--to stay away from chemical additives as much as possible: use unscented, plain soap, laundry detergents, etc. Part of this is due to environmental concern--too many of these things wind up in the water and food cycles--but much of it is personal. I was always one of those people with an absurdly sensitive nose--I can detect highly diffuse odors on people that clue me in to what they've recently eaten, where they've been, and the like--and colognes/perfumes are like repellent to me.

The other part of this involves skin sensitivity--I've had lifelong sensitivity (even before the neuropathy) to the extent that many fabrics bother me (I tend to wear only cotton and fleece, with some lycra based "stretchy" synthetics), and I've found that the ones that are bothersome invariably have a detectable "chemical" odor, as if they've had some sort of treatment. I doubt that this is coincidental.