Should perfume be banned in public places?

[Andy Hamilton]

I am pretty sensitive to perfume, even some hand creams can set me off. Dry mouth, itchy eyes and a headache - not nice. When I go on public transport and someone gets on wearing perfume it can be tourture, especially on a long journey.

It has been banned in nowHalifax, Nova Scotia for 6 years now. Would a ban here work? Would it be considered a threat to our civil rights? - A smoking ban is due to take effect in the UK next summer is this not a similar issue? There are health risks that come with perfume too.

[Libby]

I voted no.
I rarely wear it, and agree that it can get up your nose, but I,m thinking if I can,t smell it on public transport, what will I have to smell?
Yuck

[Tigerhair]

Hey, they should stop making it! Waste of space if you ask me.

[glenniedragon]

I voted no, I used to work in Operating Theatres where everyone was dressed the same and the only thing that you could exert your individuality was the way you smelt! I don't think I over did it, but if perfume smells were banned I can think of many other smells that I would ban along with it-
morning-after beer breath,
cigerette breath,
dental caries,
Urine.........
kind thoughts
Deb

[Libby]

Speaking of cigarette breath,
I suppose I should mention that my vote may have been influenced by a slight sensitivity to bans at the moment.

[ina]

Much as I'd like to get away from all those strong smells, I don't think it would work. Unlike smoking, for example, you can't just pop out to have a sniff of perfume, and then pop into the "public place" again leaving the smell behind. And as to having a limit on how much to wear - again, that's impossible to judge. I don't mind a low level of perfume smell, but what's low to me, might be indiscernible by some, and headache inducing for others.

The best way forward would be an education campaign (not again! ), making people aware of how perfume affects others, healthrisks and all. And definitely make it an offence to "attack" somebody at the perfume counter without asking! And, even better, moving the perfume counters into the back corners of shops, kind of like a separate room for smokers, a separate room for perfume, with highly efficient ventilation.

[Muddypause]

I'm not really in favour of bans (with the odd exception). But I thought I'd make a male comment about this.

When I was about 14 or 15 I managed to blag a week off school by getting some work experience in a local car repair garage. I still have a vivid formative memory of adolescent discovery when a young woman brought in an MGB. She left the car for the day, and when she was gone I climbed in so that I could sit behind the wheel and make brum-brum noises. But I was completely inawed by the heady smell of her perfume, and ended up making phwaar!!!! noises instead. In my innocent mind, the owner of the car had just become the most attractive woman in the world. And MGBs moved up a few notches, too. I had suddenly discovered what perfume was all about.

I never did manage to find out what the perfume was - it had the sort of pungency of patchouli oil, and was dark, musky and mysterious; something like Opium (the scent, not the controlled drug).

But having said that, I like to think that my tastes have matured a little, and am now firmly of the opinion that, as in many things, less is more. Subtlety is important, and so too is context. If you can smell more than a suggestion of scent outside the bounds of the person's personal space, the effect is ruined. If you are two yards away from each other, it's best not to be able to tell if perfume is being worn - you don't need to know; if you are two feet away, it can be nice, though maybe unimportant; if you are two inches away it may be that the circumstances can be enhanced by it. But it should never be a mask.

I've never understood 'deodourants' (surely they should be called 'odourants' because they make you smell of something else). I am strongly of the opinion that there is nothing wrong with smelling of yourself. Sweat does not generally, of itself, have an offensive smell. A clean armpit needs no deodouring. I think the point of perfume has changed in recent years. It is no longer about subtly enhancing yourself, like discreet jewelry. We are sold this stuff because our insecurities are targetted - if we don't use them we might smell bad, and then people will avoid us. So we put lots on just to be on the safe side. Years ago we were sold simple soap for that - now that alone is not enough, and we can coat every part of our bodies with smells straight from the chemical plant.

Worse, I think, are the chemicals we add to the air in our homes. We could open a window for a while when things get stuffy, or buy some flowers if we want to add something. But instead, we can use any number of different ways - sprays, wicks, plug-in vapourisers, vacuum cleaner additives - to lower the quality of the air still further. I've even sat in a government office waiting room that had a box on the wall that would spray something into the air precisely every 15 minutes, so that we plebs couldn't offend the noses of the staff there.

[Wombat]

I suppose I agree with Ina, perfume doesn't affect me but I feel for those it does.

I think a touch of the right perfume on a woman can really add something to an occasion, so long as it is not overpowering.

For the record, Linda doesn't wear perfume.

Nev

[Millymollymandy]

I think perfume should be banned, but not eau-de-toilette! Some pure perfumes, such as Estee Lauder (my pet hate) are absolutely overwhelming. My grandad when he was living with us used to date a lady who wore horribly strong perfume and she'd stroke the dog, who then stank for hours afterwards! It was the kind of perfume when someone walks through a room, leaves that smell behind for hours. How can the wearer not notice?

[Shirley]

muddy - that's a lovely story!! There are ingredients in perfume that are supposed to do that - but our natural pheromones work better in my opinion.

I use a crystal deodorant and it seems to work.. for those days when I do want some natural scent - I use essential oils or a tisserand deodorant - standard deos have nasty ingredients.

Aaargh - chemicals in the home are nasty too - window is open here today because the cat got locked in the kitchen by mistake last night sans the litter tray bleuch again!!! More cleaning this morning!!

I have been known to switch off those dreadful offending electric spray things - they had them in a holiday cottage and I turned them off as soon as we got there and opened all the windows.

[wulf]

I wonder if the best option is not a ban (argghhh! - more legislation!) but just to take the opportunity to offer constructive criticism to the offenders, like "Blimey, you reek! Did you slip with the bottle?"

Wulf

[Muddypause]

I think perfume should be banned, but not eau-de-toilette!

Err... Wassat then? And 'cologne'? Doesn't it all fall under the general heading of 'perfume', or does that word imply a particular sort? (I realise this may be another typically male comment).

[Shirley]

perfume is generally the term used for the strong stuff - eau de parfum is more diluted, and eau de toilette is even more dilute... but STILL smells and causes irritation to me. Eau de cologne I 'think' is supposedly from Cologne.


found this on wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eau_de_toilette

snip

Concentration
Perfumes oils, or the "juice" of a perfume composition, are diluted with a suitable solvent to make the perfume more usable. This is done because undiluted oils contain volatile components that would be too concentrated for people with sensitive skin or allergies. Although dilutions of the perfume oil can be done using solvents such as jojoba, fractionated coconut oil, and wax, the most common solvents for perfume oil dilution is ethanol or a mixture of ethanol and water. The percent of perfume oil by volume in a perfume is listed as follows:

Perfume extract: 20%-40% aromatic compounds
Eau de parfum: 10-30% aromatic compounds
Eau de toilette: 5-20% aromatic compounds
Eau de cologne: 2-3% aromatic compounds
As the percentage of aromatic compounds decreases, the intensity and longevity of the scent decrease. It should be noted that different perfumeries or perfume houses assign different amounts of oils to each of their perfumes. As such, although the oil concentration of a perfume in eau de parfum dilution will necessarily be higher than the same perfume in eau de toilette form, the same trends may not necessarily apply to different perfume compositions much less across different perfume houses.
/snip

[ina]

To add my bit of German wisdom: There's a very famous German eau de Cologne (in German - "Kölnisch Wasser"), which has the imaginative name of 4711. The typical elderly ladies' smell... I think this might be the origin of the name.

And Shirlz - you should have locked the cat in the computer room - that way you would have got rid of the perfume smell!