Introducing the Bio-Volatile Inhibitor Concentrate (BVIC)

How it works

The Bio-Volatile Inhibitor Concentrate (BVIC) is a targeted treatment for the odour that develops in warm, enclosed skin: the underarms, behind the ears, under the breasts and along the bra line, the tummy folds, the groin, the gluteal cleft, behind the knees, and the feet. On its own, it controls three of the most common odours that surface in these areas. Two are bacterial in origin: the sour or vinegary note produced by volatile fatty acids, and the onion or garlic note produced by a sulfur compound. The third is fungal: the yeasty note produced by the yeast Malassezia. BVIC works on all three at once. It lowers the microbes that produce the odour, binds the acids they release into salts that cannot evaporate, captures the volatile molecules that remain, and acts on the fungal source behind the yeasty note. It is buffered, by design, to the alkaline end of the pH scale. The chemistry that makes it effective against these odours also makes it unsuitable for amine-based odours such as fishy or ammoniac ones. Alkalinity pushes them into the air instead of holding them on the skin.

The sour, vinegary or cheesy note

This is the volatile fatty acid odour. Skin bacteria break sweat and sebum into volatile fatty acids: the sharp underarm acids that corynebacteria release, and the cheesy isovaleric acid that staphylococci make from the amino acid leucine, the same acid behind classic foot odour. Because these molecules are acids, BVIC neutralises them into non-volatile salts that cannot lift off the skin, captures what remains, and lowers the bacteria producing them. Three jobs land on one odour, so it is the note BVIC handles most completely.

Onion or garlic, especially at the skin surface

This is the thioalcohol odour: a sulfur-based molecule the nose can detect at extraordinarily low levels, even in parts per trillion. In sweat it begins as an odourless precursor, which bacterial enzymes on the skin cleave free, with Staphylococcus hominis doing much of the work. Where this note forms at the skin surface, BVIC controls it: it binds the sulfur group to hold the molecule on the skin rather than letting it lift into the air, and it lowers the bacteria that release it. This is the note most deodorants leave untouched. When the same note keeps returning from deeper in the pore, it needs more than surface control. The other formulas in the Volatile Control System were created particularly to manage persistent odour of this nature..

The yeasty note

This one is fungal in origin. On oilier zones it tends to be Malassezia, a lipophilic yeast that lives naturally on the skin; in warm, damp folds it is more often Candida. Either can become odour-active when skin stays occluded. Acid neutralisation and volatile capture can help with the odour molecules once they are present, but they do not address the fungal source behind this note. For that, BVIC carries a separate antifungal action that lowers the yeast itself.

That is why the yeasty note sits in the green tier here. Settling it is not a standard deodorant mechanism: it needs action at the source, not masking, acid neutralisation, or volatile capture.

No mechanism here does only one job. The same chemistry neutralises and captures; the capture system spans more than one odour; and the antimicrobial action supports all three pathways. That overlap is deliberate. It lets one application hold against odours that come from different sources and need different kinds of answers.

Why alkaline, and why that matters

The most important fact about BVIC is its pH logic. It explains what BVIC is built to solve, and just as importantly, what it is not built to solve.

Acids and amines behave in opposite ways. The sour, vinegary and cheesy notes are acid odours. Raise the pH, and those acids convert into non-volatile salts that cannot readily lift off the skin, so the odour falls away.

Fishy and ammonia-like notes are amine odours. Raise the pH, and amines shift into their volatile free form, making them more airborne and more noticeable.

That is why one product cannot be optimised for both pathways at once. The pH that controls acid odour can worsen amine odour.

BVIC is deliberately buffered at the alkaline end. This deliberate formulation choice makes it very effective against acid notes and makes it unsuitable for controlling fishy or ammonia-like odours.

The onion or garlic note and the yeasty note are different. They are not governed by this acid-amine pH switch. BVIC addresses the surface onion or garlic note through capture chemistry, and the yeasty note through antifungal action, so both are covered regardless of surface acidity. The persistent, biofilm-driven form of the onion or garlic note is carried by the wider Volatile Control System.

The alkalinity draws the line BVIC will not cross. The rest of the Volatile Control System sits at the acidic end and covers the amine pathways. Matching the chemistry to the odour is the whole principle of the system.

Alkaline, but gentle

Sitting at the alkaline end raises an obvious worry: does that make it harsh on skin? It does not. The alkalinity here is mild and buffered, not the steep, stinging kind. The magnesium and zinc that carry it barely dissolve, so only a trace is active at any moment, and your skin keeps rebuilding its own acidity underneath. It raises the skin's surface pH only slightly, enough to neutralise acidic odour compounds but not enough to irritate the skin. It is like warming a room by a couple of degrees, not setting it alight.

How to use

Apply a thin layer to clean, dry skin and rub it in well, then let it settle for a minute or two before getting dressed. Use it wherever you have surface-level microbial odour: the underarms, behind the ears, under the breasts and along the bra line, the tummy folds, the external groin area, the gluteal cleft, behind the knees, and the feet. There is no standard serving size, and it can vary from person to person, so we encourage you to experiment and find the serving size that works best for your skin type.

For healthy skin, we recommend washing the previous day's application off in the shower and applying a fresh layer each day to clean, dry skin.

The duration of coverage from a single application varies from person to person, because it depends on factors specific to each person's body. Some get several days from one application; others get around a day and use it daily. Both are normal. This is not a shower replacement, and we do not guarantee multi-day coverage, because the science does not support it.

Ingredients

The odour control comes from a small group of functional actives within the formula. They work in four linked ways: they buffer the formula toward the alkaline end and neutralise acid odours; capture remaining sulfur and fatty-acid volatiles; act on the yeast behind the fungal note; and lower the bacteria responsible for the other microbial odour pathways.

• Vegan
• Cruelty-free
• Fragrance-free
• Made for sensitive and reactive skin