In over 20 years of working with women on skin and body chemistry, one conversation comes up more than almost any other. And it is the one most women have never heard from their own doctor.
As we get older, the skin begins handling its natural oils differently. Those oils break down on the skin and produce a compound called 2-nonenal. It is the chemistry behind what most women recognise as a musty, stale smell on their pillow, their nightshirt, their bedroom. You may know it simply as old person smell.
Some women first notice it quietly in their 40s or 50s. For many, it becomes more consistent in their 60s.
Here is what makes it so difficult. You almost certainly cannot smell it on yourself. Your nose adjusts to your own scent over time. The people around you have not adjusted. And most of them will never say anything.
I have sat with women who spent years showering twice a day, replacing pillows, switching deodorants, washing everything on the hottest cycle. Convinced the problem was hygiene.
It was never hygiene. It was body chemistry. And once that distinction is clear, the fix finally makes sense.