Seriously. It’s a scorching country, but deodorant is really difficult to find. 7/11 doesn’t carry it, Family Mart doesn’t carry it. Many supermarkets don’t carry it, and even when they do they have only one or two kinds to choose from.
Do Taiwanese people not use deodorant? Judging by the high percentage of incredibly foul smelling people I encounter, I would guess they don’t. What is going on here?
RT Mart, Watsons, and Ai-Mai (Geant) have a (limited) range of deodorants.
Most Taiwanese I know don’t use deodorant or perfume. My wife, however, likes Channel. And she likes the way I smell. Hao xiang!
So far I have found some at Breeze Super, Watsons and Cosmed but selection is very limited (Adidas and Nivea mostly) and even sometimes the shops where you bought it last week may not have any the next time.
Most males don’t, at least none of my taiw. colleagues ever used it and were “suprised” that I do.
It’s true. The Family Mart near my apartment used to have a few sticks of deodorant, but after I bought them they never restocked it!
And this is crazy. It’s so hot here, a stench is inevitable if you don’t use deodorant. I encounter smelly people everywhere; in elevators, in the hallway, in restaurants and supermarkets. Even the kids I teach often smell horrible. Sometimes I walk into the classroom and literally choke on the smell. And sometimes it’s not just the kids; the FEMALE local teachers could do with some deodorant, too.
Is BO acceptable in Taiwanese culture? Do they really just not think anything of it?
Acceptable? probably. But they also have less apocrine glands, so they don’t get as pongy as westerners.
i never wear the stuff, personally, so i don’t miss it. i sweat absolute buckets, though, so maybe that helps flush the pores.
stop wearing it, maybe eat less fatty food and exercise more, and you might be surprised at thow things can change…
It’s a strange situation: foreigners are apparently more likely to wear deodorant, yet it seems that most of the smelliest people around are foreigners.
Do you really think so? I haven’t yet encountered any smelly foreigners, but I come across dozens of disgustingly scented Taiwanese people every day.
Maybe it’s different in Taipei? I’m out in the sticks of Taichung.
Do you really think so? I haven’t yet encountered any smelly foreigners, but I come across dozens of disgustingly scented Taiwanese people every day.
Maybe it’s different in Taipei? I’m out in the sticks of Taichung.[/quote]
Maybe I’m just used to it, but from what I can recall, even when I first got here I thought that often foreigners tended to smell worse than most Taiwanese. That was two decades ago in Taichung, but my opinion hasn’t changed since. I don’t like the smell of durians or chou doufu, so it’s not like I can’t smell anything.
[quote=“Poagao”]
Maybe I’m just used to it, but from what I can recall, even when I first got here I thought that often foreigners tended to smell worse than most Taiwanese. That was two decades ago in Taichung, but my opinion hasn’t changed since. I don’t like the smell of durians or chou doufu, so it’s not like I can’t smell anything.[/quote]
Actually, now that I think about it I have come across a few smelly foreigners. But I really don’t see other foreigners very often, apart from my girlfriend. I do see lots of smelly Taiwanese people though. In my school, there are two Taiwanese teachers in particular who consistently have a strong BO stench. No one else seems to mind, so it seems like BO is acceptable to at least some people here.
I agree , the use of deodorant should be heavily promoted among males and females in TAiwan.
Like Obama says… You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig… no offense intended towards pigs.
Well, I suggest you try to find a mall, they tend to have a few “perfume” shops there and they might stock deodorant, I spotted a few shops like that in Taoyuan in a mall there and Watsons also seemed to have an ok stock. I try to get it abroad as and when I can, as I prefer using antiperspirant over deodorant. Costco also stocks Gillette gel stuff, but I have never tried it. From time to time new brands pop up here and my girlfriend just got some baby powder spray on deodorant in Carrefour and she’s a local and sweat more than me…
The unpopularity of deodorant has a direct influence to the popularity of online communities rather than close quarter get togethers I believe. If it wasn’t for the lack of deodorant Forumosa wouldn’t exist!
Ha, I remember riding the bus or even MRT during the school year. Boys between 13 an 18 could kill you…even some sweet girls. I used it! They need too use it in their teens that’s the age when B.O. is most dangerous to noses. Women over 20 in Taiwan smelled nice.
Because Taiwanese ‘real’ men like to stink … don’t care about all the foul smell … are afraid of being attacked by hornets and wasps that are attracted by perfumes …
I use stuff I bought in the Philippines some years ago … a brick of Tawas (alum), just wet it and smear in the armpit … the brick lasts for years …
Sometimes, you think you’re in a bus with a bunch of wet dogs …
Nothing worse than someone (usually a local male) walking past you with a stale B.O. smell.
Then again bad breath is as worse - which seems common here.
While in Thailand I always stock up on de-oderant (1/2 price compared to here) and small bottles of Listerine (you can carry in your pocket).
The Taiwanese who have seen me with the bottle think I’m strange.
Maybe a red mouth full of Bin Lang would make them feel more at home?
I think I’m with Paogao on this one. When I started dating my ex he thought I smelled strange. One day he picked up my deoderant and sniffed it and found the “strange” smell. He asked what it was and was suprized when I showed him how to wear it. He asked me to stop wearing it, as he liked my “natural” smell better. I promised to try one month without it if no one complained and I could stand it. I found that I really thought I smelled better, or less stinky anyway, after stopping the deoderant. Maybe I just got used to it, too? But I always felt foreigners smelled worse than locals, too. Back in the States, I’m back on the stick. I think maybe diet has a lot to do with it.
Which would make anyone who eats Taiwanese food smell terrible! Taiwanese food is incredibly oily, fatty and unhealthy. I cook at home most of the time to avoid it; fresh fish, vegetables and tofu with very little to no oil. But eating so much deep-fried food, as is mostly available in Taiwan, is bound to make your body give off some strange odors.
American is pretty terrible, to be sure, but Taiwanese food is right up there as far as unhealthiness and fat content.
There’s medshopexpress dot com that sells deodorant to overseas.
They usually don’t do that since it’s int’l and it’s a pharmaceutical product.
Shipping is a flat $14 US dollars or more if heavier. That translates to buying 14 bars at regular price and adding on an additional buck for shipping. Decent deal to smell nice and have some stock to give as gifts too.
