This Is the Last Place You Should Wear Whole-Body Deodorant

I couldn’t tell you where I was when I first saw Secret’s whole-body deodorant commercial, but I can tell you it has followed me everywhere since—from Instagram to YouTube to my household’s patchwork of streaming services. “Wanna know a secret? More than just my armpits stink,” a woman deadpans straight into the camera. Then, a chorus of women cheerfully extolls the benefits of “spraying, swiping, or smoothing” the peach and vanilla-scented deodorant “everywhere—and they really do mean everywhere.” One woman puts it on in her bathroom, while another applies it in a locker room. Yet another uses it in her office, kicking her bare feet up on the desk in front of her and spritzing them. The last woman—clad in a flannel shirt, khaki shorts, and hiking boots—rubs the product on her legs while sitting on a tree stump in the woods.

“I use Secret whole-body deodorant for clinically-proven odor protection everywhere, so I smell great all day, all hike, and all night,” she says in another version of the ad.

Women’s bodies have long been stigmatized as dirty, a problem to be solved. In the sixties, amidst the moon landing, the first artificial heart transplant, and the invention of the cassette tape, there came another male innovation: the feminine-hygiene deodorant spray. By 1973, when the late Nora Ephron reported on the euphemistically-named product for Esquire, it occupied the medicine cabinets of more than 20 million American women. “The feminine-hygiene spray is the term coined by the industry for a deodorant for the external genital area (or, more exactly, the external perineal area),” Ephron wrote. “The American woman [has] been convinced to spray her mouth, her underarms, and her feet; the feminine-hygiene spray, at this point, was probably inevitable.”

But why stop at these parts? Or even limit ourselves to sprays? Half a century later, so-called whole-body deodorants—in sticks, aerosols, and creams—are all the rage. In 2017, a little company called Lume introduced the idea of deodorizing not just “pits,” but also “underboob,” “thigh creases,” and “crotch and butt smells” to the masses. In 2024, legacy brands got in on the action, with whole-body deodorants from Procter & Gamble’s Secret, Old Spice, and Native brands hitting drugstore shelves in January. Dove and SheaMoisture, which are both owned by Unilever, released their own versions in May. If only Ephron, who died in 2012, was here to see how far we’ve come. Instead of purchasing separate sprays for her armpits, feet, and vagina, the modern woman can reach for an all-in-one product to rid her entire body of any natural scent.

The messaging isn’t quite as blunt as it was in the 1960s, when feminine-hygiene sprays were advertised as “essential…to your peace of mind about being a girl.” But while there are some brands making whole-body deodorant for men, like Mando and Dove’s Men+Care line, the majority of whole-body deodorants are targeted toward women. There’s also a subtle difference in how the offerings for different genders are marketed. Women’s whole-body deodorants offer “odor protection”; men’s whole body deodorants “defend against BO.” With this in mind, it’s worth asking whether women really need this “protection” in every sphere of life. After all, is smelling “very human” after a hike, as one of the women in the Secret ad says, really such a terrible thing?

Do You Really Need Whole-Body Deodorant?

According to Secret, four out of five dermatologists and gynecologists recommend their whole-body deodorant, which contains antimicrobial ingredients that inhibit the growth of odor-causing bacteria. (Secret and Procter & Gamble did not respond to multiple requests for comment). But whether or not you must coat the entire surface area of your skin with a layer of deodorant to smell good is another question. So, does the average person actually need this all-over product?

“The short answer is no, definitely not,” says Dr. Jenna Peart, a dermatologist at Boulder Medical Center in Colorado. “Most of these deodorants are not antiperspirants, so they’re not a solution for excessive sweating that can sometimes lead to body odor.”

Peart is generally skeptical of products that claim to treat vaginal odor. In her practice, she sees women with vulvar rashes and irritation caused by scented products like feminine wipes. Some fragrances and preservatives in laundry detergent can also trigger itching and redness in the genital area, she says.

“The only thing I ever recommend for cleaning the groin is water and gentle soap with no added fragrance,” Peart says. “All that extra stuff tends to cause more problems.”

For most people, changing out of sweaty clothes and taking a shower after a workout or long day outdoors should be enough, Peart says. If you’re showering every day and still having issues with body odor, that’s a sign that you should see a doctor.

“If you leave sweat on your skin, that will inevitably lead to bacterial growth which can be odor-producing. Basic hygiene practices can usually take care of that,” Peart explains. “But there are conditions where you can have colonization of odor-producing bacteria, like bromhidrosis. That’s an actual medical condition that you can get treatment for.” (Bromhidrosis is abnormal or excessive body odor, typically caused by the bacterial breakdown of sweat gland secretions).

“The only thing I ever recommend for cleaning the groin is water and gentle soap with no added fragrance,” Peart says. “All that extra stuff tends to cause more problems.”

Whether the underlying issue is bromhidrosis or hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), reducing the amount a patient sweats is usually the goal, Peart says. Possible treatment options include prescription-strength antiperspirants, oral medications, topical antibiotics, and Botox injections.

“There are much better ways to manage this than using over-the-counter products,” Peart says.

OK, so if given the option of smearing deodorant all over your body or taking a shower, you should probably just wash yourself. But what if you’re camping out in the wilderness for days or weeks at a time? Should you fill precious space in your pack with whole-body deodorant so you can “smell great all day, all hike, and all night?”

Still, the answer is no. Scented products can attract bugs and other wildlife, including bears, which is why organizations like Outward Bound and The National Center for Outdoor Adventure and Education strongly advise against bringing deodorant into the backcountry.

“I’ve done some backpacking in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, where mosquitoes are a massive issue. They’re just swarming everywhere. And I’ve also camped in areas like the Maroon Bells-Smowmass Wilderness, where there are a lot of bears and you’re mandated to carry bear canisters,” Peart says. “Fragrance is definitely frowned upon, and for good reason. What I do is what I generally recommend for my patients, many of whom partake in these activities. I clean off sweat and dirt with a small, quick-dry towel with some water or one fragrance-free baby wipe that I pack out. And then I change into dry clothes for the evening.”

How to Maintain Personal Hygiene While Camping

It’s normal to have a bit of body odor when spending extended time outdoors. Personal hygiene will probably look, smell, and feel different while you’re out in nature—and that’s OK.

“Backcountry hygiene is more about cleanliness rather than smelling good. That means cleaning your skin and other parts of your body that are more prone to bacterial growth and infection,” says Whitney Pander, a program director at Outward Bound’s Maine and Florida basecamps.

For Kate Abraham, another Outward Bound program director based in Maine, it’s helpful to see your outdoor personal-care regimen in relation to your day-to-day hygiene practices.

“I feel that my backcountry routines in comparison to my front-country routines are not that different,” Abraham says. “I’m still trying to care for the same parts of my body, only in a simplified way.”

Just like at home, it’s important to wash your hands after using the bathroom, and you should clean your face, armpits, feet, and private parts daily. Some people use biodegradable soap and a washcloth, while others prefer tea tree oil and a cotton bandana. After peeing, some people use pee rags, while others may feel more comfortable with toilet paper and unscented wipes. Brush your teeth twice a day with your usual toothpaste or toothpaste tabs.

“Sometimes you hear that there’s a very specific way to care for yourself in the wilderness, which tends to be very minimal and not inclusive of different skin, hair, and body types,” Pander says. “As an organization, we’re moving away from that. It’s about understanding your body and finding the right care that your body needs.”

“Backcountry hygiene is more about cleanliness rather than smelling good.” – Whitney Pander, a program director at Outward Bound’s Maine and Florida basecamps

There’s no one-size-fits-all backcountry hygiene routine, Pander and Abraham say. What matters is that you take care of your health while honoring Leave No Trace principles: do your business and rinse yourself off at least 200 feet away from a body of water, pack out wipes, toilet paper, and menstrual products, and spray your toothpaste instead of spitting it out in a clump. When it comes to pooping, there is a spirited debate over the merits of using WAG bags or other waste-disposal kits versus digging a cat hole. One thing’s for sure: no “surface turds.”

And leave the deodorant—whole-body or not—at home. In addition to attracting critters, reapplying deodorant without thoroughly bathing can clog pores and lead to rashes. For some students, especially self-conscious teenagers, the prospect of not wearing deodorant can be anxiety-inducing, Abraham says. But talking openly about their insecurities can take some of the pressure off.

“I tend to approach it with humor. Like, yeah we might smell bad, but we’ll smell bad together,” Abraham says. “As humans, we want to feel like we belong. And so when I emphasize that this is something we’re doing together, they’re like, OK, we’re all doing it.”

Of course we shouldn’t be focused on body odor while enjoying the great outdoors. But when we go off the grid to escape the stifling expectations of the real world, we may still take all the cultural messaging about what our bodies should look and smell like with us. The solution to this problem isn’t dousing ourselves in artificial fragrances. Rather, it’s practicing true self-care—which involves a healthy dose of self-acceptance—wherever we are.