some chemicals will absorb any moisture that contacts it. makes a desert in your pits. bacteria doesn’t grow well then.
So is shaving your pits a recognized method of reducing BO?
Hey! We (OK, you) can do a real test now!
You need a friend. A good enough friend that they won’t mind smelling your BO (it’s for SCIENCE!). Then, every day for a couple weeks, randomly put on the crystal, regular antiperspirant, or nothing, and write down which one. Halfway through the day – without telling your friend what treatment your pits got that day – have your friend take a whiff, and write down a rating (say 1-10).
We can then objectively see which one really works.
Come on, man, it’s for SCIENCE!
less surface and more easily kept dry.
I think you are being half serious - which is why I mention the following:
In theory - you could still easily do the test yourself - and still be blinded to the results.
Do it the same way that Quercus mentioned, but with just plain vs salt. Then get two envelopes and two tissues. Wipe your left pit with a tissue and put it in one envelope and label it which one it is. Don’t smell yet. Do the same with the other pit and envelope.
Now you have two envelopes that are labeled with which they contain. Put them in a crockery bag and shake it up. With your eyes closed reach in and grab one and open and smell. Set it to the left. Do the same with the other and set it to the right. Make up your mind if there is a difference before you open your eyes. Then open your eyes and you are presto!
You get to learn the objective truth AND still keep your friends.
Yep - I’m pretty sure this works - plus I think it saves on deodorant some as well - and looks better that you don’t have this white cake of hair under your pits.
Personally I think the crystal thing does work some - I just wasn’t THAT impressed with it - and I want an anti-sweat one as well.
A slight tangent - to me - I’ve almost always noticed that the white solid ones work better than the clear ones. So I also might be biased against the look or whatever.
As Ive noted in other threads, I used to work for a company which made anti-perspirant and deodorant products. What you describe is, at its heart, how such companies do product testing. 
I’ve observed it personally. Can’t point you to any studies or articles.
Crystal deodorants are one giant crystal of aluminum salt, you just splash some water on it and you’ve basically made an expensive version of commercial roll-on antiperspirants. Anyone who uses crystal deodorants thinking they’re avoiding the devil aluminum is deluding themselves.
I don’t want my armpits smelling like Pepsi!
My understanding is crystal deodorant works through antibiotic properties unlike anti-perspirant which is to stop sweating. The forms of aluminum are not the same either, I don’t believe the aluminum in crystal deodorant can stop sweating the way aluminum in anti-perspirant does.
They are slightly different chemical formulations of aluminum, but they are both aluminum salts, and they both work the same way. They do have some antibiotic properties, but mainly they work by plugging up your sweat glands.
In my own experience, when I lived Japan I actually couldn’t find a decent aluminum-based roll-on or stick antiperspirant in stores, but the crystals were easier to find. The crystal was just as effective an antiperspirant, and it really lasted a long time. But if I didn’t rinse it every week or so, it would start smelling of armpit, because it doesn’t neutralize odors.
But the crystal was great as an antiperspirant, which is unsurprising because it is a big hunk of aluminum salt that’s basically the same as mainstream rollons.
When I have used anti-perspirants in the past they cause me to sweat heavily from everywhere except my armpits. Due to my build I guess I overheat easily and I would get a decent amount of sweat on my back and chest when I would wear them. I am not getting that with the crystal stuff, so I do not know if I believe it is due to plugging up the sweat glands.
On another note, in the interest of science, I have decided not to shower this weekend. It has been about 36 hours since I last applied crystal deodorant, and still no armpit odors (well, there is a faint smell now but not overpowering). This is good considering that I could smell my own armpit odors within a few hours of bathing sometimes with regular deodorant.
I also read on google that some people use isopropyl alcohol as a deodorant, probably for the same reasons (antibiotic). I wiped one armpit down with an alcohol pad that diabetics use for their fingers, we will see what happens. I’m leaving the other blank.
I’ll probably stick to the crystal stuff but want to see if alcohol does the job too.
I have some of this. It seems to work, but I don’t use it much, just when I’m out of something else. Googling it is interesting, you’ll find:
[ol]
[li]Hippies saying how it’s better than regular deodorant because it’s “natural.”[/li][li]Different types of hippies saying how it’s evil because it has aluminum and thus causes Alzheimer’s (there is no scientific evidence that this is true).[/li][li]Unsure if potassium alum would make a good preservative to stave off zombie rot.[/li][/ol]
ETA: some people actually use a crystal to rub themselves. In this context, Crystal is brand of roller ball liquid deodorant.
“Expensive”? Hah!
I bought a good-sized chunk almost ten years ago, about 2 cubic inches. I use it at least once every two-to-three days, after I shower. And now, it’s only about 1 cubic inch. It’s pretty rounded, though, so it’s getting fairly hard to handle.
That little crystal is one of the most cost-effective objects I’ve ever bought.
Well, good point, now that I think of it. Mine came packaged with a plastic base similar to a regular roll-on and I think it lasted for 9 months. Though as I said it seemed to accumulate odor and needed to be rinsed every few weeks, which probably dissolved it down a bit.
I use it, and it definitely works for me. It works better than other products, for me at least. It’s certainly not woo.
And it isn’t just a replacement for standard deodorant. It works significantly better. I simply have no significant underarm smell when using it, but more conventional deodorants leave some.
This concludes my posting about the scents of my bodily processes. My pits are available for huffing during normal business hours. Please spay and neuter your pets.
I broke protocol and took a shower today, but I went 50 hours and still not any meaningful armpit odors because I applied crystal deodorant 2 days ago. As I said before, even with a bath and deodorant normal deodorant only works for a few hours on me.
So I’m sold. And the stuff is fairly cheap now, like $4 a tube or less.
I used to use a hippy rock, and it would keep me fresh and dry for upwards of 15 minutes. A couple of incidents put me off them:
- It set off the alarms at an airport scanner one time. I offered to dig it out of my bag for inspection, but the security lady politely declined - she said she knew what it was, but would prefer to carry on sampling the exterior of my bag with the Nasties Swab.
- I left it out overnight on the bathroom counter in a posh hotel. By the morning it had sucked some moisture out of the air, and the corrosive puddle thus formed ate deeply into an expensive polished marble slab.