Can you smell yourself?

[daysleeper]

Can you smell yourself?

I've been thinking about this a lot the past couple of days.

First I'll provide the convoluted back story:
My dude sleeps over 4 or so nights a week. He drinks alcohol, but otherwise he's very clean in his food/drink consumption. He does eat red meat often, but he's also very athletic. Anyway, most of the time I can smell him on his pillow, but usually his scent has dissipated by the time I go to bed. He's not very strong scented I suppose. I'm fond of him, so the olfactory reminder of his presence is pleasant to me.

My friend has been visiting since Saturday (who I am also fond of, but not attracted to) and I am getting increasingly grossed out by smelling someone else in my sleeping chambers. Yesterday he stayed out for the night and so I opened the windows and freshed up my bedroom, aired out my pillows and comforters and changed all my bedding. I would not have been able to sleep otherwise. Its not that I think he's offensive, I'm just not down for such olfactory intimacy. He's much stronger scented than my bf, but I think I just dont want to smell anyone I dont love. I have noticed this with other bed partners (not to be confused with sex partners).

All of this has gotten me thinking... what do I smell like? I practice good hygiene, eat red meat very seldom, I drink some red wine here and there, but thats the extent of my alcohol consumption, don't smoke, etc. I'm perfumey I guess -- use nice smelling lotions, wear perfume, deodorant and nice smelling shampoo. For all I know, I'm pouring cologne on a trash heap. I dont notice any particularly noticeable daysleeper smell on my pillow or anything - but how could I tell? My ridiculous question is: If you have a strong smell, do you even know it?

Welcome to my paranoia.

[Payslee]

You are SO not alone in your paranoia! I too have wondered this.

Sometimes when we come back from a weekend away, or even a long day at work, our house smells so...stagnant? But not like an "I can just open a window" stagnant. More like it is a PART of us or something, YKWIM? These are the moment when I wonder how I smell to other people. But since I can never take a vacation from my own body, I guess I will never be in a situation of walking back in after a period of time. Like, I will never be re-introduced to my smell.I don't think.

I cannot smell myself, I can only smell external scents that I use on things like sweaters and my bathrobe. Basically, I just have to trust that I am not an unpleasant smelling cloud wafting around everywhere. Otherwise, I think I would never leave the house. Or worse - I would be the lady that wears a half a bottle of perfume every day, and honestly I would rather smell slightly strong naturally than artificially overpowering.

And I am sure you smell just fine :)
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[puck]

i was just thinking about this yesterday, because my partner and i went running and we went to bed without showering. sometimes if he works out a lot he gets super sweaty stinky, but running with me is laziness for him so he was fine. i thought i smelled something different and it might have been me all sweaty, but i wasn't sure.

there are certainly times, though, when i know i'm smelly - and then i take a shower. but i'm not sure the extent to which i'm smelly and don't know about it.

my other boyfriend has this very distinct smell which sometimes can be nice and sometimes overwhelming. it's weird.
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[greenbean]

I don't know what I smell like. I usually don't notice other people's smells either, which makes me think that maybe my sense of smell is not that great. Mr. Green has a very sensitive nose though, and can always tell when I'm getting sick because I apparently smell bad then.
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[BlueJedi]

I can smell other people easily and have some good friends who are male that I am absolutely repulsed by their scents.

I can't smell myself unless I'm not wearing deodorant and have been sweating a bunch. I absolutely reek to myself. I hate how my bo smells and think it's disgusting.
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[eloquent]

I notice the smell of someone I am intimate with particularly but otherwise notice other details about people with whom I close. I could be in a dark room with my dad and wouldn't know it unless he cleared his throat. I could pick my mom's hands out of a lineup.

About my own scent, I have a vague sense of what it might be. I like to keep my bedroom door closed and often when I get home, I get a blast of warm eloquent-scented air when I open the door. Granted that this scent also includes the room, the building, and what other fragrances are around but the majority of it is me. I like it :D

What I first thought of when I saw this thread was the charming habit ze boy has of smelling my hair when we're together. He literally huffs me so I must smell pleasant to him. I've also be known to sleep with his skanky, smelly shirts. The smellier, the better.

[Lady_Stardust]

I wonder about this too! I don't really notice other people's scents--probably because I have issues with my sinuses on top of allergies, so my nose is usually somewhat impaired. If anyone can smell me, I don't think they find me offensive. Most of the people in my life are fairly blunt about things, so I think I would've heard something by now.

I do have a friend who can smell when a girl has her period, regardless of her level of hygiene. It's so weird and I feel awkward hanging out with him during shark week.
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[tinyrock]

I don't have a particularly sensitive nose, but I like most body smells. Not "moldering sock", but "sweaty man" is excellent to the point of distraction. I also enjoy it when I smell like curry after eating it. I shower near-daily because I don't want to disturb others.

That said, stuffy rooms, especially bedrooms and kitchens, smell terrible. I also dislike most synthetic scents. Being near a soap or candle store makes me gag.
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[persimmon]

This thread reminded me of when I first met and was getting to know my best friend in high school. For months I would literally smell him before I saw him. But it wasn't a sweaty unwashed smell, just his. The more I got to liking him, the more I liked it.

But now I don't notice his smell as much. Which is strange. Maybe because we spend a lot of time together and my brain just doesn't register it any more. (I miss it!)

In college, I was gradually unable to stand my roommate's smell. We shared a bedroom, and her combination of shampoo + closet smells drove me up the wall. I chalked it up to a territorial issue, and tried hard to keep the window open as much as possible.

And I also wonder what I smell like. I've been told by several people that I have a very distinct scent, but have no idea what it is like.
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[Barbeegrrll]

I think about this a lot too. I have a very sensitive nose too and my ex sleeps at my house every other weekend to stay with my daughter ( when I am not there) and I am thankful that I can't smell that he's slept in my bed. I always think that I should be able to. I know he doesn't change the sheets before he leaves. Of course, he has some bizarre behaviors and I'm not exactly sure where he sleeps or even if he sleeps when he's there. I just think about it sometimes. Weird that other people think about it too :)
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[sibee]

This is totally one of my biggest irrational fears*. Because you know that people who do smell really bad don't take a whiff of themselves and think to themselves, "B.O.? Check. Time to start my day!" I also worry about how my home smells. I had a friend growing up whose house ALWAYS smelled like clam chowder.....but I never once saw them eat soup. Freaked me out. But, I practice good hygiene, wear nice perfumes or lotions, and I try to keep my place clean and aired out, so I try to assure myself that I'm OK.

(* Another irrational fear? That I have some bizarre physical disfigurement, but don't KNOW that I do because everyone I've ever met has been too polite to mention anything and so I've never realized that it's there. I'm just waiting for the day for someone to ask if I can see out of that third eye growing out of my face and I'll respond, "What third ey--OH MY GOD, WHAT IS THIS THING ON MY CHIN?!?!" Hey, I said it was irrational...../hijack)

[caropop]

I do wonder a lot how my house smells to other people.
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[whywhy]

Great topic!

Years ago, I tried smoking some, er, stuff, one night, and the next day my sweat smelled much stronger than usual. Smoking the stuff was the only thing I could think of that I'd done which might cause that.

And, yes, I'll admit I'm concerned enough about B.O. that one of the primary reasons I won't smoke it again is because of that.

(Nope, nope, not worried about health or any of the usual concerns, I just don't want my sweat to smell funny!)
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[cake]

I think about this all the time!

I went through a hippie deoderant phase in college and finally a friend took me aside and was like, "You smell." I also was maybe not doing laundry as often as I should. It was mortifying. Ever since then I have been kind of obsessed with how I smell. Mr. Cake has a definite smell and I think it smells awesome. I think his sweaty man smell is super hot. He thinks I'm weird.

I wonder if concern with smell is a cultural thing to some extent- my friend and I were just talking about how her half-sister (who was South African and living in the Netherlands) was a bit lax about deoderant wearing and had kind of a BO issue, and when my friend told her, "Tanya, you need to take a shower," she basically shrugged it off and said something like "Oh, you Americans and your obsession with cleanliness! Bodies smell sometimes!"
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