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The good & the bad

Posted by Robin on 12 September 2008 23 Comments

For generations, the scent of lavender has been used as a calming agent. Now it appears it even works on-the-spot ... to help patients scared of the dentist's drill.

Spraying the scent 'significantly' lowered patients' anxiety levels, says a study to be presented today at the British Psychological Society's health psychology conference at the University of Bath.

— Read the rest at How the scent of lavender can ease those fears about going to the dentist at the Mail Online.

Malodorous mayhem ensued on a school bus ride home last night when a perfume bottle spilled and sickened about a dozen students and the driver.

Some students vomited and others had shortness of breath after being overcome with the fragrance, District Fire Chief Michael Gamache said.

— From 11 checked out at hospital after perfume sickens students at the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Filed Under: perfume in the news
Tagged With: aromatherapy, perfume makes someone sick

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23 Comments

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  1. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 9:10 am

    Ooh, I really want to know the perfume that caused that much mayhem! Although admittedly any broken perfume bottle would probabkly do the same. In high school my friend's cat knocked over her sister's bottle of Fendi and shattered it – the room had a faint smell of it for ages.

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  2. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 9:26 am

    I want to know too, LOL…although it is true that a whole bottle of perfume in a closed space could make anyone sick. Frankly, riding on the bus always made me sick anyway.

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  3. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 9:55 am

    As much as I love lavender, I don't think it'd calm my jangled nerves at the dentist. I think perhaps valium would do it.

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  4. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 10:11 am

    I hear you, Elisabeth: only tons of very effective anesthetic are any help to my nerves in certain circumstances. So much for lavander, which still I love.

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  5. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 10:17 am

    It would make a fantastic ad::

    ” A last, Feminity has its own weapon of mass destruction: stun schoolboys by the bus-load, with the sheer power of unmitigated “**** ”

    A woodsy oriental, maybe?

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  6. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 10:46 am

    Can't be Charlie — too old!

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  7. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 10:47 am

    Nah, had to be some “in” fruity floral or gourmand. Girls on school buses aren't wearing woodsy orientals these days.

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  8. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 10:48 am

    Yeah, I'll stick with the gas 🙂

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  9. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 11:11 am

    Mmm. A floral /gourmand playing that much havoc? I'm wondering what kind of perfume bus drivers favour.

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  10. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 11:16 am

    Hey, a whole bottle of Pink Sugar in an enclosed place would put me in the hospital for sure 😉

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  11. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 11:56 am

    So one could easily murder you in a telephone boot ( are they still in existence in the U.S.?) A very renaissance idea, murder by perfum. 🙂

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  12. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 11:58 am

    And if they continue to use it, won't it spoil our calming associations with lavender, the way that some people can't abide clove in their fragrances because it reminds them of the dentist?

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  13. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 2:04 pm

    Clove is a natural, and very powerful antiseptic, and it–or something that smells a lot like it, or uses it–is part of the dentist's arsenal. Or so I've been told by a lot of folks who smell clove and turn pale. I don't have that association myself.

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  14. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 2:47 pm

    Well, there are air systems that pipe-in coffee odors to help keep people awake because the smell of coffee perks people up, even if they don't ingest caffeine.

    As far as the bus….it sounds like the frag probably got one or two started, and then the puking kept it going…..It would be interested to know what it was. Most likely a Paris Hilton or Brittany Spears frag.

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  15. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 3:22 pm

    Oh, i think someone swiped it off their granny's dresser to give to their “girlfriend” at school… 😉

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  16. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 4:15 pm

    Re the dentist: well, maybe lavender-scented laughing gas would do it, along with a lavender-tinted Xanax and some Vicodin in a lavender-festooned bottle to take when I get home.

    Is there any way to find out what kind of perfume that was on the bus? I smell a contest…

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  17. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 5:11 pm

    I chuckled when I saw the incident occurred on Cilly Street (Cilly Road). Did anyone else notice that?

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  18. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 6:15 pm

    So true, so funny. It's the reason I don't care much for L'Air Du Temps, even the good vintage stuff, too clove-y. However, lavender IS pretty magical stuff. I use it all the time in a light cream on my clients (I'm a massage therapist) and EVERYBODY says “Wow! What was that smell? It smells GREAT!”

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  19. Anonymous says:
    12 September 2008 at 8:28 pm

    Mitsouko says dentist to me on account of the clove! I don't know where this peach note is supposed to be lurking as I get pink mouthwash all the way through…Maybe one day my nose receptors will vibrate to the correct number so I can smell the peach…

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  20. Anonymous says:
    13 September 2008 at 11:22 am

    well, I am soo so afraid of the dentist – nevertheless he is a good one and really good looking 🙂 that I will try some lavender scent on before visiting him. L'Occitane has an nice one, is there any other nice and not so expensive lavender scent? the dentist is expensive enough…

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  21. Anonymous says:
    13 September 2008 at 8:00 pm

    Yes, maybe they should just diffuse lavender in the air.

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  22. Anonymous says:
    13 September 2008 at 8:13 pm

    Thanks A, had never encountered it at a dentist.

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  23. Anonymous says:
    13 September 2008 at 8:14 pm

    LOL — send me some lavender Xanax, I could use that…

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