Williams Ice Blue deodorant changes formula and dries out

The Williams Ice Blue stick dries out before it runs out

A deodorant stick that used to last more than a year now dries out within weeks. That is what one consumer found after months of chasing the **Williams Ice Blue in the blue oval format**, a product that, according to his experience, is no longer found on the usual shelves and, when it does appear, comes in a redesigned container that doesn't deliver. The complaint is no small matter: the same user bought four units in July and all of them had the same problem.

The key lies in the mechanism. The old sticks had an **O-ring** on the rotor that sealed the product and kept air out. The new ones, identified by a red "New Stick" sticker, have done away with that seal. The result: the deodorant shrinks, pulls away from the walls of the container and turns up half dry before it's even used. "The wheel spins freely," he notes, compared with the effort the old ones required.

Why has the Williams Ice Blue disappeared from stores?

The version consumers have come up with is that Unilever, the company that sells it, has **discontinued** the original format. Some argue that the websites still selling it are operating with old stock or by mistake, and that production no longer exists. In supermarkets such as Mercadona it has stopped appearing, although chains like Carrefour or Gadis have still had it available intermittently.

The distribution problem is mixed up with the packaging problem. Those who have found it in physical stores report that the new sticks don't fit the same. "They seemed like they would fit better and not dry out, but the same thing peine to them," sums up the consumer who peine the investigation. The conclusion to be drawn is that the redesign has not solved the sealing issue, but quite the opposite.

The packaging problem: the ring that is no longer there

The technical diagnosis that emerges from the experience is clear: without the O-ring, air gets in through the thread and dehydrates the product. In the old ones, the turning was stiffer precisely because the seal worked. In the new ones, the wheel spins without resistance and the stick dries out. It is not an isolated perception: the same pattern repeats in all four units purchased.

The alternative some have tried, such as Carrefour's own-brand stick, doesn't convince: "it was much more paste-like, I didn't like it at all." The original product had a blue oval format that, according to users, has no exact equivalent in other brands. The Sanex, mentioned in the conversation, is ruled out outright.

Options for those looking for the original Williams Ice Blue

Buying online appears to be the most reliable route, although with the added cost of shipping, which can triple the price of a product that costs around two euros. In-store pickup from chains like Druni eliminates that extra cost. It has also been found at Gadis and Carrefour, though irregularly.

Stockpiling is the strategy adopted by the more foresighted: buying several units when they appear to cover a whole year. The question that remains is whether Unilever will bring back the old closing system or whether the Williams Ice Blue stick is doomed to disappear from the shelf for good.