Felicia Asks A Favor: Hey Beauty Brains! First off, I must say that I love your blog. I still freak out and coo over hair and makeup products that I see and love but now I know what is and isn’t worth buying. Thanks! The latest product I’ve seen is the Adidas Absorbent-Deo Deodorant. I don’t really like the name (slightly awkward to say) but I love the
The Right Brain Thinks This Smells Funny:
Before we start, you should go back and read our previous post on how antiperspirants and deodorants work. Otherwise you might get lost. That’s better. Now, here’s what Adidas says about their product:
BreakThru
24hr Control
Wetness Control Aluminum Free – Cotton Tech™ Absorbs Wetness Exclusively from Adidas – the first deodorant for women to manage perspiration as effectively as an anti-perspirant – 100% aluminum-free and non-staining. With patented* Cotton Tech™ to absorb and evaporate wetness naturally. *Pending
Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Don’t answer that yet. Let’s take a look at the ingredients first.
Adidas Deodorant Ingredients
As with most deodorants, the main ingredients are Propylene Glycol, Water and Sodium Stearate. Sodium Stearate is a type of soap that reacts with the water and the Propylene Glycol (which is kind of like Glycerin) to form a stiff gel-like stick. This gel stick contains tricolosan, an antibacterial agent that stops bacteria from growing in your perspiration. (Remember, it’s the bacteria that cause body odor, not the sweat by itself. Did you read our earlier post like we told you to!?!)
Is it the Cotton?
The interesting aspect of this product is that it contains Gossypium Herbaceum, or Cotton Powder. According to Adidas the cotton fibers absorb the moisture and help it evaporate. In theory, this makes sense. If you can get rid of the moisture the bacteria have nothing to feed on and therefore your armpits don’t get stinky. But in practical application, we’ve never seen this approach used effectively. Even if the cotton powder does absorb your sweat, it’s just going to hold onto the moisture so the bacteria will still have a place to grow. That could lead to a smelly shirt. While we admit we’re not familiar with the technical details of their patent, we’re skeptical that this approach would really be effective.
The Beauty Brains’ Bottom Line
This Adidas product may be a perfectly fine deodorant but we’d need to have more information before we agree it is a technology breakthrough. Call us science snobs, but if there was a true technology breakthrough in deodorants we’d expect to see that come from one a major AP/DO brand like, Secret, who employs dozens of PHD level scientists. Not a shoe company.
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Ya, why is a shoe company making under arm deoderant?! I think they should be making foot deoderant pads for their shoes – factory installed. Unlike the after market product by Dr Scholl’s.
I’ve tried this it doesn’t work as well as my Ban, which I love. In fact, this is probably the worst deodorant I have ever used. My sweat doesn’t smell anyways, but it does nothing as an antiperspirant!
Also, adidas isn’t just a shoe company. It’s a very reputed sportwear company. I play tennis and I have tons of really nice adidas gear, skirts and visors and tops and such. So that’s where the deodorant thing comes from. A good idea, and as an athlete I’d expect more from adidas.
When I found out about this deodorant (I tried the one marketed for women), I was excited about a non-aluminum deodorant that might actually work. I have tried EVERY non-aluminum, natural deodorant on the market and none of them work for me. I’m not concerned so much about perspiring but odor. It worked initially for controlling odor (not so much with wetness), but then it stopped working.
Additionally (and this is sort of related), many “natural” deodorants use lichen for controlling odor. It turns out that a very small percentage of people (something like 2-3%) have a reaction with their body chemistry with lichen that actually makes their sweat smell WORSE; turns out I’m in that category! If anyone has any suggestions (right now I’ve given up and am using Dove, but the kind I tried is a little too perfumy) I’d love to hear them!
P.S. The Adidas deodorant is actually made by Coty.
Oh, and the link to “how deodorants and anti-perspirants work” doesn’t work!
Vicky, out of curiosity, why are you trying to avoid aluminum containing deodorants? Just wondering, because the only reason I’ve heard of is because it supposedly causes cancer, but I remember that the BBs debunked that myth awhile ago!
http://thebeautybrains.com/2007/09/13/why-antiperspirants-do-not-cause-breast-cancer/
It’s hard to know who to believe. While it does seem as though an irresponsible comment was made about the link of aluminum to breast cancer, was that the only test that was ever done? Also, this site has advertisements for antipersperants. Am I supposed to believe that Beauty Brains can say anything they want–as long as it is scientifically based–that might question the safety of one of their advertiser’s products? I enjoy reading Beauty Brains, but it is not the final word on something regarding my health. For years cigarette companies said that nicotine was not addictive and that smoking did not cause lung cancer, and then they had to admit that whoops, it did! And I don’t believe they came to that conclusion because one study said that it did. You are quoting one scientist from one study. Where are the other studies?
We don’t let advertisers dictate what we say. If companies want to advertise on the Beauty Brains they have to accept the fact that we might not say glowing things about their products.
But you are wise to not just accept what you read from any single source on the Internet. The Beauty Brains is around to give you information but we’re not here to do your thinking for you. You decide what risks you’re willing to take.
The current consensus among scientists is that aluminum in AP/DO do not cause cancer. But if data in the future shows that to be mistaken, we’d be happy to change our view. Unlike the tobacco companies, we don’t care what products you buy (except maybe our book). We do not sell cosmetic or personal care products.
The nature of science is that you can’t prove a negative. Nothing can be proven safe. That’s why when people say ingredient A causes cancer, it is up to them to provide the link. Where is the data showing the link between aluminum in AP/DO and cancer? We’ve never seen it.
I appreciate your response.
The studies I looked at could not make a positive link between aluminum and breast cancer, although women with the disease had higher levels of aluminum in their bodies than those who did not have the disease. The question I guess is “Where is the aluminum coming from?” They are still trying to figure this out. And since people only started using AP/DO in the 20s, relatively speaking it’s too soon to tell what the long term effects of using this product are. And like you said, no one can say anything is absolutely safe. I have a link to a site that looks at various studies regarding this issue: http://www.controlyourimpact.com/antiperspirants-aluminum-and-breast-cancer/. While he admits he is not a medical professional (and has a bias against large companies) he has simply sourced many different studies exploring the possible link between these two things.
Again, I thank you for your response and for your informative site.
Sorry, that link is: http://www.controlyourimpact.com/articles/antiperspirants-aluminum-and-breast-cancer/
I have a friend who just got a mass of infected tissue surgically removed from her upper-arm right by her pit-her dr. said it was a combination of shaving & aluminum in deodorant/antiperspirant.
Enough proof for me it’s not good for you, i’d rather stink.
I’v been interested in this debate for a long time. I myself do not use an aluminum based anti-prespirant on the days I shave my underarms, as the nicks in the skin do leave minute openings in which aluminum may possibly pass. I do this as a precautionary method, not because of any research. I do use a salt stone after shaving, and then the adidas 24 hr Deo Control about 20 minutes after. This has given me a substantial aid in blocking odor. However, I must admit that humidity in the south and july and august weather makes it highly unlikely it will last all day. So I reapply the adidas (or Jason) about 1 pm after lunch. I am also a lymphatic drainage practitioner and suggest this to all my female clientel as a precautionary measure, although I do not mention any brand in particular. I just leave it as ” look for an Aluminum Free Deoderant, not anti-perspitant for the days you shave”. Please feel free to let me in on your thoughts. They are always appreciated. Glad I found your site.
I have used this deodorant exclusively for over a year. When it disappeared from my local stores shelves, I ordered a case of it from an online store. I even wrote Coty a panicked email begging them not to discontinue. That’s how much I love it, and here’s why.
I sweat a lot under my arms, and aluminum anti-perspirants don’t work for for me. AT ALL. I started to consider botox injections because my clothes were being ruined. This product significantly reduces sweat stains for me. And while Absorbent-Deo does NOT completely eliminate wetness, I no longer have anxiety about growing pit puddles halfway through my morning. The lack of aluminum (which I have always heard associated with Alzheimer’s rather than cancer) is merely a bonus.
By the way, even though I still have much of that case I ordered, when I found the product on the shelves at my local Kroger store today, I bought two units just to support the product.
I am the same as Colleen. I used to sweat a lot, and aluminum anti-perspirants don’t work for me at all. In fact, I feel sweatier when I use them. I tried powerful anti-perspirants, like Certain Dry, but they never worked. They also stain my clothes an ugly yellow.
I tried Adidas Cotton Tech two years ago, and never looked back. It doesn’t keep me perfectly dry, but I’m very happy with it. I have a hard time finding it in stores, but when I do I stock up. I’m not an expert on the science of deodorant, but I’ve always been a bit wary about the ingredients in aluminum-based anti-perspirants. With Cotton Tech, however, I feel a bit more relaxed.
Basically, as someone who has struggled with sweat for ten years and has tried every other deodorant, I would highly recommend this product!
Yes, lets really trust the gov’t about how aluminum is safe. Like the monkey kidney in the polio vaccine!! Oh, and I have formaldehyde (another ingredient in vaccines) in my afternoon tea as well.
Formaldehyde is naturally produced in your liver.