I don’t have that problem because if I can smell their product and it bothers me, I leave whatever place it is.

But, you should be aware that they may have washed their hands just fine. Probably did. A lot of soaps smell way stronger than you’d think. If the smell is on the hands, it’s more likely to have come from soap or lotion than a perfume/cologne. At least, that’s been my experience.

Cologne in particular, if it isn’t a spray, you just use a fingertip and then dab unless you intend to crop dust everywhere you go. That’s not typically enough to linger more than maybe an hour on the finger itself. Obviously, some people just douse themselves, but it isn’t the majority of adults using a decent scent because of the expense.

But, yeah, I feel you. My grandmother was the same way, and of all the things I could inherit from her genes, I got that same kind of hyper sensitivity to smells

Now, I smoked for a long time and it suppressed it. But then I quit, and holy shit, it came back worse. My wife had to change soap three times before I could sleep in the same room, after I quit smoking.

And don’t even try to get me into a mall with a bath & body works. Scented candle sections of stores can clog me up for hours.

Which is a long way of commiserating with you. I’ve had scents “taint” other things before. Often enough that I don’t bother to try and enjoy something after a scent sets off my nose. I won’t be able to taste anything but the smell for up to a couple of hours afterwards, if the scent is strong enough.