This article is Part Two of The History and Herstory of body odour – For Part One, click here. Did you know that Mum produced the first modern and commercial deodorant in the world? Of course we’re not referring to our Mum, or even to your Mum, but in fact to a specific deodorising cream that landed on store shelves back in 1888. This deodorant, the first of its kind, was part of a growing movement of cleanliness. It had been 300 years since French King Louis XIV was proclaiming proudly to having washed just twice in his life (at...

We’ve been smelly for over 5,500 years. Well, we’ve probably been smelly for a lot longer than that - but it only came to our attention around 3,500 BC. At times, we’ve bathed in pools of essential oils to combat it, while at others, poor hygiene has been the pride of Kings and Queens. Our history and relationship with body odour has been a little bumpy, so APHA.LAB thought it would be fun to jot down a little timeline broken unevenly into two parts; the first 5,370 years (Before Mum, BM), and then the last 130 (After Mum, AM). This might...

Not many people may realise this, but perspiring to control our body temperature is a distinctly human thing. Much more than just a unique special talent, sweating has even been discussed by evolutionary scientists as a contributing factor to our ascension of the animal kingdom.

While antiperspirants, deodorants and natural deodorants all have the same objective, the paths they walk to get there can vary dramatically. At the end of APHA.LAB's long journey of education, research and trials, we’re advocates for natural deodorant. We do appreciate however, that the reasons, values and privileges that led us to our conclusion might not resonate with, or be accessible to, everyone. A case could be made for each category, so we'd like to outline the differences in this article.