Deodorant & Antiperspirants

Over the years social awareness has encouraged more and more people to use deodorant and antiperspirants to reduce sweating and odor.

After World War II there was a move towards more office-based employment. Although sweating and odor may have been common in a factory or outdoors, it was less acceptable in an office environment.

Attitudes regarding personal hygiene vary greatly around the world. In some countries men accept sweating as natural and part of being a man. It is fairly common throughout the world for odor to be less acceptable than sweating. In some countries people deny that they smell at all whereas in others different products are used other than antiperspirants. In some parts of Asia people rub their armpits with ground up crystals of alum, known as tawas, which are very similar to the active ingredients in modern antiperspirants and work in exactly the same way. Elsewhere in Asia, people apply limejuice by hand or from a cloth, and in Russia apple vinegar is a traditional remedy.