The words antiperspirant and deodorant are often used quite interchangeably, but they are different products that work in different ways. Here’s a run-down of the differences to help you decide which product is right for you.

Antiperspirant

An antiperspirant works to fight body odour by stopping you from sweating. To see why sweating is often associated with odour, read our post here. Antiperspirants work by blocking the sweat glands: the active ingredients (usually Aluminium and Zirconium) dissolve in the sweat on your skin and create a gel which temporarily plugs the glands, reducing the amount of sweat that reaches your skin. Without sweat on the skin the bacteria that live there cannot create the unpleasant odour associated with BO. The antiperspirant gel plug is washed away when you shower or bathe, so antiperspirant needs to be used on a daily basis.

Deodorant

Unlike antiperspirant, deodorant doesn’t stop you from sweating. However, it does combat the smell of body odour by reducing the odour-causing bacteria that live on your skin. Sweat in itself is practically odourless – the smell of BO is created by the process of bacteria on the skin breaking down sweat. The active ingredients in deodorant (like Triclosan) make underarms too acidic or salty for these bacteria to live, and without bacteria no BO smell is produced. Most deodorants need to be applied at least once daily. Once their effect wears off you’ll do best to wash the underarm thoroughly before reapplying deodorant, as there is no point in applying deodorant to an already odourous armpit.

Health impacts

While not sweating sounds great, there have been some concerns raised about the health impacts of using antiperspirants. Sweating is a natural and healthy bodily function: it helps us to regulate our temperature and to remove harmful atmospheric toxins like arsenic and mercury from our systems. Reducing the amount of sweat that is released inhibits these vital functions.

Deodorant - while leaving you to sweat au-naturel - inhibits the odour often associated with perspiration, so your body can do its thing while you do yours.

Trust Anti-odorant allows your body to sweat naturally while inhibiting the odour-causing bacteria. However, unlike other deodorants, Trust is active for 3 to 6 days and can withstand showering, sports and bathing, so you only need to apply it once every few days for a reliable long-lasting effect. Trust is also free of aluminium and other harmful chemicals that are used in antiperspirants, and it contains natural and herbal ingredients that are kind to your skin.

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It’s a fact: everybody sweats. Perspiration is your body’s way of keeping cool, and sweating is an important sign that your body is working as it should. But while sweat in itself isn’t generally a problem, it can lead to body odour.

Sweat is mostly just salt and water, so it doesn’t really produce its own smell. The smell associated with perspiration comes from bacteria that live on the skin breaking down the sweat - this process creates the unpleasant odour of BO.

So as sweat-eating bacteria cause body odour, the best way to reduce BO is by reducing the amount of sweat and the amount of bacteria on your skin. These tips will help you do just that, making sure you stay clean, cool and smelling fresh as a daisy.

• Shower every day. This will remove sweat that is on your skin as well as the amount of bacteria that live there. If you are someone who sweats a lot, or if the weather is particularly hot or muggy, you may need to wash more frequently. Wash with soap, paying particular attention to the areas that sweat the most - your armpits and feet.

• Wash your clothes well and regularly, and put on fresh clothing every day. Yesterday’s clothes can retain sweat and bacteria which will smell bad regardless of how clean your body is.

• Wear natural fibres like wool and cotton. This will allow your skin to breathe, meaning that the sweat on your skin will evaporate more quickly. Synthetic fibres, on the other hand, will keep sweat close to your skin and give the bacteria more time to break it down.

• Some foods may make your sweat smell, so watch out for spicy foods like curry or garlic as well as alcohol and caffeine, nicotine and red meats. A healthy balanced diet free from high levels of artificial colourings and sugar will help too.

• Shaved underarms will allow sweat to evaporate more quickly and give bacteria less of an opportunity to break down perspiration, so removing underarm hair can help to reduce the chance of experiencing BO.

• Use deodorant after washing to reduce the amount of bacteria on your skin. Trust anti-odorant reduces the effect of bacteria for between 3 and 6 days, eliminating BO so that you can get on with your normal routine without worrying about unpleasant odours. And because it is effective for so long, you only need to use it once every few days instead of daily.

There are a number of reasons why some people are more susceptible to BO than others, but these tips should help to reduce or even eliminate body odour entirely.

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Have you ever noticed that even the cleanest, most hygienic person can suffer from smelly feet? Or that no matter how many times you air out those old trainers, you can still smell them a mile off? Ever wondered why? 

Smelly shoes or stinky feet can be very embarrassing, and for people who suffer from it, it can seem like a hopeless situation. After all, there are only so many times in a day that you can wash! But once you know what causes foot odour you are one step closer to reducing it, or even removing it for good.

Why do my feet smell?

The cause of foot odour is simple: not just sweat, but rather the bacteria that eat sweat.

Our feet sweat a lot. With 250,000 sweat glands, they produce more perspiration per square inch than any other part of our bodies – about one cup every day. People who suffer from the excessive sweating caused by hyperhidrosis will produce even more than this.

Luckily the sweat that our feet produce is not inherently smelly. The sweat glands on your feet - like those on most of your body - are called eccrine glands, and the sweat that they produce is comprised mostly of just salt and water. The other sweat glands that you have are apocrine glands – they are located near hair follicles and appear in abundance on your scalp, underarms and groin area. These produce a thick, oily sweat in times of stress. By contrast, the sweat secreted from apocrine glands is a cooling mechanism, released to reduce your body heat when it gets too high.

While the sweat that your body produces is odourless, it starts to smell when it comes into contact with the bacteria that live on your skin. Different bacteria create gases that produce different smells – some of which really stink! The most common complaints that people suffer are feet that smell like vinegar or cheese, which makes sense as some of the bacteria on your feet are actually the same as those used in the production of the smelliest cheeses.

What about my shoes?

Shoes and socks are the ideal home for bacteria, especially if they are made from synthetic materials and don’t allow for the circulation of air necessary for your feet to breathe. Shoes that you wear often, for long periods of time or while exercising can absorb sweat from your skin and become loaded with bacteria – the worst combination for smelly shoes!

So what can I do about it?

Many treatments for body odour try to tackle or cover up the smell. However, this has variable results and will only ever treat the symptoms - not the cause. Combating the bacteria that cause the smell is a more effective, long lasting and direct method of treating body odour. And that is exactly what Trust does and what makes it so effective and at the same time healthy.

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