by Suzanne Fort

Created on: August 18, 2008   Last Updated: December 26, 2008

Body odor can leave a lasting impression on anyone you come in contact with. If your clothes smell like cigarette smoke, for example, people may remember that about you every time you are around whether or not you still smell like cigarettes. If you have bad body odor, you may come across as someone who is lazy and unclean.

In a workplace setting, the body odor is especially important. You want to appear to be clean, fresh, and smell good or not smell at all. People should want to come around you, not hide from you when you come around. There are those people at the workplace that smell of cigarettes and coffee and you try your best to not talk closely with them. In a workplace, you want to have everyone be comfortable with talking with you. There are other people who might smell of cat urine or Febreze and cat urine combined. No one wants to be around those type of people.

In order to smell good, you need to do a number of things to ensure that you are leaving a nice smell in other's noses. The first thing you should do is bathe once a day. Make sure you are scrubbing all of your body. Use a mild soap that is not going to be too strong, but at least have a little bit of scent to it. Use shampoo. If you're a person with longer hair, use conditioner daily.

Use deodorant every single day. It should be mild just like the soap. Deodorant should be strong enough to last the entire workday. Deodorant should keep you from sweating (anti-perspirant) and also keep that area smelling good.

Wash your underwear and socks after every use. Clean your clothes every day. There are times when you don't have to dry clean a suit jacket every single day if you have something on under it, but generally, wash your clothes every single day.

Eat foods that don't have a strong smell to them, such as garlic or onion. Drink lots of water. When you do drink coffee and other strong smelling drinks, be sure to brush your teeth afterwards even if that means taking a toothbrush to work. If you have to, pop a mint in your mouth to disguise the smell, but brushing your teeth is the best. If you smoke, don't smoke at work. Smoke at home after work so you and your clothes will not smell.

Avoid wearing any perfume or cologne unless the smell is just very slight. The smells may cause others to be allergic and may be offensive to the nose. If you have animals, make sure they don't lay on your clothes or urinate on your clothes. This sounds a little silly, but there are people who smell of cat urine at work. There are others who just have hair all over their clothes which may contribute to the smell.

Try to rotate your shoes often. This will help slow down the smell that comes about in your shoes. When shoes are rotated, you can let the pair you wore the day before air out while you wear another pair. You may try to put in some shoe powder also to help slow down the smell.

There are many things we can do every day to ensure that we will leave a pleasant impression with everyone we come across at work. You don't want to be known as the "cat pee" woman or the cigarette/coffee breath person. You don't want other people to be closing their mouth or nose when you come around. You want to be known as a professional, clean, fresh smelling co-worker.

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