Wearing perfume is naturally a shared experience – we all crave compliments on what we wear, and enjoy talking about it with other people. It’s a social thing at heart.
But even though you think you smell great (and we here at Scentbird KNOW you do!), in certain situations it’s best to check to make sure your personal scent choices are appropriate.
Perfume people who work in hospitals, labs, or other physically sensitive environments often can’t wear their favorite fragrances because of the vulnerability to scent that others may have around them.
And even if you don’t happen to work where scent may be an issue, it’s getting harder to be able to wear scent on the job.
Fragrance allergies are becoming a common complaint in the workplace, and no one should have risk their livelihood from wanting to smell nice for eight hours or more of company time.
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Here are some tips on how to wear what you love on the job, and not irritate your co-workers or your clients:
Tip Number One:
Always check to see what the standards are about scent where you work. If you must work in a scent-free area for any reason, it’s best to save your perfume for the weekend. It will last longer and you can better tailor your scent to your mood.
If you absolutely must have your fragrance with you at work, a cool trick is to spray it on a piece of silk ribbon, or swatch of cloth you can keep in your pocket or your purse. This way you can still have your perfume handy without getting in trouble for it. Just take the ribbon out and huff it to your heart’s content.
Tip Number Two:
If wearing perfume is allowed at work, be aware of who is around you, and maybe opt for a less daring, more accessible choice from your collection.
Start out wearing fresher or lighter scents, and if you get compliments on them, work in sultrier or more aggressive fare slowly, after you know you have the green light.
Remember, less is always more in perfume – once you put a person off with what you wear, that’s all they will remember about you. So go easy –there’s plenty of time in life for perfumery.
Tip Number Three:
NEVER wear perfume to a job interview, even if you work in the industry and want to show off your insider knowledge during the meeting.
You will have little idea of what your potential new employer might be dealing with that day, or any emotional triggers they may have around scent.
A better idea is to wait and see if your interviewer mentions anything positive about scent in conversation, giving you an opening to share your passions. Job interviews are just not the place where “asking for forgiveness rather than permission” works well.
Now that you have some work-related guidelines around perfume, here are a few suggestions on what we at Scentbird think should be fine to wear on the job:
For Him:
Eau de Lacoste L.12.12 Yellow EDT by Lacoste:
Lacoste is the French designer known primarily for inventing the preppy polo shirt, but they also make some fun office-appropriate scents for men. Eau de Lacoste Yellow is all about cool and casual citrus, with a Golden Delicious apple accord and cypress notes to balance the juiciness in the heart. This upbeat scent makes the weekly chore of sitting in 2-hour traffic on a Monday morning the best part of your day.
Signature for Him by English Laundry:
Signature opens with a well-scrubbed rush of citrus that settles into a lightly spicy heart of nutmeg and coriander. It’s a confident, light perfume with the trademark subtlety and restraint all great English perfumes have.
For Her:
Norell New York by Norell:
The perfume line of Norell has an amazing backstory – in the late 1960’s, this line was the “IT” brand of New York and Hollywood, and worn by movie stars and wealthy socialites on both coasts. But as times change, so do the taste of trendsetters. And so Norell disappeared from view for a time.
Thankfully, the line was revived in 2015, and now features new perfumes that all are based on the original formulas that made Norell so coveted by the cognoscenti of the 1960’s.
Norell New York starts with scintillating top notes of pear and orange, which fade down into a soft jasmine and gardenia heart. This is an elegant retro perfume for a modern woman who loves introducing a little Audrey Hepburn joie de vivre into the office.
Maiaday by Raymond Matts:
Maiaday is an abstract floral with exhilarating notes of citrus, lime, muguet and lilac, with a warm, sweet vanilla drydown. The inspiration comes from a field of linden trees blossoming in June, which might make for a fantastic daydream to focus on when you’re late for a meeting, the elevator is packed and there’s no time to run for coffee.
