Two female council employees in Motala, central Sweden, came to blows after a woman became irritated by another’s choice of perfume, resulting in a physical attack and a death threat.
— From Council colleagues in violent clash over scent of a woman at The Local.
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LOL—-I am dying to know what the offending fragrance was!!! Poison? Addict? Opium? it couldn’t have been Secretions Magnifique because she wasn’t retching so badly that she couldn’t make threats….
HAD to have been Opium, Poison, or Angel.
(Side note: You know me and my love/hate thing for Orientals, right? I mean, there are Good Orientals like Shalimar Light, and there are Evil Orientals like Opium*… just found one with elements of both. I’m thinkin’ it might teach me to love Cinnabar, at least, and – dare I hope? – to tolerate Evil Opium.
Oh, you wanted to know what it is? Teo Cabanel Alahine. Gorgeous amber, but with that resiny stuff underneath that scares me to death…
*Opium lovers, I know you’re out there. Just go ahead and send me hate mail now. Then you can laugh if this Alahine experiment works and I wind up saying, “You know, this Opium stuff isn’t ALL bad.”)
Well, I won’t KILL you over it, but I do like Opium. Haven’t worn it in years, though.
Geez, and I thought perfumistas were the only ones to get excited about fragrance!
Maybe they are perfumistas!
Geez – what ever the perfume was – doesn’t matter. Stories like this don’t bode well for perfume lovers. We need a descrimination law for perfumistas! Perfumistas around the world – unite!! LOL
I can sure make a guess what the result of the “investigation” will be —–a fragrance free workplace policy.
Which is too bad because this sounds (at least on the surface) as just a case of bad manners and inconsideration. If someone EVER told me that my fragrance was giving them a headache (or whatever) I would make the effort to not wear that fragrance around them (ie. to work) ……not that grabbing someone by the neck and threatening them is a politically sensitive way to make your preferences known.
Two unpleasant people being unpleasant to each other?
Dear Daisy and Everyone – I had the sort of opposite thing happen to me at work. Whenever I wore Caron’s Infini, people would come into my office to get their “fix” and breathe it in! Luckily it was hard to get, because one particlar girl asked me if I would mind if she wore it too, but she couldn’t find it (and I didn’t volunteer any information after someone else copied my Calyx). Imitiation is the sincerest form of flattery, I know, but I still can’t quite get to grips with people I know smelling like me.
That’s exactly what happened in Sweden. But it got nasty.
“I’m going to dig your eyes out, Astrid! Nobody wears MY signature scent and gets away with it!”
oh i could have been something like both wearing the same perfume!!!!!!
oh my god , a little bit of tea and deep breaths would have been enough for me , i hate confrontations !
specially because i shower on perfume , guilty !!!!!!
the most “offending ” i own would be juliette has a gun , lady vengeance , is a love /hate for most people that smell it , i guess is the top which is a little bit sharp , ah well for as long nobody complains besides – oh my god ,is so strong- i will dare to use it as much as i can !!!!!!!!
Hey – I just realized it could have been the perfume wearer who was the attacker – not the attackee. She could just be fed up with overly sensitive types dictating to her.
oh, I hadn’t even thought of that—I just assumed it was the non-perfumed one who did the attacking. sheesh! sounds a bit like two nasties if you ask me.
Nobody better get between me and my Mistouko!
AMEN AnnS!
It sounds like the opening scene of an “X-Files” or “Fringe” episode. Later it will be revealed that the government and aliens are working together to create the perfect perfume weapon.
LOL
Ooh, bringing together two of my favorite things: David Duchovny and perfume!
My money’s on Angel.
HA! I wouldn’t bet against that! ( I need all my $$ for more perfumes…)
My money’s on one of the smell alike dryer sheet frags: Just imagine: you’ve been working like a slave all day, week after week, after week doing laundry for very unappreciative household. You are a stressed out and overworked woman. Here comes some well rested fashionista drenched in something that smells like your dryer sheets. SNAP!
LOL ! yeah! SNAP & SLAP!
LOL!!!!!!!!
i really love angel !
how funny the first time i smelled it ( i had read comments here before), i taught oh my i am not gonna like this one , boy was i wrong , i loved it , i tell you not just like it , LOVED IT , one of my favorites !!!
yet so controversial , i find it heavenly !!!!!!
A few years ago, I worked with two women who wore their favorite fragrance by the bucket. These were both very strong fragrances [Amarige and Windsong]. One was the receptionist and the other sat at the desk right behind mine. I am pretty sensitive to smell and neither of these perfumes is a particular favorite of mine [diplomatically put], but it would have never occurred to me to try to impose my aversion and control what they wore.
You are a kind and tactful woman.
My personal nightmare would be working with people who wore Opium and Poison.
Oh, or Insolence edp.
It certainly made for some unpleasantness – but life has it’s annoyances – so be it. I can accept that, deal with it, and move on. I sound so stoic. LOL
Mals, for as opposite as our frag tastes seem to be…we’re in wholehearted agreement on these two.
Hehe. I love both of those. Wonder what would happen if I layered them? Nothing good, probably. Would my nose drop off?
It’s the people that smell BAD that I have a problem with. I’m not talking perfume, I mean like, don’t know the concept of showering. Or better yet: haven’t showered since the stone age AND they smoke. I feel like if we can complain about co-worker’s wearing perfume, then we should be able to say something about the people with bad hygiene. (Or smokers. I’m really hating smokers these days. I had the window open for over an hour in my office yesterday because it smelled like the Marlborough Man after someone left. And it’s not warm out, so it was a big sacrifice to have it open.)
Yeah! Boo, bad smelly people, Booooo!!
Agreed! There are the people with body odor, and then those who imagine they can get just one more day’s wear out of that shirt or blouse. And how about those with BO who try to mask it by wearing fragrance (and usually a cheap one)?
Horrors!
I find those are the people that think patchouli is good substitute. Which is what has, sadly, ruined poor patchouli’s reputation.
Oh, I know what you mean. Patchouli and B.O. – a deadly combination.
I agree with you 100% on that Miss Kitty! Nothing is worse than smelling b.o. I know there may be some folks out there, for medical reasons, such as the elderly, that may make it difficult to bathe, but my opinion is on the people who are perfectly fine and just don’t bother. I work in retail and every time I smell underarm odor, I just want to apply some complimentary “pit-stick” to the offending individual.
Or run them through the nearest car wash!
Rustic: I was just flipping through the Guide last night and I think Amarige is the one about which they said, “For those of you who love it, please enjoy it only in the privacy of your own home. With the windows taped shut.” I laughed out loud.
I’ve thought about photocopying and anonymously sending that page to a couple of friends of mine.
OH! I saw that entry and about died laughing! They do give excellent advice….
Joe – that’s hilarious! I have to go read that for myself now.
That’s about how I wear it when I get brave enough to dab a bit on, too.
Journalists, honestly! Why report this without the single most important fact – the name of the offending perfume?
It would be pertinent to know what’s behind all the ruckus!
Exactly! A really poor piece of reporting. Sure, they interviewed the official in charge (or maybe read a press notice), but didn’t bother getting the crucial perfume name from the combatants. And as Rustic Dove pointed out, the text is so vague you don’t know whether the perfume-wearer or the offendee threw the first punch. That one of them “became irritated by another’s *choice* of perfume” seems to mean she doesn’t mind perfume in general, but this one really pushed her buttons. So what was it?!
All the hate that Angel gets never ceases to amaze me. Personally, I like it.
Yeah, I like it, too. It’s the perfume that everyone loves to hate.
Yeah, but worn heavily in a small office? That’s a problem.
And I think that’s the real problem. I don’t think it’s ever a specific scent that offends, so much as it is how *much* someone wears. There are some things I hate that I’ve liked on the right person, and conversely some things that are favorites that have been ruined by the heavy-handed wearer.
Yes, isn’t that weird? I have a coworker that wears Light Blue, and some days it’s like we’ve been invaded by Mr. Clean… and some days, it actually wafts nicely. I don’t know what the difference is.
What’s with those three seemingly unrelated “headlines” inserted randomly underneath the first paragraph of the article? Are they for real? Or is it some kind of bizarre undercover attempt by the Swedish tourist board to reinforce the stereotype of the sex-crazed Swedes???
I didn’t even see them!
I dare say thatI am afraid it was Issey Miyake melonlike perfume she was wearing……
We’ll never know!
I read this and was wondering what fragrance incited this? Passion by Elizabeth Taylor? Opium? I suppose we may not know considering the adverse publicity it would bring to the maker, not to mention enduring the ribbing from Jay Leno.
OMG, the combination of your name and the mention of Jay Leno made me realize I missed Dolly Parton on his show last night! Dang! Ok, I know that has nothing to do with anything…sorry…
No problem.
It must have been Rush!
Though I stick with running for my life when I smell that.
Oh, I thought that was a cool scent…
I admit that it’s unusual, which is something these days.
But I still hate it to the point of a phobia.
I’m sad to see Opium mentioned do often here. But it is used in the wrong setting, not to say by the wrong individuals, a lot. I’ll just blame it on that.
Wow – a lot of votes for Opium as being the possible catalyst for this melee! I love Opium – don’t wear it much anymore, but it’s a good classic to me.
Agree.
I truly hope IFRA doesn’t read this and really step up the “cleaning up” aka neutering of more frags. I can read the memo now. “Fragrances are still managing to offend an unsatisfactorily high number of people. Why, this is the fifth incident this year! Quick! Put the rush on banning patch, all musks, and any frags that fall under the ‘unusual’, ‘interesting’ or especially ’sexy’ banner. Make sure to send this to Gaultier, McQueen and Westwood straight away!”
And agreed on patch worn by people who must be allergic to a shower. It’s absolutely horrible, even more so than clouds of cheap perfume to cover the smell of unwashed clothes.
I adore Angel and find that a spray beneath my collar if it’s a high neck shirt or a small spray on the shoulders under a low cut one works quite well. I also have the oil for face, body and hair, and that’s what I most often wear in the summer when I’m afraid of walking by my garden and making the whole works wilt from the awesome power that is Angel. Sometimes I even go for Angel Innocent just to be safe, and since I have no desire to get a beating, if I’m going to be in small spaces, I avoid Angel, Fracas or even Pure Poison since they aren’t exactly universally appreciated… Or as much as I appreciate them anyway.
True, IFRA does not need any more fuel!
You folks are a riot!
One of the women is allergic to perfume, or so they say in the news paper “Aftonbladet”.
Thanks! That explains it.