Have you ever gone through a phase of not wearing perfume ?

You obviously have never been to Finland 😂 We have them everywhere. Some companies have signs that they will refuse to serve people who are wearing anything fragranced, and some whole towns have declared themselves fragrance free spaces. Many Nordic people have become extremely sensitive to fragrances because it's not culturally accepted to "invade other people's personal space" with your fragrance. Even flowers that have any smell are banned in many places, and neighbours in blocks of flats get offended if you cook with strong spices. I have no idea how hypersensitive Finns survive if they're travelling abroad where even toilet papers are fragranced. 😅

I relate to all of that Lempi! 

This isn't the first time I've heard that Scandinavian countries are easily disturbed by fragrance! Someone I met online on another website who travels to Japan frequently also said that the Japanese detest notable personal fragrance and find it disrespectful. 

I'm from the Pacific Northwest of the US, and I'm beginning to see anti-perfume signs happen everywhere, although I still smell fragrance occasionally in cities. Perfume has never been as big of a factor in my area, but when I've traveled to Michigan to see family, or Florida I recall smelling MUCH more fragrance in general.

What is fascinating to consider is that were are a lot of Scandinavian immigrants who settled in the PNW (Washington State specifically, Google "Poulsbo" for instance), and we also have a higher amount of Asians relative to the general population of tbe country. So maybe there's some cultural/attitude carry-over? 

I certainly don't blame one or two people groups though, it's just a *vibe* out here, and I can't really explain it.

Is it because of the climate? Maybe in cold weather the smell is more solid? Idk. But this sounds super unfriendly and snobbish.

i understand perfumes might be nauseous if over sprayed, but what you say is the other side of extremum. I love smelling different scents when my neighbours cook - it inspire me to eat healthy and diverse my menu.

And in recent years the only one time I was irritated by someone fragrance was when someone at work oversprayed Boss Bottled Eau de Toilette or it's cheap alt, which is the worst fragrance ever 😂

Probably climate is one factor. Historically Nordic people haven't used strong spices and have bathed in sauna frequently instead of covering BO with fragrances so I guess it goes very far back in history why strong smells and tastes aren't part of the culture. I agree with you, overspraying strong fragrances is definitely offensive, also wearing fragrances in places like hospitals should be restricted of course. However what Finns are doing is a huge overreaction. Faint fragranced roll-on deodorant is considered "overspraying a fragrance", or people are demanding their neighbours to get rid of their rose garden or lilac trees because they smell too strong, that's just ridiculous and pure exaggeration.

People demand that others get rid of fragrant plants?! 

That's beyond depressing. I don't even know what to say to that  

Yes. Overreaction to the max, that's kind of insane.

Couldn't agree more. 😅 Like, I completely understand being fragrance sensitive and asking people not to bathe in fragrances when in public transport or hospital or something, however a small but loud group of Finns is just taking it on the next level, seriously 🙈