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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not 'get' anti-perspirants

128 replies

bakeroony · 16/02/2014 19:19

I think this is going to be a controversial one

The thought of using an anti-perspirant gives me the creeps. To me, it's like using a product to cut down on your saliva, or other secretions, and it just seems unnatural and wrong. I haven't used it since I was a teenager and got fed up of all the white marks, not to mention the scaremongering about products containing aluminium.

I'm slightly more comfortable with the idea of deodorants but again, I hate the thought of slicking my armpits with a sticky product just to smell a bit more like a toilet freshener. I'm 'lucky' to have the dry earwax gene and everyone I've asked (I did a study as part of this at Uni too) says they can't detect an odour, but I think I'd feel this way even if I did produce BO.

I usually just spritz a bit of perfume and get on with it. To me, sweating is a beneficial thing for the body.

Does anyone else feel the same or am I completely on my own here?

OP posts:

Original poster

bakeroony · 16/02/2014 19:42

But I "should" be using it according to the advertising industry, because while I don't think it smells, I do sweat.

But I am objecting to using a product that stops my sweating, because I see it as a natural function.

OP posts:

DebbieOfMaddox · 16/02/2014 19:43

You see it as a natural function largely because you don't smell. If you honked to high heaven then you'd be less keen.

BertieBottsJustGotMarried · 16/02/2014 19:44

Don't you get visible wet marks on your clothes if you don't use anti-perspirant? I do and I know some of my friends as teenagers used to (I suppose when we were getting to grips with starting to sweat more and managing BO) and one in particular was really self conscious about it.

I'm sure I'm being manipulated to think this but it looks horrible, IMO.

I sweat loads though :( I have to carry around tissues to mop my brow in the summer because otherwise it's running down my face which is disgusting.

Binkyridesagain · 16/02/2014 19:44

My sweat doesn't smell but I still use anti-perspirant because I don't want sweat patches showing on my clothes. I prefer to stay dry.

BertieBottsJustGotMarried · 16/02/2014 19:45

I should add I do live in a slightly hotter country than the UK and it's normally between 25 and 30 degrees here in the summer. My poor English sweat glands think I'm dying

GoingGoingGoth · 16/02/2014 19:46

I also have the dry earwax gene, and haven't used deodorant for years. I'm a bit paranoid about it and have asked family and friends if I smell and so far no one has ever said I do. Trust me, if I smelt they would tell me.

I also wash regularly, especially as I like cycle.

SauceForTheGander · 16/02/2014 19:47

You're lucky. They say ladies glow - well I glow fucking buckets.

Thank god for Mitchum! I'd be changing tops every hour. It was the bane of my teenage years

Apparently it's got something to do with my super low blood pressure.

WhoNickedMyName · 16/02/2014 19:47

I have the dry earwax gene, I sweat but it doesn't smell at all. I left my gym bag in the car once full of sweaty kit for 2 weeks while we were on holiday, it still smelled of clean washing when I opened it up.

But I totally don't get why you don't get that some people want and need to use antiperspirant or deodorant.

itsbetterthanabox · 16/02/2014 19:47

You would definitely feel different if you were a sweaty person and got BO. Wet patches had smelling bad are much worse than using a deoderant.

PlateSpinningAtAllTimes · 16/02/2014 19:48

I get what you are saying, op, but it's quite deeply entrenched in our culture that damp patches under the armpits are Not A Good Look. Like hairy armpits on women. And while it would probably be better for us not to do these things, most of just wouldn't be brave enough to take a stand and go against these social norms. All of that is aside from the BO issue. Good for you though, if you are planning on freeing yourself from the chains!

Original poster

bakeroony · 16/02/2014 19:48

The only time I've had wet patches on my clothes is when I went to Turkey in 40 degree heat, and my boyfriend at the time made us walk 6 miles with no shade!

I get out of breath faster than I sweat, and I'm not excessively unfit. Wondering now if that's a bad thing!

OP posts:

winterhat · 16/02/2014 19:50

Your sweat probably does smell like anyone else's, i.e. it turns to BO as soon as anyone's would. You just get used to it and other people aren't going to answer "yes, actually you smell" when you ask them. Or if they often spend time with you then they're used to it as well.

If you don't want to use an aluminium-based product then get an organic one from a health shop.

Brushing your teeth, washing your hair, travelling by car, living in a heated home, taking any medication, wearing shoes and using soap aren't natural. Do you decline to do those too?

BertieBottsJustGotMarried · 16/02/2014 19:54

Well from the sounds of that, you are unusual! Most people sweat far more easily than that.

NoArmaniNoPunani · 16/02/2014 19:55

othpaste isn't good for us. Fluoride is a by-product of fertiliser manufacturing and because they had large quantities to dispose of, they dumped it in the water supply then spun us this story that its good for our teeth!

That's not true. There is a huge amount of peer reviewed, statistically significant evidence that fluoride is good for teeth

DoJo · 16/02/2014 19:56

I don't think all men use deodorant rather than antiperspirant - my husband certainly doesn't!

Redcliff · 16/02/2014 19:57

I used to work with a guy who didn't use anti deodorant - I have very little sense of smell so didn't bother me but everyone else really suffered. They did talk to him about it but he wasn't bothered. My sweat really stinks and I would never go without.

HazeltheMcWitch · 16/02/2014 20:02

SauceForTheGander - what's that about - ahem - glowing and low bloodpressure? Tell me more!

Signed, a fellow low-blood pressured, Mitchum-using, Glowy Betty.

ComposHat · 16/02/2014 20:02

Do you find you get a seat to yourself a lot op? or find you dine alone in the staff canteen?

WhoWasThatMaskedWoman · 16/02/2014 20:03

Honestly winterhat, the non-smelly sweat gene is a real thing. You know how young children don't pong under their pits when they run around and get sweaty? Some adults don't either. It's down to whether they express "ATP-binding cassette transporter sub-family C member 11" according to Wikipedia (don't ask me, I skipped O Level biology).

treaclesoda · 16/02/2014 20:06

I don't like anti perspirant, don't like how it feels on my skin and I have never found it effective against wet patches anyway. And I don't really like the thought of trying to stop sweat as I think we sweat for a reason.

Deodorant, on the other hand, I couldn't be without. I still remember one occasion, about ten years ago, when I forgot to put my deodorant on before going to work. By the middle ofvthe afternoon I was almost crying with embarrassment because I'm sure I smelt awful, I could smell myself and my gut feeling was that if even I could smell the sweat it must have smelt far worse to everyone else. Deodorant is my friend.

Original poster

bakeroony · 16/02/2014 20:08

I really doubt it was bad, treaclesoda! I had a flatmate who didn't use it, she had a noticeable 'smell' at times (she didn't shave either) but it was almost nice. Musky, if you will.

My DP's smell is delicious. I love it when that shower-gel smell has worn off. It's different from BO...that must be the pheromones coming out.

OP posts:

Bogeyface · 16/02/2014 20:09

Ooh, my blood pressure is lowish and I am a stinky minky without my mitchum!!

Indith · 16/02/2014 20:11

You are lucky OP but you need to remember that we all have different lifestyles. It is all very well saying you have a shower if you feel sticky in summer but can a nurse just pop and shower every 3 or 4 hours when on a 12 hour shift? Can a teacher just leave her class because she feels a bit wiffy? Actually a secondary school teacher will get ripped to shreds by a bunch of teenagers if she has BO and sweat patches. Can you imagine sitting next to someone sweaty and stinky in an office? Some of us sweat a lot more than others and some of us have stronger BO than others. Personally I know that I sweat a lot and that I get very stinky without using anything.

SauceForTheGander · 16/02/2014 20:15

Hazel all I know is this ... And I got this from a newspaper article about things that are considered illnesses in different countries (will Google later...)

In Germany very low blood pressure like mine (90/40) is considered to be bad news - rather than something to be pleased about. So they treat it with medication to get it normal levels. They say it causes fainting (yep) and excessive sweating (YES). I've never heard of that link before.

I would go out with spare tops / tissues in my armpits in my youth. My wardrobe is restricted to materials and colours that don't make the problem even more obvious. Even in winter.

YABU OP as you don't get it because you don't sweat.

mistermakersgloopyglue · 16/02/2014 20:18

How is dry earwax and sweat related? Anyhow, I don't think ds and I have that gene, I am a right old sweaty Betty and am constantly having to clean out ds's waxy ears! Anti perspirant all the way here!

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