Feminine odour is something all women deal with. And while it's completely natural and normal for your vagina to have some kind of scent, certain vaginal smells can signal something's wrong. Here's how to tell whether the smell 'down there' is normal for you. That said, Morton reminds us that the odours are not meant to be unpleasant and if the vaginal discharge has a fishy or pungent smell there is nearly always something wrong. So, what happens to throw off your smell and turn it into something disagreeable? For starters, the vagina is self-cleaning and has its own helpful bacteria and yeast, explains Dr Tami Prince, gynaecologist at Women's Health and Wellness Center of Georgia.