Home » Fashion »  Scents & Sensibilities »  Scents & Sensitivities When you wear a heavy perfume, you feel good and think you smell fragrant. But there is more to perfume than good scents. It does affect the senses adversely. As soon as you walk past some people around you, they feel your perfume has given them a headache! Such people are allergic to scents and perfumes.

Perfume has been around since days immemorial! Cleopatra always used exotic scents. The Indian queens basked in the aroma of sandalwood, musk and flowers. But all these perfumes were extracted from natural sources. The popular ingredient consisted of the resin of fragrant plants.

Today, all perfumes are made of chemically synthesised compounds. Inexpensive petroleum based synthetics and other neurotoxins are the main ingredients. And these tend to affect the sensitivities of people. It is a fact that there are millions of people who are allergic to the chemicals used in bottling fragrance.

It's called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). Whoever wears perfume is a potential hazard. The victims are at the mercy of co-workers and complete strangers; this odoriferous condition is perfume's equivalent of passive smoking.

How can perfume affect one adversely?

Your nose could begin to itch and start to run.

The more common effect is a headache. Sometimes the pain is so intense that you need to get away from that place.

Your throat could itch and could go sore.

Perfume could affect the skin too. An allergic rash could turn into hives.

If you are very sensitive, perfume could trigger a full-fledged asthmatic attack. One out of every five asthma patient is allergic to perfume.

It is commonly believed that co-workers allergic to a particular perfume may not be able to work effectively in the office. Several others are extremely sensitive to the chemicals in perfume. Hence the questions arise-Should there be local laws prohibiting wearing of perfume in public offices? Could restaurant patrons request seating in fragrance-free zones?

Yes-many people feel very strongly about this. The next time you reach out for your favourite bottle, just stop to think a little. Let your companion not feel, "I'm allergic to this girl and her smells!"