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Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

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#1

Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 1:13pm

How do I tell them without hurting their feelings? I've tried sneezing when they enter the room. I've tried rubbing my eyes. I've even held my nose but they doon't seem to get the message.
#2

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 1:14pm

If your company has a Human Resources Department, make the complaint to them and let them handle it.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#3

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 1:18pm

being an HR department head -- I was going to suggest the same thing -- not sure the structure of your company and your work space -- if it is traditional "cubes" then good HR professional can handle this easily without indicating who made the complaint...now if it is just you and this person sharing an enclosed office -- that's a little more difficult to keep you anonoymous....

I have had to handle these types of situations as well as other odors that are not of the cologne variety and they go fine almost everytime....
"Sir K, the Viscount of Uppity-shire...." -- kissmycookie

Updated On: 3/9/05 at 01:18 PM

#6

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 1:33pm

You can use my (patent pending) JailyardGuy's Surefire Method Of Making Sure Those Obnoxious Bitches Never Wear That Scent Again:

1:Bring a VERY large bottle of YOUR favorite scent to work. (Don't wear it, just bring the bottle)

2:When UberStench walks by...

3:Spray (nay, ATTACK) U.S. with your cologne until they fall in a writhing, eye-streaming heap on the ground...

4:Put your foot on their neck and say "NOW, heffa, how does it feel?"

Works every time. (I've tried it at every single job I've ever worked in, I should know! All 309 of them...)

*removes tongue from cheek*
Suzanne: I never use catalogs. I'd rather go in the store and see all the salespeople groveling and sucking up to you. Julia: Pardon me, I never knew they were so solicitous at the K-Mart.
#7

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 1:35pm

Hmm. I'm definitely a guy who likes cologne but I usually put on one squirt. And only on occasion. But I must say I prefer the thought of a subway ride drenched in Chanel over the rides that occur in the summer, when apparently half of Manhattan goes on a bathing and deodorant/anti-perspirant strike.
#8

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 1:40pm

People also forget that cheap (or just not well made) eau de perfume will break down into carboxylic acids. In short, vinegar and similar compounds (usually nitric breakdown products found in pee and sweat) The breakdown is speeded by sweating yourself, and increases in body temperature. In the end, you do yourself (and everyone else around you) no favors, because you end up smelling like pee or vinegar, especially in the summer.

If subtle persuasion fails, call the DKNYPD to arrest them...

#9

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 1:42pm

Try to get the person interested in scented talc powder.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#10

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 1:58pm

what colognes are good for men? i would wear one to work every day, but i don't know which ones are good. sometimes on the streets of NY, i pass a guy who smells HOT, but i don't stop him on the street to ask him what kind it is...maybe i should next time. what do you guys on BWW recommend?
#11

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 2:01pm

It all depends on what goes with your natural pheremones... Are you woodsy (no pun intended), spicy, citrus, or floral? That's why you need to try scents on your skin to really be able to tell...
#12

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 2:03pm

truthfully -- I prefer men without cologne.....but what smells good on one person will be awful on another -- it depends on your chemistry....
"Sir K, the Viscount of Uppity-shire...." -- kissmycookie
#13

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 2:04pm

That's a good question. I don't think I'm woodsy...but what are those others? I just want to smell as hot as i look. Maybe I just need to go and try out a couple of different kinds. See which one turns heads on the street...
#15

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 2:06pm

keep in mind colognes can be seasonal too... woodsy and spicy can work better in the fall/winter times, whereas floral and citrus work better in the spring/summer....
#21

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 4:13pm

it's not just the workplace......nothing worse than getting on a flight to Europe and having someone near you with BAD cologne.......some people feel the need to bathe in it.

When I worked in a "cube" environment, we had a woman who used NO cologne, and NO deodorant......and what we finally did was drop a note on her desk (this was a time before email) and suggest she bathe now and then.

She was livid, and demanded to know who put it there, we all played dumb...BUT........she started taking showers, SO....it worked.
It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story... AGATHA CHRISTIE, Life magazine, May 14, 1956
#22

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/9/05 at 7:24pm

I've always found that direct, almost honest, and polite approach works the best. "I have a sensitivity to many scents, no matter how lovely. It takes very little to give me a raging headache. I hate to ask, but..." Lets them save face more than if you say "You wear too much f*cking perfume and it smells like sh*t."...even though that may be the truth. I prefer to pick my battles, and perfume just doesn't seem worth it.

(For the record, I *do* have a problem with floral scents...It takes about two minutes in a room with someone wearing one to give me a queasy headache.)
Sueleen Gay: "Here you go, Bitch, now go make some fukcing lemonade." 10/28/10
#23

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/10/05 at 6:37am

Wouldn't it be better just to tell the person their cologne bothers you? Iflit suggests a nice way to say this without making the person feel bad. The Human Resource approach seems a little underhanded.
#24

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/10/05 at 2:07pm

I find co-workers fashion choices more upsetting than their perfume. I say perfume because I am one of only 2 males working with appx. 47 women.
"Y'all have a GRAND day now"
#25

re: Co-workers and their powerfully offensive perfumes

Posted: 3/10/05 at 3:04pm

What's underhanded about going to HR and asking for help??? If a co-worker cannot be as productive as he or she can because of another and is uncomfortable with addressing the issue, why shouldn't HR help out?

Maybe my team is different than other HR departments (and that’s a sad thought that there are companies that view HR as the “evil paper pushers”, but this is part of what we should do -- create a work environment that all can be comfortable and productive in. My first question is always "Did you address your concern with X directly?" If the associate says no and is uncomfortable doing so, then it's my job to help.

I see nothing underhanded in this at all….
"Sir K, the Viscount of Uppity-shire...." -- kissmycookie

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