So this is a really weird question but I’m not making it up. I’ve never been able to smell BO on someone. When I was a teenager, I understood that I got smelly after I worked out, and I could smell it on me, but I could never actually smell BO on anyone else. I’ve seen people on reddit describe peoples BO as being so bad that they have to cross the street or that it smells like something rotting, and I can’t imagine anyone actually smelling that bad. To me, everyone kind of has this neutral “people smell” sort of smell. Even when I date men, I’ve absolutely huffed them after they’ve worked out or been out in the sun for a while, and all I smell is this sort of pleasant male musk that I really enjoy.
Before anyone assumes “oh you’re the stinky one because you don’t smell anyone else”, no, I’m not stinky. I’ve been on estrogen for years and that changes your BO, I take a shower every day and always wash my entire body, and I shave my body hair religiously, I’m not stinky.
When I see other people talking about managing BO, I feel like I’m in bizzaro land. Apparently entire body deodorant is a thing? People on reddit talk about needing to constantly reapply deodorant constantly or else they start to smell awful. I literally work with teenagers and I’ve never smelled any one that felt particularly bad.
Am I crazy or can anyone else just not smell BO?
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You might be lucky. I know you can get super smellers and super tasters so I assume there must be the opposite. There is a woman who can literally smell a certain illness on people think it was dementia. I suspect you are just the opposite of a super smeller. I was literally shopping with my daughter yesterday and I smelt a very strong bo smell that made me feel sick about 1 minute later a guy in a gym jear walked past us and it was him. I also believe you can enjoy the smell of someone you are attracted to. I’ve never thought my husband smells of BO even when he hasn’t showered for a few days.
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Count your blessings
That classifies as superhuman abilities. Be glad
Lord I see what you have done for others
Bad hygiene smells are the worst you are fortunate
some countries they have no bo and so no deodorants in shops
knew a guy in a bedsit whose sense of smell was absent, was almost like a wall of stink
Tbh I also wonder where people on Reddit always meet those stinky people. Most people smell neutral to me, or like they freshly showered. I don’t meet stinky people everywhere like most Redditors talk about. I also saw a post recently where someone wrote they use anti transpitant, then apply 10 swipes Deo, after that also perfumed lotion, body spray and perfume. And they re apply all day. Like wtf? This explains why some people smell like they took a whole bath in perfume.
What’s BO
Ah body odor
You’re not getting close enough.
You have to get “all up in their shiz”.
People don’t get BO because they don’t shower. One can have bo simply by not using antiperspirant. By late morning they already reek.
That’s because you haven’t ever been to r/bologna /s
Because they wear deodorant , if you really want to experiment, tell someone to not wear it and go workout see how you feel then
Your sense of smell.
Come with me to your local college campus and I will show you smells you’ve never smelled before
You’ve never met me
Go to a middle school. Some kids are super stinky, I’m not sure how the parents don’t notice.
Do you live in Korea?
I’m quite the opposite and can smell someone within like 4 feet of them, today at work I was talking to a manager and I could smell the weirdest grossest like smell of sweat emanating from him and he was about 5 feet from me there was a ton of people around us and no one else seemed to notice or care I damn near ran away from him once I got what I needed
The first thing that I thought of was a possible hormonal imbalance, and when you mentioned “being on estrogen for years”, my suspicion was confirmed.
I read this medical case in the past, where a boy who was assigned male at birth started growing breasts in his adolescence, and one of the “warning” symptoms he had was a weak sense of smell (he couldn’t smell foul scents like garbage and rotten food). Long story short, it turns out that this person was intersex (and their inability to smell strong scents was due to high levels of oestrogen in their body) !! Let me check if I can find the link to this story 🙂
Edit: I couldn’t find the specific case I was referring to, but you can find numerous scientific articles linking “fluctuating levels of oestrogen” with “heightened/weakened olfactory ability” !!
I have a teen that smells like an onion farm on a hot humid day when she forgets her deodorant or doesn’t put enough on. Be glad that you can’t smell other people’s BO.
I’m a super-smeller. Although it feels like a curse, there was one lady who did contracting work and she had a faint BO smell to her. Usually, I can ignore it as it’s not a good smell, but something about her PH absolutely entertained the 100,000 year old genes in me. The pheromones opened up my sinuses, made my ears ring and engaged some form of “spidey senses.” She was somewhat attractive, too. It was a very pleasant smell, but not sweet? I can’t explain it other than all that, and it has never happened to me.
Most likely you have genetics making you less sensitive to smell than others.
How old are you? I know a few people who hot covid when they were younger and it damaged or changed their smell.
Consider yourself lucky. I work with somebody who fills the entire office with the aroma of open ass everytime they stand up from their office chair
I very rarely smell it, I think people exaggerate. I have a good sense of smell.
I think I smell less BO these days, and more fragrance, whether it’s talc, body spray, perfume, or whatever. But, a lot of these fragrances, for me anyway, are just as bad as BO. Just very cloying, and hang around in the air long after the people leave the space.
You’re blessed.
Have you ever been to a carnival in Illinois when it’s 90 degrees?
I thought I had problems with my sense of smell because I was not bothered by some things my co-workers complained about. Then I was able to smell something that they weren’t bothered by and I learned otherwise. I would rather ignore natural smells and be sensitive to unnatural scents like chemicals. Some are overusing unnatural chemical scents in air fresheners, etc and have made themselves extra sensitive to natural scents. I think in some cases they’ll perceive the absence an artificial scent as an odor. People often claim people they don’t like have odors and others who don’t smell it will go along anyway. It’s rare for people to have BO that’s detectable at normal distance.
Is there a boxing gym near you and would you feel comfortable dropping in to ask about prices even if you have no intention of joining? If so, go and drop in right as a class is ending. If you can’t smell any BO whatsoever, something is definitely not working with your sense of smell
If you really wanna smell body odor, you gotta get your nose up in them armpits, just walk up to a random person, tell him you got a sniff for B. Oh., And then get the nose right in there; if they get upset, tell them that you are doing them a favor by doing a smell, check to see if they need more deodorant.
Consider yourself blessed. If you think you’re missing something go cut a few raw onions. I promise you you’re lucky on this. I’m a Shortie, and as a female in an elevator, subway, closed space.….being on the short side, it’s brutal.
There’s a certain percentage of people who cannot smell the odours in stinky gym clothes. You might be one of them.
Have you ever been to an Anime convention? You will definitely smell it there!
Go find a game store that advertises that they’re hosting magic the gathering tournaments, I can guarantee you’ll find plenty of stinky folks up in there.
If you can’t smell typical BO, the worst variant I’ve smelled was like taking taco seasoning and upping the onion and garlic ratios and aerosolizing it so that I could smell them from 15 feet away, and they left a “stench trail” as they walked around.
Another guy who regularly stank also had the onion smell, but mixed with sebum, muskiness like clothes left damp for too long, and with a weird metallic tang.
Visit your local Cex trade-in store…
B.O. every single time. I’m talking over years
I don’t often smell BO, or stinky people. I have smelled it before, but it’s so rare. I also question how people are always encountering stinky people. I smell stinky cologne and perfume way more often than BO so I know my sense of smell works.
Are you able to smell bad smells in general? Is it possible you’ve got long-covid nose? What does a full kitchen garbage bin smell like to you?
Lucky you. I’ve smelled B.O. so bad that it felt unhealthy to inhale. Like, it was so bad that it almost felt like it was damaging to the lungs.
Easily one of the most offensive smells I’ve experienced.
You must not play Magic: The Gathering
Ever since COVID I can’t really smell farts anymore.