Until recently, I was convinced I had cracked the deodorant code. My daily method is two-pronged: a generous swipe of Sanex antiperspirant roll-on followed by a spritz of Mitchum’s trusty aerosol to seal it all together. Even though I don’t sweat profusely, it’s always nice to feel secure – and my doubling-up approach seemed to be working.
That’s all been thrown into question lately, thanks to a relentless marketing U-turn from the personal hygiene industry, which suggests that we’ve all been doing it wrong.
According to the latest ubiquitous advertisements, you reek if you’re not wearing whole-body deodorant, or an expensive natural balm alternative. A full-body product is meant to be sprayed everywhere: your neck, chest, feet, back, calves and crotch. It’s a head-to-toe affair (no, literally – one ad shows a guy spraying his toenails). The ads themselves range from bizarre to downright creepy.
Sure’s all-body product is meant to be used on “ta-tas”, balls, and bums, per its own copywriting. Dove’s “Let Your Body Body” campaign switches the infamous chorus of Khia’s 2001 explicit party hit “My Neck, My Back” to “All my ladies roll your deo like this,” and later: “My neck, my back, my legs and pits, all that”. Things get weirder in the commercial for Lynx’s “lower body spray”, where a basketball player loses a game because he’s too busy sniffing his opponent’s crotch. In another cutaway, a woman follows a man – who has just essentially Febreezed his backside with Lynx – around a cinema to get a whiff of his heinie. Further scenes show models applying Lynx products to every crevice on their bodies – even areas where the sweat glands, scientifically speaking, don’t actually produce body odour.
Things haven’t stopped there, either. If you’re not scooping up a full-body product, then you’re likely investing in luxury natural deodorant brands. Get Fussy, founded in 2020, only uses natural ingredients like sunflower wax, sodium bicarbonate and tapioca starch in its roll-on products, which are available through a £14 subscription. Then there’s the very Instagrammable deodorant balm by AKT, also founded in 2020, which is sold in trendy scents like “Orange Grove”, “After Thunder” and “Halcyon Summers”. And almost every perfume or cosmetics company is selling their own deodorant, too: there’s Malin and Goetz’s bergamot deodorant (£22), skincare brand Glossier deodorant stick (£23), and Aesop’s Déodorant, which is made of essential oils and costs £27, a staggering £25.60 more than Sure’s bog-standard roll-on at £1.40 at Boots.
It’s no wonder that people are searching for alternatives right now. Earlier this month, Mitchum – the loyal protector of underarms – apologised after batches of its roll-on products gave customers itchy, burning pits, leaving many in despair over the trustworthiness of this legacy company. But the move to be more in control of our body odour – and be more well by avoiding unnecessary toxins – is part of the wider move towards minimalism, ushered in by the “clean girl” aesthetic, a social media trend that favours a polished, well-maintained and effortless appearance.
The pull of new bodycare products is all part of the wellness industry’s mammoth influence over consumers’ habits, which, in recent years, has seen mundane and everyday products repackaged as more natural, sustainable and exclusive. Within that, the “clean girl” image has crept into the spotlight, suggesting that women should always portray an inherent togetherness in their appearance. Being vigilant about your bodily health, and what toxins your body is interacting with, is all part of that – and now it’s trickled down to products once solely reserved for our underarms.
Body odour, the substance we’re constantly trying to avoid, is caused by the interaction of bacteria on the skin and bodily fluids such as sweat. Deodorant, invented in the late 1880s by American physician Dr Abraham Murphey and developed as a product by his daughter Edna, works by killing bacteria on the skin and putting fragrance on top of what remains. Antiperspirant is different because it contains aluminium compounds that temporarily block the sweat glands, meaning that less sweat reaches the surface of the skin. Although each brand of whole-body deodorant has different aims and methods – with some acting more like perfumes, and others working to reduce the bacteria itself – the message is that if you don’t smell shower-fresh, it’s an entire body problem.
But the science does not support the need for full-body deodorants, says Dr Pallavi Gupta, a consultant dermatologist at Experts in Skin and Hair, a specialist clinic in Brighton. An overwhelming percentage of the sweat glands on the human body don’t actually produce body odour, with the only real problem areas being the underarms, feet, and groin. Dr Gupta tells me that wearing deodorant on areas that don’t need it – like the arms, calves or chest – exposes the skin to “unnecessary risk of irritation, dryness, or allergic reactions”. The armpits, then, should be the real focus. “For the rest of the body, regular washing and wearing clean, breathable fabrics is usually more than enough,” says Gupta.
Spraying deodorant on the intimate areas – as demonstrated in the aforementioned adverts – rings alarm bells among dermatologists and gynaecologists. Gupta says that skin around the genitalia is thinner and more sensitive, meaning ingredients such as alcohol, fragrances, or aluminium salts can cause irritation, rashes or even disrupt the natural microbiome. For women, especially, applying anything below the belt could interfere with the natural pH levels of the vagina, and most gynaecologists recommend using gentle, unscented soap in intimate areas instead.
Natural deodorants are having a moment at a time in which consumers are questioning what’s actually in the products that we apply to our bodies. Over the summer, the anti-sunscreen movement was popularised by conspiracy theorists who falsely claimed that SPF was full of “toxic and harmful” chemicals and therefore linked to cancer. Scientists have thoroughly debunked the claims and the misinformation surrounding them, but the movement shows how artificial products are being thrown out in favour of those that are 100 per cent natural. Companies like AKT, then, are appealing to the luxury wellness market and providing a natural alternative.
As humans, our skin is designed to shed, renew, and sweat. That last one (and the body odour that comes with it) is just an unavoidable aspect of existing. But never before has control been so much at the forefront of wellness culture. Gupta has seen how the influence of the “clean girl” trend has impacted the deodorant market, and “pushed the idea of all-over freshness into the spotlight”. She tells me: “While I understand the sentiment, the science doesn’t support it. Body odour comes from very specific areas where sweat and bacteria interact, not across the whole body.”
This may not convince those already embracing the whole-body cult, but it’s worth trying to keep things simple. “Stick washing with gentle, fragrance-free cleansers,” Gupta says. And keep weird sprays out of your pants – just to be on the safe side.
