If you suddenly feel as if you’re being inundated with ads for something called “whole body deodorant,” you’re not alone.
The personal care product, which is being advertised as a solution to sweat and body odor that can’t be controlled by traditional underarm deodorants, has exploded in popularity in 2024.
According to Google Trends, searches for the product have skyrocketed this year. Sales for Lume, one of the original whole body deodorants, more than doubled in 2023 to $125.8 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. In 2024 alone, Dove hit the market with “Whole Body Deo,” Secret started a “Whole Body” collection and Native released its own “cruelty-free” whole body deodorant spray for “pits, privates & more.”
Dr. Susan Massick, a board-certified dermatologist and a clinical associate professor of dermatology at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said in an interview that whole body deodorant had become “the answer to a problem people didn’t even know they have.”
“People used to associate deodorants with just the armpits, but whole body deodorants turned that concept on its head with products that are designed to be used on larger surface areas of the body wherever you feel you smell,” she said.
Deodorants use fragrance to neutralize odors and bacteria by creating a more acidic pH on your skin, Dr. Massick explained, making them different from antiperspirants, which use ingredients that form a plug that blocks the secretion of sweat from the eccrine glands. Whole body deodorants are made to be used on areas like the groin, feet and breasts, and act similarly to those designed for armpits.
“As a dermatologist, I believe that antiperspirants, regular deodorants and whole body deodorants are generally safe to use as you wish,” Dr. Massick said. “While not a necessity, whole body deodorants are an option if you are concerned about body odor in the typical hot spots like armpits, groin, genitals and feet. They’re OK to use, but OK to skip as well.”
The sudden influx of whole body deodorant products has not been lost on social media users, who have flocked to platforms like X and TikTok to discuss them. While some have expressed enthusiasm, others are more skeptical, with suggestions that showering may be a better answer.
And though there are whole body deodorants marketed to male consumers, including Mando and Dove Men+Caremany have been quick to point out that a vast majority of new products are aimed exclusively at female consumers, with some feeling it is an attempt to create a new type of body shame.
Olivia Stober, a 26-year-old artist living in San Diego, said she had first started seeing ads for Secret Whole Body deodorant on YouTube earlier this year. She took particular issue with one ad that showed a montage of women exercising and hiking that began: “Want to know a secret? More than just my armpits stink.”
“I’m just like, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Ms. Stober said in an interview. “God forbid we go up for a hike and then smell like we have gone for a hike, right?”
In response, she created a TikTok video lamenting the commercial.
“They will invent something new for women to be ashamed of until the end of time,” Ms. Stober said in the clip. “We will never be free from those shackles I fear.”
Ms. Stober said that as a woman in her mid-20s, she feels confident in her decision to eschew whole body deodorant, but that may not be the case for other women and girls. She was particularly worried about tweens and teens hearing about the products and deciding there was something wrong with them that they needed to fix.
“You have a body, and you’re allowed to smell like you have a body,” she said.
