I have chronic anosmia- how can I be sure that I am clean?
This is something I've struggled with for a lot of my life, since I've never been able to smell so I don't even understand what makes a person smell good/not stinky.
It's embarrassing to admit cause I had a lot of phases growing up where I totally didn't care about hygiene, as I couldn't smell the stink coming off me. As I've grown older, I've developed compulsive habits regarding hygiene, like showering 2-3 times every day(sometimes more) overusing perfume, deodorant, soap, etc.
But to be honest, I've no idea what I am doing. I don't know what perfumes or deodorants to buy(I usually just pick the one I see other people getting).
I don't know how I smell, if my perfume is too strong or I've been doing something wrong and not realizing it, and I have a very bad fear that I smell bad and no one's gonna tell me. It doesn't help that I live alone so I can't ask family, I used to ask my sister to smell me when I was with family, and I don't want to ask my coworkers, that would be weird if I just asked them randomly.
How can I move forward with this? How do I pick the right hygiene products? I've never bothered to learn the different kinds of perfumes, like body mists and whatnot, since I can't smell the difference anyway.
What do I do?? I'm 23 btw if its any difference
Posted Nov 14, 2025, 1:58 PM UTC