleedingheart]

27. A friend of mine called it a "Whore bath" when someone wore

too much cologne...he applied the term to men or women equally...

So everytime I smell someone coming down the lane...I think of it and laugh....

I wear none most of the time and on rare special times I wear just a bit...

[The Great Escape]

28. There Is A Small Town Not Far From Where I Live...

Keystone, WV. It was infamous for prostitution back in the Coal boom of the early 1900's. When a local uses the expression, "you smell like three days in Keystone." It means you are wearing too much perfume.

[bleedingheart]

38. Sounds like old Monessen, PA

When guys start yapping that they are lonely and in need of some female company...people would say "Take $2 and go to Monessen"...hahahaha

[tjwmason]

30. None

This stuff was devised for times when people would bathe once every 6 months.

I used to have a manager who appeared to slip with her perfume bottle every morning. She would walk past, and I would spend ten minutes grasping at my throat trying to breath whilst it burned my larynx.

On a side note, I was once at a talk on the various symbols used in church. The Priest was talking about incense and the various symbolisms which have been applied to it, a member of the congregation raised his hand and said "isn't the real reason that round the mediteranean it's hot, and people back then didn't wash; so they used incense because people smelled?" - ironically he is pretty accurate.

[Technowitch]

31. Oh -- and the multiple sclerosis connection

I wanted to add one thing more. Most perfumes and colognes in current use, especially the expensive ones, incorporate some amount of musk.

Musk, unfortunately, is a known neurotoxin, and has been statistically linked to increased risk for developing multiple sclerosis and other neurological ailments.

Here's a with some good information and background material.

I mentioned elsewhere in this thread about my chemically-sensitive wife (same-sex partner). I used to wear perfume. I don't anymore -- and frankly, I don't miss it one bit.

I wash with Ivory soap and use "Nature's Gate" all-natural shampoo and conditioner. And not long ago, I had a good friend comment, after we'd hugged, "I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I love the way you smell. It's always so clean and fresh."

[Speck Tater]

34. I knew a lady once, and I swear this is true,...

who sprayed herself all over, head to toe, with pine-scented room air freshener whenever she came back in to the office from a smoke break to hide the fact that she'd been smoking.

[Spider Jerusalem]

35. If you can smell it yourself, you're wearing too much. (n/t)

[truthbetold]

36. My technique.

I do one spray on my neck and one spray on my wrist and then rub my wrists together.

[leftofthedial]

37. enough to gag an entire restaurant full of people

and to melt eyeballs in an elevator

apparently






both thighs, eh? . . .
:evilgrin: