Unfortunately, for me deodorant, including the salt crystals, is mostly useless. I'll sweat it away between putting it on and getting dressed. I don't see how anything can be effective against odor if it's not also effective against wetness, since the moisture will a) cause odor and b) wash away the deodorant.
I love the scent of Tom's of Maine--it's almost yummy--but I stained too many shirts with it.
Alas, anti-perspirant also stains shirts, which can build up over time to make the fabric feel stiff and "waxy." On white it looks yellowish, and on colored clothes it looks sort of white and powdery. The stain is virtually impossible to remove; by the time a stain builds up enough to notice in on a dark colored shirt, it may be too late to save the shirt. I used to know a professional dry cleaner. I asked him how to get anti-perspirant stains out of white shirts and he said, "Scissors."
Several people mentioned Old Spice, which I think is one of the worst culprits for staining shirts. Most anti-perspirants leave a yellowish stain, which appears after washing, and especially after drying in a clothes dryer. The stain left by Old Spice will eventually turn a pinkish-peach color, especially if you haven't worn the shirt for a while (e.g., a couple of months).
If you were to go in my closet and smell my shirts, you could tell which I have worn and which I have not, because the worn ones will smell like a blend of sweat and anti-perspirant. It's not a terrible smell. Some might even think it's "manly." But it's also not the way I want to present myself.
I have yet to find an anti-perspirant that I can't sweat through, so I can't give any brand a high recommendation. However, I like Degree the best.
Degree Prescription Strength is good.
And expensive.
I like Degree - I stay dry & the scents arent too strong, except for this little tiny one I bought once - I don't remember which it was, but the scent was WAY too strong...it overpowered everything & I smelled it ALL DAY...couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from until I took my shirt off that night...
My best guess is that it was the "Sport" scent. Has anyone else noticed that most "Sport" scent deodorants/anti-perspirants smell like rancid sweat? What's the point of that? When I was in college, my summer job was as a grill cook. During that time, I once made the mistake of buying Sport scent Degree. My assistants in the kitchen kept saying that it smelled like something had died in there. At first I couldn't figure out where the smell was coming from, either. Then I realized that it was me (or more precisely, my anti-perspirant).
