All humans stink. You may be saying “not me!”… but seriously, all humans produce a foul body odour naturally- we just do a good job of covering it up these days. Each person’s body odour is unique and is affected by genetics, environmental factors and diet. It wasn’t until the 1950s that it became a social taboo to smell of body odour in Western societies, and sales of deodorants and antiperspirants sky-rocketed.

These days there are hundreds of personal hygiene products available. It’s difficult to know which one to choose, and what they all do. There are an array of names like “powder fresh” and “touch”; gels, powders and sprays- and if you look closely you’ll notice that some are deodorants and some are antiperspirants. What really is the difference and which should you go for? Well, the basic difference is that an antiperspirant stops you from sweating, and a deodorant cuts down on what makes you smell when you sweat.

Deodorants don’t have any ingredients that stop you from sweating, but they instead counteract the smell that is produced when the fats and proteins released by your sweat glands reach the surface of the skin. They also target the bacteria around your armpits. By eliminating the bacteria which usually feed off the proteins and fats produced by your body, a deodorant eliminates your body odour smell. Should you use a spray-on or a roll-on? This is completely up to your own personal preferences- one simply dries faster than the other.

Antiperspirants use exactly the opposite principle, and they actually stop you from sweating. The bacteria which hang out in your armpits no longer has any sweat to feed on, so most antiperspirants have some of the same agents as deodorants in order to kill the bacteria. People are wary of antiperspirants because they contain aluminium, which has been linked to the development of breast cancer. The connection between antiperspirants and breast cancer has not been proven however, and studies show mixed results. But, rather be safe and use an aluminium-free antiperspirant!

So, go look in your bathroom cupboard- what are you putting on your pits?

Read deodrorant/antiperspirant product reviews here. 

Article by Claire Jowell