The basic difference between antiperspirants and deodorants is that the former keep you from sweating, while the latter cut down on what makes you stink when you sweat. Understanding the difference between the two, and the pros and cons of each is the key to identifying the safest and most effective options out there.
Deodorants target the bacteria that hang around your armpits by making the skin there too salty or acidic (low pH) for bacteria to live in. No bacteria, means no smell. Most deodorants use alcohol to accomplish this and many use synthetic fragrances (which have their own inherent safety issues) to mask whatever smell is not fully eliminated by the other active ingredients.
Antiperspirants do the job using the exact opposite principle: they actually keep you from sweating by plugging the ducts that carry sweat from the glands to the skin’s surface. Without any sweat, the bacteria in your underarms don’t have anything to feast upon. Most antiperspirants have some of the same ingredients found in deodorants that kill bacteria as a failsafe. Their main function, however, is to keep you from perspiring, and alas, this only works for a short time before you have to re-apply it.
Antiperspirants are designed to decrease the production of eccrine sweat, which, ironically, has no odor and therefore no substances for bacteria to thrive on. And neither antiperspirants nor deodorants can decrease apocrine sweat, which is the type of sweat that is responsible for creating odors when the fats and proteins in it interact with the bacteria in your armpits. This begs the question of which product is better or necessary? While both types of products can be seen as interfering with our body’s naturally occurring processes, antiperspirants are clearly more disruptive as they are intended to stop you from sweating altogether and sweating is necessary for regulating body temperature. If body odor is your main concern (as opposed to staying dry), then deodorants are a more appropriate choice. Some people have a problem of excessive sweating which may push them in the direction of using an antiperspirant but if you’ve got this type of problem then you may need to consult a health care practitioner because using an antiperspirant may not be enough to tackle the problem.
I’m a big picture type of person. I like to start with a wider or broader view of something to establish a greater context within which to look at a more specific subject. In the case of using antiperspirants or deodorants and our obsession with body odor, I think it helps to first understand why and how we sweat before tackling the bigger decision of which type of product to use or if you should use any product at all.
