Sweet as a Rose

Picture the scene. You are sitting down in a movie theatre with your friends to see the latest hot flick and the place is jammed. No problem, you think, since there is one space empty beside you to put your bag. Then all of a sudden a nice looking lady sits down in your empty seat. As soon as she sits down you get a whiff of body odour that just about makes your eyes water. 'Wow', you think, 'Doesn’t she notice herself smelling so bad?' The truth is that when the odour is on your own body, you don’t notice it as much since your nose is used to it and people will rarely say anything for fear of embarrassing the person. Could this happen to you?As a kid you never had to worry about body odour because the specialised glands in your armpits were virtually inactive until you hit puberty. Now that you’re past all that, it’s time to start considering anti-perspirants or deodorants to stay fresh between showers. Here are some facts about the difference between anti-perspirants and deodorants and what is better suited for your skin. Since knowing the difference is half the battle, whichever you choose, you can feel sure that it will be the right one for you.Anti-perspirants More heavy duty than deodorants, anti-perspirants reduce wetness by plugging the sweat glands with tiny amounts of aluminium salts that can stay in place for about three to four days even after you shower. This also can leave a chalky residue on your underarm skin making it dry and sometimes prone to skin tags. Aluminium salts also stop bacteria that escapes from your glands and being turned into a nasty smell by the natural bacteria that is also on your skin. The most effective anti-perspirants only block about 60% of sweat and are only really designed for reducing underarm sweat. For this reason it should never be sprayed all over your body as you may overheat if too many sweat glands are blocked. Deodorants All about smelling nice, deodorants include both fragrance and an ethnol alcohol level that kills bacteria that causes odour but doesn’t stop you from sweating. Only effective for about 12 hours you can spray it all over your body so you’re sweet all over. If you don’t sweat heavily a lot then this may be the right choice for you but if you are planning on playing sports or walking around very hot climates, you may want to consider switching to an anti-perspirant.