OT: Office Ettiquette... How do I politely tell a young lady that I'm allergic to her Perfume ?

[rjmacs]

You are the best gauge of her likely response, because you work with her. That being said, a tactic that often works for me is to be both apologetic and complimentary during the request, e.g., "It's so nice to have someone in the office who takes such pride in her appearance and presentation, which makes this doubly awkward for me. I suffer from terrible allergies and chemical sensitivity, and lately I'm very affected by colognes and perfumes, which sadly means that when we work together I find myself sneezing and wheezing! It's a cruel irony, but I wonder if for my sake you could abstain on days that you're in the office? I'm terribly sorry to be a bother, especially since presentation is clearly very important to you."

It's harder to say no to someone who's just dished you a big compliment. It doesn't matter if she's really that well-put together.