It’s just a matter of time before someone’s going to get sick and keel over from it or has an allergic reaction to it.
— Passersby react to the perfume wafting from the Diane von Furstenburg boutique in New York City. Read more at Monsters & Critics.
57 Comments
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Hmmm… the juice actually sounds like I might like it. However, I probably wouldn’t like walking into a giant cloud of it – sometimes I get woozy just from testing something on my arm and inhaling too deeply, so I’d hate to unexpectedly walk into a cloud of perfume.
She sure didn’t get very good publicity from the girl who proclaimed it “putrid, awful, something you’d find on a 60-year-old matron” – unless you consider all publicity good publicity.
Given that the scent is now over 5 years old, guessing any publicity is good? They might not see it that way though!
Is it that old? Must have missed that one.
I think it’s from 2003?
I highly doubt that a single perfume is more allergenic and dangerous than ozone, smog, soot, dust, dirt, animal dander, cockroach offal, unwashed bodies, dust mites, rotting food and all of the other smells and particulate matter flying around a city like NYC. Complaining about it passes the time when you have nothing else to worry about, I guess.
So true!
Moon_GRRL, it might be a habit of urban dwellers to kvetch about everything and nothing at all? Living in SF, I see folks complain all the time when really, we have it pretty good…..
I’ve commented on this too many times. But I was at UCSF Urgent care yesterday and there were signs all over the place that said:
“In order to preserve the safety and health of others please do not wear any scented products in the waiting rooms or exam rooms.” Like I’m some big toxic avenger or something…..
ROFL at “toxic avenger” – that was a very shlocky movie, ever see it? LOL!
I love her clothes – the wrap dress is a classic and is back in vogue – thanks DvF!
And sign me up as matronly and as a toxic avenger, I don’t care- woud rather be matronly (dignified and worthy of respect in my book) than a “sissie” any day!
Hm, SmokeyToes… I guess you’re supposed to know in advance when you’re going to break a limb, and not wear perfume that day?
You got it. I’ll plan ahead when I slice my finger next time!
Sorry for the cranky pants, but 3 hrs sleep and 6 hours in emergency room will do that do me! I will improve when the chocolate and coffee arrive, I promise!
Smokeytoes—what happened? are you ok??
SmokeyToes (whose kitty looks just like my kitty!),
I lived in Chicago for a few years and used to find it incredibly funny when someone would get all up in arms about someone’s perfume while on public transportation and then light up a cigarette the second they were on the platform.
I don’t try and fumigate anyone’s space, but this idea that somehow perfume is this overtly toxic thing compared to the air itself in a large city is just plain silly.
Oh yes, I’m fine. It’s like something from an Agatha Christie movie, “She did it in the kitchen, with a knife….”
That’s what I get for volunteering a dish for the 4th of july office party!
Oh, and here’s another—those damn skinny people with their condescending attitudes who try to tell everyone how to successfully diet. Now THAT’s pollution!
Well, the “forests of cedar, patchouli and sandalwood” are not really what you’d call wild anymore; it’s been done, done, done.
With all the other smells happening on a sidewalk in the meatpacking district (even if less and less meat gets packed there), I’m dubious that this is the worst thing pedestrians have to smell on their daily walks to work.
Probably not.
I continue to be amused by the perfume reviews by a certain subset of the fragrance-buying population–those for whom the ultimate insult is “It smells like something an old lady” (or, “my grandmother”) would wear.” You’d think that fifty-plus women all developed the same taste for moldering flowers, unwashed skin, or falling-down old houses.
LOL…..I have actually known a few old ladies who smelled quite sophisticated and lovely. I don’t know about that falling down old houses thing though….
wait! over 50 is old? well that does it, I’m stopping right now! Somebody disconnect my odometer before it gets any closer….
Yep. Revoke my perfume card and take away the Ormonde, I’m standing in the wrong line.
Daisy, I think compared to the alternative (pushing up daisies….) I’ll collect my old lady card any day!! As Bette Davis once remarked, “Old age ain’t for sissies”…….
Whether or not the “old lady” thing makes me mad or just makes me roll my eyes is a good barometer of my mood. Today, just rolling my eyes
More and more, those “60 year old matron” comments make me smile and say to myself: “bring it on.” Honestly, the older I get the more I know about myself, the more I know about what I like, and the less concerned I am with other people’s opinions of me. I’m going to be a pistol of the old lady.
That said, Diane, turn down the pump. The whole world doesn’t need to smell that.
I have almost without fail found that I will love anything that is described as “old ladyish.” I think it’s become code for “not a disgusting fruity floral that twelve year old Jonas Brothers fans will slobber for.”
And yes, the “It is putrid, awful, something you’d find on a 60-year-old matron” comment is ageist. Most of the 60-year old women I know are awesome (and far from matronly, at that).
Exactly. MUA “old lady” comments are a sure sign that this card-carrying woman-of-a-certain-age will definitely like it.
aw, I love falling down old houses! I kinda like the look of decay… I blame Floria Sigismondi.
Couldn’t be as bad as the gaggity clouds wafting out from mall storefronts. BBW and Abercrombie & Fitch, I’m talking about you.
A&F are the WORST, I can’t stand to go in there.
Agree! if the clouds of fragrance don’t make your eyes cross, how about the teeth-jarringly loud and obnoxious music playing in some mall stores! I can hardly stand to go to the mall anymore!
Excuse me while I give my computer an appreciative hug.
Ah, how could I forget about the noise pollution! Anytime I walk past Hollister or Abercrombie, I am always reminded of the phrase: “if it’s too loud, you’re too old”. However, if they were cranking some bouncy swing jazz I would be dancing in the aisles instead of running away. Buuuut of course I’m way past the prime of their target audience.
ITA!
You beat me to it, dissed. BBW & even The Body Shop – which has products I actually like- but when they burn those perfume oils, gaaaag! It was worse when Cinnabon & Yankee Candle Company were all within proximity. I literally had to hold my breath and run (or walk very quickly) past to get upwind from it. I wish we had more open-air malls here in the midwest – but it does put a bit of a cramp in shopping during the sub-zero winters.
This reminds me of a trip to Mackinac Island a few years ago…they are “famous” for all their Fudge shops (and the whole no cars thing) but after a day or two —you run down the sidewalk holding your breath to keep from inhaling one more fudge laden air molecule.I t was nauseating in the extreme. I still hate fudge.
But Mackinac Island is so heavenly during Lilac Festival time!
Good grief — fudge shops and Cinnabon are my idea of aphrodisiacs! Well, maybe I won’t go that far, but they’re my idea of a good time. Bring ‘em on. Anytime.
You think a Yankee Candle store is bad — try the YC factory! When they’re churning out their vile watermelon candles, you can smell it all the way from I-91.
Sounds comparable to the slaugherhouse on a hot summers’ day.
I totally agree with A&F. The other day I went to a mall and I was surprised when I noticed that the smell was coming from the store.
I heard so many stories about how fragrance can be deadly to others or even the wearer. I’m even scared to wear my perfume to school now. I feel like I might be killing somebody by wearing it.
Wow, you’re kinder than I am! I don’t wear heavy perfume in public, but I do wear some scent.
Yup, I’m with Robin, although I could see my mind being changed if it becomes a bigger issue. I will say, I seem to be having some issues myself now. Everytime I’ve tried Eau de Cartier on skin, my pulse has started racing…and not in a good way. Guessing it’s the yuzu, since I had a severe allergic reaction to another citrus as an infant. Sniffing it on paper didn’t cause a problem though, so clearly I have to have direct contact. Donatella help me if that should ever change…
I still wear scent everywhere but to the allergist’s office. I even had a kid who was allergic to “fragrance” this year so we had to find an unscented hand sanitizer (which is NOT easy, btw – but they have it at Lowe’s), but he never had a reaction to my perfume.
I’m guessing that it was either because his class came to the computer lab late in the day, when most of the scent had dissipated, or he only reacted to the high concentration of fumes when the entire class sanitized their hands before touching the keyboards. Unless you are dumping entire bottles of Opium on yourself, I doubt that your fragrance will actually be concentrated enough to cause a reaction in other people.
Of course, I have made myself woozy and/or gotten headaches from deeply inhaling perfumes while in “testing mode’.
Makes me wonder how we survived typing class, much less home-ec in the 80s (woodshop and home-ec were both mandatory co-ed for those wondering). Is hand sanitizer a staple in every school classroom these days? Good grief. I boycott the stuff, personally.
I boycott it too, but can see the point in a computer class.
I’m not thrilled about the hand sanitizer, but the principal and school nurse made me do it. We had a huge outbreak of strep last year and the school nurse read some article about how gross computer keyboards get, so I have to have the kids sanitize at the beginning of each class and I wipe the keyboards and mice down with Clorox wipes daily.
I guess with 453 kids coming through the lab weekly and the high percentage of them who constantly touch their mouths and noses, it would be an ideal place to spread germs. I’m not sure that all the sanitizing is what helped us contain the outbreak, but we did have a flu outbreak in 5th grade this year, including a case of swine flu that was confirmed after school let out, and it didn’t spread to the other grades.
LOL…Cynthia, I could tell you a computer lab story that would make you stand 100% behind the idea. Ewwww.
Headaches, respiratory distress and other alleged illnesses aside, the reality check for me is:
What’s the cost of this juice if they’re able to scent the street with it? A penny a pound? Mercy.
Apparently, not so expensive!
Yes, but aren’t most juices dirt cheap? The most expensive thing in the composition is almost always the bottle and the ad campaign.
I like that they are trying new things, but don’t piss off the complainers, they tend to complain to congress. Then they, in turn, tend to lean on organizations like IFRA. Which leads to ingredient bans. Which leads to more reformulations.
As for politicians, who is pro perfume and who isn’t? I’d like to know.
Yes, the juice is usually a minor expense.
And sorry, no idea.
What was funniest to me about the “60-year-old matron” comment was that the certain aspects of the juice sounded right up the alley of twentysomethings: Mandarin flower (?)… and it has lychee, for heaven’s sake! Love these tidbits of “news,” R, I’m glad you discover them.
So true! Our grandmothers did not wear lychee…
I totally missed that, Joe, you’re absolutely right–the notes don’t really sound like Shalimar or Joy.
Our grandmothers might not have, but maybe lychee is all the rage among today’s NYC sixtyish matrons and that snarky passerby was right….?
I think maybe people need to stop being spo offended about stuff.
Possibly!
This reminds me of every time I get withing 2 doors away from the Abercrombie & Fitch store at my local mall. I wear fragrances everyday, strong white floral ones too, but the scent coming out of Abercrombie & Fitch is headache inducing. A scent is pretty strong when it cannot be contained inside the walls of the store.
It’s really amazing how much scent they pump out. I don’t see how people can stand to work there.