How do you tell someone that they are not feeling well?

Bag over my right shoulder, door closed behind me, hurrying to the car. Shit, pardon my German, forgot to put on deodorant. So my bag goes upside down on the passenger seat to see if there's a stray roller in there. The very idea that I might start smelling is terrible to me. But how do you tell someone if they consistently aren't exactly fresh?

First of all, I think you shouldn't let people walk around looking foolish. I'm just calling a spade a spade. Letting the big boss with a whole vegetable drawer stuck between their teeth go to an appointment outside, your neighbor with something remarkable sticking out of their nose, your colleague who sat down with her backside in some substance… Say it. Nothing is more embarrassing than seeing yourself in the mirror and wondering how long you've been walking around with panda eyes, right? It might be a bit awkward to say, but the person in question feels even more uncomfortable.

But sweating and smelling from your mouth is a different matter; stinking has to do with personal hygiene and you guessed it: this is so personal that we don't dare. I'm also a bit of a coward when it comes to sweating. You'll only hear me say ‘phew’ once and wave my hand in front of my nose because apparently someone walked by who isn't exactly fresh. Hypocrisy. I do tell someone close to me, but those people somehow never smell. Very strange.

Before you stuff someone with Smint, you should know that 15 percent of people suffer from halitosis aka bad breath. The dentist is the person to solve this. And the smell of sweat can also have a medical cause. The producer of the odor often knows nothing, because you usually can't smell yourself.

Do you still want to say something? Keep it very much to yourself. Never say: you stink. I just read in the Volkskrant perhaps the chicest way to make someone aware of the odor: “Can I say something personal? I just noticed that you smell a bit. Maybe you should do something about that.” You can't get it any nicer, and if it's about your colleague, you still have that one trusted person who can package the message extra, extra, extra carefully.