After more than 15 years of covering beauty launches, I seldom encounter a product that feels truly novel. The market is saturated with variations of the same hydrogel patches, serums, and deodorants. Then Jasmina Aganovic, founder of Future Society, introduced Base Scent a treatment that claims to let your body smell good on its own. It isn’t a fragrance, nor a traditional deodorant; Aganovic labels it a new category: scent care.
What Base Scent actually is
Base Scent arrives in a sleek 100ml glass bottle with a spray nozzle, reminiscent of a toner bottle. The liquid is clear, odorless, and formulated with a short list of ingredients: skin-friendly acids, prebiotic compounds, a humectant and purified water. While each component has appeared in skincare before, the specific blend is designed to act on the skin’s microbiome rather than simply hydrate or exfoliate. As Aganovic explains, the aim is to “reveal what was always there” – a natural, pleasant scent that is normally masked by less desirable bacteria.
How the microbiome-shift works
The science hinges on the fact that everyone carries a unique scent fingerprint made up of sweat, oils, hormones, genetics and, crucially, the microorganisms that live on the skin. Sweat itself is largely odorless; it becomes smelly when certain bacteria break it down into aromatic compounds. Future Society’s research team spent five years cataloguing dozens of skin microbes, identifying those that produce neutral or sweet-smelling metabolites and those that generate the classic “BO” notes of cheese, onion or sulfury acidity.
Base Scent delivers a cocktail of acids and prebiotics that gently suppress the growth of odor-producing bacteria while encouraging the proliferation of the more benign strains. In practice, users spray the solution onto clean, bare skin – commonly the underarms, neck, chest, wrists or feet – twice daily, applying two to four spritzes each time. The formula is unscented, so it does not compete with existing perfumes; instead it creates a baseline for a more agreeable natural aroma.
Who benefits and what testing revealed
During the product’s human trials, participants followed their normal deodorant-body-lotion-fragrance routine for the first week, adding Base Scent to their regimen. In the second week they relied solely on the spray. According to Aganovic, the most noticeable improvement occurred during that second week, when the microbiome had a chance to adjust without other scent products interfering.
Athletes who sweated heavily and used antiperspirants reported the strongest shift, while women noted that hormonal phases – pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause – which normally alter personal scent, seemed less volatile after consistent use. Older adults, who often develop a distinctive “old-person” odor linked to increased non-enal compounds, also showed a reduction in those molecules.
Expert reactions and realistic expectations
Cosmetic chemist Julian Sass remarked, “I haven’t seen anything quite like this. It feels like the next chapter in personalized beauty.” Dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, added, “We customize our perfume layering, haircare routines, and skincare regimens, so why not our own scent baseline?” Both experts agreed that the concept is biologically plausible and praised the minimalist, unscented formula. However, Sass cautioned that because each person’s microbiome is unique, results may vary and the true efficacy will only become clear after personal trial.
Gohara highlighted that the product is not a “crunchy, granola” deodorant alternative. It aims to shift the skin ecosystem rather than merely mask odor, differentiating it from earlier glycolic-acid deodorants that tried to neutralize smells chemically.
How to incorporate Base Scent into daily routines
Base Scent is intended as a supplement, not a replacement, for deodorant or perfume. Aganovic advises two to four sprays on clean, unbroken skin twice a day. The spray should avoid intimate areas, eyes, freshly shaved skin or open cuts, as the acids may cause mild stinging. Continued use is necessary to maintain the altered microbiome; once you stop, the skin will gradually revert to its prior state, though Aganovic suggests the baseline scent may stay more stable than before.
In my own two-week trial – a mix of a light PT session and a four-mile walk – I noticed a neutral, less musty aroma that felt authentically “me.” The change wasn’t dramatic, which aligns with the product’s promise to enhance rather than overhaul one’s natural scent. I’m curious to test the spray on my feet as winter boots approach.
Looking ahead, Aganovic hints at future research into microbes capable of producing even sweeter scents, potentially allowing users to fine-tune their personal aroma without any perfume at all. For now, Base Scent offers a scientific, scent-care alternative that puts the body’s own chemistry front and center.
