Multiple users of the popular Mitchum deodorant say they have been left with painful rashes and burns under their arms, which have taken weeks to heal.
Several people have taken to social media to share photos of the irritations that they say appeared after using the 48-hour roll-on, with the company now pulling affected batches from sale.
One user took to TikTok to ask if “anyone else’s armpits have been viciously attacked?”
“I nearly had to call myself a bloody ambulance, that’s how badly it stung,” the girl said.
Mitchum has claimed that batches from eight of its products, which are sold across the UK, Ireland and South Africa, were affected by a change to the manufacturing process.
The company apologised via a statement on Instagram, saying: “We are sorry to those who were impacted and for the time it took to complete our investigation.
“While the formula hasn’t changed, a change in the manufacturing process of one of our raw materials altered how the product interacts with the skin in some consumers.”
Another user had noticed “really bad” reactions under her arms and was unsure what had caused it. “My armpits fully had a rash, they scabbed over, and I had to stop using any deodorant for a month,” she said in a video on TikTok.
She said she had since seen several people talk about having a similar experience. She said: “I remember telling my boyfriend and telling all my colleagues that my armpits were just burning, and this feeling was so painful when I was putting the deodorant on but I’d never had this before.”
Pharmaceutical professor Penny Ward, from King’s College London, told The Daily Mail: “With respect to this deodorant, the contents of the ‘new’ format includes acetyl cedrene, which has been shown to be an irritant in patch testing as well as vanillin, which can also be a skin irritant in some individuals.
“Generall,y the irritant chemicals are most likely to be those which are the added fragrances.
She said pain may be an indication of an infection, which could require treatment with an antibiotic or antifungal cream.
“If one develops a reaction to a topical product, it’s a good idea to stop using it and switch to something else (after the rash has settled),” she said.
Mitchum said the issue was contained to a small number of batches, and it had returned to the original manufacturing process to ensure it would not happen again.
It has posted a list of the codes of the affected batches on its Instagram page.
Several batches of the following products have been affected: Mitchum Women Roll On 100ml Powder Fresh, Shower Fresh, Unscented, Pure Fresh, Flower Fresh, and Mitchum Men Roll On 100ml Ice Fresh, Clean Control, and Sport.
