No one wants to be a smelly kid. Gym classes and sunny days are stressful during adolescence. More than 90 percent of U.S. teens and adults use deodorant or antiperspirant to avoid odor. It’s so pervasive that wearing deodorant is something you do. According to a recent study, about 78 percent of people say they don’t need deodorant because of their genetics, but use it anyway.
Sweat itself does not smell. We smell the most when we sweat a lot, so we might think otherwise. But in reality, the bacteria in our armpits makes us stink. These bacteria break down the fats and amino acids in your sweat, turning it into the unique smelling substance we call body odor.
Over the past few decades, our approach to body odor has grown and our hygiene practices have become more and more strict. Two popular methods of combating BO dominate the market: killing the bacteria with standard deodorants (with ingredients like triclosan) or blocking the sweat glands and killing the bacteria (with antiperspirants with ingredients like aluminum).