A deodorant covers or eliminates body odor, while an antiperspirant is used to discourage the body from sweating.

It is a popular misunderstanding that sweat, itself, smells. In healthy people, this isn`t true. What causes body odor is when bacteria residing on the skin starts to feed on sweat, usually the fatty sweat that`s secreted by the apocrine glands. These glands usually become active after puberty  and are especially triggered by feeling nervous or aroused.

Deodorants use germ-killing chemicals, usually alcohol, which kill bacteria on contact to eliminate the resulting odor. Usually, deodorants also have fragrances in them to mask whatever smell they may have missed.

An antiperspirant uses aluminum compounds to close the ducts of sweat glands, keeping bacteria from digesting the sweat and producing foul odors. In this process, aluminum compounds can also commonly cause allergic reactions in some people. Aluminum has been identified as a neurotoxin, and has been linked to Altzheimers disease…