PERFUME

Photo: Fresh air.

Perfume is worn by a lot of people. Some people wear them for years without realising that they have an allergy to them. Most perfumes are the product of laboratory experimenting with chemicals. Up to 90% of these chemicals come from petrochemicals and only about 20% of these have ever been tested for safety to humans. When you are buying perfume for a loved one, make sure that they don’t have allergies. I know a few people who react very badly to perfume. My mother for example shows no sign of allergies until she comes into contact with someone wearing a particular companies products (Avon). When this happens, her nose streams for days. Also, two of my close family practically pass out when they have to walk through duty free shops at airports and also when they go into chemists. Most chemists have a perfume counter when you walk in and it is very difficult not to breathe in the fumes. At the other extreme, a few years ago I met a man in Sligo that was instrumental in setting up organic farming in Ireland. If anyone who wore perfume came within 100 yards of him he would go into paralysis and would find himself in hospital for weeks. He was a farmer and came into contact with a lot of chemicals in his early years and consequently his resistance to any chemical was destroyed, this is what prompted him, or should I say, forced him to go organic.

The perfume industry is a multi billion-euro industry. The chemicals that are found in most perfumes are more or less the same as you would find in washing powders, air fresheners and also petrol-based glues for that matter! And we all know about the damage that sniffing glue can cause the body. When you are in the vicinity of a smell, after a bit you can’t really smell it any more. The same goes for nice smells as well as bad. People who wear perfume all the time build up a resistance to it to the degree that you can still smell the perfume five minutes after you have walked past them in the street. Get a group of people together in a room and the resulting smell can blow your head off!

(Warning…only tell someone that they have overdone the perfume if you know them well and they haven’t a history of violence!)

ALTERNATIVES
If you do have allergic reaction to perfumes, yet still want the glamour of smelling sexy, tell your loved ones to get you some perfume that guarantees to use only natural ingredients (not “based on” as most companies claim)

Natural essential oils are a safe alternative and they can be mixed with a base oil or water so you get good mileage from them, as they can be expensive to buy. Then for that extra bit of luxury, put the mixture in a thick glass bottle with a silly top and give it a French name such as Bergamot pour homme or Rose pour femme. No one will be any the wiser and some of us will certainly be able to breathe more easily!

Environmental.