[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I have used the Secret brand before and have also used Secret clear gel products, but this was the first time I had used the Xtend Clear Gel. I wasn't sure at first what I would have to say that would be different from the other secret products, but now that I have been using it for several weeks, I would say that I haven't noticed a huge difference between this Secret clear gel and other Secret products that I have used, but that is a good thing because I have been extremely satisfied with other Secret products and this one does not disappoint either.
When I first started using the Secret Outlast Xtend clear gel, I paid very close attention because I wanted to see if I noticed any differences between it and my older Secret clear gel I had just finished. The only difference I noticed between the two was that I had the impression that this one had a slight vanilla note compared to the scent of the other. I like the scent of this antiperspirant because I can only really smell it when I am putting it on. I don't smell it later on when I am wearing it. I occasionally enjoy wearing perfume, and though it is rare for me to wear it, I hate it when my deodorant competes with the perfume scent. Pleasantly, this one does not interfere.
As for the 48-hour protection, I generally apply deodorant every day, so it was hard for me to "test" this feature. I'm a teacher and I don't want to take the risk of smelling in front of my students. However, a couple of times on the weekend I did go ahead and not put it on that second day just to see if the odor protection would last and it seemed like it did. Even when I worked out it seemed that my underarms stayed fresh (how do I say this delicately...I worked out hard enough that other areas might have smelled a bit sweaty--back, chest, etc. Sorry to shatter the illusion that girls don't sweat, but I only share this detail because this deodorant did work, even after a strenuous workout.)
The packaging is nice and smooth. At first I found it to be too wide compared to some others (narrower deodorant sticks are more convenient to store in a medicine cabinet), but I think that the nice thing is that the wider surface might make it easier to apply the gel evenly.
The one thing that sometimes deters me from purchasing a gel deodorant is that a long time ago I had a gel deodorant that, when I went on a trip and jostled it it my suitcase/overnight bag, would leak out a lot of gel into the cap area and then I would get way too much. I didn't do a lot of traveling with this one yet, but on a quick weekend trip with this one I didn't experience this problem. It seems to stay put until you turn it to dispense it. Maybe the gel is a bit thicker.
Overall, I am quite pleased with this product. The one thing that I would like to see from Secret in the future is for them to come out with an aluminum-free anti-perspirant. There are a lot of smaller brands out there with more natural products. If Secret were the big-brand who took the lead in providing more safe and natural products, I'm pretty sure they would be unstoppable. I would buy that. In the end, sure, 48-hour odor protection is great. But if there were a more natural option available and it was only 24-hour (or even less--but would still need to be long enough for full work day/evening), I would choose that product. I would even be willing to pay a little more for it.