People Who Don't Wear Deodorant or Seemingly Bathe Regularly, Why?
People Who Don't Wear Deodorant or Seemingly Bathe Regularly, Why?
Like, I travel around for work and I've met plenty of people from all backgrounds.
Why is there a demographic of people who don't seemingly bathe regularly, or at the very least wear something to cover up their BO? I could understand if it's an allergy, or even religious reasons (though the people I've met that smell bad are usually you're average American young adult man) but recently (like in the past week, recently) I've met a concerning number of people who don't seem to wear any kind of deodorant or possibly don't even bathe regularly; it's starting to become an issue for me, as I don't even want to interact with them when I can smell them walking up from 3+ feet away yet I need to for work.
Does anyone have any possible insight?
People should shower regularly, but I find the aromas wafting from people who use many fragrance products far more offensive and offputting than someone smelling like a human. Some people's shampoo, laundry detergent and deodorant (not to mention body spray, cologne or perfume) are so strong that I can smell them from 5 feet away, and the odor lingers for several minutes after they leave an area. I don't really care what it smells like as much as that I seem to be allergic to these fragrances, and sneeze, get red eyes, my nose starts running my lips swell a bit. This is why some places have instituted a fragrance-free policy - as many as 25% of people have an allergy to various components of these perfumes. Unfortunately it's a very touchy thing to explain to people as the average person thinks they're doing something virtuous by wearing a bunch of fragrances and it makes them more appealing to be around.
I was this kid all throughout my school years.
Parents never taught me any kind of personal hygiene, and my house was filled with a thick smog of smoke, so my sense of smell is still shot to this day. To give an idea how bad it was, I was asking for dentures when I was 14 because my teeth were literally falling out. The water in our house was spotty at best, on top of the hygiene thing, so baths were maybe once every 2 weeks or so. My parents always had a fridge stocked with Coca Cola, but almost never drinkable water.
Besides pointing at my parents, I don't really have an explanation for you, but I've definitely "been there."
It took a lot of effort, but I've come a looooong way since then. Like... unrecognizably so, thankfully - other than the dentures, at least.
If anyone is reading this, and in a situation where their home life or depression or whathaveyou is putting you in this kind of situation: Just know that things can and will get better. I know how difficult and embarrassing it can be when you're deep in it, but all you gotta do is be a little bit better than yesterday (when you're able). It takes time, but it's totally worth it.
My girlfriend finds showering and bathing extremely painful due to several very severe skin conditions. She’s also allergic to almost every deodorant that doesn’t cost a ridiculous amount. She doesn’t sweat a whole lot so it’s usually not an issue, and can get away with only one shower a week usually. Her conditions are pretty rare so I’m not saying everyone who doesn’t shower regularly has what she has, but there might be factors at play for some that give them legitimate reason not to shower. Or it could just be laziness
Copying and pasting my answer from the same question just 2 weeks ago:
How do you know they all weren't wearing it?
There are a lot of people who do wear it but continue to smell because of underlying medical conditions. For example, fruity smelling body odor can indicate diabetes. People with a rare genetic condition called Trimethylaminuria can smell strongly of fish. It all depends on what bacteria (which outnumber your own body cells by 10 to 1 even though they are only 2% of your body mass) and what balance of enzymes you may or may not have.
Reducing perspiration can and often does help, concealing the odor with different ones can help, but sometimes people's bodies just aren't right for whatever mass produced product they have bought. Sometimes that can be fixed with medication. Sometimes it can't.
https://kbin.social/m/asklemmy@lemmy.ml/t/638513/-/comment/3647566
A lot of people simply don't know proper hygiene because they were never taught it.
A shower doesn't mean let the water run over you for a few minutes and then spray on some deodorant. Lather some soap in to a flannel and scrub every part of your body, and if you sweat badly use antiperspirant.
But it's recent thing you've noticed. People might be cutting back on things due to budget. Not many people would admit that they're not showering because of financial worries.
The few people I know with this issue fall into one of two categories.
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Access issues. There are some kinds of road blocks accessing a quality shower/bath. Which makes showering/bathing is an uncomfortable activity for some reason. Maybe it's that their shower is really small and cramped, with a low quality shower head. Maybe it's an issue where the water quality is low in the shower they have access to. Low quality water can have an odor people find uncomfortable, or it can dry out their skin making their skin feel dry even while under the water. People naturally avoid things that make them uncomfortable even subconsciously.
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Mental Health. I suffer from this occasionally. I love showering, it's extremely relaxing, but for whatever reason the process of getting into the shower is such a huge barrier to overcome. You feel like absolute dog shit. You know that a shower would make you feel better, but for whoever reason no matter how hard you try, you cannot push through the transition of wanting to shower, to taking that first step towards doing it. And it all compounds together to make you feel like an even bigger piece of shit for not being able to do something so basic. Until eventually you've doom scrolled the entire day away and now it's dark out and you're tired and you've got a stress headache because you've barely even ate today either while you just stewed in your own filth.
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Wearing deodorant has nothing to do with bathing regularly.
You can bath regularly and not need deodorant, every body is different. Also depends on the activities done between each bath/shower.
Now some people do not bath regularly and use deodorant or perfume, that never ends up well in terms of odor.
Believe it or not, most of us don’t actually need to shower every day. If you’re not doing a lot of physical work or don’t work in a place with a lot of grime, you can honestly get away with showering less often. Technically the same goes for deodorant but I wouldn’t go a day without it lol.
I personally shower once every day, but I don’t shampoo my hair nor use body wash all over my body every day. I’ll usually use conditioner only for my hair and I will regularly wash my pits, feet, privates, butt, and ears with body wash, but I only really use shampoo and use body wash everywhere like twice a week or so. I also apply deodorant every day. No comments about bad smells from everybody including a people who will straight-up comment on stuff like that, and I’ve actually got a lot of compliments about my hair :)
First off, not everyone who doesn't wear deodorant smells, and secondly, some people shower regularly and use deodorant and still smell.
The diet, genetics, and what kind of bacteria live on your skin will affect the body's odor. I struggled with body odor for years before I discovered that I was showering incorrectly. I learned that after lathering the soap and getting covered by it, you're supposed to let it sit on the skin for a while before scrubbing and rinsing; this discovery which many consider obvious was new to me, and it stopped my body odour completely to the point I don't need deodorant at all by simply showering with a correct technique.
My experiences with stink.
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Old people. Some were raised to shower infrequently because regular bathing wasn’t a luxury they had access to growing up. They carry this habit with them now. Source: I used to work with lots of old people.
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People from cold climates who move to warmer ones. Sure, in Amsterdam you can shower once a week but move to Australia and you stink. Source: My ex-father-in-law is Dutch, living in Australia.
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People who avoid soaps and deodorants because they prefer natural alternatives or ‘splashing and rinsing’. They think they don’t stink. Most girls I’ve met with bad smelling vaginas fall into this category. Source: Dating.
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Teenagers who haven’t worked out puberty yet. Source: Used to work in a school.
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Re-wearing unwashed clothes too many times. Source: Figured this one myself.
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People who prefer to stink. When you don’t bathe and don’t use deodorant, you get used to the icky feeling and the smell to the point where you prefer it, and a shower and soap then makes you uncomfortable (itchy/tingly). Source: Ex-girlfriend.
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Depressed autistic
It appears that a number of people in this comment section just downvote everyone that does not use deodorant for any reason. As a test: Deodorant never quite grew on me, I started hating the rather extreme and sometimes even pungent smell as a teenager. I shower (twice) daily to every third day depending on season, daily routine and other factors.
I didn't use to either shower or bathe but it was a mental health issue: I went though both depression, which didn't help, and I didnt have good showering habits due to being kinda aquaphobic. If water hit my face at all I would think I'd die (pretty dumb I know). Nowadays I bathe pretty much daily. Having a detachable showerhead helps a lot so I don't have to deal with water on my face.
Drought. When you live in the bush and only have tank water for everything, drinking water comes before showering/bathing. When things are bad, shower once per week and use a bowl of water and wash cloth to freshen up the rest of the time. Still end up with a smell though. You can smell the drought on the people in a rural areas when you go into town.
I shower when I feel like I need to. Usually every 2-3 days, unless I've been sweating or working in a dirty environment. Wife says I never stink and she has the nose of a god damned bloodhound. Guess it depends on body chemistry and the PH balance of the skin. I use gentle soaps. I do wear antiperspirant everyday though. So I dunno. But I did find this:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/showering-daily-is-it-necessary-2019062617193
For much of my adult life I've smelled good with or without deodorant and rarely sweat much. Lately whether because of a hormonal change or something wrong I'm unaware of, my smell has changed completely. No amount of deodorant helps, no amount of showering helps. In fact, I often end up using deodorant as a last resort, because whatever bacteria is taking over seams to turn all types of deodorant into vinegar & onions in a matter of minutes, as if it's feeding off the deodorant. The smell seems to be improving over time, according to other people, not just me. But it has given me additional sympathy for people going through this. When its bad, I can lather my body head to toe in the shower 4 times and come out smelling the same as I went in. Sometimes smells are hard to tackle. You shouldn't assume it's a hygiene thing.
When you work more and bathe less than a medieval peasant.
I shower regularly. I do not wear deodorant/anti-perspirant. I got tired of it ruining my clothes/just buying it, and as I’ve gotten older and further away from puberty I found that just regularly showering does most of the heavy lifting. I don’t need to smell like sunshine and rainbows all the time lol
That being said, I often keep a stick around for nicer events and such or maybe a really important meeting
I shower regularly. I do not wear deodorant/anti-perspirant. I got tired of it ruining my clothes/just buying it, and as I’ve gotten older and further away from puberty I found that just regularly showering does most of the heavy lifting. I don’t need to smell like sunshine and rainbows all the time lol
That being said, I often keep a stick around for nicer events and such or maybe a really important meeting
I live in a tropical country, showering daily or more than once/day is a necessity (at least it is to me). As for a decent and safe deodorant, try Milk of Magnesia.
So I shower relatively regular and definitely before I go out meeting people. But deodorant I keep forgetting since I started working from home when Covid began. I don’t go out often and for going to the grocery store I don’t care, so it’s not ingrained into me anymore. But I don’t think it’s so important since I just showered anyways.
I never talk to anyone so i have no incentive to other than my own comfort. I do feel more comfortable when i'm clean, but my mere comfort often doesn't feel like reason enough when executive dysfunction makes a shower is a 1-hour affair, plus i have a weird anxiety around thriftiness so i don't like to "waste" the warm water and soap.
Same reason why the house isn't as clean as it could be. It would be cleaner if anyone came in here ever, but no one does, so the only reason to vaccuum is my own satisfaction, which isn't worth the time and effort.
All told i end up showering every ~5 days in winter and once a day in summer, and i never touch the perfume bottles. I actually don't really get the point of perfume or deodorant tbh, seems like the solution to BO is a shower.
I was once a stinky man and while I don’t want to use this as an excuse, I had a not so great childhood and struggle with mental illnesses. I’m still not always the best at taking care of myself but I’m better than I was and I make sure I’m mostly clean.
Are you more sensitive to stimulation than the average person?
Some ethnicities have less or different body odor. So some people just don't need much or any deodorant.
Personally; I manage my BO. If I can lift my shirt up, pull my head inside the shirt, and smell my own armpit odor, then I'm in need of some DO.
I've been using a Dove branded Spray-On (AP/)DO for Women and it's effective. By combining the acts of applying DO, then, changing clothes; I don't particularly sweat over much.
I Do Shower on an As-Needed Basis. That's saying that I do shower, without committing to any specific showering pattern or timing basis. If you try to imply I don't shower regularly you will look foolish.
If I stink, then it's either uncommonly hot and humid or I have not yet had the opportunity needed to shower. The hows and whys of this are not important; but generally if I choose not to shower, it's probably for a good reason.
I do suffer from some allergies and disabilities. I won't comment on what they are specifically, but they do exist, so I keep my fragrances light and unobtrusive; and I try to shower only when I can manage to handle doing so. I'm not going to uproot or upset my health, focus, peace or routine just to take a shower to please someone arbitrary; but I do allow the people whom I live with and love to remind me gently should I forget about addressing my BO in the chaos of life.
This isn't saying that I don't care. It's saying I'm imperfect, I have a life, and I do get overloaded sometimes.
I've noticed a lot of people don't do things the way I do them and it bothers me too!! Stomp your right foot with me if you agree!
For me, it was because my mountain bike gear was being washed on cold as heat screwed up the Eva foam in the knee pads and body armor. The jersey also got washed cold, so bacteria never got killed off. When it got hot, the heat would activate the smell, but it's hard to tell when you are going fast down a trail.
Once I started washing everything possible on hot, it stopped a lot of the smell.
I assume people are doing that with non-mtb clothing and getting similar BO results. So it's quite possible it's also not necessarily them, but their clothes.
I know I will let myself go when I'm in the midst of being deeply depressed, but then again I usually don't get much past my bed then. So that could be some of it.
I used to have a buddy that stank to high heaven, good dude overall, but damn did he smell. Turned out that he never washed his clothes. Once he got in the habit of doing that the problem resolved itself quickly.
The only other thing I can think of would be some Andrew Tate types going on about some made up benefits of 'natural male musk ' or something like that. Not sure if anyone is doing that, but I could see some men taking to that advice.
I find the ones drenched in foul smelling deodorants smell far worse.
I don't apply deodorant at all. Maybe before I know I'm about to be active, but even without it, it's fine, I shower after anyways.
Never tried using deodorant. I didn't like the idea of using it. Showering has been enough for me. (I'm 32)
Nowadays I have a skin condition in my armpits so I don't think it would be wise to use that stuff anymore anyway.am smell good without deodorant
People who post stupid passive aggressive questions on the internet, why?
If you've never worn deodorant then you likely won't need to wear deodorant as long as you bathe regularly. Once you start wearing deodorant it encourages growth of anaerobic bacteria which leads to foul smelling armpits. For those who have been wearing deodorant who want to get off of it, you can wash your armpits with an iodine rinse solution such as Betadine in the shower for a few days to a few weeks, then you should be free of that ridiculous need henceforth.