Are there instances where it’s acceptable to have perfume on at work — what do you think?

I know that it can be a controversial topic depending on what your line of work is. It’s a given that people’s sensitivity to smells — above all other senses, probably — can be so different that it’s better not to smell at all than overwhelm someone unintentionally. Not to mention that people also have varying tastes, and some really like to fill the whole ballpark with their heavy muskiness. Making their presence known as it were. That’s fine on a night out but at work, I assume that there’s no job at which something so obnoxious would pass.

This is just logic speaking, but in practice there probably have to be instances where it’s OK to at least put on something lighter that won’t offend anyone or trigger anyone’s allergies. That’s what I’m getting at here, I guess — if there are any subtle “rules” to follow if you really want to have a fragrance on in the office (provided it’s not banned entirely).

In my office (working as a limo dispatcher) the rules are pretty lax and ever since getting back after the whole Corona fiasco, it’s almost become a ritual to put on a little bit of fragrance on after showering and going to work. Not any fragrance either but specifically citrus-smelling ones. It used to be Cherry Smoke that my wife bought me a long time ago and I chipped at lil by lil every morning. Ever since we began budgeting though, I found that the Lost Chapter does a solid job too, and recently discovered an alternative in a very solid Millesime Imperial dupe by Chez Pierre, ever since I sampled his batch last month. But all in all — there’s something about the grapey and vaguely orange smells that’s just calming, unobtrusive and non-aggressive. Of course, I made sure that all of my colleagues were on board with it.

In one funny instance this summer, it was almost a refuge for most of the people adjacent to my work table. There was a guy from head office who came to our branch and yup… Can’t say it any other way. The guy reeked, but he was the son of one of our managers so we knew HR wouldn’t do jacks**t. Well, I was the guy who basically served the purpose of an air freshener/ human safe space during the whole 3-4 hours he was pacing through the building occassionally “inspecting” everyone’s work. I would be mad if it wasn’t so funny, and if my orange smell-shield didn’t protect me. Felt like an RPG character for once in my life, or ehh let’s face it — more like a really helpful NPC.

So yeah, it’s just something I’ve been talking about with my wife (who’s all for perfume at work btw), so I thought to share the topic with you all. Anyway, cheers!