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.

LOL @ BO being acceptable in the workplace. Yak.

Rach I've already said I shower daily (usually twice) and always wear clean clothes and use natural deodorant. However after a long shift I do know my clothes have a smell, my cat loves this incidently

Mnhq banned me for some reason apparently for advertising. Got bored waiting for them to reply so signed up to this account just to stop all the wild accusations thrown at me. Will logout and go back to my normal account now.

I'm also glad I don't work with you.

She is fortunate, Gil - I would never have guessed.

As for the OP - one's own whiff is probably tolerable enough. Other people's, on the other hand: NOT.

YABU, sort yourself out.

Jesus OP.

I work as a field official for British Athletics. I shower before a match and put deodorant on. I may work several comps during a match. This includes doing a lot of running whilst I retrieve discus, javelin etc. I work in the middle of the field on some of the hottest days of the year. I worked today. I don't smell. Just buy some decent deodorant Ffs. Jesus, even the long distance runners don't smell after their races. Body Odour is worse than anybody who uses lots of perfume or who smokes. You must be mining for somebody to talk to you about it. I pity your colleagues.

YANBU

human scent ie BO is not the worst thing in the world. Chemical scent? gag

BO can be utterly rank, witchhunt - and 'chemical scent' is not the only other option. I use mitchum unfragranced antiperspirant - so no chemical scent. And if you want a perfume of some sort, you can use a natural, essential oil.

Loletta... I was wondering the same. I mean, how many goady posts can someone post in.one.day?

I've whizzed through the thread at breakneck speed and seen no second, third or even fourth posts from the op, so assume they posted and ran. Typical.

I won't bother replying to the op because a) it's already been said and b) they obviously don't care what we all think.

I have ,however, always wondered why the stinky people are always stacking the shelves in the alcohol section of the supermarket. It always whiffs to high heaven in those aisles. Have they never heard of deodorant or are they somehow related to the op?

Oh there are posts from the op. I was looking for highlighted posts.

Please think of your colleagues. I once worked with someone who smelled so badly of BO, he even smelled when he first got into work all freshly showered because it was so ingrained in his clothes. We used to leave cans of deodorant and Lynx in the staff area but he never got the hint. Was so relieved when he moved on.

Again I'll reiterate that Lemon Juice or bicarbonate of soda will both eliminate odour as effectively as any antiperspirant and are natural.

It's the apocrine sweat glands that produce the type of sweat that can smell - some people have very overactive apocrine sweat glands and it is quite difficult to effectively clean all of that sweat off the body or clothes as it is an oily/waxy type of substance. (Non-bio washing powders/tabs/liquid will not work only biological will work. Also scrubbing clean or having hot showers will actually make the problem worse if you have this condition - called bromohydrosis - as it just stimulates the glands. Bicarb and washing regularly (3 times a day+) with mild soap and water is the only way to control this condition.) Most people mainly sweat from their eccrine glands that cannot cause odour at all even with bacteria - hence why some smell more than others.
I have hyper/bromohydrosis (excessive sweating from my apocrine glands in my armpits and eccrine glands on my hands) and am a member of Hyperhydrosis UK a group that tries to make people aware of our condition and how to be tolerant and helpful about it.

Yes most people who 'smell' just don't wash or care about themselves enough but there are a few (like myself) who can't help it no matter how hard we try! (I shower 4 times a day, wipe my underarms with baby wipes, put on clean clothes 2-3 times a day, chuck out clothes after a couple of months of they smell.......yet can start to whiff very quickly in the 'right' conditions!) To be fair though, those of us with the condition [who know we have it] are usually pretty clued up and don't whiff often as we know how to handle it. I'm lucky in that I've educated my team at work about the condition and they now know they can come to me if I whiff - a few years ago I had lots of 'talks' - recently and with new treatment, in the past couple of years I've only been 'talked to' 3 times and even then was a discreet "it's starting a bit, you may want to have a wipe and put on your spare top." Rather than "you damn stink!"

Lemon juice and/or bicarbonate of soda everyone!!

Meant to say - apocrine sweat doesn't smell in itself but it does with bacteria - but the bacteria can act pretty fast!! Epocrine sweat cannot smell even when bacteria is present. hence why some people sweat loads and don't smell (they sweat mostly Epocrine sweat which doesn't smell but is very watery so shows up a lot on clothes and skin) and others seem to sweat only a little and yet stink! (They sweat mostly from the oily/waxy apocrine glands where the sweat doesn't show as much on clothes or feel so wet to the person.)

If it was a general email to a group of people, then why did you say that "I have been the one spoken to about my hygiene rather than the smokers or the heavy perfume wearers."

That isn't about a general email to a group of people and don't try to pretend now that it was. That was someone saying to you that you don't smell good.

I've had to take a team member aside & speak to them about "smelling like a human" as in a closed room environment it's not very nice.

Most people I know don't reek of chemicals either, it's all fairly subtle....

I'm pregnant and 'human' smells make me retch and often vomit.
I'm fully aware that that's my problem, but if I had to work in close proximity to someone with noticably poor hygiene I'd be pretty miserable.

If you've been told you smell, (which must have been so embarrassing for everyone involved) and you still refuse to try and remedy that, then you must be pretty inconsiderate.

OP, there is a middle ground between body odour and dousing yourself in perfume, you know?! Fortunately, most of us are able to realise this.

DramaQueen is right about the particular kind of sweat that smells bad no matter what. I've encountered such people who smell coming straight out of the shower (the steam just seems to open the pores and while the stale smell is gone the acrid fresh sweat is still there.)

Chemical smells make me heave. I stopped using deodorant over a year ago and instead swipe a piece of fresh lemon or lime under my arms. You still sweat, but the citrus kills the nasty bacteria that causes the bad smell. I agree that the chemical smells of perfume, shampoo, fabric softener, body spray are as bad if not worse than a normal body smell, as long as that body had a shower earlier in the day.

A slice of citrus wouldn't be enough for me, but I don't have a problem with the chemical smells some of you despise.

What do you do when you're away or staying at a friends??! 'Can I borrow a knife to cut up my lemon ?'

I love this thread and the concept of 'smelling like a human ' so so so much I can't even say !

You have given me a new phrase op and for that I thanks you

I have heard that the Yanomami and other tribes in the amazon wash several times a day. They are pretty natural and clearly don't like the smell of B.O. either!

Well let's face it - it was the Romans that taught us to wash and after they left we reverted to our filthy ways for a few centuries more !

The Italians are still horrified that we don't have bidets !