The dictionary defines perfume as: A fragrant liquid typically made from essential oils extracted from flowers and spice, used to impart a pleasant smell to one's body or clothing. I define perfume as: A method for desperate people to draw attention to themselves, regardless of how it affects those around them.
I, like so many others, are allergic to said perfumes. Some worse off than others. Using myself as an example, I used to only get a little congested. Experience some difficulty in breathing, but how it [perfume] has affected me in the last couple of years, is actually quite frightening, sometimes. I would estimate that about 90% of my encounters in recent years has affected me in such a negative manner. I experience pains in my chest when I try to breathe. Shallow breaths is all I can muster in many encounters, not to mention the excruciating migraine that sets in. Just a few weeks ago, when we were experiencing above normal temperatures and people were dressing down, I began to sense the a new brash of people wearing the offending odours that they find so "pretty". It took me out of a day and a half of work while I was trying to rid myself of the headache.
Though the word perfume is defined as the extraction of scents from one source to create another, the word itself has evolved into the description of the smelly scents worn exclusively by women, while the term cologne has been imparted to the fragrances worn by men. The actual terminology, as described on Wikipedia, is 'eau de parfum' for the ladies and 'eau de toilet' (instead of 'eau de cologne') for men.
In the beginning it was just extracts from flowers, spices and solvents to achieve the desired fragrances that would eventually be sold to the public. In the decades and centuries since those albeit primitive practices were used, the process has gotten much more complicated and if I were to speculate, much deadlier, as where oils and extracts were diluted with much simpler ingredients, today's manufacturers are using a laundry list of chemicals which may be a contributor toward why so many are affected negatively.
"Just a dab will do" is the practice. While I am quite allergic to perfumes, I never had a bad reaction to cologne and would wear it on occasion, myself. I have a nice respectable collection of pleasing smells to which I can apply to myself. However, in recent years, as my allergy to perfumes has worsened, so too, has my reaction to the colognes worn by men. The only difference being that men tend to understand how much a "dab" is, while some women seem to shower themselves in the potent perfumes. I tend not to wear anything more than the deodorant I spray on in the morning.
My opinions on the subject are jaded, I will admit, because of my negative health reactions to the dope, but I believe that when people douse themselves with the fragrances, it's just a cry for attention, whether they do it on purpose or subliminally, they just want the attention of people approaching them to ask "What's that lovely smell you're wearing?" I think it's just pathetic.
"My mom wears perfume." a friend told me, when we were discussing my negative reaction to perfume and I get that. We all want to look and feel our best when we go out into the world, but how much attention do we want to attract? The world is already full of predators looking for any excuse to pounce on someone, why add to the danger?
My mom and sister traveled to Las Vegas many years ago. Sigfried and Roy were still performing and the public could take a tour to see all the beautiful white tigers and lions that the duo used in their show. My sister told me that the tigers seemed agitated when she and my mom came around. I asked if she was wearing any perfume at the time, to which she replied yes. It was the perfume that caught the attention of these stoic creatures and if there wasn't a thick set of bars separating the two, I'm sure the news articles would have read that one of Sigfried and Roy's tigers attacked a tourist rather than Roy, himself.
I don't know where I'm going with this and I apologize. I wanted to write a puff piece ridiculing the idiots who continue to splash this shit all over themselves, but as I read through some of this "research" on the subject, I'm coming to believe that it's more of a global brainwashing scheme. As stated previously, by the end of this decade, the fragrance industry stands to gain nearly seventy billion dollars in revenue.
I shudder to speculate how my future is going to pan out if everyone keeps buying and wearing this shit. The chemicals are getting stronger. The concoctions, themselves, are getting more complicated and every encounter gets scarier and more scarier for myself and those affected around me.
Every door entering a public space or doctor's office or just about everywhere, my bus included, has a placard reading something to the effect that it's a Fragrance Free Zone and that perfume/cologne cannot be worn inside. As far as I know, that rule is enforced everywhere except on the bus. So regardless of people's safety, idiots wearing fragrances can come aboard and risk everyone's safety. There was a day, last summer, where the smell was SO strong that I had to pull over and exit the bus for about ten minutes. I managed to narrow down the culprit who was quite apologetic for causing the situation we were in and the distress that I was feeling at the time. However, I doubt she ever considered anyone else's well-being after that. I find most young folks, from teens to their twenties, to be selfish and arrogant. I get that. I'm that way, too, to a degree, but I possess just enough compassion to consider those around me.
It's 2024 and theoretically, either the aliens will reveal themselves to Earth and we'll have a whole new set of problems to deal with or Donald Trump will be re-elected and the whole world will have a whole new set of problems to deal with. Whatever happens, it's not going to be pleasant, whatever it is, but we'll all smell like roses. 🌹
