Buh-bye, Mitchum; Hello Sure Maximum Protection

It's a sad sad situation, to quote Elton John (real name Reginald Kenneth Dwight, fact fanz), but I haven't really been getting along too well with my one-time trusty Mitchum for the last while. Where I could once rely it to take me from morning to night without having any problems with either sweating or odour, regardless of how many buses I ran after or how nervous I got, lately I feel that it's just not cutting the mustard on either front.

Since total paranoia about the pit situation was setting in, I picked up a tube of Sure Maximum Protection the last time I was in Boots. It's a creamy twist-up solid that you apply at night before bed to guard against sweaty betty issues the following day, even after a morning shower, without the need to apply additional anti-perspirant or deodorant. The idea is that sweat glands are least active while you're asleep and your skin is more receptive to the anti-perspirant, giving the formula time to work before you get up and have your shower and start sweating again.

My last run-in with a long-lasting overnight anti-perspirant still makes me clamp my arms to my side every time I think of it, so I was braced for stinging on application. Nothing. Putting on Sure Maximum Protection is more like putting on a body butter than a sweat buster, and the soft, almost lotion-y formulation means it takes a couple of minutes to dry.

Once I showered and dressed the day after my first night of use, I spent pretty much the next 16 hours surreptitiously sniffing my underarm area, on high alert for the merest hint of a whiff. And while there was a definite improvement compared to the Mitchum and everything remained bone dry, after a couple of hours things just weren't as powder fresh as I'd hoped on the scent front. So, in line with the accompanying instructions, I tried applying it both at night and in the morning the next time I used it and did get better results.

No hard feelings Mitchum, eh?