Male body odour and sweat
Each person has their own natural scent secreted by the body’s sweat glands. In some people these can be more active which causes more sweat and in turn this can lead to a stronger smell. Some people may not sweat as much as others but it may have a particularly strong smell more noticeable to other.
Depending which problem you have, there are specific products for each:
Antiperspirant
In aerosol or stick form, antiperspirants contain Aluminium which penetrates into the sweat glands to stop you from sweating. They usually have a fresh fragrance to help disguise any odour that is present. This is obviously a short term cure when applied mornings and sometimes if needed, throughout the day but for serious sweat problems is may be wise to see a doctor as there are medical procedures and medications which can help.
Wearing dark colours will also help disguise any sweat that does escape although if you use a good antiperspirant this shouldn’t be a problem.
Deodorant
This should be selected if you do not sweat much but want to stay smelling good and avoid any embarrassing BO smells.(DKNY - deodorant spray, Sharps - deodorant.)
Each type will smell different but the effects will be the same. These don’t offer much in the way of sweat protection so if in doubt stick with the antiperspirant which does both .
Obviously we tend to sweat more when the weather is hot, if we wear too many layers of clothing or we are doing physical exercise or feel under pressure or nervous. Try to avoid these situations if you do tend to sweat a lot and also a high standard of personal hygiene such as washing once a day will also help. Shaving armpit hair really won’t make much difference to the amount you sweat and the re-growth could get infected leading to ingrown hairs which can be uncomfortable and exacerbate the problem. Shaving hairs may reduce the smell as there is nothing for the sweat droplets to cling to but with a good antiperspirant this drastic measure really isn’t needed.
Regular bathing or showering with good products will help to keep your fresh before applying an anti-per spirant or deodorant (see body care article). You may find that if you are regularly using the antiperspirants, just washing underarm with normal products isn’t enough as all the sweat is getting blocked inside your pores. It may be useful to invest in a good deep poor wash to unblock them at the end of each day (Nickel - body scrub).
Another good way of covering any bad smells is to also use cologne or men’s
spray fragrance. The pleasant smell should be sustained for most of
the day if you invest in a good one that costs over £30 and can
fragrance your body and clothing (fragrance
article).