This stinks to high heaven.<\/p>\n
As put-upon New Yorkers suffer through yet another summer heatwave<\/a>, a new, noxious smell is seeping out into already pungent streets and filling overstuffed subway cars \u2014\u00a0everyone else\u2019s sweat.<\/p>\n Did somebody shoplift all the deodorant from Duane Reade? No \u2014\u00a0the unwelcome underarm scent creeping into the already questionable fragrance bouquet of a Big Apple summer comes courtesy of grungy Gothamites who, in the name of environmental friendliness or their personal health, have opted to put the kibosh on pit protection. <\/p>\n Kate Caretta is among the many proudly going au naturel in this year\u2019s hotter-than-Hades weather<\/a> \u2014\u00a0the 36-year-old hairstylist and carpenter from Bushwick makes no apologies for her personal choice to not cover up, calling antiperspirants \u201ca stupid thing to waste money on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just don\u2019t see it as something that\u2019s necessary \u2014 like, if I smell, I\u2019ll just wash myself,\u201d Caretta, who works as a hairstylist\/carpenter and doesn\u2019t consider herself a \u201cvery smelly\u201d person, told The Post. \u201cI also don\u2019t shave my armpits<\/a>, so I feel like there\u2019s a bit of a natural deodorant quality to that, because your armpit hair wicks moisture away from your skin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou already have soap and water in your house \u2026 your natural biome works better when you disrupt it less with more product,\u201d said Carretta, insisting she\u2019s not a \u201cwoo-woo\u201d person, or anything like that. \u201cI also just don\u2019t think it makes sense to mask a natural smell with another smell. I feel like it tends to just make it worse.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas McGuigan is one of many who refuse to wear deodorant, despite the scorching temperatures NYC has been experiencing. Emmy Park for NY Post<\/p>\n But while those ditching the deo may have their own reasons, there\u2019s no escaping the reality that the shared air out there is becoming increasingly unctuous. As the scorching season rages on, cranky commuters are spouting their frustrations online \u2014\u00a0imploring their fellow citizens to reconsider their hygiene habits.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is going to be one hundred effing degrees out in New York tomorrow \u2014 now is not the time to whip out your all-natural, all-organic deodorant,\u201d content creator Zach Olson told followers in a July 1 Instagram reel<\/a> that reached 6,000 likes. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to smell manure when I\u2019m walking down the sidewalk. Stick to the chemicals. That\u2019s going to keep you from smelling like utter trash and B.O.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hot as hell in New York City right now, this is not that natural deodorant kind of weather,\u201d creator Chris Vargas echoed in a similar TikTok<\/a> that received 13.6K likes. \u201cWe need you to put on the deodorant with aluminum. I\u2019m not playing with y\u2019all. I don\u2019t need y\u2019all to be out here with these Bushwick pits.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooklynite Thomas McGuigan is unfazed by the angry crowd \u2014\u00a0the 28-year-old film editor\/associate producer, a self-described wellness fanatic, doesn\u2019t use traditional deodorant or anti-perspirant, but instead opts for a botanical body spray from his local mom-and-pop health store to mask the musk when the heat turns up.<\/p>\n The Brooklynite is a self-described wellness fanatic who doesn\u2019t believe in traditional deodorant due to its \u201cmetals and toxins.\u201d Emmy Park for NY Post<\/p>\n McGuigan first decided to forgo drugstore underarm products after attending a talk on the dangers of toxins and chemical additives<\/a> in mainstream personal care products, back in his college days. <\/p>\n Loved ones pleaded with him to take another whiff \u2014\u00a0even calling him \u201ccrazy.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201c(My parents) disagreed at first, but then they were just like, \u2018Fine, do whatever you want \u2014 we can\u2019t stop you,\u201d recalled McGuigan. \u201cA lot of people were kind of annoyed.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the pit pushback, he couldn\u2019t shake what he\u2019d learned.<\/p>\n Just because McGuigan doesn\u2019t \u201cclog his pores with unhealthy toxins,\u201d he makes sure to shower often to keep clean. Emmy Park for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cIt reminded me of when I watched the \u2018Super Size Me\u2019 documentary for the first time,\u201d McGuigan told The Post, referring to the 2004 film where documentarian Morgan Spurlock chronicled his health decline while eating only at McDonald\u2019s<\/a>. \u201cI was just like, \u2018OK, I don\u2019t want these metals<\/a> and toxins inside me anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Since then, the eager enviro guy has been vetting his personal toiletries using databases provided by consumer safety organizations like the nonprofit EWG<\/a>, or Environmental Working Group. These days, he likes the \u201cAfter Pool Spray,\u201d a rose and cucumber solution from Naturally Connected Life, a small, North Carolina company. <\/p>\n Brutal temps and a little sweat don\u2019t scare McGuigan. Emmy Park for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cYour body needs to perspire and sweat stuff out,\u201d McGuigan explained, emphasizing that he showers once a day or every other day (depending on how, he says, his body is feeling) to keep clean. \u201cWhen you use that chemical stuff on your armpits, it\u2019s like you\u2019re basically clogging up those pores\u2026I\u2019m just like, \u2018Wow, if only science would look at the unhealthy toxins and chemicals that are in these products.\u201d<\/p>\n He knows most people won\u2019t understand, but he\u2019s fine with the decision he made for his health, which he described as \u201ceverything to me.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re going to be on a hot, crowded subway this summer, many argue that New Yorkers need to take care of their underarm stink. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really about understanding the kind of person you are and what you value in terms of what your sense of great hygiene is,\u201d he said. \u201cReally just owning who you uniquely are, despite pushback, and helping people understand that health is not just one fixed definition. It\u2019s different for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n While The Post spoke with multiple people who cited safety concerns surrounding traditional methods of odor control, Dr. Jessica Weiser<\/a>, a board-certified dermatologist and assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Columbia University, told The Post there\u2019s nothing to worry about from your typical deodorant or stronger-acting anti-perspirant, the latter of which usually contains the metals that many fear.<\/p>\n \u201cSweat glands primarily function to control body temperature and are not a source of body detoxification,\u201d said Weiser. \u201cThe skin absorption of aluminum is minimal and therefore skin and breast concentrations are exceptionally low, if present at all.\u201d<\/p>\n framarzo \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n The expert also clarified that the use of hygienic underarm products that utilize aluminum is \u201centirely safe,\u201d per the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCERF<\/a>), National Cancer institute (NCI<\/a>) and American Cancer Society<\/a> \u2014\u00a0and further suggested bulking up on product when necessary, introducing an antibacterial soap to your cleanliness regimen during the hotter months, to \u201cfurther reduce body odor resulting from high ambient temperatures.\u201d<\/p>\n Thanks, but no thanks, says New Jersey commuter Terry Tatossean, who made the choice to scrub the scent a decade ago after perimenopause<\/a> caused her underarms to develop a \u201crancid\u201d stench<\/a> \u2014\u00a0which only cleared once she pitched out all the sweat-masking products she\u2019d tried.<\/p>\n Terry Tatossean cut all underarm hygiene products cold turkey \u2014 and hasn\u2019t looked back. Sean Pozin<\/p>\n \u201cThe smell wasn\u2019t like a normal sweat smell, it was unwashable,\u201d the 49-year-old midlife health coach recalled, adding that her husband \u2014\u00a0now her ex \u2014\u00a0commented on the change, which turned out to be a common perimenopause hormonal symptom per Harvard Health<\/a>. \u201cI had to get rid of my clothes, it was so bad.\u201d<\/p>\n The stinky struggle sent her down a three-year research rabbit hole \u2014 during which she says she read up on the potential dangers of ingredients like aluminum found in antiperspirants to the lymphatic system<\/a> and auditioned countless mainstream and natural products that \u201dmade things worse.\u201d <\/p>\n Then, a vacation to Mexico, where she accidentally forgot her toiletries, prompted her to embark on an experiment \u2014 to cut all underarm hygiene products cold turkey.<\/p>\n Though two weeks of even more intense sweating and odor followed (which Tateossian dealt with by taking frequent ocean dips and increasing her already diligent shower schedule), by week three, she noticed that the sweat had lost its pungent chokehold.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tateossian, who worked on Wall Street for seven years and now travels to Midtown regularly for meetings, counts herself \u201cvery familiar\u201d with the city\u2019s abrasive summer heat and the \u201cgarbage smell everywhere.\u201d <\/p>\n She does not, however, see her own decision to ditch underarm hygiene products \u2014 even the natural ones \u2014 as part of the problem. She showers one to two times a day, wears breathable fabrics and even stuffs paper towels in her armpits as a sort of armor when going into stressful situations, she said. <\/p>\n Though she notices her sweat has a \u201cfaint odor\u201d when she eats certain foods, like onions, it\u2019s \u201cnothing like what it used to be before.\u201d<\/p>\n She urged others to be similarly mindful of how they go about changing things up, down there. <\/p>\n \u201cI absolutely don\u2019t think it\u2019s OK to purposefully not shower, be super stinky and raise your arms on the subway,\u201d Tateossian said. \u201cIt\u2019s such a congested, stressful commute<\/a> in the summer\u2026If you are making the choice not to wear antiperspirant or deodorant \u2026 you [should be] considerate to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t