Natural deodorants - the main bits you need to know..
Anti-perspirant or deodorant? | Why natural deodorant? | Aluminium.. | How do natural deodorants work? | Transition | Alternatives | Criteria | Product Comparisons
Anti-perspirant or deodorant? What’s the difference?
The difference boils down to.. An anti-perspirant stops you sweating (by blocking your pores) and a deodorant stops you smelling!
Lots of mainstream products are a combination of an anti-perspirant and a deodorant but there is no such thing as a natural anti-perspirant.
Many natural deodorants also contain ingredients to absorb sweat, which is great as I’m not a massive fan of sweaty patches..
If you are concerned about sweat patches, you could try disposable sweat pads or more traditional dress shields, which can be fixed or removeable although these tend to have lower rated reviews.
Why choose a natural deodorant?
However… Sweating is a good thing – it helps your body remove toxins and regulate your temperature. So it’s OK to sweat but not really socially acceptable (nor generally very pleasant) to be pongy..
Using a natural deodorant will allow your body to breathe but not be smelly.
Another benefit is that many natural deodorants use a moisturising base, so they soothe and protect the delicate underarm area.
There’s also some health concerns about the long term effects of the chemicals and fragrances used in main stream products – these are strong chemicals being used on a very delicate part of the body.
The aluminium question…
One of the ingredients that people can be concerned about is aluminum. This isn’t normally found in deodorants but is usually contained in antiperspirants. This means that a dual function mainstream deodorant and antiperspirant will most likely contain aluminum.
Do aluminum-free antiperspirants exist?
They don’t exist but you don’t really need to use an antiperspirant.
You can avoid aluminium by trying:
- mainstream deodorants (most are aluminum-free)
- perfume-free or fragrance-free deodorant
- hypoallergenic deodorants
- crystal deodorants
- DIY baking soda deodorant – please make sure you aren’t sensitive to this
- arrowroot powder
- cornstarch powder
Some of the natural deodorants that I tried use baking soda, arrowroot powder and cornstarch.
How will I know that aluminium is in my deodorant?
Check labels carefully – you might see aluminium listed as any of these:
- Aluminium salts
- Aluminium compounds
- Aluminium chlorohydrate
- Aluminium zirconium
How do natural deodorants work?
Sweat on its own it odourless – it’s when it combines with bacteria on your skin that we start to smell. Most of these natural products work by changing the pH of the armpits to discourage the growth of these bacteria, such as by using sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).
If you are sensitive to sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), I’ve included ingredients in my reviews to help you make a choice.
Other products use different ingredients to tackle the bacteria - for example, nuud deodorant uses micro silver to neutralize the bacteria.
Transition period
Some people go through a ‘transition period’, for a couple of days, weeks or months, when they switch to a natural deodorant - you might sweat more or notice that you smell different.
This is because your pores are clogged after the use of mainstream antiperspirant and so you might want to consider detoxing your underarms.
You might experience this transition period when you move from aluminum based deodorant, including alternative ones such as crystal sticks, alum sticks and mineral salt sticks.
I didn’t have this issue and didn’t detox but if you think you might benefit from detoxing your underarms, Pacifica Underarm Detox Scrub has good reviews.
Other alternatives
Rather than buying a ready made deodorant product, you can 'swipe' Apple Cider Vinegar under your arms - here's a great article on how to do this.
You will smell vinegary for a short while - it has to be a 'raw' vinegar (not the malt vinegar we put on chips in the UK) - Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar is definitely the best for this, as well as many other things!
What was I looking for on these reviews?
I tend to be quite warm (except for my toes in winter!) so I could really test these deodorants and I’ve tried all of these deodorants for many months.
A fragrance free option was very important to me as I’m very sensitive to smells and some can immediately trigger a migraine, although I can sometimes tolerate citrus fragrances so I included some more fragrant options.
Please take a look at the fragrance free products that I’ve tried - these might also be of interest to autistic people.
As well as more fragrant deodorants and I also wanted to try different types of deodorant – balm, cream, stick, crystal and roll-on.
I was looking for products that met these criteria (in no particular order) and here’s a comparison for the products that I tried – as you can see, most of them met all of the criteria – please check out the other product reviews for details.
I tested some less well-known brands and some that have been around for a while and some that have quickly become well-known.
These links will take you to the in-depth product reviews..
| Cosy Cottage | nuud | ethique | Your Nature | We Love the Planet | The Natural Deodorant co | Salt of the Earth crystal | Salt of the Earth stick | Salt of the Earth Roll-on | |||
| Cruelty free
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| Vegetarian /vegan
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| Fragrance free option
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| Suitable for sensitive skin
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| Plastic free option
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| Palm oil free
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| SLS and paraben free
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| Aluminium chlorohydrate free
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| Sodium bicarbonate free option |
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| Subscription service |
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I hope this has been useful and I aim to add reviews as more products become available.
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