I lived in Korea for a number of years teaching english and whatnot and had to have deodorant sent to me from the states…you simply cant obtain it over there - no one uses it, and for the most part, it seems like they dont really need to. I mean, I’d ride a bus packed full of peole, and no one would reek of body odor. I dont understand - if I go a day without deodorant (and keep in mind I shower at least once a day) I soon regret it. It can’t be the diet, because I ate authentic korean food everyday. What gives?
My son is full-blood Korean. He’s 12. He’s just getting to “that” age.
Trust me. He needs, and uses on a daily basis, underarm deodorant.
Cartooniverse
Maybe you just got used to it.
then why dont they use/need it in korea?
I’ve heard before that Koreans don’t have BO. Also that the offspring of U.S. GIs and Korean women do have it, and are easily identified, and looked down upon, because of it. Cartooniverse’s post indicates that this may not be universal, but it seems there must be something to it.
WAG: Maybe having grown up in Korea their bodies have gotten used to the temperature and humidity and therefore don’t generate a whole lot of perspiration?
Personally, I was born and raised in Hawaii and if the humidity was relatively low, I didn’t sweat very much. While I was in Cali - both for school and a year of work - I barely broke a sweat even when the temperature hit 90.
Of course, I may just be a genetic freak. 
KK may be on to something… when I lived in Phoenix, about the only time I had noticeable BO was during periods of high humidity. I’d be interested to know if there’s any scientific explanation.
I’ve heard it said that the Asian diet involves much fewer dairy products than the Western diet (America, W. Europe) and that this gives rise to some interesting differences. I’m a Brit so I’m viewing this from a Westerner’s perspective.
Differences I’ve heard mentioned:
(1) To most Asians who visit the West, our (Western) breath doesn’t smell good, like we all have halitosis. We’re used to the trace of milk and other dairy products on our breath, so to us it’s not offensive or noticeable, but to them it is.
(2) We produce a lot more mucus, phlegm and snot.
(3) Our natural perspiration/body odour is more likely to need some deodourising ‘help’.
I don’t claim to know anything about (1), except that I heard it from someone I regard as a reliable and well-informed source. I think (2) is an estabished fact which seems to check out based on my own dietary experiments (I sometimes cut out milk and dairy produce). Although I’ve no speciial expertise regarding (3), it doesn’t seem impossible that it could be a genuine difference, similar to the other two I’ve mentioned. If so, then ‘because they ingest fewer dairy products’ is part of the answer.
Well, first… you can buy deodorant here… and could when I first got here in 1995. It’s just a bit difficult to find, as most Koreans don’t use it.
So, why don’t Koreans use it much? My WAG: two reasons… #1) Koreans tend to be less hairy, #2) Koreans seem to sweat less than us hairy foreigners.
In regards to #1, I recall reading somewhere that the foul odor we associate with the armpit is caused primarily by bacterial decay around the hair follicles (no cite, as I don’t remember where I read that). The bacteria thrive there as a result of the moisture and the happy living ground provided by abundant hair… if Koreans are actually less hairy on the whole, this might help to explain it.
Having said that, let me point out that I have met my share of Koreans who most assuredly could have used a good dose of underarm deodorant!
Well i have AFAIK no Korean heritage,and i have never needed to use deoderant.
And yes it has been confirmed by independant sources that i don’t stink
A daily shower seems to be enough for me.
I don’t think it’s the dairy products. I drink a LOT of milk, eat cheese and yoghurt and butter and all that good cow-ey stuff.
I’d put it down to less sweat. I’m half-Chinese, half-Caucasian. Even in the Australian summer, only if I’m exercising do I sweat enough to feel “damp”. Even then, I remain noticeable drier than other folk. (I play a lot of squash and unlike most of my mates I’ve never had a white shirt turn see-through due to perspiration.)
FWIW, I still wear deodorant, mainly out of paranoia and as a habit.
Apocrine glands produce sebum in addition to sweat. Sebum is a fatty substance which bacteria love, so they inhabite areas rich in apocrine glands, and break the fats into highly aromatic substances.
Apocrine glands are associated with axillary (armpity) and pubic hair. If one naturally has less hair in those regions, they have fewer apocrine glands.
Some ethnic subgroupings (including portions of the larger population often called “oriental”) tend to have on average less axillary hairk, thus fewer apocrine glands.
Also:
"However, there is a high population-specificity with respect to these glands: about half of Koreans and Japanese lack any apocrine glands at all in their armpits (Morris, 1985, p. 141). (Miller, Geoffrey F. (1994)
Id guess it was for the same reason Westerners didnt use deodorant back whenever; we didn`t know we needed it until advertisers convinced us otherwise.
Maybe they use vinegar.
Perhaps the bacteria which plagues us westerners simply isn’t present in that part of the globe.
Has anyone taken swab cultures of the armpits of the Japanese, Chinese, etc. as well as the Koreans?
I’d hate to think our tourists are introducing a previously absent microorganism to an unsuspecting populace, like how we introduced diseases to the Natives in North-, Central-, and South-America.
Well, I’m glad at least one industry won’t be shifted to Asia for cheaper labour and increased profit.
Not true
Yep
We’re not
Maybe the kimchee fumes drown it all out.
My children are also genetically Korean, and I know several others personally, both those who live in the West and those who live in Korea.
The fact that they may not use deodorant is not necessarily proof that they don’t need it. At least according to the standards in my part of the world. I doubt that Koreans or Asians smell any more or less than anyone else.
Regards,
Shodan
If any of you have gone from the US to any asian country, you’d probably find that most people would recommend that you bring lots of deoderant, feminine hygience stuff stuff (if you’re a girl) and other toiletries. If you wish, you could probably bring sunblock too. The reason has nothing to do with the cultural differences in sweating, it’s just that that stuff is hard to find or in some form that you’re not used to. Deoderant and feminine hygience stuff seem to be the big things, tho. Toilet paper is usually also wise. It doesn’t even have to be an asian country. Could be russia as well (where I’ve been to as well).