How to deal with strong aftershave and perfumes on a flight
Heavy fragrances and aftershaves in cramped airplane cabins trigger severe headaches and migraines for sensitive passengers. This makes long international flights an uncomfortable ordeal, trapping people in close quarters with overpowering scents they cannot escape.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- People have been saying this in most months since September 2026.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1complaining to or about the passengerDid this help you?
- 2wishing to avoid sitting near themDid this help you?
- 3applying Tiger Balm directly under the nostrilsDid this help you?
- 4wearing an N95 or KN95 face maskDid this help you?
- 5holding a hand scented with peppermint essential oil over the noseDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I hope you never sit next to me on a plane after your trip through duty free!”source ↗
“damn aftershave on a flight is torture for many people on the flight with you.”source ↗
“No one wants to smell your aftershave in close quarters on a presumably long international flight.”source ↗
“air travel is horrible for my poor head anyways, but airtravel + strong scents is a whole different kind of migraine hell.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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