Hi there Mona! I’m one of those guys who wasn’t a cologne wearer for many, many years prior to trying out the mones here. Primarily, because I would have an allergic reaction to many scents and it turned out, that the colognes I’d use, though ok initially, would provoke some negative effects (migraine headaches, nausea) with extended exposure. So, I basically kicked the colognes period.
Instant Shine is what I started with and since the scent package is at 6% cologne strength (read: lightly scented), then, I thought it wouldn’t affect me as much. I was right, no major negative self effects, though, occasionally, with some mones and some scents, I’d get a light headache that would go away with a little time.
So, the scents aren’t causing me the type of negative response to scents that you describe. People around me at work, at home, or at play are fine with it and complement the Neroli or Akuto scents that I often wear in my mones.
I’m in So. Cal. so I think it is a bit of a different social environ from you Northerners. The Neroli scent is a bit on the masculine side, in my opinion. Could it be a negative to the scent and if your using IH, they could be brutally honest with there opinions to you!
One way I’ve ‘muted’ the scent (along with the mones) is to apply on my skin, under my shirt or you could also try on your legs as well.
I don’t know what scent is packaged for IS/b, but you could ask at the number above…
For IS and IH, the default is Neroli.
Here is a thread where I asked about scents from AD and there are some good suggestions there as well for application. Hope that helps!