Whether you call it sweat or perspiration, in today’s fast paced, high stress world most of us do it. There’s nothing worse than getting up, ironing clothes, and spending an hour getting ready for work only to work up a sweat in your anxiety to get out of the door on time. Then, get stuck in traffic and your temperature will rise again. The last thing you want is to arrive on the job, or anywhere, with a big perspiration circle or stain under your arm.
A lot of people develop anxiety sweat, which is a break-out of sweat when you are under pressure. When you have a presentation at work, or a speech to give you may develop anxiety sweat. Again, you don’t want to stand in front of the crowd with your well prepared material only to have them staring at your increasingly wet underarms.
I’ve tried just about every deodorant and antiperspirant on the market. I’ve gone from dark circles, to milky white circles of perspiration that make my clothes look as if they’ve never passed through the doors of a laundry. If perspiration drips from my armpits, the deodorant/antiperspirant gets thrown away.
In my search for the right antiperspirant, I’ve smelled like everything from a cream puff to a cocoa puff. I’ve used roll-ons, powders, sticks, and gels. I’ve used men’s deodorant antiperspirants and I’ve used women. Some of the worst odor has been the clash of deodorant aromas with my body wash or perfume. At the end of the day if I still have body odor, the deodorant gets ditched.
I’m looking for two things in my antiperspirant and deodorant. I want an antiperspirant that really works, and a deodorant that works without smelling like a moose in heat or a flower garden. After much disappointment and many dollars thrown away, I finally settled on two deodorants: Mitchum and Secret.
Mitchum wasn’t very appealing. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an advertisement, but I heard a lot about it through word of mouth. Mitchum’s logo is “So Effective You Could Skip a Day.” I doubted that, but in desperation, I pulled a stick of unscented, clear gel from the grocery shelf. It was a little more expensive than some of the other deodorants, but what’s a dollar or two for protection that works?
I also decided to try Secret. All of my life I’ve heard Secret’s branding phrase, “Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.” I thought it was time to put it to the test. I couldn’t find it in unscented, so I settled for a powder fresh scent. I couldn’t find gel, so I went for the solid.
The first day I tried Secret. It is such a popular brand and has been around a long time. I thought Secret would deliver on its promises. The powder fresh scent wasn’t too bad, but I felt as if I had to paint my underarm with the white solid to get adequate coverage.
I was pleased, however, that I never found the dreaded streak of deodorant on my blouse. I was pleased with Secret’s performance when my sweat anxiety started as I headed out for work. When I got to work, I was dry and I still smelled powder fresh.
At the end of the day, however, I was disappointed. I was headed home, stopped to pick up the kids, and cut the a/c on high to cut through the heat of the afternoon. The swirl of air picked up an odor. It was body odor.
I thought it might be the kids. I turned to look at them. They sat happily in their car seats; grandma had them freshly bathed.
I sniffed the air and tilted my head slightly to the right. The rising odor wasn’t good, but I couldn’t be sure. So, I did it. I raised each armpit and took a good whiff. Whew! The Secret was no longer working. I hit the steering wheel in disgust. Tomorrow would be my last ditch effort to find an antiperspirant deoderant that worked all day. I would try Mitchum.
I loved Mitchum’s clear gel applicator. I soaked my underarms with Mitchum deodorant and antiperspirant. It felt wet, so I stood in the bathroom flapping my arms until I felt it was dry.
The Mitchum was unscented, so I could actually wear my favorite perfume, Angel.
Once again, I made it through my rush to get to work, and stop-and-go traffic, without arriving with the infamous sweat circles. I had to speak before a sizeable group of peers that day, so Mitchum still had some work to do to pass the test.
I was pleased following the presentation that there was no sweat or odor emanating from my underarms. My back was dripping in sweat, but what can you do?
I was pleasantly surprised that when I arrived home, and gave it the sniff test, the Mitchum deodorant had worked as well as the antiperspirant. I was so excited; I called my husband in to sniff. He just looked gave me a funny look and walked away mumbling. He has no idea what a woman goes through to smell nice and look right.
Mitchum is the only antiperspirant and deodorant I have found that gets the total job done. Since those days of deodorant trial and error, I have never bought anything but Mitchum. I will never buy another antiperspirant deodorant other than Mitchum. I love the clear gel application. It comes in scented and unscented. I prefer the unscented. The bottom line is that when I use Mitchum I still come home at the end of the day ‘unscented.’
