Why you should love your personal perfume

Why you should love your personal perfume

by Marlies Dekkers

I love Gwyneth Paltrow, but when she recently suggested we steam-clean our vaginas  by sitting on “what is essentially a mini-throne” while a combination of infrared and mugwort steam “cleanses your uterus”, I had to shake my head in disbelief. Your uterus does an excellent job cleaning itself every month by shedding the inner lining; it’s called menstruation.

I think it’s high time we give our reproductive lady parts some credit. Rather than be squirmish, we should be proud! And that also goes for how we smell ‘down there’. A vagina is not supposed to smell like a flower. It smells like, well, a vagina. And once you know –and perhaps even love- your own particular smell, it can tell you so much!

I smell different when I just had sex or recently switched to a new laundry detergent. I can tell where I am in my cycle or if I’m sick, just by using my nose. And when my scent is radically different, I know I should visit my doctor, to see if I have an infection. That’s why I refuse to use special soaps, perfumes, douches, or steams. Not only could I complete throw off the delicate balance between ‘healthy bacteria’ and ‘unhealthy bacteria’ in my vagina; I would also miss out on vital information about my health.

And there’s one other thing. My scent is my ‘personal perfume’. It’s one of the things my lovers love about me. It makes me who I am. And what’s not to love about that?

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