"Could you do that OUTSIDE please?

What does one say to A Nice Person whose use of scent practically amounts to chemical warfare?

Yeh, those of you who know and love me have had occasion to laugh about my insistence that if someone doesn't "smell right" I'm not going to have anything to do with them--usually in the context of why I wouldn't consider dating a particular person.

I'm finding, unfortunately, that its also true of people I interact with in other situations. Being assaulted by their scent leads me to speciously avoid people, even though I might otherwise consider them to be good company.

While I love flowers, and choose plants for my garden as much for their scent as for their appearance, I find that certain ones are too concentrated, and are best enjoyed upwind in a strong breeze. Lillies, for instance. One of the less enjoyable tasks in the garden department was sorting through the lillies. I'd do it as quickly as possible, and still wind up feeling a bit dizzy and vaguely nauseated.

Certain perfumes have that effect, straight out of the bottle, wafting along on a cloud of steam. Ironically enough, that very same perfume, hours later after its had a chance to blend with the person's own body chemistry, makes hugging them quite a pleasant experience. Go Figure.

Marketing through the centuries has made such an issue of the "signature scent", and there's lots of mystique around having a master perfumer blend one especially for oneself. That "expression of the inner essence", etc.,--and then there's all the hype about scented products for our daily lives. Ever wonder about advertising's use of the description "Fresh, Clean Scent"? Just what is it?

One of the more illuminating conversations I had with a veterinarian I dated once was about personal scent. He told me everyone has one, and the only reason I hadn't figured out my own was that I bathed so frequently. "Go a couple of days without a bath, EVERYONE has a scent!"

Given my own admittedly primitive appreciation of a good scent (a comprehensive hug from someone who "smells right" puts my better judgment on hold), I hate to deny anyone that most essential means of self-expression.

So how does one say, "Could you do that OUTSIDE please", without giving offense?