So let’s talk about natural deodorant! I’ve been using aluminum free and more natural deodorants probably since about 2012 – My grandmother had breast cancer and I’d seen a loose association with aluminum – so I figured why not try to reduce my risk and go aluminum free? As a pharmacist ingredients are kind of a big deal to us, so I started digging. The research honestly is inconclusive – the National Cancer Institute says the research is lacking and needs more in order to fully understand the relationship. In the meantime, why take the risk? It’s something you wear daily, sometimes reapplying, close to your breast tissue. Your skin absorbs more than you think – and the FDA only bans 11 chemicals in the US whereas the European Union bans over 1300 ingredients for comparison. That’s a shocking difference. Use is also restricted in Canadian cosmetics! Check out the Environmental Working Group for ingredient information – the EWG’s Skin Deep database is super informative!
Need help choosing your natural deo? Well I have tried quite a few!
Here are my current favorites on rotation:
- Ollie and Max Soap Co
- Southern Belle and Honeysuckle Gardenia are my favorites! They are floral which work best for me, but they also have vanilla, jasmine, coconut and some mens scents too! They are small pots that last a decent amount of time, the scent lasts longer for me than most others I’ve tried. Easy to travel with as well small size containers although plastic. I did just look at their website when putting their link here and looks like the rebranded which is super cute but stand by on the scent offerings – I messaged them to check! I will cry if Southern Belle is gone!
- Native
- The floral scents work best for me – love the stick form, they are also working on converting to plastic free packaging which is nice! They are located at Target as well which is convenient! Some of the seasonal scents seem to repeat with different names, and sometimes I really haven’t liked the scents or they are too sweet or too strong – pregnancy nose made me reallllllyyy not able to use a few of them, so I switched to the next one while I was pregnant last year! They also make minis and travel sizes which are convenient – I keep one in my diaper bag!
- Mademe Lemy
- This is a super unique brand with the most adorable retro vibes, applied with a super soft poof! She offers refills as well and has a more sustainable packaging approach – it’s a powder application but I didn’t find it messy, the rose scent it super light and subtle and worked for me most of the summer while pregnant but I would reapply if I got sweaty – I find postpartum I am more sweaty and stinky and I switched back to Ollie and Max for now, but keep this in the loop! I also have the lime scent which is nice too, but I prefer the rose! They also have lemon and lavender, although I am secretly waiting for another floral scent! The only downside of this was that they are large containers if you see in the photo above, so for travel it didn’t really work – but she has since come out with smaller travel sizes! I just haven’t gotten them because I have so much left and refill packs too.
Others I’ve tried in the past:
- Taos Aer – sample I got from Citrine Beauty – super herbal I couldn’t handle the smell! I’m a floral scent girl through and through
- Kaia Naturals – the takesumi detox – Juicy Bamboo – didn’t have a strong enough scent for me – also probably didn’t give it enough time! They now also have a bar to help detox your underarms and use a lot of charcoal in their products which is antibacterial as well – they also have a lot of info on how the detox process works if you’re still using antiperspirant as it does take a few weeks to truly detox.
- Pit Liquor – this was super exciting to try as it’s made with liquor! It was created by a woman who was going through pregnancy stink! mamas where you at? postpartum I think has been worse for me honestly and just now at a year postpartum I think I’m finally getting back to normal… ish lol – I tried the coconut lime which was mostly coconut which I don’t love for myself personally – and then I tried an autumn harvest one which was more spicy which wasn’t for me either. They come in a roller or a spray – I think I just need to find a scent I like to try long enough! The idea behind this brand is so cool!
- Type A – I was super excited to try this brand with the tube design concept – it was really easy to use, you squeeze a tiny amount up through the top and apply. It wasn’t a super wet formula either it dried well – I had it in my gym bag for a while, I just found their original scent was a little herbal for me and not strong enough – again, floral girl over here! They have since come out with 7 different scents to choose from – from Citron to Vanilla Almond to Evergreen – I may have to revisit this line – they have a mini sampler pack for $21.99, may be worth a shot!
- Nuud – this one is unique – scentless – uses micro silver to neutralize odor causing bacteria and supposedly works for 3-7 days. I honestly couldn’t give this enough of a try, although I tried my best, because I was just too stinky – I do think people enjoy it though! I feel like I would love to revisit this one eventually! It is a really tiny tube for the price I thought but you technically use a tiny amount at a time and it should last 6-7 weeks for a 15mL tube.
- Pretty Frank. (Formerly Primal Pit Paste) – this was one of the OG natural deodorants I tried, I think they had a chai scent that I used for a little, it never made me smell amazing though and I discontinued use, they now seem to have jars and sticks and it looks like a lot of new scents to try, I may have to circle back to this one!
- A La Maison – I love honeysuckle and the smell of this is SO AMAZING – but I found the application quite wet for me, and the scent did not last very long. I do love the idea of it but I had to reapply often and the wet feeling wasn’t for me!
Others I haven’t tried that I know some friends have used:
What others are out there I should try next? Let me know!
xo – Sarah