Williams Ice Blue stick: why it's vanishing and where to find it

The Williams Ice Blue stick is shrinking before it's even used

A deodorant that, according to one user, used to last more than a year now dries out within weeks. The Williams Ice Blue in stick format, that blue oval many people have been buying for decades, has become a product that's hard to find in physical stores, and when it does show up, it comes with a redesign that, according to those who have tried it, doesn't work the same way. The complaint isn't nostalgia: the new stick pulls away from the walls of the container, air gets in, and the product dries out before it's used up.

The key, according to one user's explanation, lies in a mechanical detail. The previous format had an O-ring on the rotor that raised and lowered the stick; it was hard to turn, but it sealed. The current model, identified by a red New Stick sticker, has apparently done away with that seal. The wheel turns freely. And that's where the air gets in.

Why is the Williams Ice Blue deodorant disappearing from supermarkets?

Distribution has become erratic. Those looking for it find it in one GADIS, one DRUNI store or a specific Carrefour, but not the one next door. It has been pulled from Mercadona. The explanation gaining the most traction is the usual one: cost-cutting in production and distribution until the product stops being profitable as it was. There's no statement from Unilever confirming it, but the pattern —fewer units, harder to find, downsized format— fits that logic.

Some claim the product has technically been discontinued and that what remains on minor websites is old stock or an inventory error. Others have simply located it and stockpiled enough for the whole year. Buying online is possible, but with shipping costs that, according to one user, triple the price of an item that costs less than two euros.

The problem with the new stick: air, dryness and two millimetres of slack

The redesign hasn't solved anything, according to those who have tried it. Buyers describe the same pattern: the stick doesn't touch the walls of the container, there's more than two millimetres of clearance, and the product looks half-dry from day one. In the old versions, the deodorant stayed stuck to the plastic and lasted for months. In these, the wheel turns without resistance because there's no seal.

The practical consequence is a return. With the receipt in hand, the way to go is to complain in store. The realistic outcome, given the track record, is that Unilever brings back the old system, or that buyers accept the format has changed for good.

Alternatives to Williams Ice Blue: alum stone and own brands

The gap left by Williams is being filled by very different options. The alum stone appears as the natural alternative: you wet it in water before use, it lasts a long time and it's fragrance-free. It's sold at Mercadona, Alcampo and other general retailers. Its advocates bring up the usual argument against industrial deodorants —endocrine disruptors— a debate that should be handled with caution and without assuming anything is proven when it isn't.

Another option is Tulipán zaino's Datta Space, an imitation of the format. Then there are Carrefour's own brands, which copy the blue colour but not the texture: pastier, according to those who have tried them. Old Spice and Nivea in glass jars round out the list of substitutes for anyone who doesn't want to wait for the original to come back.

Is it worth stockpiling a product that's no longer made the way it used to be, or is it time to accept that the Williams Ice Blue stick is history?