It's hot. And with the best of intentions even those of us with high standards of hygiene can get sweaty and, yes, even a bit stinky at times. (Though not as stinky as some people on the tube .. you know who you are!)

I suppose I should just be topping up on deodorant, but have you seen the price of it these days? It would cost a fortune to use it more than a couple of times a day. The girls in my office use body spray to freshen up and the one they have actually smells nice. I think it's called Soap and Glory Mist you Madly which costs £6.50 for a £250ml can.  It probably doesn't last that long - not like real perfume - but maybe just long enough to get you home or to the pub with a waft of sweet scent instead of a waft of BO.

Soap & Glory Mist you Madly

I've avoided body spray pretty much since my teenage years, but I thought maybe it's worth giving it  another try. After all, these products have come a long way since the 1990s.  So I popped to Boots at lunchtime and bought a few to try.

It's always annoyed me how hard it is to try out scents in a shop. For one thing I feel guilty about trying them out which is annoying in itself, but the only way to find out what they smell like is to spray them. If you spray it on yourself you're taking a gamble that you won't smell horrible for the rest of the day but if you spray it in the air or on a stick you don't get to find out what it really smells like on your skin. And if you want to try more than one, the smells just merge and then you're no wiser than before.

So of course I make the mistake of spraying the first body spray on my wrist. And it smells like air freshener. I think that one was called Vanilla and Peach so really I should have guessed.

After that I tried spraying a few into the air and took a chance and bought three. One from the Impulse range, one Boots own brand, and one I've never heard of before called Q.  I decided to avoid 'Charlie' and 'So..' as these are just too reminiscent of being a teenager.

The first one I've tried is the Impulse spray, juvenilely titled 'Into Glamour'. Actually it smells ok. The top note is kind of floral, and then you get a fruity smell underneath, and the lingering scent is kind of musky. It was only £1.99 so good for an emergency cover-up.

Impulse 'Into Glamour' body spray

Next I tried Q spray in Balance. To be honest I'm not a massive fan. The first impression is definitely a bit air freshenery and the residual smell is more like deodorant than anything.

Finally, I've tried Boot's own body spray in 'Bergamot and Berries'. I think I like this one best out of the three, although I might be walking round smelling like a scented candle all day!

In conclusion I think that I'll steer clear of these cheaper body sprays and invest a little bit more in the Soap and Glory one which smells yummy. Although at £1 a pop, the Boots sprays would actually make handy air fresheners to keep around the house!