to not be into this modern obsession with smelling of chemicals rather than like a human

[naturallysmelling]

I personally find it normal to have a human smell about you after a hot (28 degrees) working day.

I find the smell of peoples aftershave, perfume and cigarettes quite offensive. Really irrigates my nose and throat.

I seam to be in the minority, I use natural deoderants but after 12 hours I do smell like a human. I've been the one spoken to about my hygiene rather than the smokers or the heavy perfume wearers. I wash every morning, dry skin brush to remove dead skin and use a chemical free deodorant. But I do smell like a human at the end of the day, not like aritical chemicals. I seam to be on the outside in this modern world.

God I love the smell of DH after a long days work. A true human smell yes can drive me to distraction. On a more innocent note I love the smell on a my sun soaked, sweaty headed Ds after a run around in the park too. What's wrong with enjoying true human scents.

bump- yes but these are people you have an emotional attachment to. I happen to feel the same way about my own family ( only up to a point with my 17 yo DS though)

Quite different to the smell of some sweaty dirty random person.

What the OP hasn't told us is that she's actually a goat.

Oh this has made me cry

'Smell like a human !

OP - AIBU?

Everyone else - yes!

Where has the OP gone?

It isn't a "modern obsession" to not want to smell of BO. It is selfish and unsociable, especially if you work in an enclosed office. Just buy some fragrance free anti-perspirant before you lose your job.

Wow, on the ball tonight.

The apocrine glands of the armpit (and groin, etc.) produce sweat as an odorless liquid -- until bacteria on the surface of the skin begin breaking down the fatty acids and protein found in this type of sweat, which causes the characteristic body odor.

That's not smelling "like a human." That's smelling of bacterial decomposition. Not saying that to be rude. That's part of the definition.

A good unscented, solid stick-type antiperspirant is what you need. Bathe, apply, you're done! It never needs to be an issue again.

Oh, and you've got plenty of eccrine sweat glands all over the rest of your body that won't result in this type of odor -- so you don't have to fear not being able to sweat "enough."

Grim.

BO and dirty smelling hair was my nightmare when I was pregnant. You do not smell like a human, you smell like my ferrets if I don't clean them out daily. Which is bad. Very, very bad.

You really find it preferable to smell like a ferret?

I grew up in the late sixties and seventies. As a teenager, I was allowed a bath twice a week, and got a clean school shirt twice a week. My mum did not think to buy me deodorant or antiperspirant, and so I know I stunk, all the way through senior school, and most of the time, my hair was lank and greasy.

It is deeply anti-social to be so stinky that your co-workers complain and HR have to 'have a word' with you.

If you don't want to smell of chemicals, use Mitchum unfragranced antiperspirant - it is the most effective one I have ever found. I use it, and then spritz on my own perfume - but you don't have to use perfume (you could use an all-natural essential oil instead).

I wonder if the OP is reading this - and is going to bother to come back and answer?

The OP said she washes daily so probably doesn't smell like a ferret.

Maybe she doesn't use anything but water to wash with, since she's so against "chemicals". Anyway, she must smell really bad to have been spoken to about it.

"Smell like a human" sounds like a great song title.

Incidentally, the last time I was in London it was a boiling hot day and I was on a very crowded tube train. I noticed that there wasn't even the slightest smell of BO and thought how nice that was and how unpleasant it would have been (to have been in such close proximity to so many people), before the days of antiperspirants and daily showers and baths.
I don't agree that the only alternative to stinking - aka smelling "human" according to the OP - is to douse yourself with strong perfumes. That would just be adding another smell to the BO, which is what used to happen, years ago. That is very unpleasant, as opposed to just not smelling at all, as the vast majority of people manage to do these days, thankfully.
I don't think that the OP is ever going to change, though, unfortunately for anyione in close proximity to her.

I'm going to go against the grain slightly.

Yes, BO is bad. But why aren't smokers taken aside by their bosses and asked to be more fragrant?

There's two at my work and sitting next to them floors me. It's a really bad smell.

Why is that acceptable but BO isn't?

Can't you use non-scented deodorant? Most people don't want to smell like 'chemicals' (obviously) and are clearly not 'obsessed' with so doing - they just also don't want to smell like bo. And this is hardly a modern obsession - lots of pre modern peoples used perfumes etc.

Personally I wouldn't put cigarette smoke in the same category as perfume etc. Cigarette smoke offends me to my very core, I've even had to (politely) ask people who sit next to me on the bus to relocate themselves if they smell of it.

Some people do tend to overdo it with the fragrances but I'll take that over BO any day of the week - overdoing the perfume carries the message 'Ok I don't know when to stop but at least I'm trying to smell pleasant'; BO says 'I don't give a shit how bad I smell'. Which message would you rather send?

In conclusion, Yes, YABU.

Washing daily doesn't necessarily mean no BO. It just depends on your personal level of smell.

If the OP has been spoken to, daily washing is obviously not enough to stop BO. Doubt the OP is coming back, don't think they had any intention of coming back in the first place.

I'm with you on smoking as well KingJoffrey. I find smokers breath straight after a fag as offensive as BO.

This thread itself has a distinctly fishy aroma.

Cilla, I think you're right. Kind of hate that I spent time making sure I had the specifics of sweat glands straight. But I do now know even more about sweat than I did before. So that's good. And kind of pitiful.

Learning about the human body is always interesting.

Did you know that your nails grow a hair's width each day?

No, I didn't. Thanks for the info!