I will admit that I am a fan of all things that smell good (and are not overwhelming) like candles, glade plug-ins, shampoos and conditioners (I am the freak you will see in the shop twisting off the cap to sniff the shampoo) anything in Bath and Body works and yes, even perfumes. Though when I was in high school I was more apt to wear my dad's cologne than my mom's perfume as I have grown I have developed an appreciation for those scents targeted at women.

I don't mind perfume though I understand why too much of it can be detrimental to anything, especially for those who are substituting perfumes/colonges for actual hygiene. And it would be nice if the scents weren't so gendered, as Miriam pointed out. There are some male colognes I'd love to use, but then don't want to spend a good portion of my day explaining to people that while I am heterosexual and female I just really like dude perfumes (cause much like boys dolls are "action figures, cologne is really just "perfume").

I've always been one of those women who doesn't like scented stuff. I can't go into shops with a lot of candles or other scented items, because I start to feel suffocated. I usually end up waiting for my friends outside. Everything I buy, candles, deoderant, shampoo, etc., is as unscented as I can get it.

However, on the rare occasions that I feel the need for something, I do like Georgio's Red. It's a toned-down sort of scent that seems to suit me somehow. And my mom has a connection so I can get it cheap. *grin*

Anyway, I was going to say that I've never had anyone say anything about my lack of artificial scent. In fact, I'm routinely told that my hair smells good, or that I do, even without an artificial scent. So maybe there's something to this whole "natural" thing, huh?

I've been thinking about this since last week. If I could change one thing about my husband, it would be for him to enjoy my natural musk. (You know, that mild B.O.-plus-inoffensive-deodorant smell you get after a semi-active day?)

To be fair, he doesn't comment on it unless I ask him to smell my armpit and give me an odor assessment.

And, yes, clearly we have a fun relationship if (a) this is my biggest complaint about my partner and (b) I feel comfortable telling him to smell my armpit.

I'd be curious to see demographic trends in perfume use. I can't remember the last time I smelled a woman with perfume on, but I hang out with urban women in their 20s. It's also worth distinguishing alcohol-based perfumes from soaps and lotions that smell tasty.

Ugh, I so virulently hate the crap they put in men's fragrances. It smells like pinesol and bleach. I always ask my dudes to forgo that stuff, but even the deodorant has to feel like razor blades in my nostrils.

I have an overdeveloped sense of smell, so I can't date someone who has to wear fragrances.

I buy unscented "powder fresh" deodorant for myself, but half the time I forget it anyway. I find I smell fine if I avoid eating curry every day.

i get scent overload pretty easily and i am allergic to a lot of things, but like you ultra magnus, i am all about non-cloying good smelling things that don't overwhelm. i always open the caps of shampoo in the store when i am trying a new kind and i love love love bath & body works, philosophy, etc. usually i only wear scented lotion or body splash and save what i see as more classy, sophisticated perfumes for the evening.

i definitely think that any pressure for women to smell like roses and men to smell like...pine trees is obnoxious. thankfully my boyfriend likes my cinnamon bun smelling body wash just as much as me :)

Well, some people (myself included) happen to wear a scent because we like how it smells.

Though, I'll admit, the cologne I wear isn't exactly stereotypically "masculine".

If other people like it, hey, cool; I just happen to wear it because I like smelling like it.

Clean, warm skin smells marvelous. (likewise hair.) Skin where the bacteria have been breeding in the oil and sweat for a couple of days, not so much.

Regarding fragrances, if I can smell you but not see you, you've put on too much. Especially if I can smell you and you left the area three minutes ago. (Funny how B.O. never seems to do that.)

I'm not terribly interested in smelling like a flower, though there are some fruit scents that are pleasant. Don't need to be acrid to be manly. And usually the amount that comes in the soap is enough, so no need for cologne.

I usually don't mind when people wear perfume, but please, oh please, don't wear it to the gym!!!!

Avast, there are two people like that at my work, except one douses herself in perfume and the other reeks of all-things-cigarette. I honestly don't know which is worse.

I apparently only like food smells: my shampoo and conditioner are both "apple" scented and I wear clove oil to help deal that extra bit of sweat that my deodorant just can't handle (seriously, do I really sweat more than most women or is this another beauty industry "conspiracy" to make me feel inadequate?). My husband has hair stuff that smells like frosting that I love, and I only buy candles that smell like food. I think part of the reason I like these smells is because I think they go well with my own natural scent; I don't use them to cover it up, but to complement it and make it smell more deliberate.

^^

See, that's the way to do it.

So many people layer on scents that clash with their body.

Everyone knows that certain scents smell different, depending on what skin their on. If you find one that works WITH your own skin, and not against it, it tends to be very pleasant.

It's when it clashes with your body chemistry that it makes a hideous odor.

Ehh.... I'm not such a fan of "natural" as a general rule. Never much got what was so great about it. Frankly, I think the problem is not that we women should worry *less* about minimizing various unpleasant natural body issues, but rather that men should worry *more* about it. But then again, I'm one of those rare (apparently) gals who can barely tolerate a tiny patch of fuzzy hair on a guy's chest. I hate hate hate sweat, I think it's absolutely disgusting, I'm not a fan of lots of body hair on *either* sex, and I would not be opposed to changing the norm to brushing your teeth five times a day or more (or at least lots of mouthwash).

I get that I'm unique, but still. I don't think cutting perfume is the way to go, personally. I'd cut jewelry waaaaaaaaaaaay before I'd cut perfume. Although I do agree the gendering of scents is lame. I've occasionally worn dude perfume, if I particularly like the smell. If people feel the need to ask about it, whatevs.

Yeah, cigarettes can be pretty lingering (and nasty).

To clarify, fresh sweat is no problem; under the right circumstances can be very nice indeed.

Oh, what a gaffe.

"they're". Sorry, was typing in a hurry. I can't let that slide. How embarassing.

I think I can blame this on Bush.

Our economy sucks and people lack disposable income to drop on $20 bottles of perfume.

Ta da.

Especially if I can smell you and you left the area three minutes ago. (Funny how B.O. never seems to do that.)

Ohhhhhh avast, I am envious. I can assure you, BO most *definitely* can linger, for a very, very long time. I'm no fan of drenched-out perfume, but truly bad BO is vomit-worthy. I will take too much perfume over horrible BO ANY day of the week.

waxghost, you're not the only one. I used to have a massive problem with overactive sweat glands in my underarms, to the point where I always wore sweaters, even in the summer. I drenched through virtually *anything* else. God, that was a horrible time. Anyway, I now use this stuff called Certain Dri, it's *amazing*. I can now wear silk again, thank God. If you haven't checked it out, I highly recommend it.

I personally hate perfume, but I do love a good-smelling man. :)

Could be that in the places I'm remembering someone leaving a trail, everyone is scrupulous about washing, but a few think nothing of wearing too much perfume.

I guess I'll count myself lucky.

You'll have to pry my vanilla chai and arctic apple clear gel antiperspirants from my cold dead hands. Though I guess it's hard to overdo stick/gel deodorants like some women seem to overdo perfume and guys body spray (I guess they've seen one too many Axe commercial?).

And I've been ogling a bottle of Burberry Brit eau de toilette since forever, but I can't bring myself to plonk down $75 for it. One day, I shall get enough cashback on my credit card. One day...

I think perfume/scents can be good if they work with you and you use them in moderation, aka no one should be able to smell it unless they're within 6 inches. And designer perfumes do have musky, woodsy fragrances for women, along with lighter floral scents. It's the cheap stuff that tends to follow the flowers/spices dichotomy.

I can't stand perfume and cologne. When I worked as a cashier I had a headache every day, usually followed by nausea if the smell was particularly strong or lingering. I don't even understand why people feel the need to smell like flowers or whatever. Soap and laundry detergent are fine with me.

While I don't think we ought to break good smells into stereotypes, I definitely appreciate a person who smells good. Whether this is socially constructed or an actual personal preference is left for theorists to decide.

What I am not a big fan of, however, is going AGAINST everything that we think is socially constructed by gender.

What I mean is: if you like it, wear it. If you don't, smell like a bag of ass - but don't refuse to wear something that smells nice just because you think it'll give the finger to the patriarchy. Feminism is about creating our own agencies, not silently protesting against the patriarchy in passive-aggressive ways.

I wear Armini Code (pretty masculine, I am told), and I use Victoria Secret's Strawberries and Champaign lotion - not because based on my feminist beliefs, but because I fucking like it.

"Never much got what was so great about it."

How about having more free time and money? For example, if I could just wash and wear my skin without being ostracized for how it appears naturally then I'd have saved hours and hours every week on tweezing and saved hundreds of dollars on laser treatment...

I'm allergic to perfumes and strong scents. It took my fiance and I several years to train his family to stop giving him cologne for Christmas. My allergy is to the point that if I'm on a train, bus or plane with someone wearing perfume or strong deodorant, I'll have to switch seats. It's actually quite bothersome as many people don't recognize my reaction as an allergy and just think I'm being rude. So everyone, forgo perfume! Save money! Make others happier!

I have allergies to pretty much every perfume ever. It really bothers me when people wear a lot of it because if I'm near them (or in their trail if it's extra-bad) my sinuses will instantly tingle, my eyes will water, and I'll start sneezing. I don't even wear deodorant because most of it has way too much crap in it. I'd rather smell a slight bit of (fresh) sweat than any perfume any day.

I have allergies to pretty much every perfume ever. It really bothers me when people wear a lot of it because if I'm near them (or in their trail if it's extra-bad) my sinuses will instantly tingle, my eyes will water, and I'll start sneezing. I don't even wear deodorant because most of it has way too much crap in it. I'd rather smell a slight bit of (fresh) sweat than any perfume any day.

i just left a scent-free workplace after 6 years there. The fact that it was scent-free was clearly posted, people were notified before they came in for meetings etc. It was astounding to me how many people (internal and external) blithely disregarded this and showed up not just wearing scented products (i.e. deodorant, soap) but full-on perfume.

that said, i loooove perfume and it was a wrench to give it up for 6 years (and not wearing it at work translated to not wearing it at all so that it wouldn't get infused into clothing or hair and transfer into office environment the next day).

finally, i've been interested in how uber-sensitive i now am to scents. i'm not saying its a good thing or bad thing -- but i am saying that scent free zones and a lessening in the use of scent generally seems to correlate with increased sensitivity to those who are scented!

I'm terribly allergic to most perfumes. I am especially allergic to patchouli, which is in most perfumes and colognes. And god forbid anyone wear it alone near me. Gah. So sick.

If I get stuck on a plane with someone wearing that stuff, I'm sick for days. Sometimes weeks, if I was already in an immune-compromised state.

I'm begging people, DON'T wear this stuff. Pretty please.

Mina, okay, the money thing is a fair point. But clothes cost money too, and clothes are just as much of a social construct -- one for which I'm grateful, as there are plenty of people I'd really be a-ok with never seeing naked.

I'm not going to tell anyone what to do with his or her body. But by the same token, I don't buy that there's anything inherently feminist about preferring a "natural" human body, or anything inherently un-feminist about preferring certain cultural grooming habits. I think it has a lot more to do with personal preference, and my personal preference is for bodies that look clean and neat and fastidiously groomed and that smell nice. The natural thing just isn't for me.

You may think you don't smell, but dear Goddess! I know it's you when you walk by me since I have an especially keen nose and can name some of the spices used in a sauce just from smelling it. So I can seriously smell you at 20 paces.

My sense of smell is so sensitive, I can smell strawberry lipgloss from 2 tables over. Seriously. But I'd rather smell that than your freakin' mildewed underarms or unwashed body. Deodorant and soap!! Use it. Liberally.

"Mina, okay, the money thing is a fair point. But clothes cost money too, and clothes are just as much of a social construct"

Clothes don't cost more for Iranian-American women than for Chinese-American women. Becoming hairless does cost me a lot more than it costs those of my classmates who can't grow arm hair, facial hair, etc. in the first place.

"and my personal preference is for bodies that look clean and neat and fastidiously groomed and that smell nice."

Hey, no problem with *personal preferences* like that. If you'd rather date a Japanese woman than a Latina, no big deal.

OTOH, if you'd rather hire a Japanese woman than a Latina, then it's a problem.

When those preferences stop being just personal and enter dress codes, they become unequal burdens because some people's natural bodies meet these supposedly-unnatural standards more than others.

Meanwhile, I've noticed that if I and a Scandinavian or East Asian woman both simply wash ourselves equally thoroughly, dress equally neatly, and go to work then I'd probably be considered "dirtier" than she'd be considered just because her ancestors didn't give her genes for as much facial hair as mine did...

Sometimes I like to use men's body wash and deodorant. To me it just smells like it will be more effective. And I love anything pumpkin.

Ugh, I hate Axe though. I had a boyfriend once who would douse himself with the stuff. Called it a "whore bath" or something. I protested, but he insisted that if he didn't do that he would stink really bad later. I had to leave the room because it smelled horribly and it made me cough. I curse the day that crap was invented.

85%? Really? I bet the percentage is lower for younger gals. None of my friends wear perfume per se, except on special occasions. Scented shampoos and lotions are enough.

Mina, you're quite right about the amount of effort required for different women to be "acceptable". My girlfriend is of southern Italian descent and has the same hair removal issues as you, but I don't. I'm also fat, so no-one seems to care that I don't wear make-up, but if one of the slimmer girls I work with doesn't make herself presentable with lipstick and all the rest of it, she will draw negative comments!

One person I know wears perfumes well - I'm very scent-sensitive but she never bothers me. Unfortunately, most people douse themselves in scents, especially smokers trying to cover up the cigarette smell. Ew.

I'm allergic to artificial scents as well. I'm okay with perfume on other people as long as they're not drenched with it, but wearing strong scents myself gives me a headache, and wearing any scented product on my skin gives me a rash. Which means I need to buy unscented deodorant, which is difficult to find, and unscented shaving cream which is damn near impossible to find. Scented shampoo is okay if it's not too strong smelling.

I wear perfume once in a blue moon, but when I do, it's Gin & Tonic from that Demeter brand that makes, like, Dirt-scented perfumes and stuff. It's really clean smelling. I only like things that smell green.

And waxghost, it's totally not just you at all. Almost every girl I knew in my major in college used Drysol, and I can't believe that many women had gland problems. Women are told they should hardly sweat at all, when we sweat about as much as men do.

"Which means I need to buy unscented deodorant, which is difficult to find"

Whoa, I just realized something. If you want to deodorize your armpits without putting extra chemicals on your skin or spending tons of time looking for safe extra chemicals, could you put something between your skin and the deodorant?

Here's why it occured to me: In my case so-called deodorant/antiperspirants work fine on odor but even Certain-Dri isn't enough of an antiperspirant, so I put on regular deodorant then cloth pads (if anyone's interested, see advantagewear.com to buy 'em or get the idea and sew your own) to absorb the sweat instead of staining my clothes. Could reversing the order - putting the cloth on first then putting deodorant on the cloth - work?

And I've been ogling a bottle of Burberry Brit eau de toilette since forever, but I can't bring myself to plonk down $75 for it. One day, I shall get enough cashback on my credit card.

I'm a Burberry Brit addict. (It smells good on my skin... I think it works best when I just hit my stomach with it, odd as it sounds.) I've gotten it for around $30 or $40 a bottle at Perfumania. Maybe you're thinking of the larger bottles? More concentrated?

The small bottles usually last me about nine months. My sister bought me a bottle for Christmas (hey, ask and you shall receive), and it's about 1/10th gone, maybe.

---

As for general perfume etiquette: the rule I've heard is that you are supposed to spray the perfume in the air, and then walk through it. That should be enough.

This is my stance: Wash yourself to smell good. If you wanna wear perfume too, wear it. Just make sure you're not wearing enough to choke people around you!

Ah man, I read the title to this and was hoping that it was going to be about women who enjoyed the way their vagina smelled!

Ah man, I read the title to this and was hoping that it was going to be about women who enjoyed the way their vagina smelled!

I admit I'm disappointed, the idea that pussies smell like ANYTHING seems to be such a huge issue of embarrassment and self consciousness for so many women :(

I dont think women wear perfume solely because of what we have been told. I love smelling like pine! One of my favorite scents is Aqua Di Parma Tuscany which is very woodsy. I also like Bvlgari Black which is a harder scent and fresh, light fruit smells like Fresh Lemon Sugar. I think we can expand our repitiour of what scents are tailored to either gender, but most of humanity likes to smell good. Its natural.

"Clean, warm skin smells marvelous. (likewise hair.) "

Ahhh yes! Another one of my fave scents is Clean Clean eud de toilette!I have the whole Clean line!

LOVE IT!

Especially if I can smell you and you left the area three minutes ago. (Funny how B.O. never seems to do that.)

YES IT CAN! I'd prefer a shit load of flower smell up my nose any day that a huge shit load of B.O.!

Law Fairy - thank you! I don't think your link works but I just googled it. I will have to try that.

kissmypineapple - I wonder if shaving one's armpits might have something to do with it. (I'm not sure exactly how that would work but I also don't know the purpose of armpit hair.) Did any of those women forgo armpit shaving?

The Law Fairy, I agree that use of artificial scent vs. going natural should be a person's (male or female) prerogative to choose. However, it is as often as not NOT my prerogative, because being female any visible sweat or whiff of natural musk are liable to comment and censure, whereas a guy can get away with much more perspiration and BO without anyone calling him gross. It is the double standard for personal hygiene that I object to, because I am cleaner than the vast majority of guys, but any flaw in my cleanliness is seen as a failing.

My mom used to insist that I wear some sort of perfume or body spray every day, but she goes overboard with the makeup perfume stuff quite a bit. I just don't like most perfume smells (I would rather sit next to someone drenched in perfume than drenched in B.O.) I do love body wash that smells like fruit juice though. So yeah if you like perfume go for it, but have some consideration for the people around you.

Personally, it's the clash of smells that I dislike - from the shampoo, then the conditioner, then the shower gel, then the moisturiser (body and face), then the deodorant, then the hair product, blah blah de blah.

Personally, I use as much as possible a UK skincare brand called Simple that is unperfumed, thus reducing the possible overpowering clashes as much as possible. And occasionally a bit of my husband's Isse Miyake if I feel like it.

I've found that with my heavy pit-sweating, I have to shave my pits and also wear men's deodorant (unscented ... it's almost impossible to get that in women's brands). I am, I'll admit, a Mitchum Man.

Without a penis.

I hate strong scents (sensitive), and never wear perfume. I don't like smelling like anything. Smelling like a bit of clean sweat is fine, but I really really really hate ... having a scent.

I'm not totally against other people smelling like something. And if someone else uses a product and smells nice (I have one coworker who smells fabulous), that's awesome. But I find the majority of people do not smell awesome. At all.

I also agree with the person who said the thing about food scents. I like cinnamon and vanilla and strawberry scents, but Powder Fresh and Shower Fresh and Mountain Fresh can all bite me.

On the topic of young women and perfume -- Anecdotally, it seems true to me that young women wear perfume less often. I (24) definitely will every day if I find something I like (for the past year or two it's been Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom, which I love), but for me it's just a neat little luxury, not at all compulsory. Also, as a side note, I am a smoker and probably do smell kind of smoky sometimes, but I think the particular perfume I wear actually works really well with that scent and sort of incorporates it rather than covering it up, which is cool :)

Funny, I like when my boyfriend wears something but have no interest in wearing perfume. I think I had interest when I was younger but was just afraid smelling funny and too strongly.
Also, thankfully I rarely smell people, whether it is B.O. or perfume. I think my sense of smell is relatively weak.

I stopped using antiperspirant 5+ years ago (now I just use unscented natural deodorant), and while there was an awkward few months during the transition, I've found that I sweat less and don't smell as much as I did when I wore a-p. I've heard this from other friends who've done the same thing...something about your body getting used to the a-p and overcompensating maybe?

I hypothesize that regularly doing something to sweat profusely (sauna, anyone?) probably can help keep your sweat pores cleaned out, which helps prevent smelling rancid.

I also agree with the poster who said that refusing to wear one variety of scent in order to put a thumb in the eye of gender construct is just as bad as wearing one to enforce gender construct. You're still being run by them. "Thou shalt not" is the flip side of "Thou shalt."

I can see resisting things like "why is it bad for a man to smell like a flower?"** but ultimately, whatever you end up wearing or not wearing, it should be because that's what you like, and to hell with what anybody else thinks of it. (Other than wearing too much, of course; and allergies/sensitivities aren't the only reason there. There was someone running the drive-thru window at a fast food joint I used to frequent, who would leave residue of her perfume on my vanilla shake. Yuck! If I'd wanted to drink a Jean Nate shake I would have ordered one!)

** Has any woman here ever gotten flack for wearing a scent that is too masculine? I think it's a lot more likely that a man would catch grief for smelling too much like a woman (as it were). There's that same old discussion item. Why is venturing into feminine gender role territory so much more of a transgression for men than the reverse?

Waxghost:

Shaving one's arm pits significantly reduces the number of bacteria there that *cause* the odor, and also gives the scent less to "stick" to. So you're welcome not to shave (that's everyone's right), but then don't come complaining when it's harder to keep the smell down.

FWIW, I've noticed the same phenomenon in the pubic region. Less hair=less smell. Not judging, just commenting.

I have severe asthma and I can't stand the strong alcoholic cologne and perfume smells. Natural smells don't seem to be that bad and sometimes my bf will wear some patchouli scented deodorant or that hemp hand cream from the body shop, and it doesn't bother me. But, I usually stick to the unscented deodorant from my health food store, and natural scented/unscented shampoos and soaps. I guess I'm one of those perfume adverse people in the article, it does make it hard to breath when I'm around people who douse themselves in any strong alcohol perfume/cologne. I had a bf once who wore horrible cologne everyday, I was actually glad when I broke up with him that I didn't have to smell that stuff anymore, it made me gag. Of course he didn't listen to me because he thought all the girls LOVED it, barf barf.

I'm glad to hear more and more people are sticking with their natural odors, whenever by boyfriend and I have any "intimate" time, we always have to mention how nice each other smells, and how we don't understand how people can cover up their natural smells when it can be such a turn on (if you really like the person you are with of course). And I think everyone does have a natural smell that is different and distinct from "B.O.". I personally like the natural body smell a whole lot more than perfume/cologne smells.

I don't wear perfume, but I love Bath and Body Works products--I'm addicted to their lotions and soaps. I think I'm just intrigued by the idea of being able to alter how your body smells. Also, some scents literally make me euphoric--apparently smell has a big effect on my moods. Does anyone else find this?

I quit shaving my pits about a year or so ago. I use the same deordorant/a.p. that I have used for years. My pits actually stink less often and less "offensively" than they did when I shaved. Go figure. Perhaps the hair serves to wick the sweat away from the skin and into the ether, rather than leaving it all on the skin to ferment?

I can't stand scented things because I have allergies. Sneeze marathons are not fun. Which reminds me of something random-- My girlfriend has always used scented everything. I use a hypoallergenic lotion... that smells like lotion... And it's funny because she started commenting on how nice I smell (lotion???) and prefers that over all the floral/fruit-scented products she's used.

Anyway, minus BO, I'd prefer the human scent than someone with perfume or cologne.

I do wear perfume, but like some other commentators, it’s for my own reasons, not because I can’t stand or am embarrassed by my “natural odours�. I’ve never really considered how this might affect people before, I’m feeling very ignorant now!
However, I have had my silent objections to the woman in my office who sprays her perfume in our actual working space (this woman also happens to be my closest friend!). It does tend to choke. My mother taught me how not to use too much when she bought me my first ‘real’ perfume, at the age of fourteen. If I was asked at work not to wear any, I’d be fine with that.
I really don’t care if my (male) partner uses any sprays or not. We actually have a rule that he does not use his Lynx (UK equivalent of Axe, I believe?) deodorant in my bedroom because it seriously gets to my throat first thing in the morning, but I like the aftershave (or, as I called it the other day during a forgetful moment, ‘man perfume’) he uses and I usually get him some for his birthday. But, if he decided to give it all up, it wouldn’t bother me.
I have much stronger objections to “feminine hygiene products�. Every time I see that damn “Vagisil� advert I feel like simultaneously punching something and crying for every woman young or misinformed enough to take any notice of it!!

I don't typically wear perfume. I like body washes and I like body creams and moisturizers and that is the extent of it.

However, I can relate to this post in a mildly different way. I don't like artificial scents when it comes to douches or anything of that nature, which is a conversation my boyfriend and I have actually had. "Why don't you use those nice smelling things?" "Ummm, because it's a vagina and I don't want it to smell like flowers. I, do, however want it to smell like, oh I don't know--a vagina!"

Antiperspirants have a known link to breast cancer.

I'm all about natural soaps and crystal deodorant and I smell great. Of course, I shower daily so that might be it. My boyfriend does not wear cologne and I'm so glad - watery eyes and sneezy me is not worth contributing to the scent industry.

I tried crystal deodorant for awhile but got sick of smelling really bad after barely even half a day. And then I tried another natural deodorant that ended up giving me a jock-itch-like rash. I finally found one without the aluminum that works for most of the day (and doesn't make the rash any worse, though I can't seem to get rid of it either). So natural stuff doesn't work for everyone.

I have a sensitive sense of smell that gets even stronger when I ovulate. It gets to the point where I dread public transportation...you wouldn't believe how often someone shits in train cars. And BO absolutely lingers...same for halitosis. Aside from these nasty smells, I love how each one of us have our own scent. I can tell whose shirt was left behind by a relative, for example, and I love the comfort my recently deceased mother's clothing gives me. It elicits memories of her affection. I love how I smell, whether it's right after a shower, right before one, or even the scent of my pussy. I have never understood feminine products that try to make pussies smell like "spring."
However, I also love fragrances and perfumes for their smell, and not at all to cover up what I smell like. I love how a perfume scent mingled with mine creates something unique altogether. I tend to go for unisex perfumes, and I also like green scents and herbals - don't know that many people who don't like lavender. One of my favorite things to indulge in is a lavender epsom salt bath, hmmmm. As for allergies, I absolutely agree that way too many folks overdo it. Too much cologne, aftershave, perfume, hairspray...I mean, eek. And I also hate how gender-strict most fragrances tend to be, which is why I generally like unisex ones. I never considered buying men's cologne even though I really like a couple...maybe I'll give it a try like some here have done.

I finally figured out what's bothering me about this thread.

Just because someone doesn't wear perfume doesn't mean that they automatically smell like shit.

i prefer to smell like my last long bath, my last good meal, and my last good lay. (for now, that means milk-and-honey soap, lime juice, and latex.) others tell me i usually smell like bread dough, old books, and oregano. well, i can handle that.

of course, i also find deodorant creepy as well as completely avoidable -- provided one washes and shaves regularly and doesn't wear synthetic fabrics. i sweat a good amount year-round, but i have never noticed body odor when i'm wearing all-cotton shirts or wool sweaters.

i prefer to smell like my last long bath, my last good meal, and my last good lay. (for now, that means milk-and-honey soap, lime juice, and latex.) others tell me i usually smell like bread dough, old books, and oregano. well, i can handle that.

of course, i also find deodorant creepy as well as completely avoidable -- provided one washes and shaves regularly and doesn't wear synthetic fabrics. i sweat a good amount year-round, but i have never noticed body odor when i'm wearing all-cotton shirts or wool sweaters.

I adore fragrance. I collect perfumes, I wear one daily, and I learn all I can about them.

I consider a well-crafted perfume to be an art form.

I wear perfume for me. I wear it because of how it makes me feel. I have never stopped (or started) wearing a fragrance because of a relationship. I never would.

I wear many "men's" fragrances quite happily. I don't douse myself. The rule I follow is if anyone can smell me more than an arms length away, I've applied too much.

I tend not to question other people's scent preferences, because, you know, it's their choice. And fuck anyone who thinks that my love of perfume makes me any less of a feminist.

re: breast cancer and deodorants:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/antiperspirant.asp

I like spicy, cinnamon-based perfume oils but mostly don't wear anything since I work for a pulmonary group; many scents can trigger asthma attacks.

All this hullabaloo seems pretty pointless. OMG, perfume sales are going down! Big fucking whoop. How is that going to significantly affect society?

Moon_grrl (who has previously commented) and I are in a relationship. Oddly enough, it was she who got me into fragrances. No patriarchal pressure from me to make her smell like a fruity floral. Heck, a fruity floral might be the last thing she picks.

I'm a "no scent " kind of person. She is the opposite. That said, she has used her expertise in scent and given me a few fragrances that I do like. Much to my surprise, I now have a "scent wardrobe". I occasionally shake up my otherwise scent-less self with an occasional spritz of cologne.

We respect each other's preferences, choices, and individuality. I was willing to try a fragrance because of my love, respect, and admiration for her. How is that not feminist

Call me a bad feminist, but you can have my perfume when you pry it from my cold, dead hands. And as a contented asexual, I really don't give a rat's patootie what men think of how I smell.

My thoughts.

I think sent is a very important part of our lives. Especially when it comes to our mates. Alot of my attraction to the person I love is the comfort I feel from his smell. I remember after he'd leave, rolling over and smelling his side of the bed, and it comforted me. He wasn't a huge smell person. he smelled like generic shampoo, coffee, cigarettes and something uniquely male. He may have used some kind of mild smell that I mistook for shampoo like sent but I don't think I'd be real happy if he started warring one of those heavy musk/male kind of smells as the uniquely male part of the mix is what I like most and I don’t want him to clean so much that he got rid of that part of himself.

For myself, I normally use deodorant and soap. I don’t wash as much as most people do by choice as well as circumstance(disabled persons) and neither did he and it worked for us. If I'm feeling the need for a bit extra beyond the bath and soap, I spray lilac sent into the air of the room I'm getting ready. I’d never spray it on me. Never never. I have too much fear of being one of those women or men who I run into who pretty much over power everyone in the room with their horrid perfumes

I hate with a passion people who ware too much of any sent. Being a student we are subjected to 40 people in one small room sometimes without air or vents so your stuck dealing with 40 peoples smells and if you get one or two persons(male or female) who over do the sent of their choice it makes you really sick.

I doubt if many of the people on this website has ever read much of Anton Levay, but one of his books talks about how women in general wash, clean, and fake their smells way too much. To the point of removing the entire natural smell of their body. We are not talking about never washing and that horrible sour smell you have to deal with when someone around you didn’t bathe for months. I certainly don’t think we should return to the medieval days of never bathing at all and rose petals in our pockets but I also think that bathing twice a day and trying to get squeaky clean isn’t good for you either. As a woman I would like certain parts of my body to smell as they naturally do, and not like “spring� as someone else beautifully put it.

Long story short, I think it should be a personal choice and situation with your intimate partner/family and not to over do it to the point that you make the whole subway want to vomit from too many flower/fruits, when you step on the metro.

My favorite smell in the entire world is the one of the man I love. No bottle in the world could beat his smell. No mater how hard they may try.

I'm fine with it. Less perfume on everybody else means fewer migraines for me. I have canceled subscriptions to magazines because the fuckers insisted on putting stinky perfume ads in every single issue.

I am one of those freaks who unscrews the cap off shampoo bottles, squeezes a little up to smell it and almost always has to step back either because the smell is too synthetic, or because I am in danger of squirting some liquid up my nose. I love nice smelling things(usually fresh citrus scents, nothing overpowering and definitely nothing sweet, or synthetic. Ever notice how strawberry, banana and apple smells always end up smelling awful?)Wearing perfume makes me feel nice. I tend to wear spicy oil based scents which last longer, develop a nice lingering smell that isnt overpowering and you use it very very sparingly. My boyfriend doesnt understand why I bother and would much rather I am natural all the time, or with the smell of moisturiser on my skin only.I am all for that, I never used to be into perfume, prefering some lingering smell from a nivea body lotion and very fresh, powder smelling deos. I think part of the problem is the fact that the mainstream perfumes tend to use musky/alcohol bases which leave musky, unpleasant, flat base smell after the fruityness has disipated. Not everyone can actually wear perfume, or at least not the latest offering from JLo. Perfumes change due to the oils in your skin, so often they smell like bug spray rather than Chanel No.5 (which smells like bug spray anyway). Perfumes should be worn that suit the skin of the wearer, that way it would actually be absorbed by the skin and harmonise with the oils, so it smells like you with something extra. I go through agony to find perfumes that actually smell good on me, but once I find them, they harmonise so you cant really notice that I am wearing perfume, but I smell nice.
On the natural side, the fact that the oil composition changes at different ages and around that time of the month is important to note. You smell much nicer around certain times to guys...its all those pherimons...dont cover them up with fruityness and alcohol based perfumes it makes you tend to smell sour. Thats my little bit on perfume science

I'm on a warpath against scents, especially artificial ones. I have a coworker who uses the cheapest scented lotion on the market and the smell is overwhelming. My landlord also insists on sticking a Glade plug-in into every electrical socket in the common space of my building. L'horreur! I have to breathe through my mouth entering or leaving my building.

Aerosol air fresheners have been proven to be full of toxic chemicals. I can't believe that Glade plug-ins, and any number of other artificially scented products (Dryer sheets, I hate you too.) aren't also toxic.

It's hard to believe that most people's homes are full of more toxic chemicals than the air outside.