It’s the clothes they buy at GeezerGap, made from mildewed sheep. That and old toe jams they can’t reach anymore.
Polyester smells, even when it’s clean, but you would have noticed if they were wearing polyester.
I got nuthin’.
I want to make sure we’re all on the same page here. Is it a a really offensive odor, like when you go into really old people’s homes? My wife’s 89-year-old aunt’s house smelled strongly of stale garlic and mildew. It was a really sharp, distinctive odor. But here’s the wierd part: In the past several weeks, some good friends of ours have started smelling like that, and they’re in their early 50s. I know they spend a lot of time at her mother’s house, and I know your clothes can pick up that odor. Maybe the middle-aged people you’re smelling are picking up the odor from their parents’ or grandparents’ homes, because at our age we tend to spend a lot of time caring for the old farts.
I’m pretty sure I smell like Mennen Skin Bracer and Bounce dryer sheets. I can’t imagine that it’s too offensive to anyone.
It’s the smell of all that cash. The bitterness comes from the coke we’ve all been told impregnates most of our money.
You have stumbledon a nest of vampires. Try wearing a crucifix, and do carry a clove of garlic.
Vampires smell bad because of the dried blood they feed on.
Chanel #5 with hot-flash high notes.
I wish I was trying to be funny. Hot flash sweat stinks different than normal sweat, and the hormonal issues do odd things to perfume.
(The 70 year old just went off Premarin, and feels 50 again)
Well, I’'m 62 (male), and my instantaneous answer is: medications. Once you reach a certain age, your body starts to basically fall apart, and the only thing keeping it on this side of the grim reaper is the handful of prescription meds you have to take every day. Plus two more handfuls of various supplements. All of that stuff eventually oozes out through the skin, and smells funny. That’s why really old people smell even worse. 'Cause they take so many meds, they can’t afford to eat.
Are these women of the granola-ish sort? If so, they may be using topically applied estrogen cream made from yams. At first, it has a kind of nice, newly-baked bread fragrance that gets rootier and rootier as the day progresses.
My wag is it’s medicine for a yeast or other sort of vaginal infection, or perhaps the infection itself (I’ve been lucky enough not to get one myself so far, so I’m not sure which it is that smells). I don’t know *why * anyone has ever confided in me that they have one, but I’ve noticed a sharply bitter smell from these same few women - usually before they mentioned their issue. I suppose they mention it since it’s a smell you can smell from a couple of feet away?
Is it the people themselves, or their homes?
I was going to say pet smell, or sour laundry smell. But if you say these ladies otherwise are net to a T, that doesn’t hold up.
My grandmother used to smell like mothballs. Is it the mothball smell, maybe?
I think you’re on to something here. I take over a dozen pills a day, and some of them have a pretty distinctive odor. I haven’t noticed any change in my body odor, but I wouldn’t, would I? Fortunately I have a very good friend who always hugs me when we meet, and she’s such a good friend that she’ll tell me if I’m wearing the wrong color or style, so I’m pretty sure she’d mention it if I offend the nose.
They are fairly well-off people. The two are separated or divorced. Maybe hubby needed someone who smelled better.
I’m really leaning towards some sort of alcohol thing, because the one is a major drinker and the other probably drinks quite a bit.
Not mothballs. You have to be pretty close to smell it. And I don’t notice this smell on various other friends who have hot flashes and other women-type things going on.
It’s the kind of thing where if they had any idea what they smelled like they would be mortified.
Could it be menopause changing the normal pheromone levels? You might find it unpleasant because it’s a signal that the woman is no longer able to bear children and therefore not a suitable mate.
Alternatively, some people begin to lose their sense of smell as they age. Whatever products she’s using, she may no longer smell them at all, and could be overdoing them.
Oh, god, now I’m paranoid.
Phall who is only 41, but hormone free and lives with a cat.
I just wanted to say that a vaginal infection that you can smell from a couple of feet away gives me the f’ing shivers.
Along with hormone fluctuations and other body breakdown problems, there are a few chemicals that are associated with normal aging, like 2-Nonenal. Naturally, the main work on this was done by Japanese researchers. A common phrase here among younger people is オヤジ臭い (oyaji kusai, roughly: “old dude stink”). Older women are also said to smell, but ばばあ臭い (babâ kusai, “old bag stink”) isn’t as commonly heard.