Antiperspirants actually make you smell worse

The study is conducted by researchers at the University of Ghent in Belgium. For the study, the researchers asked eight test subjects not to use deodorant or antiperspirant for a month.

Another subject who was not a regular deodorant user was asked to use it regularly for a month. The researchers selected the timeframe on one month because a new layer of skin is formed in around 28 days.

The researchers tested the armpit bacterial community of each subject at the start and the end of the month and found out that the ecosystem of each armpit ecosystem had been altered after one month.

The study showed that the use of antiperspirant was linked to an increase in Actinobacteria, the 'bad' type of armpit bacteria that instigate noxious armpit odour.

Lead author Chris Callewaert said the presence of the aluminium compounds in antiperspirants is to be blamed for this.

He added that these compounds can block pores to prevent sweating by killing off "good" bacteria. According to Callewaert, this allows Actinobacteria to dominate.

The results were published in the journal Archives of Dermatological Research.