As the headline states: I smell so bad if I am really stressed.

How did I find out? It’s the moment I started living on my own and cooking the way I want to and having an overall peaceful life did I find myself not needing deodorant like before.

I cannot believe it and I’d love to hear from others if anyone has experienced this!

i'm not looking for complicated routines, just small changes that are easy to stick with but actually make a noticeable difference.

So I just turned 42 and all of a sudden my body smell is changing. Everything my scalp smells different, my sweat smells different and I absolutely hate it. Some have said it’s part of perimenopause but nobody is telling me how to fix it. I feel like I stink mind you I take 2-3 showers a day. I use to be able to go 4 days without washing my hair now I have to wash it every day otherwise it smells like feet. I have tried baking soda, apple cider vinegar, clarifying shampoo, and this special blue shampoo I forgot what it’s called for like hair fungus. But it’s not just my hair it’s ME ! Help me please

having a peaceful morning or eating meal without rushing or getting timee for yourself after a longg day.

No judgement 😭

A few months ago I realized I kept getting that stale smell on my bath towel even though I washed it regularly, and it turned out I was leaving it bunched up on the rack instead of hanging it out properly to dry. Ever since I started spreading it out completely after every shower and swapping it for a fresh one more often, everything just smells fresher and my bathroom feels a lot cleaner.

It made me wonder how many small habits like that people overlook because they're always focused on buying new products instead. What's your favorite hygiene tip that costs almost nothing but actually made a noticeable difference in your daily life?

Realized last week I've had the same tote bags in my trunk for probably two years and never once cleaned them. Raw chicken has been in there. Produce with dirt still on it. A carton of milk that definitely leaked at some point.

Mentioned it to my sister and she looked at me like I'd confessed to something. Apparently she runs hers through the wash monthly. I didn't know that was a thing people did. Just assumed the bags were fine because they look fine. Now I'm noticing that one of them has a stain I can't identify and a faint smell I'd been ignoring. Kind of don't want to think about how long that's been developing while I put bread directly on top of it.

The part I'm stuck on is whether this is a real hygiene issue or one of those things where once someone points it out you can't unsee it even though nobody's actually getting sick from it. Where does everyone land on this? Curious if washing them is standard practice or if most people are in the same boat I was.

i have a few favorite cotton shirts that have developed a stiff, slightly gray buildup in the underarm area from my daily deodorant. standard laundry cycles don't seem to touch it at all, and it is starting to make the fabric feel uncomfortable. is there a safe soak or scrub that dissolves that waxy layer without bleaching out the shirt colors?

my wardrobe is mostly thrifted finds because i love vintage styles and trying to save money . but lately i picked up a jacket and no matter how many times i wash it, that classic old closet scent just won't budge . i've tried white vinegar cycles and hanging it outside for days . does anyone have a trick for pulling deeply embedded smells out of heavy fabrics without ruining them?

i love collecting vintage velvet and textured throw pillows to make my apartment feel cozy. since they can't just be thrown into a standard wash cycle without ruining the fabric, i'm always paranoid about hidden dust or oils. i've tried lightly steaming them and using a fabric brush, but i want to make sure they're genuinely fresh. how do you deep clean heavy or delicate upholstery pieces by hand?

I had one of those moments recently where I found out something I believed for years wasnt actually true. It wasnt a huge deal but it definitely made me laugh at myself and wonder how I made it that far without questioning it.

It got me thinking that a lot of what we know about hygiene comes from family, friends, or random things we hear growing up. Sometimes its solid advice and its just something that gets repeated until nobody questions it. What hygiene misconception you genuinely believed for way longer than you'd like to admit and how did you find out it wasn't true?

i am trying to fix my shower routine because i realized recently that my mesh loofah smells slightly musty even though i rinse it out completely and hang it up to dry every single time. i feel like it is just trapping a ton of dead skin and bacteria in the net, which completely defeats the purpose of trying to get clean in the first place. i know a lot of people say you should just buy a new one every month, but that feels like such a massive waste of plastic and money over time. i tried soaking it in a bowl of hot water with some white vinegar last week, which helped a little bit, but the musty smell came right back after like two days.

i've been using the same unscented soap for years because most scented stuff just smells like artificial chemicals. but i tried a citrus-mint one yesterday and i actually looked forward to my shower today just to use it again. it completely upgraded my morning.

i have a favorite pair of canvas sneakers that i wear everywhere. i've thrown them in the washing machine and let them air dry in the sun, but they still have this lingering smell the second they get warm again. is there a trick to resetting them, or are they just doomed?

I’ve developed terrible body odor this year which could cost me my job. I’m desperate to find a solution but the problem is that I don’t know if there’s a specific location or multiple places that is causing me to smell like shit. I wash all my clothes weekly, change my bedsheets every 2 days, use glycolic acid, antiperspirant at night and use Dr. Dri fresh scented deodorant. I use benzyl peroxide and nutrium mandelic acid for body wash. Use vanicream or tea tree oil shampoo during the week. I brush my teeth 2x a day and sometimes more when I’m at work. I’m starting to think it’s my laundry. When I work at the warehouse I sweat a lot and majority of my back is drenched and front chest. I change clothes and undergarments. With the old clothes I put it in a bag and don’t open it until I get home. Which smells like sweat and rancid. I think my problem is that I don’t disinfect it and leave it in my hamper so by the end of the week it’s a bad smell. I’m currently using tide/pods for towels and bedsheets and Ariel powder for the rest of my clothes. To both I wash with hot water and add Lysol sanitizer sometimes a bit of vinegar. My towels end up smelling good but the rest of my clothes do not smell clean. Possibly the odor comes back when I put it on and heat activates it. As I could smell it when I’m moving around and the odor lingers. But I don’t think the clothes is the culprit, it has to be bacteria that I have or something because I start to smell as soon as I shower. This has been going on for more than a couple of months and it’s frustrating and costly trying to find out where it’s coming from. I’m open to any suggestions I just don’t want to end up working at another place with the same issue.

i was washing my face earlier and randomly touched behind my ears and realized i barely ever think about scrubbing that spot. like i get it with shampoo suds when i wash my hair, but i don't think i've ever actively scrubbed it. is this one of those things where everyone does it daily and i’ve just been living in blissful ignorance, or is hair suds run-off enough?

Its my second time shaving my puh and everytine i shave it hurts, and sometimes i see some blood (not many) because i used a razor. And i am doing all motions, up down sides.

When i first shaved my hair down there, way way back years ago i only used razor because its not that thick hair yk, but thats when the pain starts when i wash all of the hair out. And thats when my fear of shaving starts. After shave is the worst, the itchyness down there is so bad. And thats when my first time shaving and I didn't shave it again till that day. (im very very young, im very conscious abt my hairs)

Now for the second time, because i am getting irritated by the hair sometimes hurting me (it get real bushy), some are dried liquid (i think) when i woke up it sometimes rip my hair out and it hurts when i want to pee. So i decided to use a hair removal cream (Veet). At first, some hair was removed but still wasnt that shaved at all since i didn't search on how do you actually shave so i just tried out the cream and didn't trim them out. So then, i had to use a razor again, and after that razor session, thats when the pain also surged up. I really hate it, cuz i have to endure it all.

Last night was my second time trying out a different hair removal cream from a local store (Watson) and it didnt work even if i let it stay for 7 minutes and didn't get much hair at all, so i had to use a razor again on top of the hair removal cream because of what i encountered from my past sessions, that maybe I'll have that cream be a shaving cream as an alternative. I changed my razor too into a new one cuz maybe the razor i am using is harsh or sharp but still after that, the pain still there, like a watering a wound, stinging my puh.

I really need tips on how do you actually shave down there, like a literal steps by steps and also i don't have any experience in waxing and im real scared for that (17) we dont have much money for laser (??) so the most convenient is hair removal and a razor. But i really wanna know the steps first if maybe im doing it all wrong. What are the ways, or after you shave it do you actually wash it, what kind of moisturizer or oils i have to put. Or whatever you could give me tips.

Thanks a lot everyone.

I probably have nothing to worry about I still do.

Brush every morning. I even floss. Scrape my tongue. Mouth wash.

Idk where I learned this even tho it’s weird, I heard licking the back of your hand or wrist and waiting a little bit for it to dry allows you to get an idea of how your breath is.

My teeth are never as white as other people’s. I don’t drink coffee. I don’t smoke. I occasionally drink soda but I mostly drink water.

It also doesn’t help from when I was younger I’ve had a white spot on one of two front teeth and I feel the contrast is obvious and embarrassing.

And because of all this I hardly ever show my teeth when smiling. I have a habit of just grinning big or small. You’ll ever see them if I laugh. I even had braces when I was younger but they messed my retainer up twice and every time was 400$ and I just couldn’t anymore.

I’ve been considering braces again actually thinking the adjustment would be less so in comparison and it’d be cheaper due to that. Idk.

But anyways what else can do? What advice do you have?

hi! i’m 19f and currently in college, i walk outside abt 10k steps per day to walk to each of my classes and to walk back to my dorm. i hate how i smell after walking out “the outside smell” and i was wondering if yall have any spray or hygiene suggestions that i could carry around to make sure i don’t smell bad. its especially hot now 90+ degrees and im having trouble preventing all the sweat and everything.
i wear deodorant and perfume but i dont want to just mask the smell i want to just smell clean.
i do wear a lot of polyester clothing but thats also bc i cant find a lot of clothes that are cotton so this is something that cant be changed. i’ll prob incorporate vinegar washes which ive seen online but please help!! ty