Things I don't do which set me apart.

[magicicada]

Maybe this could be a meme, but for now, it is a reflection.

I am sensitive to fragrances. They bother me more than others, and I am quite vigilant about protecting my senses. I've known this ever since I was small, but only in the past few years have I understood the way that excessive fragrance can act as a migraine trigger. One instance is ok, but combined with 2 or more triggers, it could lead to a migraine. This knowledge has bolstered my instinctive avoidance and occasionally saved me from lapses of girliness. However, I sometimes feel isolated in my own odd world.

- I don't wear makeup - ever, not for pictures, not for my own wedding.
- I don't use hairspray. It is only within the past year that I have started carefully examining the world of hair products(outside of shampoo/conditioner). I have a Fructis cream that is lovely and a salt/sea spray that I can only use if I have had no other triggers within the past few days.
- I have never had a manicure/pedicure. I keep thinking that *maybe* I could handle a pedicure if I went to a spa and requested a different room than the manicures are done in.
- Theater (onstage, and possibly off) is out. I agree wholeheartedly that some emphasis is needed to convey expressions to the audience, but I cannot stand that stuff on my face. I am not sure that I could even handle being around that level of makeup in an offstage role. It's interesting to me that I avoided acting opportunities as a kid for other reasons.
- This BPAL thing, intriguing, but I have no way of knowing if these will be some of the rare scents I can handle.

I had a hair cut the other day and had to frantically wave off the haircutter when she approached me with some sort of spray. She was nice, but it obviously took her by surprise. She said that she "would not want to live in that world." I get her point, as she obviously enjoys the froufrou and I do get frustrated some times that there are scores of hairstyles which are simply impossible for me. But I don't think I could take that extra fuss in my life. I'm grateful for the thousands of dollars I have saved by not investing in the makeup culture. This sensitivity also supports my philosophical objections to mandatory makeup. I mean, no one requires men to wear makeup but I have seen jobs that require it as part of a dress code. (Mind you, these are jobs which also require hose and I have decided that avoiding hose is a quality of life issue worth adjusting employment goals. )

There are fragances that I can handle: most incense, many fragrance oils, some candles, most skin lotions, most shampoo/conditioner (extends to leave-in and creams), one perfume applied very carefully.

I will also occasionally dye my hair which is a rare triumph of girliness over sensitivity. It does bother me, but I pick a good day (trigger-wise) and comfort myself that I'm trading a few hours for many months.

I assume there's something common about all the fragrances I cannot handle, but I am not sure any longer that I care what it is. The base of makeups seems to be a universal trigger, even in "no-scent" foundations. Rose anything tends to be bad.

*shrug* How much is the allergy and how much is personality? Am I lucky that these two mesh or has the sensitivity changed me as I grew to encourage my personal objections. I know my mom does not wear makeup and my hippie-chick tendencies are innate. Who knows?

Comments

[bexfiles.livejournal.com]

I'm non-allergic to any of that stuff but never wear anything in my hair in terms of gel/wax/spray, and never wear make-up. Hurrah!

[eugie.livejournal.com]

I'm also quite sensitive to fragrances--not to the same extent as you are, though. It's taken me a while to get across to my folks-in-law that yes, I really, really don't want perfume or scented body sprays for Christmas/birthday gifts. And hairspray makes me gag. Living in the dorms during college was its own special hell. I went to great effort seeking out bathroom times when it was less likely that a herd of freshmen girls hadn't come through and polluted the place with aerosol death. And I still had several times when I felt compelled to hold my breath. Then there was the roommate who didn't bother going to the bathroom to shellac her hair and just did it in the room. *gag*

[loucheroo.livejournal.com]

I'm sensitive to smells too. I come by it honestly. In fact, i have vivid memories of, when i was younger, going shopping with my mom and my aunt when all of a sudden, in a store, one or the other would just say the word "smell" and we'd troop out again.

Most incense makes me sick. strong perfumes make me sick (though, oddly enough, i wore obsession for a bit and was fine with it). LYSOL DEODORIZER makes me sick. that was a fun one when i had a room-mate who, rather than wash her clothes, would just spray the dirty clothes with lysol. ugh! Unlike you, though, while i do get a headache from a lot of milder smells, the strong ones, like the three mentioned above, literally make me sick to my stomach.

We actually have a situation going on at work right now where the bathroom is in the hall for all the women on the floor to use. There's one particular woman who sprays strong lysol or something similar in the bathroom whenever she's in there. there's no ventilation. you do the math. I'll go in to pee and get so sick from the odor that i end up literally getting sick to my stomach. She also wears/sprays a strong perfume. It's truly atrocious, to the point that i've started going to the unisex handicap accessible bathroom two floors down to avoid it.

I can't use hairsprays, not that i would anyway, i think. And don't get me near a lot of the fancy makeup brands... lancome and all their subsidiaries have perfume in the makeup *shudder* it's fine, though -- all i ever use is a little lipstick or some concealer, and only those on VERY rare special occasions. Left my lipstick in the bathroom at Jimmy's last time i was there. it's been a few weeks *shrug* i'll get it back eventually. with makeup, though, it's not just the perfume. about 75-80% of all lipsticks i've tried make my lips swell and itch and if i dont take it off soon enough, peel. When i was up north right after new years, i tried a new, really great lip balm. Well, it would've been great... if i didnt start getting that tingling burning feeling within three minutes of putting it on. I got an odd look as i started furiously scrubbing at my lips in the car...

so no, you're not unusual in this. or else you just have weird friends ;) I can't answer your question, though, about whether you are how you are out of necessity. I've wondered the same abuot myself. Honestly i think with you it's the same as with me, though -- you're a no-nonsense kinda gal. while you like to pretty yourself up sometimes, you are a take me as i am person. it's a good thing :)

[ximinez]

Funny, I don't think a woman without makeup or perfume, etc. is all the unusual at all.

[gardenwaltz.livejournal.com]

i have often found that a woman who i thought wore no makeup wears 'just a little foundation' or 'just a little eyeliner' which makes sense because the best application means that you can't really see it at all.

[tealfroglette.livejournal.com]

katty t great did a pedicure for me. :) First, i went outside into her porch in her apt in issaquah. then i put my feet up on the windowsill. she closed the window most of the way and she did the pedicure. then, later, i came inside after sitting outside and it was actually okay.

of course, the next day she and i went outside adn she stripped off the lavender polish she put on cuz i couldn't handle that, but the rest went okay.

I cannot really even GO in most salons that do nails.

*nod* yep, me the sensitive to perfume one too.

haven't found a makeup yet i can wear or apply w/o trouble

daily sunscreens required now are neutrogena fragrance free. that's working.

[tealfroglette.livejournal.com]

even some of the fancy lipsticks i'm allergic to, and one of the 'nobody is allergic to this' both my boss and i were highly allergic. MOST red dye lipsticks are made with cochineal. it's a BUG. it's the exoskelton of a bug that women are putting on their lips. now, for a frog, that's not so bad, but one of the teachers at my school told the class i was lying to them when i told them it was. she sold amway and didn't want the girls to not wear lipstick. blech! me, i have no reason to lie, life is weird enough. :)

Can you wear buts bees or autumn harp? What lipstick brand is it that you can wear?

[tealfroglette.livejournal.com]

for my 'way too little amount of hair' to cut off what hangs in my eyes i use aussie unscented purple pumper. it's only a little bit on the bangs and i can get away with that.

and lysol in a spray can,*nod* with louch, that stuff makes me very headachy.

Lavender is the only essential oil besides citrus that i have found i can use anyday. Lavender actually takes the headache away. i was never fond of the scent til it made my head better and my nose clearer. i sorta like it now. :)