What metrics are deoderant companies using to calculate their "72hr protection" numbers? - eviltoast

How do these companies come to that conclusion? I think most people start to smell after only 24 or 48 hours max so how do these companies get 72 hours out of their testing?

Im assuming they’re fudging their numbers but at what point does it become false advertisement?

    • Newstart@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I don’t know how they measure it, but I used to stink despite showering twice a day. I had to put a lot perfume and deo. I always had the feeling that my bath towels were stinking. Until, one day I ran out of soap and used my head and shoulder as soap and also forgot to put deo. 24 hours later there were very litle sent that you had to be mm away from under arm to smell anything. Now I just use head and shoulders as my soap and shampoo. I only use deo if I’m going to do labour intensive movements/activities. My wife was shocked when I told her I havent used deo in over 6 months. Her only concerns is about safety, since I am using it daily. If any of you reading this are scientists let me know the risk of the daily usage.

      • GetOffMyLan@programming.dev
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        1 month ago
        Head & Shoulders contains ingredients that have anti-fungal properties: 
        
        Zinc pyrithione
        Also known as ZPT, this ingredient is an active ingredient in Head & Shoulders dandruff detox shampoo. It can reduce the amount of fungus on the scalp, which can help prevent dandruff. ZPT can also help manage seborrheic dermatitis, an inflammatory scalp condition. However, it can cause contact dermatitis in rare cases. 
        
        Selenium sulfide
        This ingredient acts as an antifungal and antibacterial cleansing agent. It can help prevent the growth of Malassezia, a type of yeast that causes dandruff. However, it can cause excessive oiliness and yellow discoloration in the hair shaft. 
        

        I think you had fungal infection mate

      • H4mi@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        Why would it be wrong to use daily? Many people shower daily and use it as shampoo.

      • teft@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Why not go talk to your doctor and see if you have a fungal skin infection. Many of them are nearly undetectable. The doctor should be able to give you an antifungal pill to take for a few weeks and you should be smelling normal again.

      • cynar@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        I periodically used mouthwash, on my arm pits, as a teenager. It cleared the funky smell quite impressively. I would definitely suspect head and shoulders anti fungal properties as the useful bit.

      • WoahWoah@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Sorry bro, but you were basically a mold monster. Also, it’s unlikely you stopped smelling bad. Maybe comparatively! H&S is anti-fungal shampoo.

      • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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        1 month ago

        i’m very convinced it makes you stink worse than it otherwise would when it expires.

        • Newstart@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Not at all, now I shower only one time a day with no deo, and if I feel my armpit is swaety i just rinse it with plain water until I shower. No funcky smell at all. Even sex sweat is not funky anymore.

  • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    “Im assuming they’re fudging their numbers”

    yup.

    “at what point does it become false advertisement?”

    liability/conviction.

    • bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      Burden of proof.

      If the least smelly person on the planet can use the product and stay fresh for 3 days, technically they aren’t lying.

      • MightBeAlpharius@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        They also usually use some weasel words like “up to.” That way, if it doesn’t last the full 72 hours (which it won’t), they can claim that they stated “72 hours MAXIMUM” rather than just “72 hours.” It’s basically shifts the statement from “lasts three days” to “definitely won’t last four days.”

        • MIDItheKID@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Lots off stuff like that out there. Like food products that say “Made with 100% white meat chicken”. That just means that 100% white meat chicken is one of the ingredients.

          Or those stupid “99c and up” stores. That’s no dollar store. That’s just a store. 99c and up is so many things.

          • Valmond@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            Or the american no sugar rule that makes 100% sugar tic tacs sugar free (each ‘serving’ contains less than 5 gram of sugar)

          • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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            1 month ago

            actually, I’m in India right now and am shocked that so far it’s the least smelly country in terms of sewage and BO I’ve been to, tied with Japan so far.

            I say so far because I’ve only been here for 2 weeks.

            I’ve been all over Asia and there’s always a sewage smell somewhere, or a smelly river, or you can smell BO on people when you’re crowded together on a bus, but now I’m in India and there’s no sewage smell, and I’m here during a huge festival, literally one of tens of thousands of people crowded in these temples without smelling any BO, and I’m wondering if it’s a cultural habit that is dovetailing into their infrastructure and hygiene(kind of like how Chinese chefs traditionally cook everything at super high heats, even though the origin is tied into making sure the food is clean) and their sewage pipes are all very far removed or thickly covered and treated, or if the largely vegetarian diet plays into a much less offensive smell overall in terms of bodily function and by-products.

            • bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
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              1 month ago

              I’m willing to bet their diet plays a huge role in the smell factor, especially in their localities. It seems like anyone with a western, especially American, diet, has a propensity to smell less that fresh on lieu of daily hygiene.

              • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
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                1 month ago

                makes sense.

                I’ve switched between a lot of different diets, and anecdotally meat, alcohol, and sugar play a huge role in how bad i and my byproducts smell.

                • bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
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                  1 month ago

                  Alcohol was my big one, especially as I get older. Quality of meat makes a big difference too, I found there’s a huge contrast between fast food burgers and quality steak in terms of red meat.

    • Pulptastic@midwest.social
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      1 month ago

      You have 72 hours to hide in the dark. If they smell you, you die. If you make it, you win a million dollars.

      Good thing I have 72 hour deodorant!

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      First there was the 12h deo !!!

      Then magically the same was 24, 48 and eventually 72?!

      There was a backlash against that 72 hours in some countries like do you even shower bro?

      Soon 1 month smell free!1!!

  • ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca
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    1 month ago

    It becomes false advertising when you prove them wrong in court. Few people want to do that so most ads are bullshit. Even if they do get proven wrong, the settlement money is typically peanuts to the impact their ads have on sales. Red Bull paid $13 million for their tagline of “red bull gives you wings” while making several billion a year.

    • lolola@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 month ago

      Red Bull commercials confused me so much in my younger years. Obviously it can’t make you fly, so what does it do?

      Even into my adult years, I’ve found myself avoiding energy drinks, not just because they usually taste awful, but also because they trigger this subconscious feeling that they’re trying to scam me.

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      And they had to change it to “Red Bull gives you wiiings” because spelling counts I guess?

    • stankmut@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I was just reading about the Red Bull case the other day. It seems like they settled in order to make the stories all about how they ‘lost’ the ‘red bull gives you wings’ case, which sound like a stupid lawsuit, rather than go to court and have the media write about how Red Bull doesn’t do anything that a cup of coffee won’t do. They even still use the ‘gives you wings’ slogan.

      • Starbuck@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        From a marketing perspective, it sounds like a slam dunk. Someone wants to sue you, with lots of fanfare, saying that your energy drink doesn’t actually give you wings? Sure, come in at us. In the mean time, we’ll take out ads everywhere with fake apologies about not actually giving you wings.

    • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 month ago

      When I’m working from home, I generally don’t shower for days because I’m a dumb little gremlin. Some days I’m so stinky, despite deodorant. Some weeks will go by and I’ll be unstinky for multiple days, despite not wearing deodorant. Body smellz are weird.

      • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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        1 month ago

        Remote work really lends itself to some bad habits. My body’s sweet spot seems to be showering every other day, and with remote work I can end up not leaving the house at all for long enough that I’ll get to as much as 4 days without showering (usually the point where I shower at lunch because holy crap I just want to not feel my skin being greasy

        Doesn’t help that I do evening showers which relies on my getting ready for bed on time, and staying up too late can be made up for by simply getting up 5 minutes before work and eating breakfast over the work computer an hour later

        • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 month ago

          I love it. My partner and I both have the same habits. The longest I’ve gone without showing us a week. I showered then cuz I was soooo super itchy.

          I shower every day I leave the house though.

          • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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            1 month ago

            Honestly I’ve only gone made it to 7 days when sick and feeling like a shower would be waterboarding myself and waited until I felt just well enough to actually shower

  • BougieBirdie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 month ago

    If I had to guess, someone in Marketing noticed that the 48-hour protection sold better than the 24-hour protection, so they decided to put 72-hour on the label

    Who isn’t using deodorant daily?

    • Duranie@literature.cafe
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      1 month ago

      👋

      I’m bad about remembering.

      Then again, I suspect I somehow may have ended up with the good gene as I have incredibly dry ear wax. On top of that I typically use antiperspirant instead of deodorant anyway, because I dislike feeling wet.

      • BougieBirdie@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 month ago

        I totally get that. Memory and routine can be a bitch

        I was imagining a scenario where someone intentionally waits the 72 hours

  • FeelzGoodMan420
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    1 month ago

    They utilize a type of metric that you usually obtain by pulling it out of your ass.

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    1 month ago

    Presumably thin people with good diets, sitting around doing no exercise whatsoever.

  • thermal_shock@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    deodorant is also not antiperspirant. the old school Arrid brand I could go days, old spice deodorant is 1 day tops. anything powder and not gel stick is usually best.