You may have noticed when you’ve sprayed perfume on it might smell different on you than it does on someone else.
No, you’re not crazy, you just have a different natural scent or odour to someone else.
What is body odour?
Everyone has their own unique body odour, it’s just like a fingerprint. Odours are protected by bacteria that’s normally found on the skin.
From police dogs being able to sniff and track a person by their scent to babies bonding with their mothers – every person has their own distinct smell.
How does it affect us?
While it is hard to smell ourselves, you can certainly pick the difference between hugging your brother and hugging your grandmother.
Some of us may even be thought to be more attractive because of our scent.
According to the experts at House Call Doctor, this is known as Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) which is connected to the immune system.
This type of sense has evolved for us to choose a mate depending on how different their scent is.
If the scent is unlike yours, they have different immunities to you and so, they smell better to you.
Research has found that not only do people have their own scents, we all smell things different in ways.
Is it possible to change your natural odour?
Although you can hide your natural scent through perfumes, deodorants and lotions, your chemical odour can still be smelt by people close to you.
However, it is possible to change this scent through methods that include:
- Bathing: Everyone knows that bathing is the best way to wash sweat and other scents off your body. Although it’s impossible to eliminate all the bacteria from your body, cleansers like tea tree oil can help shrink pores and therefore minimise sweat build up.
- Your diet: What you eat can greatly affect how you smell. Foods that are high in sulphurous compounds such as broccoli, cauliflower or cabbage can change how you smell.
- How you metabolise food: Foods like red meat, dairy and wheat that are hard to digest can also alter your odour and make you smell.
