Original Deodorant Stick 75g

Of all the formats the classic comes in, the stick is the tidiest, and Tabac Original Deodorant Stick 75g suits anyone who would rather not deal with a spray or a wet roll-on first thing in the morning.

It goes on dry, it does not drip, and it will not mark a shirt if you are careful, which makes it the easiest of the lot to use in a hurry. Seventy five grams is a long lasting amount at one pass a day. The scent is the one people recognise. Black pepper, petitgrain and lemon open it dry and bitter, with none of the sweetness modern grooming products reach for. Lavender is the heart and the signature, clean and herbal, with chamomile adding a gentle hay sweetness and geranium a green, slightly metallic lift.

Underneath, carnation is dry and spiced, sandalwood creamy, and vetiver rooty and earthy, and that trio is what gives the classic its old fashioned, barbershop character. It is a more serious smell than almost anything else sold in this format. What the stick does better than the other formats is control. Nothing goes into the air, nothing is wasted, and you can tell exactly how much you have applied, which is useful with a scent as distinctive as this one, where too much is immediately obvious to everyone near you.

Judge it as grooming. It is there to see you through a working day, to smell clean at close range, and to sit under the matching cologne if you wear that too. It does not need to last twelve hours and it is not trying to. A single pass under each arm after washing is the whole method, and the stick will keep its shape in a wash bag without any of the mess a liquid can make.

For anyone buying this as a replacement rather than a first try, the scent is the same traditional one found throughout the range, so there is no risk of the switch between formats changing how you smell.