Life
When I was younger, my mom always made sure that I was aware of my body odor. She would always tell me that, as a human being, ensuring that you pay attention to how you smell is one of the most important things that you could ever do for yourself. As she put it, "if you can smell you, others can too." Though I'm much older and definitely take care of my hygiene like she pushed or during my younger days, there are a few common habits that make you smell bad that every woman has been a victim to over time.
Though having proper body odor is something that both men and women should strive for, I often feel like it's more detrimental to women if they suffer from having bad B.O. What's even worse is not knowing that there are some everyday things that we do or eat that could be causing the poor smell. By simply just changing those one or two things in your life, a new and improved smell could follow. Of course, not everyone struggles with body odor, but just in case you're curious to see if any of your daily habits could bring it about, these nine commonalities are good to keep handy.
1You Don't Wash Your Bras Enough
Although washing your bras after every wear isn't a necessity, delaying the wash for too long can be causing a nasty smell. Bustle noted that back, underarm, and underboob sweat left on your bra from the last wear can be a cause of your bad smell.
Try: The Laundress Delicate Wash, $19, Amazon
2You Don't Shave Often Enough
It's is a woman's prerogative to forgo the armpit shave. But it does come with some side affects. According to Seventeen, leaving your armpit hair unshaved can be another reason why there's a smell permeating from your body due to the hair trapping sweat and bacteria. If you chose to let your hair grow, try to trim it every so often and wash frequently.
Try: Trym II Hair Trimmer, $30, Amazon
3You Eat Spicy Food
Eating too much of spicy foods will result in sulfur-containing gases when the body breaks them down. In turn, these gases can release through your pores, causing your to have an unpleasant smell for a few hours, Prevention wrote.
4You Always Wear Deodorant
Seventeen noted that the things that are used to mask your B.O., like deodorant, perfume, and soap can also be a reason why you smell bad too by enhancing odor-causing bacteria.
5You Wearing Closed Toe Shoes Without Socks
According to Bustle, wearing heels or sneakers without socks can lead to stench seeping out of your shoes due to sweat getting trapped in your soles.
6You Eat Fried Foods
If fried foods are a weakness, you may want to make them your enemy. Shape wrote that eating fried foods can cause poor digestion and bad body odor because of the oils that quickly become rancid.
7You Don't Wear Enough Cotton
Fabrics like spandex, leather, and other non-cotton materials make it difficult for your pores to breathe, trapping more sweat against the skin, Bustle noted.
8You Follow A Low-Carb Diet
According to Shape, low-carb diets can cause people to develop a "fishy" smell that can be offensive because foods high in protein require active metabolic breakdown by the body.
9You're Too Stressed
Sweat scientist Kati Bakes told Refinery29 that stress sweat has an offensive odor because the lipids and proteins in it act as food for the bacteria that naturally live on your skin causing a smelly waste.
FYI, Romper may receive a portion of sales from products purchased from this article, which were added independently from Romper's sales and editorial departments after publication.
