What would be the adult equivalent of Axe body spray?

July 24, 2009 12:35 PM

I need a body spray recommendation for a middle age guy. Can anyone recommend anything that won't make me smell like an over-cologned teenager hoping to be the next star of an AXE commercial?

I'm one of those guys who sweats for 30-60 minutes after completing vigorous exercise. I take a shower at the gym, but by the time I leave the building I've got sweat marks all over my shirt front and back from the residual perspiring. I use underarm deodorant, but I was considering some sort of body spray to mask/diminish/neutralize any leftover smell. Can anyone recommend a subtle, "mature" body spray? Those AXE commercials are hilarious, but I have a feeling they are too scented for my taste (With that said, I've never tried any of them, so who knows)

posted by teg4rvn to sports, hobbies, & recreation (26 answers total)

Please don't do this. If you are using soap when you shower, I really doubt there is any "leftover smell" and anyway I would rather smell whatever mild odor you might possibly have to some headache-inducing body spray.
posted by HotToddy at 12:43 PM on July 24, 2009

I agree. Just use body wash. My husband uses Dial for Men and I like the smell - fresh and clean but not overpowering. I do like cologne in light quantities, but there are a wide range of opinions on that so I'd play it safe unless you know [your object of affection] enjoys it.
posted by desjardins at 12:49 PM on July 24, 2009

Most men's body sprays smell like Axe (i.e., like desperation). If you want to make yourself actually smell good, consider investing in a higher-end men's fragrance (basically perfume for men). If you're comfortable wandering into a Sephora, they have a wide selection.

Burberry Brit for men is generally a pretty safe choice, in my opinion. Nothing fancy, but it does smell nice.
posted by oinopaponton at 12:50 PM on July 24, 2009

Bad idea dude. Cologne is meant to be a faint smell, generally applied to your neck / wrists that people get a whiff of only when they lean in close. Not meant to drown out other smells.
posted by chalbe at 12:52 PM on July 24, 2009

I haven't found the Old Spice body sprays to smell like Axe. I rather like them.
posted by kingbenny at 12:53 PM on July 24, 2009

Edited: like others suggested, try body wash or a scented bar soap. Personally I like mint scents a lot
posted by chalbe at 12:55 PM on July 24, 2009

Body sprays are the armpits. What about some talc, would that help?
posted by iconomy at 12:58 PM on July 24, 2009 [1 favorite]

I take a shower at the gym, but by the time I leave the building I've got sweat marks all over my shirt front and back from the residual perspiring.

Take a cold shower. Or finish with cold water. Close up your pores.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:05 PM on July 24, 2009 [4 favorites]

I don't like the image that axe has, but I actually like their products a lot. So don't rule them out entirely.
posted by buriednexttoyou at 1:06 PM on July 24, 2009 [1 favorite]

Warm shower, use a washcloth or brush to really clean the armpits, cool rinse. If it's not working, try a different soap (maybe Neutrogena), try washing a second time (sometimes the deodorant itself is hard to wash off).

If your body scent is strong enough to detect, any scent strong enough to "drown out" that body scent is going to be too strong. Women, in particular, have more sensitive noses than men, so they'll likely have to stay away in order to avoid getting a headache or something.

I tend to prefer natural scent to cologne scents, anyway.
posted by amtho at 1:13 PM on July 24, 2009

My perspiration brother! I sweat like you do! No matter how cold the shower, if I've just exercised, my body continues to generate heat and open the pores for about an hour afterwards! It looks like I just stood in a car wash! Even in the dead of winter! Fuckin' biology!

So my question is: do you actually have a "residual smell", or is it just sweat? Has a smell been reported by friends or family that you trust to give you the straight dope on your hygiene? I ask because I actually find that my propensity to sweat keeps my B.O. to a relative minimum, presumably because I'm constantly flushing out bacteria and such, and re-hydrating whenever possible. Besides drinking lots of water, I also wear undershirts, which absorb enough sweat that it rarely gets to the showing-through-shirt stage, and I keep a paper towel or absorbent rag in my pocket, to blot the excess perspiration from my face. Also, if I'm leaving someplace that has a freezer, I'll grab a small piece of ice to suck on, which helps cool things down a tiny bit.

Aside from that, just deodorant and soap seem to be okay. I tend to use strongly woodsy-smelling soaps (cedar is one of my favorite smells), so that any residual scent is more like a earthy forest than a wet human.
posted by Greg Nog at 1:15 PM on July 24, 2009

I vote some subtle old spice. I've met several women who spontaneously mention that old spice reminds them of their grandfather / father. This is usually a good thing.
posted by maxpower at 1:22 PM on July 24, 2009

that old spice reminds them of their grandfather / father. This is usually a good thing.

And yet, kinda creepy.
posted by electroboy at 1:35 PM on July 24, 2009

As my allergist put it, I am "exquisitely sensitive to many fragrances," those marketed to men most of all. I get migraines from many body sprays, colognes, etc. I'm not alone in this. Please, minimize your scent usage.

Do you take time to cool down after exercise? Maybe you are getting dressed and leaving the gym too soon. Have a cold drink and rest a while.
posted by Carol Anne at 1:57 PM on July 24, 2009 [1 favorite]

Follow up:

I use a sport scent body wash and try to get the water as cold as possible for as long as possible as I end the shower. I, too, Greg Nog, wear an undershirt (even when it's 100 degrees) daily. Frankly, there is no smell to my residual sweat (but that's just my opinion; I've been assuming I just don't smell myself.

Thanks for all the opinions. Especially the ones from the ladies advising to do nothing! You mean if you're a gorgeous 20-year-old you don't go into immediate heat from smelling AXE? who knew?
posted by teg4rvn at 1:58 PM on July 24, 2009

I use underarm deodorant

Are you ONLY using a deodorant, or is it an antiperspirant as well? Deodorants will only try to prevent/mask odors, which result from the waste products of bacteria feeding on perspiration. An antiperspirant will attempt to prevent the perspiration in the first place.
posted by JJtheJetPlane at 2:02 PM on July 24, 2009

One further note: drinking a very cold drink (ice water) might also help cool you off faster. It makes a big difference for me (although I am a tiny female, not a large male). Be careful not to do this too soon or too quickly as it can have negative effects, I hear.
posted by amtho at 2:36 PM on July 24, 2009

Something like this also helps me a lot.
posted by amtho at 2:38 PM on July 24, 2009

Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Peppermint Soap has a light peppermint scent, and a strong astringent quality that helps stop after exercise sweating. The intriguing "All-One!" philosophy in small print on the label is just a Chinese fortune cookie bonus.
posted by paulsc at 3:06 PM on July 24, 2009

I'm with Cool Papa Bell: spend a minute or two under cold water at the end of your shower. It only hurts for a minute (or two) and will help tons with your post-sweat.
posted by rhizome at 3:21 PM on July 24, 2009

I feel for you, dude. It's bacteria that cause the odor, and there's the same about of bacteria there whether you're sweating or not. Maybe _less_ if you bathe and the continue sweating.

I sweat like a pig, like you for 45 minutes or so after a run or bike ride. It's made worse by the fact that my office is a long sleeve shirt and tie sort of place, I'm the only one in my office that walks to work every day, and Michigan is HUMID in the summer.

Nothing I've ever done has decreased the amount I sweat. Antiperspirant is great and all, but I'd have to literally coat my entire body in it to keep the sweat down. I just kill the odor with that hippie crystal deodorant stuff, keep a spare shirt floating around, have a fan at my desk, go rogue by avoiding a tie most days, keep the temperature at about 65 in my office, walk VERY SLOWLY when I have to be at a meeting and generally try to minimize the unsightliness of my superhuman sweat glands (oddly enough, a wool t-shirt seems to be the best way to go).

That's the best you can do until society becomes enlightened.
posted by paanta at 3:21 PM on July 24, 2009 [1 favorite]

If you want to improve things from the ground up, try drinking more water and improving your diet.
posted by hermitosis at 3:50 PM on July 24, 2009

Axe is better than you think, when used in small doses. I don't use it myself, but several female friends (ages 21-50) have commented that they like it.

(But for god's sake don't spray any of that crap in the gym locker room! Every time I go to the gym some retard is using aerosol cologne/deodorant/foot spray -- fucking horrible. Wait til you get outside, or use it in the car.)
posted by coolguymichael at 4:49 PM on July 24, 2009

I see that nobody has yet suggested that you use powder. So that is what I am going to do right now. USE POWDER.

Seriously.

If I may wax poetic on the amazing properties of powder for a moment. I live in a hot, humid climate. The type of place where you can be sweating buckets 10 minutes after getting out of a nice cool shower. For years I thought I just had to accept that sweat was part of my life until I got the idea that, "hmm, maybe some powder would do the trick?" Powder, being incredibly cheap, was worth a shot. And by golly it works. Ever since I added powder to my post-showering routine, I my body hasn't perspired once. God's honest truth. I thought the feeling of powder on my skin would annoy me (I hate overly dry things) but it's very cooling and keeps the sweat completely at bay.

So, in closing: powder.

May I suggest Clubman Pinauld Talc since I suppose you don't want to smell like a baby's bottom?

Or Anti-Monkey Butt Powder, if you have a sense of humor about these kinds of things (not just for butts!)

Pro tip - use a big foofy makeup brush to put it on your body.
posted by contessa at 4:50 PM on July 24, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ooops, sorry. Anti-Monkey Butt Powder (fixed link).
posted by contessa at 8:36 PM on July 24, 2009

Cyclists use a new high tech fabric version of the old fashioned cotton string vest/undershirt the British army used to issue for hot/cold. They work like a thermal blanket in winter and wick the sweat away in the heat to keep you cooler. Actually, the new ones are a closer weave than the old ones, but they're still supposed to work. The British army did a study in the middle east where it goes up to 140F and the men found these to work the best at keeping them sweat free. Just a suggestion.

And, nthing the no perfume for men, please. It's always formualted to be much stronger than women's cologne, and most smells like old horse sweat or hot metal. Ugh. How about a nice soap followed by talc which will help keep you dry?
posted by x46 at 9:14 PM on July 24, 2009