How to make your vagina smell and taste good – Feeling confident when you have sex is so important—and if you’re concerned about the smell or taste of your vagina, it may put a dampener on things. But here’s the thing, your vagina is supposed to smell and taste like a vagina (louder for the people at the back), and attempts to get in the way of this can be dangerous.
- Practices like vaginal douching —washing out the inside of the vagina with a liquid solution—can do way more harm than good because they disrupt the vagina’s bacterial ecosystem.
- In fact, douching is linked to serious health conditions like pelvic inflammatory disease,
- There is also some evidence to suggest that it is associated with ectopic pregnancies among Black women – though it isn’t very strong.
So with that in mind, here are some tips to keep things healthy, safe, and clean ‒ how to maintain a good-smelling vagina:
Practice good hygiene. Wash the outside (your vulva) with gentle soap and water. You don’t need to worry about the inside–your vagina is pretty good at taking care of that itself. Breathable cotton underwear can also help. Wipe from front to back to avoid UTIs. Keep hydrated to help stave off infections. Pee after sex. This can help wash out any harmful bacteria waiting in the wings. Wash sex toys and store them in a clean, dry place to avoid the wrong bacteria creeping in.
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How do I keep my V smelling fresh?
Should I Use Douches, Wipes, or Feminine Sprays? – No. Douches, feminine sprays, deodorants, and wipes that are meant to keep a woman’s vaginal area smelling fresh and clean can do more harm than good. Douching means washing out the vagina, usually with a product you buy in a store.
- But it’s not a good idea to douche (unless a doctor tells you to).
- Douching can cause allergic reactions, irritation, and even infections.
- Feminine sprays, deodorants, and scented tampons aren’t a good idea either.
- As with douching, they can lead to things like allergic reactions and irritation.
- Your vagina has its own natural cleaning system that flushes out bacteria, so you don’t need to add any chemicals to help it.
Smells caused by infections need to be treated with prescription medicines. Perfumed sprays don’t make infections go away, they just cover up the smell for a short time. If you notice a bad smell or think you may have an infection, see a doctor or go to a health clinic right away.
Why does my discharge smell weird but not fishy?
‘It’s a yeasty smell,’ says Dr. Streicher. ‘It’s not leave-the-room bad, but it has a characteristic scent.’ The pH of your vagina doesn’t actually change when you have a yeast issue—it’s just that yeast has an odor. So if your discharge smells bad but not fishy, it could be a yeast infection.
Why do I smell bad a lot?
Summary – Body odor is caused by bacteria breaking down the sweat from the apocrine glands in your armpits, groin, and pubic area. You may be more prone to body odor if you are overweight, eat certain foods, have certain health conditions, or are under stress.
Why is my smell not good?
How to Prevent Vaginal Odour | 4 Super Tips for Smelly Vagina
Parosmia is a distorted sense of smell. It happens when smell receptor cells in your nose don’t detect odors or transmit them to your brain. Causes include bacterial or viral infections, head trauma, neurological conditions and COVID-19. Parosmia is usually temporary, but in some cases, it’s permanent.
How can a girl smell good all day?
How to Smell Good All the Time: 14 Simple Tips
- Body parts with more sweat glands are also prone to odor. When sweat mixes with the bacteria that naturally lives on your skin, body odor develops. Take regular showers and scrub body parts with a lot of sweat glands, including your armpits, groin, and feet. Use soap or body wash and warm water to remove all the dirt and sweat that causes odors.
- There’s no single ideal frequency for showers, so long as you take them at least 2 or 3 times a week. Some people shower every day, while others opt for every other day, depending on their body’s needs and lifestyle.
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- Shampoo removes dirt and oil from your scalp, leaving it smelling fresh. While you’re in the shower, wash your scalp to ensure your hair smells nice and stays oil-free for longer. Work the shampoo into your scalp, massaging it thoroughly before you begin to lather the rest of your hair. Rinse it out afterward to enjoy a clean head for the next couple of days.
- If you don’t want to wash your hair every day (many say it leads to dry and damaged hair), use to freshen your hair on days you don’t wash. It’s composed of powders that absorb the oil that makes your hair look greasy.
- Apply the lotion right after you leave the shower to extend its effects. Pat off excess water from the shower first. Then, rub scented lotion into your skin. You can pair the with a complimentary perfume or cologne or use the lotion by itself if you prefer not to layer too many scents. Scented lotion lasts the longest when you apply it to moist skin.
- Be sure you aren’t accidentally wearing too many scents. Your deodorant, hairspray, and lip balm might all be scented. Try to choose primarily unscented products and stick to one or two main scents between the lotion and perfume.
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- Apply deodorant to your armpits after you get out of the shower. Since armpits have so many sweat glands, they develop an odor much faster than the rest of your body (as you’ve probably discovered!) A fresh coat of can both mask bad smells and prevent sweat. If you do a physical activity that makes you sweat anyway, you can always reapply it as needed.
- Consider using a combination of deodorant and antiperspirant, especially if you tend to sweat a lot from your armpits.
- Deodorants come in solid sticks, gel sticks, or sprays. You also buy natural rock deodorant or even make your own using baking soda and coconut oil.
- You can use an unscented deodorant if you plan to use perfumes and scented lotions since you don’t want to introduce too many scents at once.
- Spray the scent on your pulse points and torso for all-day coverage. Start by dabbing a little perfume on your wrists, neck, and behind your ears. Then, spray a small amount or on your torso and behind your knees. It’s important to hit pulse points because they give off heat, which makes the perfume’s fragrance that much stronger!
- Don’t shake your perfume bottle, allowing air to saturate it and decrease its intensity.
- Store your perfume in a cool, dark place. Light and heat cause the perfume to break down, reducing its quality and intensity.
- Citrus scents dissipate faster than others. Choose a more concentrated perfume with a heavy base scent that’ll last you all day.
- Don’t wear too much perfume. It can be overpowering and irritating, and some people around you may be allergic.
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Give your hair a pleasant scent without damaging your scalp. Perfume is harmful when sprayed directly on your scalp, so a can distribute the scent without affecting your hair or roots. Spray your favorite onto the hairbrush and run the brush through your hair, allowing the smell to gently take hold.
Water dilutes bad odors and keeps you from getting dehydrated. When you get dehydrated, bad smells get stronger—especially in your mouth if you’ve had something strong like coffee or garlic. Hydrating your body with water will banish the bad breath and weaken any unpleasant odors. Aim to drink 8 glasses of water a day in order to maintain a healthy body. Advertisement
- Fruits and vegetables contain protein that helps your body smell fresh. Be careful of foods like garlic, onions, and spice; their strong smell affects your breath, lingers in your system, and changes the way your body smells. Although they’re healthy, avoid them on days you’re concerned about odor. Stick to fruit and water-heavy veggies, which will cleanse your system and help you smell good.
- Eating a lot of broccoli, nuts, and legumes can also cause you to become gassy and affect your smell.
- If you know you’ll be eating strong-smelling food that day, brush your teeth after eating and (if possible) rinse with mouthwash for good measure.
- Brushing removes food particles from teeth and keep your breath fresh. Practicing good dental hygiene is always important; at the very least, brush and floss twice a day. Rinsing with also kills bacteria that can make your breath smell bad. However, you can also brush between meals to get rid of any food odor on your breath.
- Choose a breath-freshening mouthwash that doesn’t have alcohol and rinse your mouth out whenever you need a quick fix. Alcohol in mouthwash can dry out your mouth, leading to conditions that cause bad breath.
- Carry that you can pop last minute when you want your breath to smell sweet.
- See the dentist regularly to take care of issues like plaque buildup, so you don’t end up with chronic bad breath.
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Cotton and other breathable fabrics can soak up sweat and prevent odor. When you’re likely to sweat more frequently during the summer months, avoid polyester clothing and synthetic undergarments, as these won’t absorb sweat—and where sweat lingers, it creates a bad odor. Stick to clothes that won’t trap the heat and sweat against your skin; cotton, linen, bamboo, and wool are all good choices.
- Use shoe spray to block odors, especially when you don’t have socks. Feet naturally start giving off a smell when they’re enclosed in the tight space of your shoe, but is a perfume specifically designed to make your feet smell good no matter what. Alternatively, you could sprinkle onto your feet before putting on socks and shoes to prevent sweat altogether.
- When possible, wear socks with your shoes. Going without socks makes your feet sweat more, leading to bad odors. Carry an extra pair of socks to change into later in the day, just in case.
- Have a separate pair of shoes you use when you work out, rather than wearing your running shoes to school or work.
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- Baking soda removes odor, while oils improve your clothes’ scent. Run your clothes through a washing machine—you can use either scented or unscented, After adding detergent, pour in a scoop of and 10 to 20 drops of, Baking soda softens the water, making the detergent more effective at removing bacteria and enhancing the essential oils.
- Make sure you wash most of your clothes after each use. Only wear jeans, pajamas, and outer clothes multiple times before washing (assuming they don’t get dirty).
- Check out your bags, backpacks, hats, and other accessories. Wash these items every once in a while, especially if you use them every day.
- You might want to carry a few backup items to change into if you’re out all day. Some people like to keep a fresh pair of underwear, tights, socks, or an undershirt on hand for emergencies.
- When your home smells fresh, you will too. Pick an that you enjoy and apply it to your pillows, sheets, and blankets each time you make your bed. Then, each time you go to sleep, you’ll be encased in a pleasant herbal scent that’ll linger when you wake up and start your day.
- Alternatively, you could mix a few drops of essential oil with water and spray your sheets with that.
- Keep the rest of your space clean, too. Put all your dirty clothes in a closed hamper, and hang up or fold your clean clothes for storage instead of letting them stay in a pile.
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Advertisement This article was co-authored by and by wikiHow staff writer,, Tami Claytor is an Etiquette Coach, Image Consultant, and the Owner of Always Appropriate Image and Etiquette Consulting in New York, New York. With over 20 years of experience, Tami specializes in teaching etiquette classes to individuals, students, companies, and community organizations.
Tami has spent decades studying cultures through her extensive travels across five continents and has created cultural diversity workshops to promote social justice and cross-cultural awareness. She holds a BA in Economics with a concentration in International Relations from Clark University. Tami studied at the Ophelia DeVore School of Charm and the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she earned her Image Consultant Certification.
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“Amazing, it helped me a lot in life and what I can change to make myself a better person.”
: How to Smell Good All the Time: 14 Simple Tips
How can I smell myself?
Not being able to smell when you have B.O. is actually a good thing! – fizkes/Shutterstock You can smell grass after your neighbor cuts the lawn. You can smell delicious pizza baking as you walk by the pizza parlor. You can definitely smell the musty, sour smell of your brother’s feet when he takes off his sneakers on a sweaty summer day.
In fact, according to research published in Nature, your nose can detect about one trillion smells! But your own underarms could reek and you might not be able to tell: Humans are prone to what scientists call olfactory fatigue ; our sense of smell just gets plain tired out by familiar odors and stops detecting them.
Believe it or not, that can actually be a good thing. By the way, you may want to avoid the 8 foods that actually make you smell bad. Pamela Dalton, a psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, explained to the Washington Post that we filter out the same-old smells to make room for detecting new, strange smells—such as ones that might alert us to danger, like something burning, or something good to eat like that pizza.
When these smells waft past us, smell receptors in our noses detect their particular chemical components and send electrical signals to the frontal cortex of our brains. And then we decide if we need to run away (from fire), or run closer (towards pizza). If your sense of smell was bogged down by your B.O.—or other standard smells—we might not be able to detect the more important odors.
You may want to check out 6 sneaky reasons your B.O. is worse than usual, There are ways to avoid showing up to school reeking like a skunk. One way is to take your shirt off and sniff that instead of your skin, recommends Lifehacker, Other ways to check your own scent is to rub your scalp, then smell your fingers; check your breath by licking your arm, waiting a second, then sniffing the spot.
Why can I smell myself through my pants?
Poor hygiene – Refraining from regular bathing can lead to dirt, sweat, and dead skin cell buildup that leads to strong smells through your clothes. You can reduce these effects by showering regularly and washing with mild soap and warm water.
Why does it smell like fish between my legs?
Description – Trimethylaminuria is a disorder in which the body is unable to break down trimethylamine, a chemical compound that has a pungent odor. Trimethylamine has been described as smelling like rotten or decaying fish. As this compound builds up in the body, it causes affected people to give off a strong fishy odor in their sweat, urine, and breath.
Can others smell my yeast infection?
Yeast infections are common and often easily treated. While an abnormal smell is often associated with various infections, this is generally not the case with vaginal yeast infections, According to the Office on Women’s Health, 3 out of 4 women will get a yeast infection at some point in their lives.
birth control pillspregnancycompromised immune systemantibiotics
Yeast infections typically don’t cause any noticeable vaginal odors, which sets them apart from other vaginal infections. If there’s an odor, it’s usually rather mild and yeasty. There are other symptoms associated with a yeast infection, including:
burning or swelling of the vulvapain with urinationpain with sexgeneralized soreness of the vaginal areathick, white, odor-free discharge
These symptoms can range from mild to severe. You might have one or more and they can vary with each yeast infection. If you notice a smell, it’s most likely not because of a yeast infection. There are other conditions that can cause a variety of vaginal odors. Here are four common causes:
Does drinking water make you smell better?
3. Stinking Breath and Body Odor – One of the basic functions of saliva is to help the mouth combat acids and bacteria. However, as mentioned above, due to dehydration, the salivary glands are not able to produce the required saliva, making it difficult to efficiently tackle the acids and bacteria that are present in the mouth and this, in turn, leads to bad breath. Similarly, water helps release toxins through sweat. If your body is dehydrated, you are unable to release these toxins (bacteria), which when accumulated leads to an unpleasant body odor, especially in the armpits, feet, and groin area.
What drink makes you smell good?
08 /11 Green tea – Make green tea your best friend to get rid of the body odour! The antioxidants present in green tea reduce the number of toxins in the body which causes the growth of smell-causing bacterias. Drink two cups of green tea a day to smell good naturally. readmore
How do some people smell so nice?
We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission Here’s our process, Healthline only shows you brands and products that we stand behind. Our team thoroughly researches and evaluates the recommendations we make on our site. To establish that the product manufacturers addressed safety and efficacy standards, we:
Evaluate ingredients and composition: Do they have the potential to cause harm? Fact-check all health claims: Do they align with the current body of scientific evidence? Assess the brand: Does it operate with integrity and adhere to industry best practices?
We do the research so you can find trusted products for your health and wellness. The thing about smelling good is that it really comes down to what you find to be a pleasant scent. One person’s idea of smelling good may be bringing an enchanting canopy of soft French perfume into every room they enter.
Apply it to pulse points. This will allow the scent to mix naturally with your body chemistry. As your body heats up, the scent will be activated and released. Resist the urge to rub the fragrance into the skin. Use a roll-on version. A rollerball is a great way to get the scent exactly where you want it without overspraying. It’s also more affordable than a bottled version of your favorite perfume or cologne. Spray onto a hairbrush. To add fragrance that lasts throughout the day, spritz your hairbrush with your favorite scent before brushing dry hair.
Pulse points to spritz include:
the back of your neckthe crooks of your elbowsyour wriststhe small of your backbehind your knees
Perfumes and colognes are available in roll-on versions at stores like Sephora or Amazon, You can also add your favorite scent to a rollerball bottle, which you can find online, using a small funnel. If the scent of your body lotion, cream, or oil is all the fragrance you want, you can make the scent last by applying it to your skin right out of the shower after patting off excess water.
- Scented lotion, or any scented product for that matter, will last longer when applied to a moist base.
- Need a little more scent? Choose lotions and creams made by your favorite perfume or cologne brand.
- You can layer these products with the coordinating perfume or cologne, shower gel, or shave creams.
Your body’s scent has a lot to do with cleanliness, but genetics and even what you eat can also influence the way your body smells. You can’t do anything about genetics. And might not want to cut out a lot of the foods that can cause an odor, like broccoli, garlic, and fish, because they’re delicious and good for you.
armpits groin butt
Along with keeping clean, you can also:
Wear deodorant or antiperspirant, and keep a travel-size version on hand for those stress-sweat kind of days. Carry individually wrapped wipes to stay fresh on the go. You can shop for travel wipes online,Apply talc-free powder anywhere that skin rubs, such as under the breasts and between your legs,Avoid wearing polyester, which research has shown to harbor sweat and bacteria, creating an unpleasant odor.
The instructions on the shampoo bottle telling you to lather, rinse, and repeat aren’t for nothing. Cleaning you hair can leave it smelling delicious every time you turn your head. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends concentrating the shampoo on your scalp and getting it really clean before moving to the rest of your hair.
Keep your teeth healthy by brushing with toothpaste twice a day for two minutes at a time.Floss once a day to remove any food particles stuck between your teeth.Brush after eating foods with especially strong odors, like garlic, onions, or tuna. Drink a lot of water to avoid dry mouth, which can cause bad breath.Chew on fresh mint leaves for a natural bad breath remedy.Keep sugar-free mints or gum on hand to use as needed.
Why do I keep smelling a sweet smell?
Phantosmia is a condition that causes you to detect smells that aren’t actually in your environment. It can happen in one nostril or both — and the odors may be foul or pleasant. Common causes include colds, allergies, nasal polyps and dental issues. Treatment depends on the underlying cause.