FRAGRANCES FOR THE OFFICE
How to choose the right perfume to wear at work
Wearing perfume if you work in an office - which for many nowadays means an open-plan office and attending meetings - can be a watershed and not entirely straightforward. There are certain things to consider if you don't want to be seen as a pariah by your colleagues. Here are some tips to help you avoid involuntary isolation in the workplace.
There are workplaces that have an outright ban on wearing perfume - such as hospitals and some institutions - but for the most part, wearing your favourite scent is fine as long as it is done responsibly and with some understanding of the situation. An office is a workplace where you interact and socialise with others, which means you need to consider your colleagues and choose your perfume accordingly. You may even have colleagues who are allergic or even just very sensitive to scents, or you may not share the same idea of what is a delicious scent.
How should you proceed? Here are some guidelines:
Choose perfumes that are classic, simple and light in style, possibly with some elegance in the scent language. Here we can recommend the most accommodating ones from brands such as Roja, Thameen, Creed, Acqua di Parma, Fragrance du Bois and Floris. Go for citrus, wood, green and fresh floral or powdery accents. If it's spicy, choose something subtle, woody and dry that doesn't suffocate the environment.
So leave intrusive oud-like scents with animalic elements of cow dung and strong oriental spices, gourmands and hydrogen bomb creations containing smoke, tar, petrol and heavy leather at home in your fragrance wardrobe. The office landscape is not a suitable context for challenging and creative scent trails, because no one will thank you for your experimentation - quite the contrary.
If you want to make sure others are not disturbed by your scent, you can choose very fresh or discreet options, such as the fresher examples from Alüstre, Byredo and Widian's fresh Black Collection range. If you want to go even further in the discreet direction if you are in a sensitive workplace, so-called skin scent fragrances and perfumes based on molecules or pheromones are a solution to the problem. Denmark's Alüstre, among others, has an interesting pheromone-inspired creation (Spectre 175 - 225 The Privé Of Pheromonic Pleasure) that combines with your skin and brings out your own natural scent with the help of woody notes, hazelnuts and aldehydes without leaving any actual scent traces.
If you are in a slightly higher position in the workplace, go for a more exclusive choice that expresses subtle luxury and authority without being "loud". The price should be reflected in the quality, ingredients and fragrance construction, while the perfume should not take over or seem too much. In short: elegance, luxury and quality but still without overpowering or appearing aggressive or dominant.
For example, some Roja, Clive Christian and Fragrance du Bois stand out, depending on whether you are looking for fruitiness, citrus, soapiness, woody dark notes or powderiness with a hint of sweetness.
