by: Ashland

who has something new to tell? we do.

Ashland’s line of gentle deo actives is growing. The latest product, sensidin™ pure skin multifunctional provides powerful and fast efficacy against odor-causing bacteria at very low use concentrations while respecting the individual microbiome.

the thing with body odor

Sweating is a natural process in the human body. The evaporation of sweat is an important mechanism for temperature control and essential for survival. Sweat itself is odorless, and body odor arises only when sweat is decomposed by microorganisms. These gram-positive bacteria form substances from the sweat content which have an unpleasant odor.

Of course, body odor is not harmful to health, but it can be very uncomfortable and sometimes can even cause embarrassment, especially in today’s fast-moving world, in which the demand for hygiene plays an increasingly important role. Deodorant users can feel insecure with an ineffective deodorant. As it might be a very big emotional burden for one or the other, a reliable high-effective solution is needed.

the contemporary solution

With sensidin™ pure skin multifunctional Ashland offers the desired solution to encounter antimicrobial challenges on the skin – consisting of Octenidine HCl, an active ingredient with outstanding antimicrobial properties and the well-accepted natural solvent and humectant, 1,3-Propanediol.

“The combination of active ingredients represents a contemporary deo solution in a category of goods that continues to grow,” said Karin Stoffels, head of product development microbial protection, Ashland. sensidin™ pure skin multifunctional takes deodorant protection to a new level.  Its very strong and fast-acting efficacy has been proven within a germ count reduction test. sensidin™ pure skin multifunctional has been tested in comparison to other deo actives such as Triclosan and Triethyl Citrate in a clear deodorant pump spray. The results show the remarkable fast efficacy of only 0.03% sensidin™ pure skin multifunctional within the first minute against odor-causing bacteria as well as the yeast Malassezia furfur within 10 minutes.

Therefore, sensidin^™ pure skin multifunctional acts even before body odor develops since it inhibits the growth and multiplication of odor-causing bacteria on the skin very quickly.

In order to determine the odor-inhibiting effect and to evaluate the efficacy of sensidin^™ pure skin multifunctional in underarm deodorants under practical conditions, a sniff test was conducted. In this regard, the efficacy of sensidin^™ pure skin multifunctional was also compared to triclosan as a benchmark.

The evaluation was carried out by an indirect olfactory assessment of pads in the volunteers’ armpits. Both products lead to a significant odor reduction after 48 hours compared to the initial values. Although sensidin^™ pure skin multifunctional has been used in much lower use levels of actives there haven’t been significant differences between 0.15% sensidin^™ pure skin multifunctional and 0.3% Triclosan. The sniff test proves a quantitatively similar odor-inhibiting effect of both test products. Therefore, sensidin^™ pure skin multifunctional does not only act very strong and fast against odor-causing bacteria but also provides long-lasting and reliable deodorant protection for 48 hours as demonstrated within the sniff test.

Furthermore, the topic of microbiome gets increasingly important to consumers. Not only, because the microbiome is believed to play an important role in skin health, but especially since the understanding today is that the skin microbiome, immune system, and skin barrier are closely linked to each other and should be treated with care.

Personal care products can support healthy skin and the microorganisms living on our skin. Ashland sees it as its responsibility to protect the skin microbiome. Therefore, Ashland develops and tests its products with the utmost care.

In this regard, a third-party study investigated the influence of sensidin^™ pure skin multifunctional in a deodorant on the healthy microbiome in the axilla under practical conditions. The objective of this study was to assess the sustainability of the microbiome after the application of a deodorant roll-on containing 0.15% sensidin^™ pure. Here, the taxonomic composition of the samples was determined before the application (baseline) and after 48 hours for both test areas. The graphs show the results of the taxonomic rank genus.

The study result showed that no differences were found at baseline between both areas, which means that the microbiome was comparable before application – even after 48 hours. Thus, as proven sensidin^™ pure skin multifunctional has no impact on the healthy skin microbiome. In addition, the test subjects have stated that they perceive the tested product as being gentle to the skin while leaving a pleasant skin feeling and not burning on the skin as well.