Dear Auntie Mac,

Last month’s column answered a complaint of employee hygiene, or lack thereof, at the office. I have the opposite problem.  The perfume one of my co-workers frequently uses causes almost an allergic reaction for me, ranging from a migraine to nausea. Is it wrong for me to ask this person to refrain from using that specific perfume? Or to at least not to use so much of it?

Sign me,

Sensitive Sinuses

My Dear Neighbor:

Lars’ cousin Marta came to visit for several weeks last summer and stayed in his spare room in the carriage house. Like most young women from Estonia, Marta did not use deodorant, and as I spied her working diligently in the topiary garden, I observed that a razor had probably never grazed an inch of that ruddy eastern European skin. Auntie Mac noted this as a personal and most likely culturally-related choice and thought no more of it, but Lars had much to say on the matter after Marta had returned to the land of marzipan and saunas. He reported that during those first few days, her personal aroma was too much even for him, which Auntie Mac found startling, since she often believes that Lars manufactures his own brand of cologne from a bucket of week-old fish entrails, but he then went on to say that after several days he became quite used to it and even found it–he bowed his head sheepishly—faintly enchanting.  Which is to say that in a perfect world none of us would need to hide behind artificial scents that mask what, when we keep ourselves clean, are normal and far-from-vile bodily scents. But these days, we are all used to certain types of, shall we say, atmospheres, and some of us have more sensitive noses than others. And it is a sensitivity, dear, not an allergy, that you have to your co-worker’s perfume. Which, if Auntie Mac would hazard a guess, is neither Chanel No. 5 nor Acqua di Gioia but rather something that is not even perfume but cologne, watered down with preservatives, which do trigger headaches. Of course, courtesy dictates that you not comment on your co-worker’s taste in bargain-basement concoctions that could fell a longshoreman at twenty paces. Rather, you may tell her (or him) that while they are wearing a lovely scent, you are sadly allergic to strong fragrances and would they mind either not wearing it to work or wearing less of it? Apologizing profusely, of course, for denying this person from spreading the olfactory joy they seem to feel they are bestowing on the workplace. Auntie Mac does caution you, however, to be as kind and tactful as possible, and consider how often you come in contact with this person. If they occupy the next cubicle, then by all means, pull no punches. But if they work in the mail room and you run into them once per day, or if you are both telephone linepersons and ride from pole to pole in a truck, weigh the situation accordingly.

Auntie Mac senses that you already knew the answer to this question and merely needed her approbation, which she is more than willing to give, along with an aviso to others: simple, light, and understated are three watchwords that we should all heed in matters of practically everything, from perfume to our daily comportment. Gentility costs nothing, and its aroma is delightful.

Your Auntie Mac