That's because there's some times when you don't stink, so you've had time to learn the difference. Some people always stink, and they forget what clean smells like

The general rule of thumb is to assume you can't smell yourself but others can, and if you CAN smell yourself a little bit, others can smell you a LOT.

That said, I wouldn't use this as a rule, people have very different sensitivities and you may never get a whiff of yourself even if you're fermenting. Your nose is particularly good at tuning out regular smells like your own room, clothes, bedding, and most of all your own BO. It's better to take preventative actions than trust that you will be able to tell when something is bad.

When my parents bought their house, there were hoarders renting out the lower flat. when they opened the door, it smelled awful. Kids being kids, I just flat out asked one of their kids "Why does your flat stink so much?". They told me, it does not stink ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. So you can get insensitive about stuff like that.

On another note: my wife can taste stuff I cannot taste. I can see better than other folks while my hearing is really bad. So senses work differently for different humans. So while I can smell myself as well, that does not need to hold true for others.

They're not wrong necessarily that it's not strictly necessary to shower every day, depending on a variety of things like your daily habits and work, your overall environment and how clean you keep everything around you, how often you change your clothes, if you sweat a lot or have a lot of body oils, if you cook a lot, and so on. You can get by fine with light cleaning and a shower every other day if you have a simple, inactive lifestyle that doesn't make for conditions that make your body smell, and it might be healthier for your skin.

But jeez, always shower before going out to socialize, that's the part that baffles me... sure you can live fine with... once a week(?!) if you're at home and not expecting company, but to use that as a rationalization for being that lazy is just a sad glimpse into people with problems.

I think a lot of it has to do with the hobby itself being of escapism. People who delve into things like miniature or card gaming or tabletop RPG's are rarely people with strong social lives, athleticism or stable home lives. (No Henry Cavill, you sit the fuck down)

So you're going to see more people with crappy lives trying to escape or have some kind of social connection with others. Kids who were never taught by a parent figure how to properly maintain their lives and bodies, neurodivergent people who have a very hard time with some personal care, people with particular kinds of anxiety or depression.

My father was a big, wealthy narcissist a lot like Trump, he had "people" under him, he owned land and restaurants and all that, was always the drunk, coked-up "big man in charge" and grifted people out of millions of dollars in his life. He could barely read and was incapable of telling the truth, he was obviously neurodivergent in some way but was a literal baby boomer and never got any kind of care as a child other than regular beatings, so he was a mess. One thing that was particularly weird was his aversion to showering and wearing clean clothes. He hated cleaning, he often smelled like livestock, people pretended not to notice because they wanted to stay in his good graces but it was rancid.

He only made one comment ever about it that stuck to me, because he rarely said anything with any level of honesty but this seemed to have a kernel of reality. "I don't like being in the shower because I feel like I might miss something."

And that led me to realize that being in a shower or maintaining yourself means being alone with your own thoughts, being focused on yourself as a person, paying attention to your body in space and separating yourself from the environment and world around you, thinking carefully about how others view you, looking in the mirror... If you're someone constantly escaping those kinds of potentially existential moments of self-examination, self-care can feel like emotional torture, a laborious exercise in trying to revalidate all of your decisions and feelings.

I've never heard that one before, in my circle we call it a military shower.

you might not need to but i do. my musk is potent.

You don't need to shower daily. You absolutely do need to wash yourself in some other way, like with a washcloth. Unless you have no BO at all, more likely than not that bacteria colony under the armpits will make you smell bad regardless of if you had a "sweaty day" or not. Plus, wearing clean clothes helps a lot.

Anecdotally, I went to a gaming convention once and that taught me to never do it again. The smell was so bad. Living the stereotype. And on a recent concert I had someone stink so bad in front of me, it ruined the experience.

Also, as a side note. The article giving an example about why someone doesn't shower being not liking having wet hair. I've heard this once. Do people not know they can just... tie their hair in a bun if it's longer or just avoid wetting it if it's short?

Oh great, more health advice from unqualified randos online.

Not everyone's bodies have the same needs and people should be cautious about blindly following whatever advice someone confidently suggests. If you want to shower less, please talk to a doctor/dermatologist first.

My sensitive skin has a maybe 36 hour limit without washing before it gets distractingly itchy. There's no way this advice could work for everyone.

Just be careful out there, people.

That's what happens when you don't nuke your pits and privates with soap every day. You develop healthy bacteria colonies that don't stink, and which compete with the stinky bacteria for resources. Water and friction is enough for daily washing. Soap is for every couple of days. Except for your hands, wash your hands with soap every day.

No, ABCC11 means you have no body odour and dry ear wax. It's very common in Korea but far less common among Caucasians.