Longtime readers of this journal may remember a long-ago admission of reliance on women’s deodorant for my underarms. This was back in the Philippines, where, at the time, men’s deodorant shelves were dominated by strong, over-perfumed roll-ons, without any milder powder-fresh scents for those desiring not to smell like badly fermented musk. That has changed since I came to America and discovered Old Spice Red Zone Original Scent. The smell of it is perfect for me: mild, powdery with only a tiny hint of sharper scent, mostly “matte” rather than “gloss.”

My only small regret: it does not come as a roll-on. I once made a hobby of collecting roll-on balls in my college days, prying them loose from the deodorant bottles and thoroughly washing them so I could bounce them between the pillars of the university halls on idle days. Solid sticks offer no such pleasure.

In summary, no more women’s deodorant for me. I’m an Old Spice man now. (I’m also looking into the feasibility of adding Burt’s Bees and Geritol to my routine, to supplement my daily use of Kaminomoto. But that is a topic for some other time.)