do you not smell body odor or do you just get used to it?

Genuinely curious. I have met a few people of different walks of life that I could tell did not and I have always used it, so I’m just curious. I know there was a couple that stopped using it for around a year, and they said their body actually end up not perspiring as much as when they used antiperspirant, but I’d like to know other people’s experiences.

  • TheIvoryTower@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Often antiperspirants create a cycle of dependency. They kill off some of the benign bacteria and favour the ones that produce strong body odour, so if you stop using them you stink.

    I grew up in a region where no-one used antiperspirant or deodorant. Nobody smelt bad. People have a smell, but its not strong.

    When I moved to the city and smelt post-basketball teenage BO, it was so bad.

    I dont use antipersperant. I have asked many people if I smell, all agree I dont.

    • SheDiceToday@eslemmy.es
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      1 year ago

      Aye, we know way too little about the effect of skin products on the microbiome of our skin. Some of what has been looked at has different conclusions. There is a ‘community’ out there somewhere that I used to keep tabs on that believe everyone can get to the point of ‘mildly smelly’ at worst. The idea is that you just have to find the right bacteria to populate your skin. They would scrape and swap. There were two camps of thought, separated by whether they believed washing with soap was appropriate once you had the right bacteria mix.