Antiperspirants and Deodorants

Abstract

Although antiperspirant and deodorant preparations are invariably grouped together, their actions are quite different. Antiperspirants are astringents aimed to reduce the amount of both eccrine and apocrine sweat secretions. They are considered to have a coagulating effect on skin protein and thereby block the openings of the sweat ducts on the skin surface. Their exact mode of action is still a matter of dispute but it is generally acknowledged that perspiration rate can be checked by using an astringent.