Perspiration or sweating is the natural body function to maintain the body temperature. It is the production of fluids secreted by sweat glands, which in turn causes body odour. You definitely don’t like such smell from your body. But, do you have any option to prevent perspiration completely?
Alas! there is no such possibility. So, we look for a substance that can prevent such body odour.
When we look for such substance, we come across deodorants and antiperspirants, which may be in the form of roll-ons, solids, sprays, and never ending list of such artificial products. It’s already confusing, which one to choose.
Then, you come to know such fragrance producing or odour eliminating substances are separate and different for men and women.
On one side, women have more individual glands, while, on the other side, each gland in the men’s bodies produces more sweat than women’s body. This distinction will introduce you to more choices and with more confusions as well.
You may have confusion that the antiperspirants and deodorants are same. But, that’s not true, so, to choose the best antiperspirant, first of all, you need to know the difference between deodorants and antiperspirants.
Table of Contents
What Are Antiperspirants?
Antiperspirants are the chemical agents that not only affect odour and maintain fragrance but are also designed to control moisture or sweat produced from the sweat glands. Antiperspirants are usually applied to the armpits.
An antiperspirant works by using its ‘active ingredient’ that plugs up the sweat glands and the stop the sweat coming out. In almost all the antiperspirants, an ingredient is a form of the aluminium compounds, which could be the combination of following listed compounds:
Aluminum zirconium trichloro Hydrex glycerine, Aluminum chloride, Aluminum hydroxy bromide, Aluminum chloralhydrate, or maybe few others.
What Are The Deodorants?
Mostly perspiration is odour free, except if it is fermented by the bacteria attack and thus is the cause of the body odour in your underarms, feet, and other body areas.
Deodorants are the fragrance producing substances, with a primary purpose to prevent the bacterial action. They perform this task by killing bacterias on attacked body parts using antimicrobial or alcohol and leave scents to control smell.
How Do The Antiperspirants Differ From The Deodorants?
A deodorant is a fragrance producing substance that helps to remove body odour. Whereas antiperspirants are the deodorants that help reducing sweat from sweat glands.
An antiperspirant can be used typically in the armpit region, whereas a deodorant can be used around the armpit, feet, or another body part that smells, but is for external use only.
Check, If You Really Need A Deodorant Or Antiperspirant
Everyone like to smell good, but using the deodorant and bearing its side-effects without any need is definitely not a good notion of fulfilling one’s choice to smell attractive. Always remember that the various brands available in the market will try to convince, that you smell bad and should buy one such product to smell good and attract people. But the question is:
Do You Need An Antiperspirant Or Deodorant?
- A gene is there in the DNA that holds control on chemical on which bacterias like to feed upon. This ultimately causes bad odour in the sweat.
- Your earwax is controlled by the same gene, so by looking at your earwax you can check that if you really need an antiperspirant or not.
- If your earwax is flaky and dry, most likely you don’t produce stinky sweat.
- This clearly reveals your gene is free from that chemical, and your sweat is odour free.
- It implies you don’t need to go for antiperspirant or deodorant, just because half of the crowd is following that way.
- But, in case your earwax is moist and sticky, you are more likely to have smelling sweat. Then, you need to look for the best formula of the antiperspirant or deodorant that helps you to get rid of the stinky sweat.
Way To Choose Best Antiperspirants For Women
When we are talking about the antiperspirants of women’s choice exclusively. We need to remember that antiperspirants for women are not same as for men because a woman has more sweat producing glands then man. Also, we need to look for the positive impacts and the drawbacks relating its ingredients and their health risks, if any.
Whoever is using the antiperspirants or deodorants, they should never stick to the single product and the single brand. One should seek for a change because after some time the bacteria and microbes become resistant to same formula and compounds, and finally, the product won’t remain as effective as needed.
We need to stay careful for the antiperspirant we choose. Now, look for the right formula that suits you.
Choosing the best-suited formula doesn’t mean some chemical research on the ingredients, but it’s just relating your body needs with varieties and choosing one that fulfils them.
1. How Longer You Sweat?
– It implies your sweating is an all-day event, or is a time-taking event. Your body sweat in all kinds of weather or specifically in warm conditions.
2. Check For Your Skin Sensitivity?
– You should check how sensitive your skin is. If you get irritation or skin redness or black underarms on regular application of antiperspirant, you should seek for the aluminum-free antiperspirants and deodorants.
3. Which Antiperspirant You Like, Scented Or Unscented?
It is not entirely your choice but you need check which one actually suits your body.
There are some scented as well as unscented, odour eliminating substances even including talcum powder, that may leave some faint smell on applied part which you dislike.
These substances have different chemistry with the person to person. Maybe you like strongly scented antiperspirant but it won’t suit your nostrils and become the reason for a continuous sneeze. You need to choose the respective antiperspirant, after checking what you are allergic to.
4. Do You Need Strong Antiperspirant Or Normal Ones?
To those who sweat profusely, sometimes light or normal antiperspirants are just not enough.
The reason is that the casual antiperspirants have alcohol and few other ingredients that evaporate soon and their effect reduces. They reduce 20% of the sweat strength for the entire day.
Whereas, other antiperspirants with strong microbial stay effected for a longer time. They are treated as “stronger” as they treat 30% of the extra sweat strength.
5. How You Like To Apply Or Use Antiperspirant?
Antiperspirants are available in the form of roll-ons, gel, stick, sprays, solids. Whichever the way it suits you, you can use it, without any restrictions.
However, roll-ons usually hair with them. In the case of women, most of you have bear underarms, so roll-ons will also not be the problem. Spray is still most preferred choice for applying antiperspirants
6. Why Look For The Alternative To Artificial Antiperspirants?
Aluminium compounds are found to be the key ingredient for antiperspirants, due to their sweat controlling properties.
But, aluminium and its compounds have various negative impacts, like they cause irritation, skin redness, black underarms etc.
so we look for the alternative to its content in the antiperspirant. Thus, this becomes an important demarcation line while choosing the antiperspirants.
When you are looking for an alternative to the aluminium compounds in the antiperspirant, you should also check the content of the zinc compounds in it. This is due to the reason that zinc can be as irritation causing element as the aluminium and its compounds.
People suffering from psoriasis and eczema, or those with intense skin sensitivity, can’t stand with the antiperspirants having aluminium compounds
The antiperspirants, that don’t use aluminium compounds, but include alum and/or other mineral salts as a replacement, are sold as “natural” or “organic” antiperspirants. Let’s check more about natural antiperspirants.
Many of you still might be wondering which deodorants and antiperspirants should you use that are are available in the market. You should be very careful while selecting these as you have a wide range floating in the hub.
Natural Brands For Antiperspirants
People have a different ideology to look for natural antiperspirant.
- Maybe they are not getting benefited by the artificial ones which are available in the market.
- They may be allergic to artificial products due to the sensitive skin.
- Maybe they don’t want some artificial stuff to interfere in the natural sweating process of the body.
- Maybe they are addicted to finding the natural cure for every disorder.
There are a variety of such products available to serve the need of homemade or natural antiperspirants, this may deteriorate the efficiency. If you want to purchase natural antiperspirants available, various natural brands are out there for natural antiperspirants.
The advantage with the natural products is that we can synthesise them at home. We know that plants oil and extracts have strong anti-microbial properties.
Due to this, they can be used as a prime ingredient to mix with others. They usually don’t hold negative impacts, however, the user if allergic to a particular ingredient that’s entirely a different chapter. Most common ones are:
- Baking soda, well-renowned bleaching agent also serve as a homemade deodorant.
- A mixture of beeswax shears butter, or cocoa butter with the oils like thyme, lavender or rosemary.
There are some best antiperspirants for men too that will help you to control the sweat glands.
Discussing Drawbacks
Normal sweating is fine, but some people sweat profusely and such condition is common for approx 2% of the population. To get rid of the bad odour of the sweat, we switch to the deodorants or antiperspirants. Deodorants have lesser disadvantages than antiperspirants. However, they have their respective negatives, enlisted as:
- Aluminium compounds in the antiperspirant can leave yellow stains on your clothes. Researchers still haven’t found the possibly correct reason for that, but this is a certain drawback that user has to face. Such stains can be removed by bleaching the cloth, but it fades the colour and affect the material of the cloth.
- It can be the case that after using particular antiperspirant you began to sweat more strongly, as to circumvent the blocked glands.
- The content of alcohol if an increase in certain antiperspirant, it may affect those who have dry and sensitive skin.
- To those, having sensitive skin or who are allergic, may suffer from irritation, reddish rashes, skin darkening.
- In women, excessive use of antiperspirants is assumed to cause breast cancer. However, it’s just a rumour, researchers have proved this thought wrong, still few people wish to stay cautious.
- Rumours also tell deodorants to be the root cause of Alzheimer’s disease and psoriasis, but scientists haven’t found compelling evidence for same.
On the verge, you may conclude that choosing the best antiperspirant is not some rocket science, but you need to stay careful and the article hopefully worked to feed you with required information and to clarify confusions.
I will also advise you that rather than using these methods, you can also give a try to the herbal remedies to get rid of excessive sweating. These will cool your body and prevents the sweat glands from producing more sweat.
Stay blessed, stay blossomed!!!
