As your friend in the deodorant industry, sometimes we get to talk about the things no one else wants to, like body odor. A very unfortunate truth of life, right? Not necessarily. Because you really don’t have to be smelly, even when you’re sweaty. That’s right, we’re here to teach you how to get rid of body odor. And, even better, what’s causing it in the first place.
Okay, so let’s get to the bottom of this. Why exactly do we have body odor? For starters, you have two types of sweat glands: eccrine and apocrine. Your eccrine glands are all over, and produce the sweat that’s mostly water, released to help you cool down. Your apocrine glands though, in areas like your armpits, are the ones sweating out different proteins and toxins.
Still, the interesting thing is, the sweat itself doesn’t actually smell. It’s completely odorless. So unfortunately, eliminating sweat isn’t going to eliminate B.O. And trying to stop your body from sweating all together with a traditional antiperspirant actually clogs your pores, and can make the stench even worse.
What makes sweat stink is when it mixes with the bacteria on your skin. So, by neutralizing the interaction between these bacteria and your sweat, your able to get rid of any unwanted smell, while still letting your sweat glands do their thing.
So, yes, sweating is inevitable (and, beneficial). But smelling definitely doesn’t have to be. Here’s a few simple tricks to help your body with a B.O. problem.
- Don’t skip laundry day
One way to keep sweat from mixing with these bacteria is to keep your clothes clean. When we don’t wash our clothes regularly, we’re giving these bacteria that extra "in" to jumping on our skin. So, in order to give our body a helping hand in staying clean and smelling good, we’ve got to stay on top of our laundry.
- Always opt in for a body shower
Keeping our clothes clean wouldn't really matter if we weren't keeping our skin clean, right? Making a body shower part of your daily routine, if it isn't already, is so important in ridding your skin of odor causing bacteria (and, just all bacteria). Our bodies take on all the impurities of the day, so taking just a couple minutes to rinse our skin does wonders. Not to mention, a quick shower is a great way to kickstart your day in the morning, or unwind in the evening.
- Swap out your deodorant
Rather than masking your stench with a heavy chemical fragrance, or clogging your pores with a harsh antiperspirant, swap for an option that tackles the real problem. Choose an alternative that addresses and neutralizes the stench causing interaction between your sweat and your skin’s bacteria. This way, you let your body do its thing, but you don’t have to worry about B.O. stopping you from doing yours.
We’ve all been a victim of unsavory armpit stench at one point or another. But we really don’t have to be. Because we know what’s causing it, so we can take these simple steps to deal with it.
