Just here to commisserate and help the others who don't realize we exist that we do. Every time in my life I've had to lodge a complaint to an HR department, teacher, or whoever controls some indoor space to tell the other occupants that their scents can be quite irritating to others, I've felt terrible about it, like I'm deficient as a human and missing out on something others take great joy in.
But oh well. It does happen. I don't know what it is. It's not all scents, and sometimes it is things that don't have much of a scent at all. But I will never use any perfume, any product with scent added, and aerosolized anything at all is always a minefield. Even letting my wife clean can be hazardous, because whereas I am always careful to hold the spray bottle close to the surface, she'll shoot it into broad air, where it gets into my sinuses and gives me a massive headache for the next two hours.
I can't identify what it is that does it, but I can at least enumerate:
* Any and every perfume I have ever encountered, regardless of the specific scent.
* Any and every essential oil I have ever encountered.
* Any aerosol.
* Pump-sprayed solvents, including pure isopropyl alcohol diluted in water.
What doesn't irritate me:
* Food of any kind.
* Shit and untreated sewage.
* Rotting flesh.
Each of these may still smell quite terrible, even to the point that I have to flee like any other person with working scent receptors, but it doesn't feel like someone poured acid into my brain.
Iffy:
* Plants. I guess these just depend on whether I'm allergic to their specific pollen or not, but the scents themselves are not irritating in the same way.
If anyone else can find a pattern here, well, I'd be thankful.
But oh well. It does happen. I don't know what it is. It's not all scents, and sometimes it is things that don't have much of a scent at all. But I will never use any perfume, any product with scent added, and aerosolized anything at all is always a minefield. Even letting my wife clean can be hazardous, because whereas I am always careful to hold the spray bottle close to the surface, she'll shoot it into broad air, where it gets into my sinuses and gives me a massive headache for the next two hours.
I can't identify what it is that does it, but I can at least enumerate:
* Any and every perfume I have ever encountered, regardless of the specific scent.
* Any and every essential oil I have ever encountered.
* Any aerosol.
* Pump-sprayed solvents, including pure isopropyl alcohol diluted in water.
What doesn't irritate me:
* Food of any kind.
* Shit and untreated sewage.
* Rotting flesh.
Each of these may still smell quite terrible, even to the point that I have to flee like any other person with working scent receptors, but it doesn't feel like someone poured acid into my brain.
Iffy:
* Plants. I guess these just depend on whether I'm allergic to their specific pollen or not, but the scents themselves are not irritating in the same way.
If anyone else can find a pattern here, well, I'd be thankful.