Personal hygiene and self care skills are important for three reasons; they will improve your social interactions and personal relationships, they will help you to stay fit and healthy and they will help to improve your confidence and self esteem.  As the British summer heat gets into full swing feeling and smelling clean and fresh is extremely important.  Below are some tips for getting on top of body odour and keeping clean and fresh.

1.  Daily Baths or Showers
Having a bath or shower daily is the first step to getting to grips with your personal care.  Make sure you use a soap or shower gel to clean anywhere that tends to get hot and sweaty.  Pay extra attention to the underarms, groin, under and around the breasts, bottom, backs of knees, feet and belly button as these tend to trap sweat and can lead to unpleasant smelling body odour and infections.  If you are overweight you may also need to pay extra attention to cleaning other fleshy areas around the stomach, breasts, bottom and tops of legs. 

2.  Change Clothes Regularly
Depending on the weather conditions and how hot and sticky you are feeling you will need to change your clothes regularly.  Change items like underwear daily and do the same with clothes that have become stained with food or have got hot at sweaty.  Also change clothes after washing as they can hold odours even if you are clean and using deodorant.  Toss any items that you've changed out off straight into the dirty washing.  This will avoid you accidentally putting them on again.

3.  Shave Body Hair
This is entirely optional and depends on your personal preferences and beliefs but having less hair will make it easier for you to keep clean and fresh as hair tends to trap perspiration and lead to odour.  If you are new to shaving use a good quality razor, hair removal cream or wax strips.  These take time to get the hang off so be patient with yourself and take things slowly till you get familiar with this new routine.  If you are shaving you may find it useful to use a shaving cream as this will help the blade glide smoothly across the body.  If you have sensitive skin or are on a tight budget then aqueous cream will work just as well and can be purchased from most chemists.

4.  Use Deodorant Daily
Once you are clean make sure you use a deodorant.  Antiperspirant deodorants are usually best as they have additional ingredients to reduce sweating and this can help prevent any unpleasant smells from developing.  If you prefer you can also make your own using a mix of coconut oil and bicarbonate of soda.  If you are doing this store it in a small pot with a lid and apply daily to clean skin.  For additional absorption you can also add a some cornstarch to the mix.  Be sure to mix your cream well before use.  If you want you can also add a drop or two of lavender essential oil.  Be careful to only use one of two drops as this can irritate the skin if not properly diluted in a carrier oil, like coconut oil. Be aware that body sprays are usually designed to smell nice and often don't contain the additional ingredients that a deodorant does so won't reduce the perspiration and bacteria which causes unpleasant smells.  By all means use them, but use them in combination with a deodorant or buy one which also offers provides an antiperspirant. 

5. Anti-bacterial Wipes
It is the bacteria in the sweat that causes the smell so keeping a pack of anti-bacterial wipes in your bag for when you're out and about will help top up your new cleaning regime and keep you clean.  Anti-bacterial, hand sanitisers will also do the same job but will slightly messy to use.

6. Speak to Your Doctor or Pharmacist
If you are already doing all of these tips and it is not helping remedy the situation it maybe worth having a chat with your pharmacist or doctor.  They will be able to advise of any additional products on the market and your doctor may even be able to prescribe you something to help with the issue.  They can also refer you on to a specialist if the problem is causing you concern or distress.