Skin-care product designer no longer sweats the heat in Las Vegas

It was 105 degrees outside, not that you’d know it by looking at Anthony Sosnick. And he’s made it his mission that other men don’t look it, either — a tall, if noble, order in arid desert climes like Las Vegas.

The 26-year-old New Yorker and founder of an eponymous line of grooming and skin-care products visited Nordstrom in the Fashion Show mall recently to share the gospel of good grooming. It’s an especially hot topic in sweltering heat, when perspiration can soak through shirts, trickle down the back of necks and knees and, ahem, other areas.

Compelled to conquer such bodily condensation, his company debuted a product aimed squarely at the problem more than a year ago. Called No Sweat Body Defense, the product went on shortly after to win a 2015 GQ Magazine Grooming Award and a 2016 Grooming Lounge Handsome Award.

It’s a cream-to-powder product that’s formulated with tapioca starch to absorb sweat and designed to keeps things smelling fresh down there, and anywhere, really. The concoction is one of his most popular products, even among men who limit their grooming regiment to a bar of soap and maybe a comb. “That’s something that every guy can relate to,” Sosnick said of summer’s swampy situations. “It’s not like you’re being all froufrou-y and getting your face primped up.”

The tapioca starch in No Sweat Body Defense won’t stop sweating; it will absorb it just like baby powder would, according to Gary Markewich, a dermatologist with A&B Dermatology. “Powders just absorb the sweat away,” Markewich said. “Antiperspirants actually close off the sweat duct so that you don’t sweat. They stop sweating.”

Kimberly Heintzman, the Southwest regional sales manager, said some users layer the No Sweat cream under their usual deodorant or antipersperant for an added layer of protection, particularly in Las Vegas’ unending heat.

Sosnick and his team’s other recommendations for presenting a cool and collected facade during the summer include his glycolic acid face wipes (which also won a GQ Magazine Grooming Award in 2016) for simultaneously exfoliating and swiping away sunscreen and sweat at the end of the day, as well as a “gel hydrator,” or nongreasy moisturizer with menthol.

Under the Anthony Brands umbrella is Anthony, the initial line of products that includes No Sweat Body Defense and the glycolic acid wipes, and Shaveworks, a line of women’s shave care launched in 2009.

Although the Anthony line is sold in the men’s department, Heintzman says Anthony is a unisex product, which the company’s slogan, “Developed for men. Borrowed by women,” hints at. Sosnick also estimated that about 40 percent of users are women, encouraged by the fact that typically, men’s skin-care brands run at lower price points than women’s.

“Skin care doesn’t recognize a gender of your skin, so anyone can use it,” Heintzman said.

Jasmin Calloway, a 24-year-old blogger shopping at Nordstrom during Sosnick’s visit, began using some of his products a few weeks ago, and she’s already hooked.

“My favorite is the shaving cream,” Calloway said.

Contact Sarah Corsa at scorsa@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0353. Follow @sarahcorsa on Twitter.