Picture this - a young girl not even out of elementary school who sweats so much that she leaves a sweatshirt on even in the hottest months to hide her stains. That young girl was me. I started using the "prescription strength" deodorants before I even graduated the fifth grade.
Fast forward to present day. I am now 22 years old and still sweat quite a bit. I'm not sure if the deodorant I use has slowed down the sweating or if I just got comfortable in my own skin. However, I have recently been reading articles on how aluminum in deodorants might be bad for you. I've made it my goal this year to start using more natural products on my skin, so I guess it's time to find the best natural deodorants.
The Culprits
I know there are a decent amount of natural deodorants out there, but I chose three that I could find easily in stores. PiperWai is from GNC and JASON and Schmidt's are from my local Kroger. I had high hopes for all three, but *spoiler alert*, the results weren't too great.
PiperWai Active Charcoal Deodorant
I have to say, this one really disappointed me. What inspired me to truly start this deodorant test was the great commercial I saw on Facebook for PiperWai. Deep down I knew it was just a marketing scheme to get people to want to buy their product, but I really hoped that it would work. The claim is that the activated charcoal neutralizes odor and absorbs moisture. The good news: I think I grew out of the overactive sweat glands stage in my life. The bad news: I smelled SO BAD at the end of the day. Like I am not even exaggerating, it was awful. So now I'm wondering if maybe I have something else wrong with me all together that is making my underarm sweat smell so bad, but that is an issue for another day.
Schmidt's Bergamot + Lime Natural Deodorant
This was the second deodorant I tried. I actually wasn't too disappointed in this one, which was quite surprising to me after my experience the day before with PiperWei. This deodorant claims to neutralize odor and absorb wetness. I think out of the three deodorants I tried, this one definitely was the best with neutralizing my odor. Unfortunately, I missed the Warning on the back of the container that says to not use on broken skin and I used it immediately after shaving. Well, my skin ended up on fire. Like had to get back into the shower and soak my underarms for ten minutes on fire. So my love for this deodorant was short lived, but the one day I used it, it was successful.
Jason Calming Lavender Deodorant Stick
I really had high hopes for this one. The packaging even says that it has clinical results in all day odor protection. Let me tell you guys, I did not even have one hour odor protection. Seriously, an hour after applying this deodorant, I smelled my pits and I already reeked. After that, I really just gave up. I just got tired of smelling bad to be completely honest, but at least I tried, right?
So, do these three natural deodorants work? Not for me. Should you try them for yourself? I personally found them to be a waste of money, but hey, maybe you will have better luck. The good news however is that turns out, the whole aluminum issue is more of a scare rather than reality. So on that note, let's find the next thing for me to test out and probably fail at.