FIGHT! FIGHT! Dove vs. Sure Maximum Protection Showdown

There are some things can be accidentally omitted from packing that can be done without for the duration of a holiday. Forgetting that spare (fourth) pair of shoes, for example, or the extra lippie you've been meaning to try, or a skinny pink patent belt (even though your lace dress and pink tights combo won't look nearly as awesome without it.) Deodorant, however, is not a FECK-I-knew-I'd-forgotten-something item you can really get away without, not if you plan to spend any of your trip in close proximity to other people that you'd like to see again. So when I discovered that I was sans protection while we were home recently, there was nothing for it but duck into Boots immediately for a replacement.

There, I was surprised and delighted to see that my reliable Sure Maximum Protection anti-perspirant was available in new flavours and promptly grabbed a box of pomegranate and lemon verbena.

I mean, why shouldn't my underarms smell like a refreshing summer cocktail?

It was only afterwards that I realised I'd unwittingly bought a Dove product rather than my Sure failsafe, but in fairness you can see how I made the mistake.

As far as I can see, they are basically the exact same product, right down to the alignment of their exact same product name text on their exact same packaging.

So how do this pair of perspiration fighting identi-twins measure up when it comes to performance? Are they as same-y inside as out?

Both are creamy stick formulas with a twist-up gizmo at the base that pushes product through a sieve-like dispenser at the top, but based on my previous experiences with their anti-perspirants and deodorants I was expecting the Dove version to be a bit rubbish. Nicely scented, probably, and likely very kind to my underarm skin, but no cop whatsoever when it came down to damming the perspiration floodgates.

But it actually (if unsurprisingly, given the similarities of name/packaging/dispensing mechanism/instructions) did exactly the same job as its Sure namesake, providing complete all-day protection against wetness and whiffiness.

Colour me impressed.

They both look the same, work in the same way and equally effectively, and are about the same price. So is there anything to differentiate them, other than the brand name? Well, the one marked difference I really noticed was the scent. I've tried a number of the Sure Maximum Protection variations and disliked all their fragrances, which I put up with because I found their performance to be unparalleled. Now I feel like I don't have to compromise. I get the nice fragrance of the pomegranate and lemon verbena Dove Maximum Protection (which, incidentally, I find far more subtle than any of the Sure smellz) as well as being able to basically forget that I have armpits.

Yeah, I'd call that a definite win. Well played, Dove. Well played.