To ask how I can smell better?

[Wdissb]

This is really embarrassing but recently I've noticed I've started to smell bad. I used to not need to shower everyday but now I'm aware of an odour part way through the day even after a shower. It's not normal BO - I use a good quality antiperspirant and the smell doesnt seem to come from my armpits.
I cant really work out exactly where the smell comes from, although it is more noticeable when I'm wearing a skirt or dress with tights and does seem worse if I'm hot. No one has commented on it but I'm so aware of it.

Can anyone suggest what I can do to combat it? I shower every morning and as well as antiperspirant I use a body spray/perfume.

Bio washing powder, bar soap instead of shower gel, clean clothes every day. I sometimes wash my underarms, put deodorant on, change my top, as well as brushing my teeth after lunch especially around my hormones

@TitsInAbsentia

Just posting to echo that peri bought about a host of weird whiffs I had never experienced before. Thanks to HRT and a decent deoderant (sure max) and modibodi period pants (far better and fresher than pant liners) I am far more pleasant to be around!

Do the period pants stop the whiff from down below?

Whiff from what ? Period or normal discharge ?
My discharge doesn’t smell, but I do find period pants whiffy compared to towels.
If I’m going out I use a towel, but if I’m at home/local I just change the pants half way through the day. No one gets close enough to smell my bits anymore !

@BrilliantBetty

My DH had similar problems. We decided it was coming from his clothing. His clothes smelt clean when he put them on in the morning but my afternoon he smelt stale.

He had been washing his clothes on short 40degree cycles. It just wasn't doing it. He has to wash his clothes at 60 for them to actually get clean it seems. Anyway, done the trick. No longer stale smelling by afternoons. Could try it?

This is totally something my DP would do. We also realised recently that clothes were getting whiffy once washed , and we hadn't run a drum clean cycle on our washing machine since we got it. Ran the drum clean and there was so much gunk Clothes now smell fresh again so that must have been it!

Bio powder is the way to go.
I worked this out when son’s shirts smelt of BO after washing in non-bio.
And powder dissolves in the machine much better than liquid. I found that out when I had to get an engineer in to fix my machine. As soon as I opened the door to him he asked if I used liquid, as he said it doesn’t dissolve at 40’ and gunks up your machine.

Cidal soap is my go to.

@squee123

You'd be better with a reusable fabric panty liner changed half way through the day as they let things breathe better than the disposable ones.

It could be your clothes. You can get this weird thing with them where they smell fresh when you put them on, and then as the day goes on and your body warms warms up they start to smell. I'd rinse all your clothes in vinegar and then wash them with bio on as hot a temp as the care label allows to eliminate any lingering bacteria.

I use the elbow grease spray on the armpits of all my tops. I was finding some days there was a whiff late afternoon, then I was super sniffing all my clothes & noticed it very slightly when I was ironing that area. My best friend said she didn't smell anything & she'd tell me but I was so paranoid. Google reckoned it's a mix of normal sweat & deodorant build-up. I already used the dettol laundry thing in undies washes so started it in with all the clothes clothes, it was better but still not 100%. One day I saw that fabric is listed on the bottle of elbow grease, tried it on the pit area, expected the underarms to be faded but it's fabulous!!! The other half forgets to use it so has been banned from the wading machine: probably part of reason he was 'forgetting'!

I realised my knickers were old, so swapped them over for new ones. I also bought washing liquid for sports clothes and washed my clothes in that for a few cycles. I have started using a flannel in the shower and I feel cleaner when I have washed.
I no longer can smell myself!
And another vote for mitchum deodorant.

Maybe we've all absolutely stunk all our lives and the peri menopause just means we can now smell it

@HumourReplacementTherapy

Maybe we've all absolutely stunk all our lives and the peri menopause just means we can now smell it

I was wondering that too

What a fascinating thread, never knew about boob smells. Could it be hormones ? I dunno., I say this as I am questioning my own smells of late. Whenever I am on the pill and a bit sweaty (usually at the gym) there’s a real distinctive smell under my arms. Kind of sweet? Never had any smell issues when I came off the pill. Weird. I’ll try Mitchum too

Please ignore the people telling you to use pantyliners. No medical professional will ever, every suggest that.

Please ignore the people telling you to use pantyliners. No medical professional will ever, every suggest that.

@LittleGwyneth They don't do any harm as such, though some people might try and claim they do. I've never used them, but from threads I've read, some women have a lot of discharge even when well, so feel they need them.

@Wdissb How about a nice long lasting perfume?

@LittleGwyneth They are NHS approved as a suggestion if people feel they need them, although it does say not to use them all the time.

'You cannot prevent vaginal discharge.

Panty liners can help with heavy or excessive discharge or if you're worried about any smell. But do not use them all of the time because they can cause irritation.'
www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaginal-discharge/

I imagine more modern ones are less likely to cause irritation.

I'd check for a vaginal infection. There is one very common one that gives off a slightly fishy smell (hence all the sexist jokes about fish) that can get very noticeable, and doesn't seem to be coming from there, but it is. It's easily treated, and it isn't an STI - it's like thrush, any woman can get it.

Do you use a laundrette?
When I do and I swear my clothes aren’t as clean as my machine at home. For a 30mins cycle what do I expect I suppose.

“Tears don’t smell. Nor does snot.”

InSpaceNooneCanHearYouScream snot absolutely does smell, of course it does. Haven’t you ever heard of nose blindness? Tears would also have a smell if collected in large enough volume, like that of a day’s worth of vaginal discharge.

@GhostCurry

Discharge absolutely does smell. I hate it when women says that it doesn’t. Of course it does, as does any emission from any orifice.

It does smell you're right. It's not supposed to smell bad though!

I cured my smelly belly button by drying it with a cotton bud after bathing/showering.

I have a deep "inny" and I reckon it wasn't drying out.

t does smell you're right. It's not supposed to smell bad though!

Any bodily excretion will smell musty and unpleasant after a while. Surely pp aren't claiming their genitals smell fresh and pleasant at the end of the day?? Smell someone's scalp, their mouth, their armpits, butt crack or genitals at the end of the day and chances are all of them will have a nasty whiff. There is a middle ground between a body that smells fresh and clean and one that is diseased

Sorry if someone has suggested this but could it be diabetes? You’re much more likely to get thrush infections then as well. If the smell is maple syrupy/bacon/germolene then worth seeing the GP for a swab and blood tests.

I’d also agree perimenopause is worth a thought, the hormone rollercoaster can change the way you smell - and you’re noticing it because it’s different. Noone else will if same soap, clean clothes etc.

What's the best bar soap?

@me4real

Please ignore the people telling you to use pantyliners. No medical professional will ever, every suggest that.

@LittleGwyneth They don't do any harm as such, though some people might try and claim they do. I've never used them, but from threads I've read, some women have a lot of discharge even when well, so feel they need them.

@Wdissb How about a nice long lasting perfume?

Vaginal discharge is acidic and can bleach your undies. If you’re wearing your super fancy knickers a panty liner absolutely can help keep them in good shape and stop the bleaching.

“ It does smell you're right. It's not supposed to smell bad though!”

We are in agreement on that fact. Never said it’s a bad smell. To bring it back to the context of the thread though - it is, however, a smell I would not wish to share with the people around me.

“ Vaginal discharge is acidic and can bleach your undies. If you’re wearing your super fancy knickers a panty liner absolutely can help keep them in good shape and stop the bleaching.”

I think that’s something that only happens to some women. I have heard of this effect but it has never ever happened to me