Shoe-Smelling Q&A

Hey all!

Chances are you've watched an episode I filmed of the My Strange Addiction parody mini-series where I soapbox about smelling peoples' shoes for entertainment. Ever since I started filming those videos I've received questions and inquiries from people wondering if it was for real or just a joke. I've also received heartfelt messages from people who relate to me and applaud how open I am about the unusual subject.

I pride myself on being honest with my fans so I decided to participate in a shoe-smelling Q&A for all the curious minds out there to read and learn from. Here's me answering all those questions I've received over the years about my renowned habit!

Q: Is this for real?
A: Yes. I have a strange habit of smelling peoples' shoes due to a curiosity of what they smell like in the hopes that they smell bad so I can get enjoyment out of it.

Q: Why do you enjoy smelling shoes?
A: It's a habit that was imprinted on me during my childhood. When I was a kid I found it amusing that your shoes and feet would smell bad if you wore your shoes for too long, forgot to change your socks, or didn't shower or wash your feet. I would smell my friends' shoes and laugh if they smelled bad, and as a result my brain was permanently taught that smelling this foul odor was a good thing worth rewarding with feel-good chemicals. As an adult it's now a reward trigger for me to smell stinky shoes and feet even though I still perceive it as a gross odor like people generally do.

Q: So you think stinky shoes/feet is a good smell?
A: No, I still wretch from the smell and crinkle my nose about it like everyone else because my brain perceives it to be foul. But at the same time my brain releases a rewarding chemical that feels good for smelling it due to my childhood habit imprinting it. So I think it smells bad, but it feels good to smell it.

Q: Do you like to smell guys and girls' shoes or just one?
A: Both, actually, since it's basically the same smell. I've always had more male friends so it's mostly been guys I entertain it with, but there have been girls too. Guys always tend to have smellier feet because we're animals like that.

Q: Do you collect peoples' old shoes like in the videos?
A: No, I only asked my friends if they had any shoes I could borrow to use for the videos, and after they were filmed I either gave them back or threw them away/donated them if they no longer needed them. I told them I was going to be filming a video for my channel and they were all happy to help out and be a part of it and enjoyed the videos after I uploaded them.

Q: Do you have a "thing" for shoes?
A: No I don't. The only reason shoes make recurring appearances in these videos is because they're the most common thing that would have this smell. I also created this series as a parody of the "sneakerheads" who are obsessed with buying and collecting clean and new shoes, and in a funny twist I made mine about smelly old shoes instead since I enjoy the opposite of the new shoe smell. The same smell is produced from wearing gloves on your hands for too long and I enjoy it in the same manner, but that doesn't mean I have a thing for hands or gloves either. It's just a smell I like, not a fascination with objects.

Q: By extension, does this mean you're into feet?
A: No it doesn't. While we're all generally wired to find feet enjoyable to some degree (myself included), feet are mostly just a body part to me, just like shoes are just an article of clothing. Smelly feet are cool in my book though! If shoes, socks, or feet don't smell bad, then they're not that exciting to me.

Q: Freak.
A: Yes I know I am. I accept and embrace that about myself and I actually consider that to be a term of endearment because it means I'm open and honest enough about who I am for other people to know it and pass judgment. While the majority of people have applauded me for being myself, I also know that the few people who seem to negatively judge me are likely doing it in defense of themselves because they haven't accepted something strange about their own identity and are projecting those negative feelings onto me. I was once in their shoes (pun intended) so I don't take it personally.

Q: Is it a gay thing?
A: No, it's a psychology thing. It's part of being human.

Q: Do you like to smell new shoes?
A: Not at all. The new shoe smell is actually offensive to me since I don't like most artificial fragrances. Even though society's standards state that you should keep your shoes and feet clean, I personally find it lame and boring if someone's shoes don't smell. I also find having smelly feet to be a manly/masculine trait.

Q: I want to smell your shoes. Can I?
A: In my world this is considered a compliment.

Q: Will you sell/send me any of your shoes?
A: Yes, I actually do sell my own worn clothing to my fans as a personal form of merch. Visit the Clothing page on this website for more information and email me if you're interested in buying.

Q: Do your shoes and feet smell?
A: Yeah they always stink. As a teenager I wanted to be cool like the other kids I admired who had smelly shoes and feet so I started wearing the same pair of socks for days on end before changing them. I never grew out of this habit, so to this day I still wear the same pair of socks for a week before changing them. I don't count the days, but it's always at least a week before I change socks. I also stopped washing my body with soap (aside from my hands) due to my natural outlook on life and refusal to use unnatural hygiene products, so my feet don't ever get washed either.

Q: Do you enjoy smelling your own shoes?
A: No, just other people's.

Q: Do you smell the shoes of your family members?
A: No. When I say "relativity," I mean friends that I've made some sort of connection with, not actual relatives of mine.

Q: Do you like any other gross smells?
A: Yes, my brain does reward me for coming into contact with certain other foul smells too. Other body odors like stinky armpits or hats that were worn over unwashed hair for a while produce the same effect. Certain types of roadkill (like opossums) is another. Yes, when I'm driving with my windows down and I catch a whiff of a dead animal decomposing on the side of the road, I wretch from that awful smell but also sometimes get that rewarding chemical released from my brain that feels good. I keep driving though!

Q: Do these smells turn you on?
A: In romantic circumstances they would. They make me feel good, so if someone was trying to be romantic and was making my head tingle by entertaining that with me in the process then yes it would be exciting for me, just like a regular massage would simply feel good but a romantic massage would be more arousing. If my friend was just letting me smell their shoes because they know they smell bad to be nice or just for a laugh then it would just be funny and appreciated by me. If they went out of their way to try to turn me on by making me smell their really stinky shoes or feet, they would likely succeed.

Q: The stinkier the better?
A: To an extent, yes, but not to the point of overkill. I've received comments from people who say they wear the same pair of socks for a month, but after too long it can potentially get too foul to trigger that feel-good response in my brain and get replaced by the reflex to puke instead. I also wouldn't like it if someone ran around barefoot in dirt or something before putting their shoes on because their shoes would smell like dirt instead of the familiar smell of bacteria breaking down sweat in a warm, closed space that my hard-wired brain is accustomed to. So there's nuances to it.

Q: Did you know feet have pheromones?
A: That's actually not true. I've had a few people comment this and try to tell me the smell is meant to be an aphrodisiac, but after I researched it online I found it to be incorrect. Pheromones in humans are only produced under your arms and in your groin region so there aren't any on your feet.

Q: What do your shoes smell like?
A: I'm not able to answer that because I don't think it smells like anything comparable. I often hear people say feet smell like cheese or vinegar or some other food but I have never found this to make sense. Cheese and vinegar have their own smell and stinky feet have their own smell and they are not the same or really comparable in my opinion so I'm not able to describe the way my shoes or feet smell.

Q: Would you smell anyone's shoes?
A: Not just anyone's. When I was a kid I would only smell the shoes of people that I liked or felt a connection to in some way. So if I like a person and feel a connection to them and want to be their friend, then I will also want to smell their shoes to see what they smell like and hope they smell bad so my brain can relive those childhood moments of joy and release that feel-good chemical. If it's not a person who fits this category, then I won't be interested in smelling their shoes regardless of how they smell. If someone I didn't get that reading from asked me to smell their shoes, I would politely decline.

Q: Do you only like people who have stinky shoes?
A: No, that's not the case. That's just a plus that makes the person cooler to me. In my personal utopia, everyone I like who's friend material to me would have smelly feet and armpits all the time like me. Friends understand each other and make each other feel good in special ways, and your brain doesn't run out of rewarding chemicals. There's also the fact that we only live once and I like to try to live life to the fullest in the body I was assigned to with the brain I have to live with. If my brain happens to find certain foul odors to be rewarding then I'm going to entertain it whenever it's appropriate since it feels good and it's harmless.

Q: Out of all the friends you've filmed with, who had the smelliest shoes/feet?
A: I'm going to give that award to Staggz. I swear that guy hardly showered or changed his clothes, but you know I found that to be cool! Whenever he'd come by his hair would always be matted from not showering and the bottom of the white socks he'd wear over would be brown. We filmed a few video commissions together where he acted like a bully who forced me to smell his shoes and feet for a while and they were the most pungent out of everyone I've filmed with so far. Don't get me wrong -- there have been many friends who had foul-smelling feet on my channel, but if I had to pick one who had the stinkiest, I would give Staggz my vote. After Staggz, I would say K2 came in second because he also didn't care too much about hygiene haha.

Okay, I think I answered them all! If you had a question for me that's not included in this blog, feel free to leave me a comment on any of the shoe-smelling videos on my channel or use the Fan Mail feature near the bottom of the main page of this official website and I'll be happy to answer it for you. Remember to stay true to yourselves!

Thanks for watching, reading, and supporting me for who I individually am, and stay tuned for more quirky content coming soon!

- Primal 💚