Does everything have to smell like roses?

I’m beginning to think that the personal hygiene industry has gone mad. Recently, scented panty-liners entered the Dutch marked and I bet that, the already in the USA available scented Tampax, will not be far behind. Is this a new trend? Is this a new innovation? No, we are just going back to the seventies. When you take a little trip through time you come across some odd things.

For example: Napoleon’s Josephine was not allowed to take long scented baths when Napoleon was on his way home from a big battle. Reason: Napoleon was crazy about Josephine’s body odor.

If you would take a look at some women's magazine dating back before WorldWar II, you would see that having body odor was a serious 'problem'. Back then there were a lot of brands launched to help people with this ‘problem’. Advertisers made clear that readers could count on disapproving looks if they had body odor. If something went wrong in your life it could only be because of your odor. They almost said: Use our product and you never have a problem again.

In the sixties things went one step further. The industry decided that body odor was caused by not so fresh/stale armpits and there were two specific problems. Problem one: armpits get moist, problem two: armpits dry up and get smelly. The brands had the solution, of course, deodorant! Thanks to smart advertising strategies, the use of deodorant had become totally self-evident in the seventies; armpits became a point of reference for future strategies. If they could change the way people thought about armpits, they could surely change the way we think about our most intimate body parts. They even started calling it the ‘third armpit’. How rude :(

They invented the next female ‘problem’ and created, of course, the remedy: intimate sprays. Ads told woman that they needed to be sensible. Did they, for instance know that their intimate parts perspire just as much, or even more, as their armpits? Just image how smelly things would get down there. But do not fear.... intimate sprays are here. That’s a nice thought; just spray a little propellant on your intimate parts. NOT!

The intimate sprays never became really popular. Some of the brands even disappeared. Nowadays we know a lot more about personal hygiene, we take daily showers, take better care of ourselves and most women know that the ‘third armpit’ just want to be left alone. The more you mess with her, the more upset she gets. No fancy sprays, soaps, scented tissues, intimate showers and so on and so on. Just plain water that’s all she asks for :)

And now, are we going back to the olden days via the scented panty-liner back to the intimate sprays? At least this time advertisers are more sensible. They don’t shame or guild women into using their product. This time around it is all about extra freshness, a secure feeling and pampering. Will woman go for this? I don’t know, if they are sensible.... NOT!
I guess time will tell.