The good & the bad

For generations, the scent of lavender has been used as a calming agent. Now it appears it even works on-the-spot … to help patients scared of the dentist’s drill.

Spraying the scent ‘significantly’ lowered patients’ anxiety levels, says a study to be presented today at the British Psychological Society’s health psychology conference at the University of Bath.

— Read the rest at How the scent of lavender can ease those fears about going to the dentist at the Mail Online.

Malodorous mayhem ensued on a school bus ride home last night when a perfume bottle spilled and sickened about a dozen students and the driver.

Some students vomited and others had shortness of breath after being overcome with the fragrance, District Fire Chief Michael Gamache said.

— From 11 checked out at hospital after perfume sickens students at the New Hampshire Union Leader.

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23 Comments

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  1. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Ooh, I really want to know the perfume that caused that much mayhem! Although admittedly any broken perfume bottle would probabkly do the same. In high school my friend's cat knocked over her sister's bottle of Fendi and shattered it – the room had a faint smell of it for ages.

  2. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    I want to know too, LOL…although it is true that a whole bottle of perfume in a closed space could make anyone sick. Frankly, riding on the bus always made me sick anyway.

  3. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    As much as I love lavender, I don't think it'd calm my jangled nerves at the dentist. I think perhaps valium would do it.

  4. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    I hear you, Elisabeth: only tons of very effective anesthetic are any help to my nerves in certain circumstances. So much for lavander, which still I love.

  5. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    It would make a fantastic ad::

    ” A last, Feminity has its own weapon of mass destruction: stun schoolboys by the bus-load, with the sheer power of unmitigated “**** ”

    A woodsy oriental, maybe?

  6. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Can't be Charlie — too old!

  7. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Nah, had to be some “in” fruity floral or gourmand. Girls on school buses aren't wearing woodsy orientals these days.

  8. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Yeah, I'll stick with the gas :-)

  9. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Mmm. A floral /gourmand playing that much havoc? I'm wondering what kind of perfume bus drivers favour.

  10. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Hey, a whole bottle of Pink Sugar in an enclosed place would put me in the hospital for sure ;-)

  11. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    So one could easily murder you in a telephone boot ( are they still in existence in the U.S.?) A very renaissance idea, murder by perfum. :-)

  12. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    And if they continue to use it, won't it spoil our calming associations with lavender, the way that some people can't abide clove in their fragrances because it reminds them of the dentist?

  13. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Clove is a natural, and very powerful antiseptic, and it–or something that smells a lot like it, or uses it–is part of the dentist's arsenal. Or so I've been told by a lot of folks who smell clove and turn pale. I don't have that association myself.

  14. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Well, there are air systems that pipe-in coffee odors to help keep people awake because the smell of coffee perks people up, even if they don't ingest caffeine.

    As far as the bus….it sounds like the frag probably got one or two started, and then the puking kept it going…..It would be interested to know what it was. Most likely a Paris Hilton or Brittany Spears frag.

  15. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Oh, i think someone swiped it off their granny's dresser to give to their “girlfriend” at school… ;)

  16. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Re the dentist: well, maybe lavender-scented laughing gas would do it, along with a lavender-tinted Xanax and some Vicodin in a lavender-festooned bottle to take when I get home.

    Is there any way to find out what kind of perfume that was on the bus? I smell a contest…

  17. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    I chuckled when I saw the incident occurred on Cilly Street (Cilly Road). Did anyone else notice that?

  18. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    So true, so funny. It's the reason I don't care much for L'Air Du Temps, even the good vintage stuff, too clove-y. However, lavender IS pretty magical stuff. I use it all the time in a light cream on my clients (I'm a massage therapist) and EVERYBODY says “Wow! What was that smell? It smells GREAT!”

  19. Anonymous
    Posted on 12 September 2008

    Mitsouko says dentist to me on account of the clove! I don't know where this peach note is supposed to be lurking as I get pink mouthwash all the way through…Maybe one day my nose receptors will vibrate to the correct number so I can smell the peach…

  20. Anonymous
    Posted on 13 September 2008

    well, I am soo so afraid of the dentist – nevertheless he is a good one and really good looking :-) that I will try some lavender scent on before visiting him. L'Occitane has an nice one, is there any other nice and not so expensive lavender scent? the dentist is expensive enough…

  21. Anonymous
    Posted on 13 September 2008

    Yes, maybe they should just diffuse lavender in the air.

  22. Anonymous
    Posted on 13 September 2008

    Thanks A, had never encountered it at a dentist.

  23. Anonymous
    Posted on 13 September 2008

    LOL — send me some lavender Xanax, I could use that…

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