I have to admit, when natural deodorants started gaining more traction in the beauty world, I was not interested. As a profuse sweater I really didn’t think that natural deodorants could offer what I needed to stop me feeling like a hot sweaty mess, especially after exercise. However, it’s hard to ignore the benefits. All natural deodorants that I’ve tried use mainly naturally-sourced ingredients like arrowroot flour and coconut oil to neutralise any odour your pits produce. Plus, many of them have a level of sustainability to their production, whether they are easy to refill, use less or no plastics or opt for sustainably-sourced ingredients.
Despite how great these new fangle deodorants sound, there’s one thing that cannot be escaped. All natural deodorants stay clear of aluminium which is what has been used for years to block sweat glands, and is a key component to many anti-perspirant products. This is the thing that I relied heavily on to curb my sweatiness, especially during my favourite type of exercise– spin class. Any fellow spin enthusiasts will understand the level of sweat that you reach during a session so to say I was wary to put natural deodorants to the test would be an understatement. For the purpose of testing just how well they work, I figured this was the best option.
First of all, before I wax lyrical about my top pick, none of the natural deos stopped me sweating. A grime confession to make on the internet but I must be honest with you all, it’s something that as someone that has used ‘regular’ deodorant all my life I wasn’t used to the amount my pits sweat naturally and the lack of aluminium to block the perspiring meant that I was sweatier than normal.
Each one I tried had an interesting texture, and in fact the standout winner for me I think had the least pleasing texture and application of them all. If you’re an aerosol spray anti-perspirant fan, you might find the creamy textures of natural deodorants hard to get used to– I normally used a wet roll-on so it didn’t bother me too much and the majority of them are roll-on too.
As the sweat was a given, the two things I looked for after testing a new one at each spin class was how conscious I was of any pungent underarm smells and any itchiness, which sometimes occurs for me when I’m sweaty. The Natural Deodorant Clean Deodorant balm, won in these areas, hands down.
I couldn’t smell the sweat at all to the point that I would have happily left the studio, met a friend for a coffee, got on the train and not worried about feeling hyperaware of my underarms. You warm the balm on your fingertips before rubbing into your armpits, it feels odd at first but you do eventually get used to it. The formula contains magnesium for its antibacterial benefits and the sodium bicarbonate aids in odour protection. The brand has a range of different scents and formulas but I opted for the palmarosa + mandarin scent in the clean formula, to get a sense of how stripped back a deodorant formula can be while maintaining efficacy. Since trying this, I have reached for it the most often– it’s made weaning off my old anti-perspirant a lot easier, I mean if it can survive a 45-minute sweat-fest spin class, that’s a keeper.
