Are You Wearing Too Much Perfume and Cologne?

If you’re like most people you tend to be rather critical of the guys and girls that wear too much perfume and cologne, and rightly so. These fragrances are highly potent in small quantities, so people who apply too much are actually assaulting our noses with too many powerful molecules. When it comes to perfume and cologne, less is always more. It would appear that you can in fact have too much good stuff. In the same way that consuming too many sweets, or fruits, or too much of anything, really, leaves you feeling nauseous for hours afterward, too many smells will not only make you sick but also affect your mind.

Scent’s close relationship with memory means that just the smallest hint of a fragrance will trigger certain thoughts and images from years past. Thus, the more smells a person perceives, the more memories may be triggered. If there are too many different smells, or one extremely overpowering one, the mind may be completely overwhelmed. Consider how you feel when you enter a room thick with smells; usually you will feel a sort of mental fog and not be able to fully process your surroundings. On the opposite end, consider how you feel when there’s is an unpleasant smell nearby. It’s hard to think about anything besides getting away from that offending smell.

Thus radiating just a hint of a fragrance is much more enticing than blatantly advertising it, and it leaves people wanting more rather than less. Also, you won’t risk making people become obsessed with avoiding you should they not like your chosen scent. Thus, you will be enticing to those who like your scent and neutral to those who don’t like it. That is the balance that you want to strive for: polite yet interesting. Not only does this make people like you more, but it also makes your fragrance more personal.

So why do people wear too much perfume and cologne? There are numerous reasons. The first being that they were simply not taught properly, or taught at all. How much of the fragrance you apply depends on two things: what you will be doing and how strong the substance is. If you’re going to be in relatively close quarters with others, it is best to wear as little as possible. On the other hand, if you are going to be in a relatively open space, you can feel free to wear a little bit more. Most people recommend no more than two or three applications, but some perfumes and colognes are more potent than others, so the range should theoretically be one to four.

Another possibility for why people wear too much of a certain scent is that they may be sick, or genetically dispositioned in some way. Studies have linked people that wear too much perfume and cologne to zinc deficiencies and depression, among other things. Luckily, these maladies can be easily fixed with modern medicine, and may also improve a person’s nose in the process. Also, it is important to remember that all of our senses are varied in strength; for instance, numerous people have weak vision or hearing. This also holds true for our sense of smell. Some of us just have better sniffers.

And last but not least, some of us just have bad taste. The best way to help someone who wears too much perfume and cologne, then, is to tell them the truth. Don’t let them live in ignorance while you secretly grow resentment for them. Be upfront and help each other out. They may be extremely grateful for your advice. Or, if you are afraid that you wear too much, ask someone who will give an honest opinion, and whose opinion you actually respect. Scent can be a wonderful thing—and it is!—as long as it is used properly.