Hypochondriacs?

[Denim Deb]

My son wore that Axe stuff as well. I couldn't stand the smell of it. I'm not sure if he's still using it or not. He moved to Florida last year, so I don't get to see him.

 

[Beekissed]

I think ALL teenage boys overdo it on the smell, don't they? When they just use the AXE deodorant it's not half bad, but my boys would douse themselves in that stuff so bad it would make your eyes water and then claim it wasn't too strong because they had gone nose dead on the stuff.

Now they are older and just use the deodorant I can bear it and it even smells okay.

 

[Britesea]

We humans eat a lot of foods that have a certain amount of toxicity in them. Some of them are addressed by the way the food is processed (i.e. rinsing acorns, or fermenting soybeans or cooking taro root). I think this might be the root origin of the phrase "Moderation in all things."

I guess I've been really lucky on the perfume front as no one in our immediate family has been interested in using scents.

An interesting piece of trivia: Louis XIV got headaches from the smells at court-- all those aristocrats trying to cover the fact that they didn't bathe by dousing themselves in different scents. He finally issued a decree that everyone at court had to wear the same scent... if it was Tuesday, for instance, you had to wear patchouli (or whatever). I guess it was better than a cacaphony of smells.

 

[tortoise]

This is barely related, but I am disinclined to believe the common idea of using strong scent to cover body odor in history. I'm on week 6 of no shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, soap (other than hand soap on hands), lotion, body wash, toothpaste.... and DH hasn't noticed. Pretty sure I'm a normal person with normal person stink? Then again it IS winter. IDK, the idea just doesn't ring true to me after a few weeks without hygiene "essentials". My MIL told me I "smell good". I wanted to laugh! My fashionista beauty-obsessed nieces said they especially like my hair. So I'm pretty sure I'm not just getting nose-blind or lower standards.

 

[sumi]

@tortoise I can't remember if you said this elsewhere, but what do you do for hygiene and cleaning instead?

These teenage boys and their habit of bathing in deodorant and scents need a word of warning. I read an article in a magazine some time ago about a young lad that used to spray himself excessively with deodorant, in his bedroom, with the door closed. Not knowing that breathing in those fumes in such high concentrations on a daily basis is harmful. He died! I don't recall if he had an underlying medical issue that contributed, but it was scary to read nonetheless.

 

[tortoise]

@tortoise I can't remember if you said this elsewhere, but what do you do for hygiene and cleaning instead

Cornstarch for dry shampoo - brush out with boar bristle brush, rubbed coconut oil into my scalp a couple times where it was dry, rinse with water if the cornstarch doesn't come out all the way, one time I used vinegar to rinse my hair. I use hair spray occassionally if I wear my hair curly - it's probably not necessary, but I don't like frizzy hair.

Exfoliate in shower to remove surface dirt/oil/dead skin. Coconut oil for dry skin, or sometimes mix up a oil/salt scrub.

Baking soda for tooth powder. Also for any underarm odor. cornstarch if underarms feel a bit damp but no odor. I had more odor at first, using baking soda almost daily. I haven't used it much lately.

I started this in coold weather, I have no idea if it will be sustainable / unnoticeable in summer.

 

[Hinotori]

You're still cleaning yourself. That makes a world of difference. Soap isn't necessarily needed for that.

I've known a couple people who didn't clean themselves at all. I'm sorry but I will be blunt if needed. One was bragging one day that he only showered once every other week and didn't smell. I told him "Yes you do. Everyone else is too polite to say anything." He started showering a few times a week after that.

Scary thing is he married a girl worse than him. She thought that putting bath oil in the tub and soaking in it once a week was good. Mind you no scrubbing. She came out still smelling horrid with a sickly sweet over scent. She was still in the Navy and assigned to a ship. It was so bad her Chief ordered her to bathe everyday with soap and assigned another woman to follow and make sure she did.

I've had other friends who don't use soaps but keep themselves clean. No bad smells. If it what they are doing works, good for them.

I have to wash my hair everyday. I tried to go with just water wash or with vinegar rinse for two months last year when hubby was gone. My hair would have been less greasy rubbing shortning in it. I have very fine hair as well so any oil shows up. It also smelled.

I like dilute castile soap and an apple cider vinegar rinse. I seem to get less oil that way.

 

[Britesea]

I remember my mother mentioning once that when her father (French country) came to visit once in the 50's, she was shocked at how much he stank. She had become used to american hygiene and his total lack thereof was VERY noticeable to her.

Catherine of Aragon is said to have boasted that she only had 2 baths in her entire life- once when she was baptized and once when she married Henry VIII... maybe that's why the marriage didn't work out? lol

At one time, bathing was considered a pagan sin and the church railed against it. Of course, that may have been because of the common practice of communal, coed bathing... probably led to all kinds of fun and games, eh? But even the Romans, famous for their baths, didn't use soap. They rubbed their bodies with scented oils, then used a type of scraper to scrape off the excess oil along with the dirt and dead skin cells, etc. THEN they got into the water and soaked. Trouble is, that doesn't get rid of the bacteria in the moist creases, which is where most of our body odor comes from. Baking soda was unknown until 1843, although the ancient Egyptians used something called natron (which is mostly sodium carbonate) as a type of cleaning agent.

 

[Hinotori]

I have a few chunks of Himalayan salt formed into bars for use on the skin in the shower. I use them on my feet. Inclusions in the salt make it a bit too rough for tender skin. Rubbing it on my wet hands after shower, I can rub salt on my armpits. Kills bacteria so I don't stink if I'm sweating.

 

[baymule]

I have chemical sensitivities. Anything with a smell sets me off. I use vinegar and water for cleaning, Palmolive original dishwashing soap, Dove original bath soap, unscented shampoo, unscented laundry soap. Perfumes are horrible.

I fully believe the chemical additives in our food are responsible for many illnesses and sickly conditions.