Title: 8 Ways People Made Themselves Smell Good Before Deodorant | Mental Floss
Headings: 8 Ways People Made Themselves Smell Good Before Deodorant
8 Ways People Made Themselves Smell Good Before Deodorant
1. Ostrich eggs
2. Porridge balls
3. Carob
4. Scented olive oil
5. Perfume baths
6. Ambergris
7. Musk
8. Carbolic acid
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Content: Some people in high society took scented baths before applying perfume beneath their armpits (a practice they copied from the Egyptians). In that era, it wasn’t unusual to take baths once a day —a practice that faded out in the Middle Ages when getting nude to bathe was considered impure. 6. Ambergris
Many of the most common perfume ingredients throughout history came from messy places. Ambergris, which has been used by perfumers for centuries, is a waxy substance that forms when indigestible matter clumps together in the intestines of sperm whales (how it gets out of whales and into the ocean is still debated). In its fresh state, it smells like cow dung, but when the mass is left to age and harden, it develops a sweet, musky aroma. Ambergris has largely been replaced with synthetic ingredients, but it’s still used to make some high-end perfumes. 7. Musk
Musk —a word still associated with fragrances today—first caught perfumers' attention in the Medieval era. It comes from a small sac that hangs in front of a male musk deer’s genitals, and it smells like urine when the deer secretes it.