So I started to search for options that weren’t on the shelf because let me tell you how much I was not going to subject the world to my pits au natural. I remember being told that ladies don’t sweat, we glisten. I, however, sweat. I mean really. Nobody needs to check my gym bag, I will tell you, it reeks. So deodorant is not optional. Don’t know if you looked lately but “natural” deodorant means different things to different people and most definitely will not compete in either ease of application or price point with over-the-counter brands. So I began a quest to find the simplest, easiest, and most effective natural deodorant that wouldn’t make me subsist on peanut butter and crackers to afford it.
Here are my top four:
Humankind Refillable Deodorant
Self described as the most advanced natural deodorant ever in a refillable plastic container that saves our planet from plastic waste. So they send you some plastic so you’ll use less plastic? Seems kind of counterintuitive. Comes in multiple scents and contains a fair number of ingredients that I can’t pronounce. Twelve bucks - ouch. A little less if you subscribe. They are all about reducing plastic waste, which is a yay, but again with using some plastic. The final verdict of my armpits was.... meh. It was fairly effective but miserable to scrape on to my delicate desert flower skin. Texture of damp chalk. Final grade - D+
Lume Deodorant
They have the best advertising hands down. Funny and engaging. Lume was developed by a doctor and is really more of a pre-odorant as it targets the bacteria that cause the stink. Sounds fabulous. Again with lots of ingredients that I can’t pronounce. Fourteen bucks - double ouch, with a reduction with subscription. Packaged just like a traditional deodorant and goes on just as nice, yay. But suddenly I care about the plastic. Humankind infected me. But, most importantly, it didn’t work. They’re pretty up front about the fact that it will take days to curb your little armpit zoo and quash the stinkies, but it just doesn’t happen for me. Final grade - C-
Soapwalla Deodorant Cream
This stuff. Where do I start? It’s a cream. In a jar. (When I bought it, a plastic jar.) you might have to stir it, and yes, I said stir it with a spoon I’m sure you have in your bathroom. If you travel, it’s counts as a liquid and if it gets warm, it really is a liquid that might leak all over your other sad liquids in your sad ziplock bag. However, it smells amazing and has not one chemical sounding ingredient. Not one. And it works like a charm. No stink all the live long day. EIGHTEEN dollars. (It was less than that when I bought it but they do package it in glass now.)
Final grade - solid B ($18? I want to eat occasionally.)
Earth & Anchor Soap Co. handcrafted for Me Mother Earth
All Natural Aluminum-Free Vegan Deodorant
What’s in a really long name? Perfection, that’s what. Pushes up through a cardboard tube, so goes on like traditional deodorant without the plastic. Smells heavenly, and has multiple fragrances. No scary ingredients. Feels a trifle greasy but I just rub it in like lotion. Lasts all day. No smell. The gym, the garden, no stink at all. Thirteen bucks, but it's larger than most at 3.25 oz. It’s still a lot more than an over-the-counter brand. But it works and smells so yummy... final grade - I’ll give it an A, with bonus points for being from a small, ethical business with no advertising budget.
So that’s my natural armpit odor eraser adventure.... now on to toothpaste?
Article written by contributor: Patricia Rodriguez
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