Difference Between Deodorant and Antiperspirant

One actually isn’t better than the other; however, there are pros and cons of both.

As stated before, antiperspirants work to clog your sweat pores so that you don’t sweat.

Pros: You won’t have to deal with body odor, wetness, irritation, or underarm stains since your ability to sweat would be blocked. Cons: Your body can’t sweat. Sweating is a natural process that the body needs though in order to cool down.

Deodorants act by neutralizing the smell of sweat.

Pros: You are able to sweat, which in turn cools down your body. If the deodorant is effective, then you won’t have any body odor, irritation, or underarm stains. Cons: Your deodorant can be fully ineffective which leads to you having body odor, irritation, wetness, and underarm stains.   (If you’re one of the individuals who are having trouble finding the right deodorant for you, be sure to check our guides for the best deodorant for men or the best deodorant for women.) Items that are labeled as a deodorant and antiperspirant are basically a 2 for 1 special. You are guaranteed the positives for both a deodorant and antiperspirant while the cons of each aren’t exactly set in stone yet- it’s highly dependent on the person. Here are just two of the most popular deodorant antiperspirants on the market today- one for men and one for women:

Degree Men Antiperspirant & Deodorant

This baby is highly recommended for its high performing effectiveness. For people with sensitive skin, underarm irritation, or underarm rashes, it emits a fresh scent and lasts all day. It stays on even through the most intense workouts with full-on sweat protection.

Secret Clinical Strength Soothing Women’s Advanced Solid Calming Aloe Scent

For women, Secret has also come out with this effective antiperspirant deodorant. This deodorant gives off a fresh scent all day and was designed for clinical protection. It lasts all day through heat and activity. 

Deodorants vs Antiperspirants

Thankfully we live in a world where the use of deodorant and antiperspirant is widely used and popular.  This wasn’t always the case. Imagine living in a world where people didn’t use deodorant, how smelly would that be? Before the 1950’s, people who had the means to would simply wear a lot of perfume to attempt to mask their natural body smells. This wasn’t always effective because this doesn’t attack smell at its main source, our underarms. Around the 1950’s deodorant commercials started appearing quite often, and eventually created the use of deodorant as a cultural standard in much of the world. So what is the best deodorant for men?

A good deodorant is going to help provide relief from odor due to sweating. Throughout the day a man’s body will sweat in order to help keep it as cool as possible. Bacteria love to feed off our sweat, dead skin, and hair cells, thus creating an odor. The best deodorants for men will work to mask and kill these bacteria. Some deodorants will use controversial antimicrobials like triclosan, while some will use alcohol to help kill these bacteria.

Baking soda is also available in some deodorants to aid in moisture absorption. After attempting to kill some of the odor causing bacteria, a deodorant’s main job is replacing the awful smell with something more pleasant. There are literally hundreds of potential smells which exist, so choosing an effective one is mainly a personal choice.

In more recent times the use of a newer generation of deodorants have become available, called antiperspirants, these function to attempt to eliminate or reduce sweating before it becomes bacteria filled, thus reducing bacterial odor. These antiperspirants utilize various aluminum based substances such as aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly and aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex gly. These act as sort of fillers, or a plug, which in effect shuts down sweat glands.

When sweat glands are filled and unable to produce moisture, bacteria have trouble growing, and you’re body smells great. So antiperspirants are the best way to go, right? You may be surprised to know how wrong that is, there is currently a lot of controversy on just how safe these aluminum based antiperspirants really are.

The FDA has even acknowledged the potential of small amounts of aluminum being absorbed into the gastrointestinal tract. For others, these products can cause allergic reactions and even skin concerns like contact dermatitis. Often the chemicals in these antiperspirants react with sweat to create those ugly yellow stains on men’s shirts.  So antiperspirants may not be the best deodorant choice for men.

So what is the best deodorant for men? From a safety, standpoint find a great deodorant that is simply a deodorant. Avoid antimicrobial chemicals like triclosan which can make the bacteria become resistant and more powerful. When men are searching for the best deodorants they should find a manly smell that will make them smell great to the ladies. Women love a great smelling man, so finding a scent that she really loves is always a great idea.

Brands like Old Spice will provide a lot of great deodorant options for men who don’t want an antiperspirant or triclosan. They have a lot of fresh smells and outdoorsy smells that emit a rugged confident scent. It’s all about the confidence with Old Spice. Another excellent brand is the Axe line of products which have excellent smells designed with the sole purpose of helping make men smell attractive to the ladies, with great marketing campaigns and excellent products. Picking the best deodorant for men can be tricky, but now you’re armed with the basic information needed to smell like a man. An attractive man that at that!