Body odor isn't sweat. It's what happens after you sweat, when the bacteria on your skin break sweat down and release the compounds we smell. Once you understand that, every deodorant on the market falls into one of a few buckets, and you can finally tell them apart.
The four ways to fight odor
There are really only four approaches, and each has a tradeoff:
- Block the sweat with aluminum. That's an antiperspirant. It works, but it stops your body from doing something it's supposed to do.
- Mask the smell with fragrance. That's most conventional deodorant. It covers odor rather than stopping it.
- Raise your skin's pH with baking soda until bacteria struggle. That's the classic natural approach, and also the most common cause of underarm rash.
- Go after the odor-forming step itself. That's where Zaffré® lives.
The zinc works alongside magnesium hydroxide, a mild mineral. As bacteria produce the acidic compounds that smell, the magnesium gently neutralizes them, right as they form. Think of it as keeping the room too clean for odor to settle in. Steady, physical, reliable.
Sensitive skips magnesium and takes a cleverer route: a plant-derived ingredient activated by the very bacteria that cause odor. When they try to break down sweat, they trigger it, and it quietly shuts their process down. Nothing raises your skin's pH, so there's nothing to sting or burn.
So which is better?
Neither, and that's the point. They're built for different skin. The neutralize path (Core, Max) is a great everyday default. The interrupt path (Sensitive) is gentler by design, which is why it's Dermatologist Tested and suits reactive skin.
One honest note about Sensitive: because it works with your skin's chemistry rather than overriding it, a sudden heavy sweat can briefly outpace it before it catches up, without ever irritating you. Most brands would hide that. We'd rather you know exactly how your deodorant behaves.
Not sure which fits you? Use the quick buyer's guide, or read the full science on how zinc stops body odor.