5/11/13

Awhile back I made a Facebook post on how I had mischaracterized Dove for Men (DfM) body wash.  A friend of mine doubted its cleaning/moisturizing effects and requested a full review.  Therefore this post is an analysis of DfM body wash vs. Old Spice body wash.  Now, I tried to do this as “scientific” as possible, but there is PLENTY of that is subjective.  You’ll have to make that decision yourself.  So…Round 1.  FIGHT!

My original disappointment with DfM was its lack of lathering ability.  Aside from the fact that I had to annoyingly squeeze the body wash out of a small hole in the bottle, when applied to the Salux I was using, the lather would not work up well…..that is until I changed to a new Salux.  Upon changing to a fresh one, DfM did an adequate job of lathering, though not as vigorous as Old Spice despite similar amounts applied to the Salux.  Round 1 goes to Old Spice.

For those of you who do not know what a Salux is, it is a Japanese nylon wash cloth.  You can get it for a buck or two at an Asian store, but I’ve pasted the Amazon link below to give you an idea of what it is.

http://www.amazon.com/Salux-Nylon-Japanese-Beauty-Cloth/dp/B000CSDDDG

It is rough, so it exfoliates and is long enough to “towel motion” the back.  Way better than a loufah, but back to the subject at hand…or should I say…arm. 

In order to test the moisturizing capability of DfM, the advertising point, I applied DfM on my right arm and Old Spice on my left arm everyday for 1 week.  Each day, I visually inspected my arm for dryness (flaky dry spots), and felt for smoothness with fingers as well as lips.  Why the two methods?  Lips are supposed to be more sensitive than fingertips.  What did I find?  Interestingly enough, the Old Spice side (right arm) was indeed dryer than the DfM side (left arm).  I could see a dry whiteness on my right, but could not see a similar dryness on the left.  Moreover, tactile sensation verified the moisturizing capability of DfM.  My left arm felt smoother than my right.  In addition, I could feel a better hydrated skin on my left when I gently pinched the skin.  Overall, my left arm had a greater “elastic” feel than my right.  Round 2 goes to DfM.

Now, would it have been stronger evidence if I could have gotten independent verification?  Or if I was blinded to what I was using?  Of course.  But how does one go about asking someone to verify the results of my little experiment?  Just imagine the conversation. 

“Excuse me, but could you rub my arms and tell me which one you think feels smoother?”

Or

“In the name of science, do you mind caressing my arms with your lips to determine which one is smoother?”

Yeah.  Not gonna happen.  Such things require a more intimate relationship of which I am not involved.  As for being blinded, I think I’d be able to pick up on the color as well as scent of the body washes being used.  DfM does not have a wide range of scents.  They are more functional than they are sensational.  Old Spice on the hand….er….arm, has a variety of scents that please the olfactory senses.  Not that DfM has bad scents, just not as good ones as Old Spice.  I will say however, that upon talking about my experiment, a female friend was correctly able to identify which arm had used which body washes. 

I also did the reciprocal after the one week period of testing.  For the next week, I switched the body washes on the arms.  Intriguingly, I was not able to detect dryness on either arm and it was more difficult to distinguish smoothness.  My hypothesis here is that DfM had a moisturizing protective effect that lasts with time, enough so to overcome any “stripping” effects of Old Spice.  Thus in the future, I would need to have a washout period so that I could have a “zeroed” baseline for each arm.  Interestingly enough, another female friend did correctly identify my right arm as the one that received the DfM treatment.  Her rationale was a certain sheen that shown from right arm that did not come from my left.  Hmmm….perhaps Moses washed his face with moisturizer after talking with God.  Hehe…ok.  Only funny (if at all) to those who are in seminary or have read Exodus.

So where are we in this body wash battle?  It’s a tie so far, so for the next week I tried various kinds of DfM and followed it up with another week of only Old Spice to test the effects over time.  Remember what I said about the “elastic” feel?  Imagine that for the all skin.  You don’t turn into a rubber band or anything, but it’s a hydrated sensation that while rinses cleanly….gives a “weighty” sensation that detracts from feeling completely clean.  I wasn’t particularly fond of it.  As I remarked earlier the DfM scents aren’t all that great.  The Clean Comfort smelled like J&J baby oil.  The Fresh Awake has a citrus scent while the Extra Fresh has a cooling sensation due to the menthol in it.  And I haven’t tried the other ones, though the Aqua Impact sounds interesting with sea salt as an ingredient.  As an aside, the Extra Fresh is the one I bought at Costco, so I have a lot to go through, but it isn’t as good of a “cooling” agent as Right Guard Extreme Cooling.  With that, you can definitely feel a vapory goodness, as if you were a Halls cough drop.    

Does DfM do what it is advertised to do?  Yes, it doves….I mean does.  When compared to Old Spice however, I find it a bit lacking.  In general, I don’t think men are overly concerned about moisturized skin, and Old Spice doesn’t completely dry it out.  Old Spice also has a variety of scents, from sweet to citrusy, from spicy to clean.  There is more to work with, which is also the case in the lather generating department.  My recommendation?

I would stick with Old Spice, but de temps en temps (from time to time), use DfM to moisturize.  If my moisturizing buildup hypothesis is correct, then you can benefit from DfM, and still use your favorite Old Spice body wash.  My current favorite Old Spice body wash?  Belize.

Smells like fresh air, guitar solos, and triumph.

Too bad, they don’t seem to be making it anymore.