Dove Hair Minimising Deodorant

RRP: £2.99
# of scents available: 3 (Silk Lily [exclusively at Tesco's], Wild Rose, Nature Fresh)

--What does the promo say?--
"Dove HairMinimising is a brand new range of antiperspirant products which gradually minimise the look and feel of underarm hair. They also care for delicate skin with Dove ¼ moisturising cream and provide the 24-hour antiperspirant protection women expect from Dove. Each Dove HairMinimising antiperspirant is designed to leave underarms looking and feeling smoother and hair-free for longer. Plus hair re-growth will feel softer, finer and may be easier to remove as a result."

--Packaging--
A very pleasing pale metallised pink colour (I reviewed the Wild Rose variant), and while the package does look a bit phallic (sorry, but it does!), it is easy to use and looks good in the bathroom too. The whole look is very understated and modern.
However, all it tells you is that the 'ProEpil complex' will help to thin and then minimise the hair, without any explanation as to what is in this complex or how it works (even the FAQs on the Dove Hair Minimising Deodorant microsite don't answer this).

--Application--
In the case of the roll-on, hold 15cm from the underarm and spray. I don't really like how it seems to leave a good amount of white dust around the place as the deodorant dries, but I've never really been a fan of spray deodorants anyway and since this also comes in a roll-on I'm prepared to forgive Dove for this.

--Scent--
Definitely correlates with what's advertised, and is certainly a very pleasant, not overbearing smell. Not frumpy; feminine, clean, and refreshing.

--How does your skin feel afterwards?--
Smooth and moisturised, as you would expect from Dove. No problems here.

--Does it stop perspiration and body odour?--
While there are no unpleasant smells, as soon as this deodorant is even shown something resembling heat (say, 15°C) you'll be left wriggling at the damp patches that quickly appear under your arms. As a hyperhydrosis sufferer I knew I wasn't exactly a normal case and so passed a can of this onto my normal sister as a control subject. Sadly there was the same result (and we don't even use the same deodorant normally - I'm a Mitchum girl while she's a Palmolive customer).

--Does it do what it says it will, & ultimately retard hair growth?--
My sister and I have both been using this for over a month, and have seen little or no difference (for the record, she's olive-skinned with light brown hair, and I'm pale and blonde, but with darker body hair). However, as my sister correctly points out, women in Western cultures are so obsessed by the appearance of body hair that they will go for a shave or a wax as soon as almost *anything* is visible, so even if this deodorant does thin the underarm hair, that probably won't make much of a difference to the way women perceive it, particularly if like me they already have quite dark body hair to begin with.

--Value for money--
My usual deodorant is already quite expensive at £2.79 for a 100ml roll-on (which rises by almost 50p if you go for the trendy solid version). My sister's choice of Palmolive is cheaper than both Dove and Mitchum, at £2.65 for 250ml or £1.89 for 150ml, which indicates that £2.99 is perhaps a little steep for something that's not hugely effective. Perhaps try it once for the gimmick (and there's even a discount coupon here for you), and then go back to your normal deodorant. It is certainly an interesting product which, if Dove can develop it further and be a little more transparent about the science of it all, might be something to keep an eye on and see about again in the future if it improves.