Product Panel Review: Gillette Clinical Clear Gel Anti-Perspirant And Gillette Clear Gel Deodorant

It’s a fact of life: men sweat. Whether you’re heading to a business meeting, running errands, or hitting the weights hard, as a man you are going to sweat. And let’s face it, while the problem may be common, it isn’t pleasant for anyone. The most important moments in a man’s life require serious confidence and nothing can hinder those moments like sweat and body odour issues.

Gillette is trying to give guys back their confidence in those key moments with two products that offer optimal protection. Do they really work? We asked five guys to ditch their current spray antiperspirants and put Gillette’s Clinical Clear Gel Anti-Perspirant/deodorant and Clear deodorant to the test for a week. Here are the results:

Jamie Rea

I have to be honest; I’ve had my fair share of problems building up lavish sweat stains underneath my armpits, even from carrying out the simplest of activities. It started to make me feel insecure that something was wrong. I wondered if this was an issue of over-active sweat glands, or it was actually just the deodorant I was using? It seemed everything I tried just led to another negative result. For me, deodorant just didn’t seem to work. Your standard male deodorants just made me sweat more, leading to stenchy body odour, not to mention, the wax would get all over my skin and clothes.

Then, after using the Gillette Clinical Clear Gel Anti-Perspirant/deodorant over the course of the past week, I realized that the problem wasn’t me — it was actually the deodorants I was using. The results from the clear gel were immediate and they were extremely positive. For starters, applying deodorant at night was a foreign concept to me, but hey, I’m game for anything that can help shave off a few more seconds during the morning routine. The smell alone was fantastic and I couldn’t believe how quickly my body absorbed the clear gel format. Typically I was used to applying deodorant and then having the liquid or wax take forever to absorb, but the clear gel format was clean and efficient. Most importantly, I noticed how it held off body odour, even while doing the activities that would have normally led to break outs in the past.

All things considered, the Gillette Clear Gel format made me realize I’ve just been using the wrong deodorants all along and there’s no doubt I’ll continue to use the formula moving forward, particularly if it helps me to feel comfortable lifting up my arms in public again.

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E. Spencer Kyte

Listen – I don’t mind copping to being a relatively sweaty dude. Some guys don’t get all that sweaty, but me, I’m not that guy. I don’t need an antiperspirant that talks a good game but wilts under pressure; I need Michael Jordan with the clock winding down and the game on the line.

I’ve been a pretty loyal user of one brand (which I won’t name here) for a number of years after bouncing around for a while and I’m strongly considering a switch to Gillette Clear Gel.

First and foremost, it works well and honestly, you don’t get that from every antiperspirant. It goes on clean, dries quickly and keeps me from worrying about whether I’m ruining my t-shirts. Secondly, my wife totally digs the way it smells. You know what’s better than using antiperspirant and cologne or body spray? Having an antiperspirant that works and smells good, eliminating the need for body spray.

Lastly, I like that it’s a gel as opposed to a solid stick. Two twists of the dial and I’m good because I can see how much I’m putting on and honestly feel protected when I use it, rather than taking a few extra swipes with a stick just to make sure.

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Kyle Williamson

I have gotten used to carrying deodorant around with me because I am a heavy sweater. I would sweat through my deodorant within a few hours and if I didn’t reapply throughout the day I was bound to start smelling. Needless to say I was skeptical when I saw that Gillette Clear Gel anti-perspirant claimed to provide 48 hours of freshness. That first day of using Gillette Clear Gel I kept waiting for the first sign of odour, but it didn’t come. I woke up the next morning still smelling just as fresh as I had when I first applied the deodorant.

The problem was that while I still smelled fresh, with Gillette Clear Gel deodorant, I needed something stronger to help with my sweating. It doesn’t matter how fresh you smell if you don’t feel fresh (plus no one wants embarrassing sweat stains). That is why I started combining Gillette Clear Gel Deodorant with Gillette Clinical Endurance. I noticed an immediate result. Applying the Clinical Endurance Tough Protection at night before bed left me dry all day. It didn’t just minimize the sweat, it stopped it completely. The combined efforts of Gillette Clinical Endurance and Clear Gel Deodorant have left me feeling dry and confident.

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Zach Buck

I’m a musician, and tight practice spaces with only a little window and half-broken oscillating fan for ventilation get sweaty pretty quick. But Gillette’s Clinical Endurance Anti-Perspirant actually seemed to make a difference to the levels of funk I exude after running 6 or 7 songs with the guys. The anti-perspirant’s ‘Cool Wave’ fragrance, though it reminded me more of a nice citrus soap than an ocean of refreshment, was actually quite pleasant. It was also a great alternative to the aerosol smells that tend to linger in my bathroom after a session with a spray-on product.

I usually don’t use anti-perspirants though. I’m more of a throw on some deodorant and forget about it type of guy. And, generally, those deodorants are aerosols like AXE, mostly because I hate the soapy streaks some roll-ons leave on clothes. But Gillette’s Clear Gel Deodorant stick goes on invisible and fresh, with none of the chalkiness I hate (or, at least, have a mild distaste for). Used with the anti-perspirant, I’m pretty sure it can get up to the 48 hours of protection it claims. With my band, though, I might need a double application.

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Marcus Laflamme

Like so many others, I grew up feeling self-conscious about my sweating. Whenever I’m in stressful situations, whether I have a big meeting at work, or on a first date, or even just stuck in traffic, the sweat just seems to pour out of me. There’s nothing worse than making it half way through the day, and realizing that you’re sweating through your shirt, or worse, that you smell bad. Even if no one else notices, it throws you off your game. Gillette Endurance Clear Gel offers “48 hours of freshness,” so I decided to give it a try. I noticed a difference almost right away. First, it dried almost immediately, and didn’t leave any stains on my clothes. So far so good, right? Even after a long, stressful commute, I was bone dry. I brought it with me to work, just in case I needed to reapply mid-day, which is typical of some other anti-perspirants I’ve used, but surprisingly, there was no need. I’ve always been kind of intimidated by “clinical” anti-perspirants and deodorants, because they sound a little intense. But Gillette Endurance gives me the protection I need to feel confident when I leave the house, and that’s reason enough to add it to my daily routine.