Hi Janet,
My understanding on the subject in simple terms is that it’s related to volatile compounds released when specific fatty acids are broken down and the ratio of those fatty acids seems to increase with age. It doesn’t seem to be related to dry or oily skin which per your inquiry does seem counterintuitive. I suppose skin moisture is more complex than just oily v. dry but I’m not knowledgeable on the subject. Perhaps one of our members with access to AI will make an inquiry on the topic to see if there is anything new?
I’m still interested in more information myself and better options for dealing with it. I’ll admit with one thing and another it hasn’t been top of mind for me lately. I have thought that the change in our skin fatty acid composition might be comparable to the many other changes we experience that are relatively benign like needing reading glasses for example. It’s just probably not one of the more pressing issues for humanity so it gets little attention or little that I’ve been able to find. I still don’t like it…
1. Eggplant extract
https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/10/2129
11 May 2025
Eggplant Phenolamides: 2-Nonenal Scavenging and Skin Protection Against Aging Odor
2. Soap containing a polyphenol mixture extracted (anti-nonenal Polyphenol Complex) from an oolong tea, a tiencha, a green tea and an astringent persimmon
#Preventive effect against the aged men’s body odor by the soap containing polyphenol
- January 2012
- Journal of Japan Association on Odor Environment 43(5):362-366
Human body odor consists of various kinds of odor components. 2-Nonenal, an unsaturated aldehyde, is main causative substance of the aged body odor. We found that the polyphenol mixture extracted (anti-nonenal Polyphenol Complex) from an oolong tea, a tiencha, a green tea and an astringent persimmon had high anti-oxidative effect and deodorant effect against 2-nonenal. Human study for 4 weeks was conducted to investigate the deodorant effect of soap containing anti-nonenal PC for 20 men between the ages of 43 and 75. By using the soap everyday, the amount of 2-nonenal from body decreased significantly. The odor intensity and the visual analogue scale (VAS) were also significantly improved. We concluded that the soap containing anti-nonenal PC had high deodorant effect against the aged men’s body odor.
The full article is in Japanese.
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jao/43/5/43_362/_pdf/-char/ja
The English abstract above is provided at the end of the Japanese pdf.
Study was conducted at
Suntory Institute for Health Care Science Research Center
No apparent conflict of interest. Suntory makes whiskey.
Thank you.
I don’t think it’s real. I used to watch Penn & Teller: Bullshit! as a kid and they debunked this with an experiment.
Might be dirty clothing or something.