The main differences between deodorant and antiperspirant

Advertising has long taught us that sweating is a process that needs to be ashamed of and that this phenomenon should be dealt with with the help of deodorants and antiperspirants. In the minds of many, these products are something very similar to each other, if not the same, but after all the concepts are different and for no reason two different words are used. To achieve more from bottles with mysterious liquids, let's try to figure out what their effect is and how they differ.

Simple logic suggests that two different names should indicate some different concepts, unless they are synonyms. To understand whether this is so, we turn to the definitions of both concepts in order to try to find the difference.

The name “deodorant” comes from Latin and can roughly be translated as “odor eliminating substance”. In simple words, this aromatic plug with a characteristic strong odor from among pleasant ones: using such a tool, you still continue to sweat, just the aroma of the deodorant is stronger and interrupts any competitors. In fact, deodorants include many other cosmetic and near cosmetic products, including the same perfumes and air fresheners.

Deodorants, if we rank ordinary perfumes among them, arose many centuries ago, but the concept of antiperspirant appeared relatively recently - only in the 80s of the last century. Substances that could be called the same word existed a little earlier, but at that time they were called "anti-deodorant." The essence of the drug was that it had a fundamentally different principle of action - the emphasis was not so much on masking the smell, but on fighting sweat.

Sweat itself usually does not have any pronounced odor, but it is a suitable medium for the propagation of microorganisms and fungi, whose vital products provide a characteristic unpleasant odor. Accordingly, the absence of sweat indirectly affected the elimination of unpleasant odors, and even protected the person from the appearance of wet spots on clothes.

It is important to note that in the modern world, antiperspirants in their pure form do not exist - all of them are antiperspirant deodorants, since they have a complex composition aimed both at reducing sweating and masking unpleasant odors. As for the usual deodorants, they have not disappeared, they simply do not have the function of blocking sweating. Antiperspirants, unlike ordinary deodorants, can be considered drugs and are sometimes prescribed by doctors to fight hyperhidrosis - so scientifically called excessive sweating.

Given the difference in the principle of operation, it is not surprising that the chemical composition of the deodorant is different from the antiperspirant. The classic deodorant was essentially a kind of aromatic fragrance or a set of several that had a strong aroma that could block any other odors. Modern recipes, of course, are more complex, they may include additional more complex ingredients, due to which the aroma of the main fragrances is enhanced or “fixed”. However, these fragrances still make up the basis for success - without them, the deodorant will simply not smell and cannot mask other odors.

Today, more complex deodorant formulations are known, which are also aimed at a comprehensive fight against odor. Due to this, the composition can be complicated due to components aimed either at combating the vital activity of microorganisms that provoke the appearance of an unpleasant odor, or at “alternative nutrition” for bacteria, which as a result do not disappear, but no longer smell bad. There are many options for such additives, but various alcohols are most often used as antimicrobial agents.

Antiperspirant is fundamentally different, even if it has a distinctive pleasant smell. The key components in its composition are aluminum compounds - this metal is directly involved in blocking perspiration. The first antiperspirants appeared about a hundred years ago, and all of them invariably had aluminum (sometimes supplemented with zircon) as an active agent - for all the time of development, scientists have not come up with a way to replace this metal with something else, although they have tried many compounds themselves.

At the same time, the use of aluminum compounds without additional elements is unreasonable, if only because the main active ingredients of a typical antiperspirant are quite aggressive towards the skin and can provoke clearly noticeable allergic symptoms upon contact with it. In this regard, a significant part of the components of the product is aimed at mitigating the action of key components, as well as restoring and improving the skin, in order to level out "side" effects.

In addition, as mentioned above, any modern antiperspirant is also a deodorant, which means that it contains numerous aromatic fragrances. In most cases, they are selected so as to act comprehensively - manufacturers try to use components that would smell pleasant and restore skin along the way.

Finally, given that the cause of the bad smell is precisely bacteria and fungus, a typical antiperspirant also contains antibacterial and antifungal components, which are designed to eliminate the cause of the unwanted aroma as soon as possible. The variety of formulations is so great that at least an approximate composition of an antiperspirant can be called only as it is done above - by categories of substances.

The effect of the deodorant, even if we are talking about a complex modern substance, working according to one of the principles described above, is based primarily on the fight against smell as such. How exactly this is achieved depends on the exact formulation of the substance, and in the simplest variations there is a simple masking of the unpleasant odor by the efforts of perfume fragrances. This type of drug works by analogy with perfumes - a person will definitely smell something, just the smell will be more pleasant.

More complex modern developments have a fundamentally different scheme of action. The “alternative nutrition” for bacteria, which was mentioned briefly above, is that, oddly enough, the components of the deodorant are designed to provide a “proper diet” for microorganisms that provide an odor. The fact is that many bacteria eat components of sweat, the processing of which is an undesirable aroma. If you give them another, properly selected food, this result is not observed, and this is the goal that the deodorant pursues.

Finally, some modern deodorants are aimed at inhibiting oxidative processes. Sweat (more precisely, as we found out that the components processed by bacteria are contained in it) has a characteristic acidic odor - it is the constituent liquids that are oxidized under the influence of microorganisms.

An antiperspirant, which often has the ability to perform some deodorant functions, may have any of the above principles of action as additional, but the main effect is achieved in a completely different way.. The fact is that aluminum salts, which are inevitably present in any antiperspirant, when applied to the skin penetrate deep into the perspiration duct and polymerize there, clogging them quite tightly. For this reason, sweat glands cannot produce a lot of sweat, and it does not go beyond the skin.

Blocking sweat glands is very effective in controlling sweating, but it is not eternal. The epidermis is constantly peeling, being replaced by new cells, and with it the polymerized stubs peel off. In addition, they are gradually washed out during water procedures and can be washed even with strong sweating if the body experiences particularly strong physical exertion.

The components of the antiperspirant act quite aggressively on the skin, therefore, a significant role is played by those constituent substances that are designed to soothe and soften the irritated epidermis. In addition, most antiperspirants are famous for their complex effect - thanks to the special substances that make up their composition, they not only deprive bacteria of food by blocking sweat, but also actively struggle with their very existence to make the need for antiperspirant as rare as possible.

The deodorant, as it became clear from the above, does not fight with sweat as such - it only masks unpleasant odors and at best affects bacteriathat provoke its appearance.For this reason, even using a deodorant, you will not stop sweating - sweating will remain the same, it just will not cause discomfort to your sense of smell. Considering the principle of action of the substance and its rather easy washability (by the same sweat) and weathering, rely on long-term deodorant - only a few hours after application, it no longer gives any effect.

For this reason, deodorant is an option, rather, for those people who do not have any problems with excessive sweating. They use the substance for everyday odor masking and this is enough, since neither a particularly strong aroma, nor large wet spots on clothes are observed even if a person forgot to use the product.

Is it an antiperspirant - Considering how it works, do not be surprised that the effect of its use is usually much longer. The exact duration of action depends on the chemical composition of a particular antiperspirant, and on the characteristics of the organism of a single person, and on the conditions in which he was all the time, however on average, the effect of the product after one application is estimated at 3-7 days with an average of 5 days.

Another thing is that such an assessment of the duration of action is based on the specifics of the body of a completely healthy person, while people with officially diagnosed hyperhidrosis often use antiperspirants, when the body significantly exceeds conceivable sweating rates. But in this case, we can say that the product protects not just from an unpleasant odor, but from sweat, which means that the skin will remain dry and there will be no discomfort due to wet armpits.

Given all of the above, the use of deodorant is appropriate even several times a day, especially if a person leads an active lifestyle. Antiperspirant can be resorted to much less often - usually such a need arises on average once every 4-5 days. Another thing is that in the most severe cases, it may be necessary to apply an antiperspirant for 2-3 days in a row.

The concept of what is “better” is highly extensible and depends on the goals that you set for yourself. If your task is to achieve a significant reduction in perspiration and eliminate unpleasant odors in the bud, then an antiperspirant will be more useful, of course. because its action is much more powerful and effective. Another thing is that this makes sense only if your hyperhidrosis has a clearly defined localization on the body, and is not spread over the entire surface of the skin.

The fact is that sweating is the norm for the human body - this is a natural method of cooling in hot weather, which is also used as an additional method of removing excess salts. When you treat typical problem areas of the skin with an antiperspirant (most often it is the armpits, palms and feet), sweating is eliminated only in the treated areas, but sweat secretion does not decrease much throughout the body - other parts of the body begin to sweat more intensively.

In addition, the function of removing salts is partially transferred to the urinary system, for which this is the main task. If you set an ambitious task for yourself not to sweat at all, then an antiperspirant will cope with it, but a big question arises as to what will happen to your body, overheated and oversaturated salts.

From this point of view, it is better to have a deodorant, which generally does not interfere with the body to act as it considers necessary.Another thing is that the result may seem insufficient - you need to use the deodorant much more often, and with intense heat and intense physical exertion, you may not notice the difference at all, even using this tool.

As for the safety of both substances, the main threat to humans is usually a possible allergic reaction to any of the components of the funds, therefore Before use, it is advisable to carefully read the composition. Otherwise, it is important to note that the antiperspirant contains more components with an aggressive effect on the skin, and although manufacturers swear that other ingredients completely neutralize this effect, sensitive skin can still suffer from this “care”.

The following video will tell about the main mistakes when using deodorant and antiperspirant.