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#55894 - 05/27/05 06:13 PM
armpit smell
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Member
Registered: 06/27/04
Posts: 39
Loc: barcelona
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This isnīt a joke or some wise-ass post, I really mean this. I always heard, while in the states, that people form Europe (mostly Spain and Italy) kind of smell bad. People always made jokes saying that they donīt bathe, etc. Well, to be honest, since Iīve been here in Barcelona from September I have come near some really stinky people. Not just cigarrete smell, but major armpit reek. I was about five feet from one guy, dressed normally and going off to school, and the stench was incredible. I experience this a lot. I figured that maybe they donīt wash their clothes as much or whatever. The reason I post this is that to tell the truth, I feel that this is happening to me. I still bathe everyday, wash my hair, but my pits are starting to smell more than usual and it gets worse as time goes by. It is happening to my wife as well. I have put on deodorant several times a day, but itīs there. I mean Iīm not reeking up the apartment, but if I try, I can smell it. I also donīt feel 100% clean since I have been here. I get out of the shower, but I feel like I still need to rinse off or something. We changed soaps, deodorants.... but nothing. Weīll be moving back to Colombia and New York in two weeks and I plan on really scrubbing up once there (ice-cold mountain water showers are great in Colombia). Has anyone who spent a while in Spain experienced this? Or am I just a little wacky or something? Again, Iīm serious.
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#55895 - 05/27/05 06:59 PM
Re: armpit smell
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Executive Member
Registered: 08/19/01
Posts: 1664
Loc: U.S.A.
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This is the weirdest post I have read on this board Richie. I suggest you see a doctor. Smell such as you describe is sometimes caused by bacteria. Have your doctor analyze your skin to make sure you don't have some type of bacterial infection. Smell is also caused by what you eat; so perhaps your diet may be causing this problem. Heavy meat eaters tend to have stronger odors than herbivores. Have you considered this? Also, I have not found the citizens of either Spain or Italy to be any smellier than anyone else anywhere. The worst case of bad B.O. I have ever smelled came from two men I encountered at a Gainesville, Florida Friends of the Library Book Fair. These two men were attracting flies, there was a radius of about nine feet where no human could stand to be. One poor woman walked right into the fog of death and you could see her eyebrows melt into her hairline, turn around and run away. It was a repellent experience. Lucky for me that I had a bottle of Victoria Secret's Rapture, and I began to spray ahead of me, unfortunately they had cornered my area of interest, travel books. As I got closer one of the men turned around and asked me to please stop spraying my perfume. I retorted, loudly, just as soon as you change your adult diaper sir! They actually left in a huff to complain to the head Friends of the Library lady; from where I stood, I thought she was going to drop off her stool as they approached! The guys left, now I always carry my purse-size atomizer of Rapture to save my nostrils! 
_________________________
The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
--St. Augustine (354-430)
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#55896 - 05/27/05 09:09 PM
Re: armpit smell
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Executive Member
Registered: 05/06/00
Posts: 9080
Loc: Madrid, Spain (was Columbus, O...
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MOST of the people I know in Spain do not bathe everyday (they wash their faces and brush their teeth, yes) but I've never smelled one of them. In fact, some in Europe say that with Yanks have an unhealthy obsession with cleanliness and washing. Many in Europe feel it's more healthy to NOT remove the natural oils in one's skin and hair because those oils protect us. By washing everyday we remove that protection, making our skin and hair vulnerable to infection, drying, wrinkling, ageing, etcetera. I've often seen Spanish businessmen in their suits and ties and obviously had not washed their hair that morning because it was all matted on one side - but I don't recall ever smelling him. And no one seemed to be bothered by his hair. I just noticed because I have an unhealthy cleanliness fixation. heheehe.... Most all women, anyway, wash their most private of parts once a day at the very least. I still know a number of older people in Spain who bathe on Saturday nights (just like we did here in the USA until about 30 years ago) and none of them smelled bad. But again, I've never ever SMELLED anyone in Spain - other than cigarette breath.  Saludos, MadridMan
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Visit BarcelonaMan.com for Barcelona information, Transportation, Lodging, & much MUCH more! Curious about what could POSSIBLY be inside the brain of MadridMan? Visit MadridMan's Madrid Blog
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#55897 - 05/27/05 09:45 PM
Re: armpit smell
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Member
Registered: 10/17/04
Posts: 553
Loc: Desert of Arizona
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Richie: If you have tried different soap, and deodorant, then my speculation is you are enjoying the Spanish food more than you will admitt. The food and drink will filter through your system, are you eating a heavy sea food and garlic diet? Is the food that you are enjoying different than what you were eating before you went to Spain? If you are eating different than before you got to Spain then that is one possibility. That is one strong possiblity, especially when it is occuring in both you and your bride as opposed to an internal medical problem suddenly in both of you.
I can sympathize with your situation. There have been several books and papers written about the sweat glands in the armpit area. One theory is that they are the source of the pheromones that attract the opposit sex and that women with long underarm hair send off more pheromones than the clean shaven women. Napoleon even sent word to Josephina "don't wash, I am coming home."
Your diet and food consuption is one of the first things I would check. Let us know how it turns out. Trust me, no one is laughing.
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Phantom Man
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#55898 - 05/27/05 10:58 PM
Re: armpit smell
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Member
Registered: 02/20/04
Posts: 40
Loc: Virginia (EE.UU.)
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I got a chuckle out of this one. Who hasn't experienced an overcrowded metro train or bus in the summer and hasn't gotten a whiff of b.o. from the person holding the bar above them?! Seriously, though, I don't think the majority of Spaniards have this problem. There are smelly people everywhere.  Just check your diet. I remember a man that I worked for at a language school who smelled so bad that some days I couldn't stand it. Apparently, someone told him of the health benefits of garlic, so he would eat a couple of raw "dientes de ajo" everyday. When he would sweat, the whole office would stink! Interesting topic! marilisa
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#55899 - 05/28/05 06:56 AM
Re: armpit smell
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Member
Registered: 06/27/04
Posts: 39
Loc: barcelona
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thanks for your interesting responses. glad to see noone got pissed and started calling me a rascist or something. I was going to ask int he original post, jokingly, if it was something in the water, but I guess it is the food! we donīt eat too differently, but stuff made elsewhere can have different effects, even if it is the same type of food. We only rarely eat out due to the clouds of cigarrete smoke and that we have a 2 year old with us. We also almost only drink water. Iīve been in the gym and had to keep moving away from several people because of the reek, my wife has 11 othre people in her masters class and, not trying to be rascist, but the spanish guys in their suits really smell bad. She has to keep trying to ge the best seat beforre class starts. She says the people from other parts of the world in her class donīt usually reeek so much.
Itīs got to be the food. I know that in the US, I guess it is the preservatives and high fructose corn syrup in everything, I donīt even eat that much, but I feel fat, look fatter, and always feel like I ate a ton. Whenwe are in Colomia I can eat like a pig (and I do sometimes) but since it is all natural food I feel and look much better. Try to find juice in a box (wiht preservatives), meat? the cow or chicken or whatever was offed that morning, always fresh vegetables. I actually get a little sad, because you start to see canned stuff in supermarkets, as well as fast food like Mcdonalds popping up. Just donīt drink the water there, I did, several times, what an experience. Be there soon again
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#55900 - 05/28/05 09:44 AM
Re: armpit smell
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Executive Member
Registered: 07/05/01
Posts: 1551
Loc: Madrid, Spain
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In fact, most people I know take a shower everyday  It doesn't matter, Spain is hot, and Barcelona even hotter and very humid, you will sweat whatever you do. I've been in Ireland, England and the US. In Ireland and England most people take a shower once a week (and they didn't seem to have any problem with that). Anyway, there is no excuse for smelling bad. A shower always solve that problem. Fernando
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#55901 - 05/28/05 10:23 AM
Re: armpit smell
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Member
Registered: 06/18/00
Posts: 506
Loc: Pennsylvania, USA
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I remember reading in the Spanish papers (around the early 1990s) about a study done on cleanliness in Europe, and the Spanish came out #1 in personal cleanliness. It said most Spaniards shower at least once a day, use deodorants and cologne, etc. etc. They also scored very high points in cleanliness of the home - inside - but not as well in cleanliness of surroundings outside the home. It was interesting.
Anyway, I wonder if you've thought about the deodorants you use. They do not sell antiperspirants in Spain as they do in the US. So even though they use deodorants, they perspire normally. You may want to try getting an antiperspirant/deodorant. (I used to stock up in the US or England for Spain.)
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#55902 - 05/28/05 03:44 PM
Re: armpit smell
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Member
Registered: 06/27/04
Posts: 39
Loc: barcelona
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Iīve lived in several parts of Colombia where it is way hotter and humidier (if that is a word) than Spain. I canīt remembere anyone smelling bad. this is also amongst a lot of people who canīt afford luxuries like deodorant. Here I see people in suits and they reek. My sister has been there for five days and she said something about it to me today, not only did she notice it with others, but it is happening to her as well!. Like I said in my original post, since I got here I havenīt felt 100% clean, even after a shower. As far as being clean, I see a lot of cleanliness in homes, but not so outside. In NY people donīt pee outside as much due to a lot of police presence (more than before), in colombia it happens a lot, but it is a more natural environment ie, trees jungle, rivers, etc. Here in Barcelona Iīve come across two people, at different times taking a dump right in the street in broad daylight, one in front of everybody. Also countless people peeing everywhere, one woman as she waved hello to me while on my terrace. I live on a somewhat busy street in front of the Gothic Point hostel
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#55903 - 05/28/05 04:05 PM
Re: armpit smell
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Executive Member
Registered: 05/06/00
Posts: 9080
Loc: Madrid, Spain (was Columbus, O...
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richie, you'll find this kind of thing anywhere in the world where there's a homelessness. Oftentimes people who have no where else to go can't find public restrooms nor might they have a place to wash themselves. Homeless people, by definition, don't have homes and so they have usually have hygiene issues. That's the unfortunate way of the world, my friend. Saludos, MadridMan UPDATE: our member "richie" joined our little message board about a year ago. He's posted 3 messages in the last month of his total 35. Curiously enough, I've removed ALL of the other 32 messages for some reason and I cannot now recall why. Hmmmm.. Now let's see. For what reasons MIGHT I remove someone's postings? I imagine this thread is another TYPE of thread which richie has posted in the past. In fact, "swinging hams in Madrid's Retiro Park" come to mind. So does "tapas_man" and "Loosie". None of you may recall these names/terms but I do. This topic is closed. And don't believe EVERYTHING you read, folks.  Along the same lines, there's some news out there that some are attempting to cause problems around the different message boards. Just last Thursday one poster wrote on another message board: i'm in favor of a message board invasion, but not of TheOtherSite. we need to find a place where we can all register and create havoc. this is the type of stuff i have in mind: Madrid Message Mayhem Loosie is reprimanded for telling lies. by B.D. | 2002.10.19 [authString]B.D.[endauthString] From: MadridMan To: B.D. Subject: Your postings on MadridMan's Message Board Date: Saturday, March 17, 2001 11:01 AM Dear tapas_man, I humbly request that you no longer post false statements on MadridMan's Spain Message Board. While they are funny to those who know you're just kidding around, there are probably MANY more who are making their first trips to Spain and believe everything they read. So please, post only thoughtful, truthful information on the message board. Thank you. Below, you'll find an email that I received this morning from Nuria (she's from Madrid, living in the USA) about your postings. Thanks very much! Saludos, MadridMan http://www.MadridMan.com ******************************** Hi Madridman, How are you? I hope you are okay. I went recently to your site and saw that Tapas-man guy, very funny. But I just want to let you know that there is people out there who believe him. Actually the reason why I know about him is because one of my co-workers was going to go to Spain and he came to ask me some questions. Of course I don't have all the answer so I told him to go to madridman.com because is the best place to find everything you need to know about Spain. Next day, when I asked him if he found what he was looking for, he informed me that he is not going to Spain becuase his wife thinks is not a "healthy and safe enviroment for her children". "What the h... do you mean?" I asked him and he told me about pick-pockets every where, roaches in hotels and men urinating in bars. I explained to him that that is not true, okay, we have pickpockets but which city doesn't have them? I explained him that hotels don't have roaches unless is a very cheap, illegal place. But I didn't know what he meant with "men urinating inside the bars" and then is I went to your site and I almost faint when I saw tapas-man's post. Well, I think that my coworker's wife went too far and obviously she didn't read the rest of the posts saying that Spain is great, or she just decided to believe some of those lies even when she saw that many people responded denying those lies. I went this morning and I saw the other post about flying lemurs and agressive prostitutes, and I saw your response that I think it was great. I just would like to ask tapas-man for a favor, and that is please, don't keep saying that kind of stuff about Spain, it hurts Spaniards' feelings and it might have a negative impact on turism. There are many people who goes to madridman.com for information, many of those people don't know a single thing about Spain and they might believe his posts. Madridman, I am sorry that you have to deal with those kind of people. I hope you keep doing such a great job. Who knows? Maybe we'll see each other in Madrid some time in the future.
_________________________
Visit BarcelonaMan.com for Barcelona information, Transportation, Lodging, & much MUCH more! Curious about what could POSSIBLY be inside the brain of MadridMan? Visit MadridMan's Madrid Blog
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