The smell of deodorant

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I didn't used to use deodorant for two reasons:
1 - I didn't sweat
2 - The smell gave me a headache

Now I use deodorant coz I do sports and stuff. I've found two deodorants that don't give me a headache but if I'm feeling even slightly less than 99.99% the whiff of the damn stuff makes me want to puke.

What are some deodorant flavours that we could all live with?

toraneko (toraneko), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 07:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm thinking Green Apple (a la 1970s shampoo)

or icecream - YUM.

toraneko (toraneko), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 07:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Elephant sweat, for that 'really worked out' pose

Gordon (Gordon), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 07:39 (twenty-two years ago)

get the one that doesn't smell of anything but just stops sweat, Sure make one like that.

Ronan (Ronan), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 08:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Tom's of Maine makes one that's nominally unscented but actually has the very vague and pleasant scent of coriander.

Douglas (Douglas), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 11:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I tend to get ones that smell mildly of baby powder.
I think green apple sounds nice though.

Sarah mcLusky (coco), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 11:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Fingertips/icing sugar/unopened textbook

alexfack (alexfack), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Double Bubble

Bryan (Bryan), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Patchouli. Hah! I am just a hippie at heart. (Or maybe a goth...)

kate, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:29 (twenty-two years ago)

mine smells like beef.

Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Hmm, I wouldn't use an anti-perspirant coz that too just plain weird for me, I'd only use a deodorant - hence a really limited choice coz there's only about 4 different ones at the supermarket that are deodorant only.

Doesn't using anti-perspirant freak you guys out, what with the un-natural pore clogging action and all?

Baby powder scent sounds all right.

toraneko (toraneko), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:50 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd like a deodorant that smells like money.

hstencil, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Yet more proof that hstencil = PLAYAH!!!

kate, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm starting to be convinced that my latest playah action is due solely to changing deodorants, actually.

hstencil, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Ooh, crisp new money. It smells so good!

toraneko (toraneko), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:54 (twenty-two years ago)

hstencil is not only a client but the PLAYAH president.

Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 12:58 (twenty-two years ago)

hstencil, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 13:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Systencil

Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 13:05 (twenty-two years ago)

PLEASE unscented only. Maybe for girls a little scent is ok.

Sean (Sean), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:03 (twenty-two years ago)

This thread makes me think of my bf's after shave. MEOW!

Sarah McLUsky (coco), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Whoops. I should have said PHWOAR or something.

Sarah McLUsky (coco), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd like a deodorant that makes people want to spend money on me.

ChristineSH (chrissie1068), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah T. I'd second the Tom's of Maine recommendation if you can get it. I *think* they have an unscented but they have another that smells pleasant and un-chemical like.

I have qualms about using anti-perspriant. If for no other reason than the aluminum in it can stain shirts. But I just don't like constantly having sweat dripping down me during the summertime.

That Girl (thatgirl), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:08 (twenty-two years ago)

My mom told me the aluminum causes altheimers or somethin'.

Sarah McLUsky (coco), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:10 (twenty-two years ago)

you can't remember?

RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, cuz I'm so dumb.

Sarah McLUsky (coco), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Somebody told me that you can get these salt rocks that you rub under your arms as anti-perspirant. They use it in India or something. I personally haven't used it because I'm not a hippie.

cprek (cprek), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I was making, what I thought to be, an alzheimer's joke.

RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I know, RJG. You are a funny guy. (seriously)

cprek, I have indeed used said hippie deoderant. It was middle school. I was confused. I wore loose blouses and long earrings. You run the salt rock under water and then put it under your arms. It is not the greatest because:
1- Sometimes it sort of scratches you if it gets chipped.
2- It smells like salt. And so does sweat. So what's the point?

Sarah McLUsky (coco), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:18 (twenty-two years ago)

What does salt smell like?

Mark C (Mark C), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Sweat.

Sarah McLusky (coco), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:23 (twenty-two years ago)

hot, wet salt.

RJG (RJG), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Mmmmm....

buttch (Oops), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Sweat is salty, but it also smells of other things, such as what hormones you have inside you and what you've been eating (to a certain extent).

ChristineSH (chrissie1068), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I'd like a deodorant that smelled like permanent markers or blacktop. Just because.

buttch (Oops), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Salt scratches/cuts under your arms?! Yipes.

Personally, I've always used Old Spice High Endurance deoderant. I like the smell, and will probably use it everyday until the day I die.

cprek (cprek), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:50 (twenty-two years ago)

The idea is that sweat does not smell (except maybe of salt!) until the bacteria on ur skin get all excited by it and start breeding and eating and dying and crapping and shit and it's the by-products of the bacteria (or is it the bacteria itself?) that smells, not the sweat.

The crystal (salt) deodorants work by inhibiting the bacteria growth. The anti-perspirants work by clogging ur pores so no sweat comes out. Deodorants are usually a combo of one of theses plus smelly stuff - which is meant to mask any yukky smell.

Anyway, I never used to have any problem at all but I guess I rubbed up against the wrong stinker and some bacteria transferred or summat. Thankfully not very much by the smell of things!

toraneko (toraneko), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 14:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Alternate idea: Pay some scientists to do some DNA sequencing. Create a custom bacteria that produces a waste product that smells like flowers. Create a culture for your pits that will overtake the natives! Instant flowery arm pits whenever you sweat!

cprek (cprek), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 15:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I used to sweat bad under my arms when I was younger because of my nerves it didn't smell but it poured out from there. I used this "Mitchum" crap and it was like rubbing spackle on my pits. At night I'd get into bed and my armpit hair would be in dreadlocks. Now I use Old Spice High Endurance like cprek. and i don't have dreadlocked armpit hair.

Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Jah is displeased with you.

hstencil, Wednesday, 30 April 2003 15:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Jah has more hatred for white jeans, tho.

buttch (Oops), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

If jah wants to undread my pits he has my blessing.

Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 15:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I hate deodorant. All it does is give me a rash which is quite foxy in the pits. I don't sweat much and I don't stink. Maybe it's a girly asian thing or maybe it's because I drink a hell of a lot of water.

Carey (Carey), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 16:06 (twenty-two years ago)

The last time I shopped, I couldn't get unscented, and didn't feel like making a separate trip for deodorant; I went with Pierre Cardin because it was the lightest-scented (surprisingly) of what was there, and as it turns out, it doesn't clash with my cologne, so I'm okay with it.

Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 17:03 (twenty-two years ago)

I like most scented deodorants. And I know that it's not exactly fashionable, but the *minute* someone has detectable body odour it's almost always a bad thing.

Mark C (Mark C), Wednesday, 30 April 2003 22:11 (twenty-two years ago)

seven years pass...

Defying a culture of clean that has prevailed at least since the 1940s, a contingent of renegades deliberately forgoes daily bathing and other gold standards of personal hygiene, like frequent shampooing and deodorant use.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/fashion/31Unwashed.html?ref=fashion

richard move (buzza), Sunday, 31 October 2010 05:42 (fifteen years ago)

this whole article = http://i40.tinypic.com/24o34oo.jpg

my dark twisted fennessey (J0rdan S.), Sunday, 31 October 2010 05:48 (fifteen years ago)

I don't shower that much but I have dry earwax so

dayo, Sunday, 31 October 2010 06:08 (fifteen years ago)

str8 up j0rdan when you tour in the loftpunk scene, you are assuredly the odd man out in any band if you bring a stick of deodorant and try to shower every night.

bitch i'm jjjusten at em (Whiney G. Weingarten), Sunday, 31 October 2010 06:28 (fifteen years ago)

another reason to not go to indie rock shows

my dark twisted fennessey (J0rdan S.), Sunday, 31 October 2010 06:30 (fifteen years ago)

i read all of the comments appended to that article for some perverse reason. thing that freaked me out the most was ppl saying that they would work out, sweat profusely, and then not shower. that seems gross to me. also i wonder about the proud seldom-bathers' habits after having sex? ugh

all that being said i know a woman who bathes on a disturbingly infrequent basis, but never really smells bad. while someone like me, even when i've eaten the purest diet and showered 2x+/day, i stil cannot get away w/o wearing deodorant esp. in hot summer weather

ok, peace out, bluds

i have a snake. thank u very much! (del), Monday, 1 November 2010 21:17 (fifteen years ago)

I think the idea of showering every day if you're not breaking a sweat or getting dirty is stupid and wasteful. I also sort of think that lean bikeydude body odor is kind of a turn on....

twisted sister hazel dickens (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 2 November 2010 02:52 (fifteen years ago)

Yeah. Clean sweat is hot.

corey, Tuesday, 2 November 2010 02:52 (fifteen years ago)

Water exists to drink and to wash dirty privates. Privates are a terrible thing to waste.

sandra lee, gimme your alcohol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 2 November 2010 02:54 (fifteen years ago)

you know who else didn't bathe after sweating?

communists.

i have a snake. thank u very much! (del), Tuesday, 2 November 2010 02:58 (fifteen years ago)

didnt that whole aluminum thing turn out to be BS

candid gamera (s1ocki), Tuesday, 2 November 2010 04:25 (fifteen years ago)

As with many things supported only by circumstantial evidence, that no scientist ever claimed as causal in the first place, it's now impossible to prove the demanded negative.

kenan, Tuesday, 2 November 2010 05:15 (fifteen years ago)

It could be the aluminum in your antiperspirant, sure. It could also be the wax on your shoelaces.

kenan, Tuesday, 2 November 2010 05:16 (fifteen years ago)

though yes dirty privates are probably one of the top 5 NAGLs of all time

twisted sister hazel dickens (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 2 November 2010 05:17 (fifteen years ago)

I can't wait to see the NYT article on young crustpunks who rebel by not waxing their shoelaces.

17th Century Catholic Spain (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 2 November 2010 05:17 (fifteen years ago)

Filthy degenerates.

kenan, Tuesday, 2 November 2010 05:28 (fifteen years ago)

got the godamn rash again. WTF.

Str8 Drapin It (chrisv2010), Friday, 5 November 2010 20:08 (fifteen years ago)

The last time I exp2erimented with the natural musk school of grooming, I was 22 and working at Applebee's. Management called me on that shit right quick. I find Degree works pretty well. Also bathing every day unless I'm depressed. Not showering is my way of letting my loved ones know there's something wrong.

kkvgz, Friday, 5 November 2010 20:37 (fifteen years ago)

I'm extremely skeptical of people who say they don't wear deodorant b/c they are not doing things that make them sweaty and smelly. It is my experience that those people often get really, really stinky. Not all of them always, but all of them at least sometimes, and many of them frequently.

(I lost my sense of smell from a concussion last February, so feel free to skip the deodorant around me without concern that I'm judging.)

SEXY HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL (Jesse), Friday, 5 November 2010 20:46 (fifteen years ago)

Since losing my sense of smell, I go through astonishing amounts of deodorant. I miss knowing whether I'm funky or not.

SEXY HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL (Jesse), Friday, 5 November 2010 20:50 (fifteen years ago)

well I've been too lazy to change clothes for the past week so I'm pretty stinky. :\

VanityVEVO (corey), Friday, 5 November 2010 20:54 (fifteen years ago)

have never been a deodorant user, though i shower every day, sometimes more than once (except sundays, sundays are for filth). don't seem to generate armpit funk, unless i do strenuous work for long periods. confirmed by numerous 3rd parties.

tell you the truth, i think commercial deodorants actually make you stinky. like you smell all rosy for a few hours, but next day you're twice as rank as you would be otherwise. which inclines you to use more deodorant, infinitum. this is likely due to the inclusion of secret conspiracy ingredients made from mouse brains.

naked human hands and a foam rubber head (contenderizer), Saturday, 6 November 2010 03:49 (fifteen years ago)

that's like my conspiracy about Kleenex and razors

whiney trollins vs. hipsters (dayo), Saturday, 6 November 2010 03:54 (fifteen years ago)

razors made badly to boost kleenex sales?

or a bumpifying agent in kleenex so you cut yourself twice as badly next time?

naked human hands and a foam rubber head (contenderizer), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:24 (fifteen years ago)

Im convinced that kleenexes are designed to disintegrate into particles that will cause you to sneeze more and your nose to run more

also that shaving cream contains hair growth agents

whiney trollins vs. hipsters (dayo), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:27 (fifteen years ago)

lol, hope everything is true

naked human hands and a foam rubber head (contenderizer), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:30 (fifteen years ago)

hidden fats in weight watchers stroganoff

naked human hands and a foam rubber head (contenderizer), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:31 (fifteen years ago)

i feel like after a certain point, toothpaste makes your breath smell worse, but crest doesn't sell gum afaik so no conspiracy there i don't think

ain't no half-trollin (J0rdan S.), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:34 (fifteen years ago)

toothpaste definitely makes my breath smell better, no paranoias there. without toothpaste i would be a horror.

naked human hands and a foam rubber head (contenderizer), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:37 (fifteen years ago)

too bad they don't sell ass paste

naked human hands and a foam rubber head (contenderizer), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:38 (fifteen years ago)

getting rid of bad breath is all about scraping that tongue #gagreflex

whiney trollins vs. hipsters (dayo), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:41 (fifteen years ago)

yeah i have a terrible gag reflex (nhjic)

ain't no half-trollin (J0rdan S.), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:42 (fifteen years ago)

I definitely do feel that mints make your breath smells worse after they expire, so you compulsively feel the need to pop another one

whiney trollins vs. hipsters (dayo), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:44 (fifteen years ago)

like it wouldn't surprise me to find out that there is a little nugget of bad breath bacteria at the center of each one

whiney trollins vs. hipsters (dayo), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:44 (fifteen years ago)

this is pretty much what i'm saying about toothpaste

like if you brush your teeth but don't eat/drink/pop a mint or gum for a few hours

ain't no half-trollin (J0rdan S.), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:45 (fifteen years ago)

xxxxpost: i know, feel like such a weirdo brushing my tongue. like, sound of running water, sound of vigorous tooth brushing, VIOLENT GAGGING NOISE. no really, i'm okay in here, and this is something i do for my personal hygiene reasons.

naked human hands and a foam rubber head (contenderizer), Saturday, 6 November 2010 04:46 (fifteen years ago)

this is quite oddly timed because I ran out of deodorant a month ago and never bought a replacement. i just decided to see how I'd do without it And so far I'm fine. I don't actually sweat much, I shower in the morning, I wear clean clothes, and I don't smoke/drink/eat shit. I've made my wife swear she will tell me if I reek and she would. frankly I only did this because it has gotten to a point where I just despite the smell of all men's deodorants; I used some kind of right guard gel thing for years and they discontinued the only non-stinky one. and I'm too cheap/broke to go around sampling other ones.

similarly, I quit buying shaving cream when I ran out of that and realized using dove soap worked better and was also a better soap for my face than the expensive shit I'd been buying for years.

akm, Saturday, 6 November 2010 06:46 (fifteen years ago)

If you have a nice relaxing bath before bed, do you put on deodorant when you get out or leave it til next morning? (If you normally use deodorant)

Not the real Village People, Saturday, 6 November 2010 06:58 (fifteen years ago)

lol at asspaste

sarahel, Saturday, 6 November 2010 08:06 (fifteen years ago)

If you have a nice relaxing bath before bed, do you put on deodorant when you get out or leave it til next morning? (If you normally use deodorant)

People wear deodorant to bed??

I wear it whenever I leave the house (maybe not for a quick trip to the nearest shop, but definitely for work or going out) but the first thing I do when I get back home is wash it off again because I find it really dries the skin out if I leave it on.

fred aboombong (a passing spacecadet), Sunday, 7 November 2010 00:47 (fifteen years ago)

(I lost my sense of smell from a concussion last February, so feel free to skip the deodorant around me without concern that I'm judging.)

― SEXY HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL (Jesse), Friday, November 5, 2010 4:46 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Holy shit. Have you and Abbbottt bonded over this or anything?

Anyway, I just went and checked my deodorant. Apparently it has something called Silver Ion Technology. That's hella better than aluminum.

kkvgz, Sunday, 7 November 2010 01:26 (fifteen years ago)

Abbott has no sense of smell?

If you have a nice relaxing bath before bed, do you put on deodorant when you get out or leave it til next morning? (If you normally use deodorant)

I have always put on deodorant after a shower, even if it's right before bed. I started doing this in my teens when I noticed a strong pit funk an hour or two after washing off deodorant. It was probably due to puberty, but even in my 30s I noticed sometimes it would still happen. Plus I don't like the feeling of my pits without deodorant.

SEXY HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL (Jesse), Sunday, 7 November 2010 10:11 (fifteen years ago)

I say "deodorant," but I mean anti-perspirant. I would never, ever bother with just "deodorant," which is nonsense.

SEXY HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL (Jesse), Sunday, 7 November 2010 10:14 (fifteen years ago)

Mary Roach's totally awesome "Packing for Mars" has an entire chapter on astronaut hygiene which basically notes that our body's default comfort zone is somewhere around 5 days without washing, and that 5-7 days of funk more or less gets absorbed by our clothing. She points out that while Ye Olde Renaissance people didn't bathe much, they did wear and change lots of layers, which possibly helped alleviate BO. She (and others ) note that showering or bathing every day is basically a modern affectation.

After 5-7 days, btw, most clothes apparently start to disintegrate and the funk gets more aggressive, even vindictive. The reason they tested all this is because in the early days of space exploration there was obviously not a lot of showering going on (apparently capsules got ripe, though things seem to be slightly better now.

Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 7 November 2010 12:28 (fifteen years ago)

xxp: Yes! Although I believe that she has been unable to smell her whole life, and so may not be able to relate as well to your newly-acquired superpower.

I usually don't put on deodorant after a shower/bath before I hop in bed, but on rare occasions I have to hop out of bed later to put some deodorant on because of wicked fumes.

kkvgz, Sunday, 7 November 2010 12:41 (fifteen years ago)

All you people confident that they don't stink: can we get corroborating evidence? Get your moms, girlfriends, best bros to testify on ILE.

sandra lee, gimme your alcohol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 7 November 2010 13:08 (fifteen years ago)

I have scientific evidence

whiney trollins vs. hipsters (dayo), Sunday, 7 November 2010 13:48 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/science/29cnd-ear.html

They write that earwax type and armpit odor are correlated, since populations with dry earwax, such as those of East Asia, tend to sweat less and have little or no body odor, whereas the wet earwax populations of Africa and Europe sweat more and so may have greater body odor. Several Asian features, such as small nostrils and the fold of fat above the eyelid, are conjectured to be adaptations to the cold. Less sweating, the Japanese authors suggest, may be another adaptation to the cold climate in which the ancestors of East Asian peoples are thought to have lived.

whiney trollins vs. hipsters (dayo), Sunday, 7 November 2010 13:51 (fifteen years ago)

As I've told other ppl in the wake of the NYT article, there is a subcult of gay men who are into "mansmell," pitstink, etc. I'm not among them, but as I wanna puke when I walk into a gay bar and a fog of cologne hits my nostrils -- this was a lot worse in the '80s and '90s, I think -- that I can at least understand them.

kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 7 November 2010 16:42 (fifteen years ago)

i just bought some duross and langel moroccan cedar deodorant. Yay $24 for a stick of deodorant. Now i shall smell like a closet.

Str8 Drapin It (chrisv2010), Monday, 15 November 2010 16:55 (fifteen years ago)

three years pass...

Old Spice: C or D? asking for a friend

example (crüt), Saturday, 11 October 2014 15:04 (eleven years ago)

Orig or like "arctic blast"?

cross over the mushroom circle (La Lechera), Saturday, 11 October 2014 15:39 (eleven years ago)

eleven years pass...

recently (and happily) learned that there is now a saquon barkley-branded scent available. other nfl figures, as well. oh the society we live in. sure it is one!

idk i thought it was just kinda stock 'man flavored' body wash; my pallette is unrefined. ultimately went with the classic dove bar of soap, so that's a good deodorant scent i guess. smells like freshly washed hands. nice.

austinato (Austin), Tuesday, 30 December 2025 15:58 (two weeks ago)

I wear OG Old Spice. C!

the notorious r.e.m. (soda), Tuesday, 30 December 2025 18:28 (two weeks ago)

I just had to buy new deodorant and was flummoxed by the endless variety of Old Spice products. Do I want to smell like Wolfthorn? Bearglove? Krakengard? Lumbersnack?

cinematic hobo hip-hop rock ‘n’ roll blues-jazz soul-review (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 31 December 2025 04:29 (one week ago)


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