Can you smell but not be aware of it?

Apparently taking anti oxidants can help. Blackcurrant supplements are deemed very effective. Also drinking green tea.

Thank you so much for some great advice. To answer questions above - yes hair gets washed about every 2 or 3 days. Hardly ever wear perfume or just a dab if Ch no 5 for special outings. None of the health issues so it must be the old person smell then. Shel69 any more details on the soap please?

The only way to find out is to ask someone. If it were me I would rather text, making it easier for the person you ask. Ask them to give an honest opinion as you won't be offended.

Nose blindness is definitely real.

I take it you aren’t a smoker?
Maybe it’s your perfume that both sons have taken a dislike to?
I think I’d take a deep breath and just ask what’s going on.

Is it possible that you are putting on too much perfume?

Shel69

On dear, there is an older people smell, it's not unpleasant but it's a real fact, but there is an answer to it, I am not sure if I have it but I use a soap from Japan that gets rid of it, having googled it as I remember when younger going into elderly relatives and noticing a smell that I didn't smell in other houses, it's ok if our body changing ,it's normal but nice to know you don't have to have it

Does the soap have a pleasant smell that you can actually smell on yourself?

I find that various soaps and shower gels smell lovely when I’m using them but as soon as I’m dressed I can’t smell anything at all.

A massive difference between smell which is hygiene related, incontinence related, or health/age realted. The first two have fairly simple solutions- the last one, not so easy or possibly impossible to solve.

Yes, I would ask him quite simply and directly- and make it clear you won't get offended, but need to understand, so you can try and do something about it.

You say you shower every day, but do you also wash your hair? I find the smell of unwashed hair quite unpleasant 😷
Alternatively do you use quite a strong perfume that your sons might find a bit overwhelming?

You're very brave to ask!!

I think you should ask your son what is going on and done with it! I bet you will be so relieved with the answer... but,

when working, a colleague smelt and not one of us told her and wondered why her family didn't!

On dear, there is an older people smell, it's not unpleasant but it's a real fact, but there is an answer to it, I am not sure if I have it but I use a soap from Japan that gets rid of it, having googled it as I remember when younger going into elderly relatives and noticing a smell that I didn't smell in other houses, it's ok if our body changing ,it's normal but nice to know you don't have to have it

Apparently people do give off an ‘aroma’ as they age. It’s why older people’s bedrooms smell slightly stale in the morning. I found this online:

“As our skin matures, its natural antioxidant protection declines. This decline results in greater oxidation of lipid acid. When lipid acid is oxidized, the chemical compound nonenal is produced, giving off the “old people smell” that many of us are familiar with. Exactly why this happens is still a mystery.”
🥴

Oh Tennisnan - you did make me laugh. I was just picturing your son running to open the windows. I can’t tell you ‘what’s going on’ because I haven’t been near you 😂
But it’s not a laughing matter to you. I don’t have any answers, but I can say, we sweat less as we get older (I read that somewhere), so we really shouldn’t smell that much. Good luck in your search for an answer.

Do you have any health issues? Diabetes?