Professor Susan Sawyer, director of the Centre for Adolescent Health at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, explains that body odour occurs when the adrenal glands are activated, and is “the earliest feature of puberty” in boys.
In addition to being responsible for later aspects of puberty like secondary sexual characteristics, the adrenal glands also produce sweat and body odour. While some researchers have likened teenage odours to goats, urine and cheese, Sawyer says cologne – even when doused in layers – is not the solution to overcoming the stinky years.
“Basic hygiene is all that is required. Expensive colognes will hit the hip pocket, but are no more effective than a daily shower and soap. Antiperspirants help reduce the amount of underarm sweat produced that can also help reduce body odour,” Swayer says, noting many colognes don’t contain antiperspirant properties.
A more serious aspect to this trend is the ingredients list. Many major label perfumes and colognes contain fragrance chemicals, which have been found to increase the risk of health problems like headaches and respiratory problems, and can act as hormone disruptors and carcinogens.
Another habit keenly adopted by smellmaxxers, my daughter tells me, is their eagerness to develop sophisticated scent palettes. “They spray each other’s cologne and compare notes. They talk about which scent they prefer and why,” she says.
Reporting from the New York Times suggests the same thing, with one piece describing Gen Z boys as more like “sommeliers than middle schoolers”.
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A 14-year-old interviewed by the publication, Luke Benson, described Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier as having “a really good honey note.” Another junior fragrance aficionado, content creator KidsSmellFragrance, describes his scent of the day as having “notes of cardamom, saffron, and cedar”.
While I’m grateful that my own teen fragrance discussions were comparatively limited, usually revolving around what my go-to Impulse scent said about my personality based upon the results of a magazine quiz, what I take the most solace in is the fact that even after I’d carefully selected and purchased my fragrance of choice from the local chemist, I still had most of my pocket money left over to spend on the truly important things - Sun In, chewing gum, and Dolly Magazine (rest in peace).
Puberty offers teenagers enough trials and tribulations as is. Setting another expensive benchmark only makes a tricky time even harder. Instead of giving them $200 for cologne next time they ask, hand over a bar of soap and direct them in the shower.
Shona Hendley is a freelance writer based in Victoria.
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