Personal hygiene tips for dating seniors. Newcomer to the dating scene shares hygiene tips for seniors.
By Tom P Blake - Finding Love after 50
Nancy, a newcomer to the senior dating scene and this newsletter, wrote, “I have recently started to take dance lessons and going out to dance clubs. It’s a lot of fun, but some men seem to have no clue that women are very sensitive to smells and unkempt clothing. This is very important to a first impression, no matter what the gentleman looks like, how well spoken he is or how he dances. Have you addressed the topic of personal hygiene?”
I told Nancy I wrote a column a while ago titled, “Play Musty For Me,” but felt it was time to freshen the topic. Nancy provided her suggestions for men, adding that most of her tips apply to women as well.
Nancy’s Hygiene Tips
1. Take a shower and put on deodorant before you go out
2. No need for cologne or perfume (some people are sensitive to this). Overdoing it is way worse than none at all. Just smell clean
3. You don't need the newest or most fashionable clothes (or even totally matching). Just don't wear something dirty or so wrinkled it looks like you picked it up off the floor of the closet
4. Fingernails should be clean and if your feet and toenails are grunge, DON'T TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF FOR ANY REASON
5. Brush your teeth before you go out. Using a mint for close up situations is nice, but if everyone is eating the same smelly food, I don't think anyone will hold garlic breath against you
6. Women who don't drink or smoke can smell alcohol and smoke on a man a mile away. Even if you use a mint, alcohol smell can escape from your pores. This is a major turnoff
7. A word about men's hair. A toupee is ok as long as it looks TOTALLY natural, same with hair coloring on men. Men should not rely on their own judgment for this and should ask a trusted friend (preferably a woman).
For a man, if either of these things look fake, a woman might peg him as shifty and insincere (fake). Gray is ok. A nice, short, updated hairstyle is the way to go and seems to make all men look younger.
Nancy’s hygiene tips make sense. However, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t comment on her tips from the man’s point of view.
-The biggest thing that jumps out at me is the perfume. Women who wear too much perfume or funky smelling perfume make themselves as desirable as a circus elephant. Men and women need to cool it on the smelly stuff. Besides, some people have allegoric reactions when smelling too much perfume or cologne.
-Sounds like the closet floor for storing one’s clothes is now out. This dating thing certainly burdens men. I need to get a few more hangers for the clothes.
-Regarding not removing shoes for any reason, I guess that means if you make love, you do so with your shoes on.
-I agree with Nancy about the smell of cigarette smoke. Do people our age who date still smoke? That would chase me away. But the smell of alcohol through one’s pores would eliminate me from non-drinking women. I enjoy a glass of red wine with a meal.
-And finally, regarding hair, I’m glad Nancy said that gray is ok. I was accused of being shifty and insecure by a few disgruntled women 25 years ago when my hair was dark. Now that it’s silver, Nancy hints that I’m no longer shifty, and that's a relief.
In all seriousness, Nancy’s tips are important. We have to make this senior dating experience as bearable as possible.
Nancy ended her email by saying, “The title you used for your previous hygiene column, ‘Play Musty For Me,’ with a play on words from the movie was quite clever. How about jumping off from a song: ‘Splish Splash,’ (I was taking a bath) or ‘A Little Bit of Soap’ to name this column?"
Hence, the title of today’s column.