Pages

Thursday, July 26, 2007

The business of not stinking



I received the new Ban deodorant/antiperspirant Invisible Solid just as I was realizing that my regular one was irritating my skin while not being as effective as I'd like. I already lined a few others, but since Ban was sent to me for review, I decided to start with it, which proved to be a very good thing.

Ban Invisible Solid claims to have a new patented technology that eliminates odors and sweat before they become a problem. I can't vouch for it, since the active ingredient is the widely used aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex. However, I checked and compared it to seven other deodorants for men and women that I have at home (yes, I take not stinking very seriously) and it's among the very few that have a 19% concentration of the active ingredient (compare to Lady Speedstick that offers 15.4%-16.3%, varies between specific products).

This higher level of active ingredient really delivers on the promise of at least 24 hours of freshness. I'm not a heavy sweater, but the last few days have been on the muggy side and called for serious anti perspiration action.

The inactive ingredient list is quite different than other similar products I checked. It has all the usual suspects of names out of chem lab, but also a bunch of other, more natural additions, like bark extract, oleic acid, sandalwood extract and barley extract. I'm not sure which one, if any, are part of the patented new formula, but it definitely makes Ban stand out in the crowd.

The other promise, the one about being invisible, is not completely fulfilled, though I have yet to meet even one deodorant that truly lives up to this claim. It won't stain all of your clothes, but is far from invisible when you slide into a black lycra cami.

The fragrance I tried, Satin Breeze, is supposed to have citrus top notes and a base of woody notes. The wood is unmistakable and quite pleasant. It's a nice, light scent that doesn't offend or clashes with other products, which is all I ask from a perfumed deodorant (other then "my armpits aren't orchards and have no business smelling like fruit").

1 comment:

  1. Is there one that's not perfumed? That's my only problem with a lot of these: I don't want it to clash with what I am wearing.

    I use that stuff that you put on at night (Certain Dry, I think) and a regular gel during the day and it works quite well, at least in our desert heat. I well remember that NY mugginess and actually moved here to get away from it!

    ReplyDelete

I love comments and appreciate the time you take to connect with me, but please do not insert links to your blog or store. Those will be deleted. The comment feature is not intended to provide an advertising venue for your blog or your commercial site.