After reading quite a number of publications, contradictions, and even more publications regarding the Aluminum base in deodorants and antiperspirants, I’ve decided to go through a trial and error with natural alternatives to the traditional brands which heavily use as their active ingredient aluminum zirconium or aluminum chlorohydrate.  The issues are related to the over-time aluminum toxicity which has been linked to issues ranging from brain function to cancer.

On the note of the back and forth where contradictions are flying left and right depending on what you read, I figure that this stuff should fall under the same darn rule as much everything else – let’s be safe rather than sorry.  I feel that my kids are the most important beings in my life and it just kills me to think of what they would go through if they were to lose either their mother (me) or their father to illness or accident.  Because of this, we try our best to eat right, fit time for fitness into our lives, filter our water best way we can, and provide safe environments for us and our kids.  This deodorant thing is just another step in that direction.

Just a tiny bit on the “science” and your body’s reaction.  Deodorants that I’m familiar with use these aluminum bases.  A person’s body reacts in such a way that it causes our skin to swell a bit.  This swelling causes the pores to be closed off which prevents the leaking of sweat from those pores.  Something about this doesn’t sound right though… I’ve known individuals who perspire a little TOO much, but should all of us be preventing our body’s built-in cooling system from at least trying to do its job?  I’d rather something that can absorb and neutralize any scent rather than shutting down my body’s ability to vent water from my pores.

So the experiment is on.

To give you an idea of who I am and my body-type, I’m a petite woman, around 120Lbs (~55 Kgs) standing at 5ft 3inches.  I’m moderately active, and I have just started commuting to and from the work place which includes about 15 minutes of walking, plus break-time walks around work.  When I’m at home, yard work happens and I do enjoy going shopping from time to time – I don’t want to go all-natural, no deo.  I don’t want to nor do I want anybody else to “smell my pits”.

My husband is going along with this  experiment too, and he’s not petite like me, standing at 6ft 3inches, not as fit, but not overweight either (not telling you his weight because I frankly don’t know it).  He feels that he’d like a little muscle toning and a little less around the middle.  I think he looks healthy – not close to “fat” at all.

We are both human, and we perspire, especially when we exercise or get a bit warm.

So that’s us.

So far, I’ve tried 4 brands deo alternatives.

Tom’s of Maine natural deodorant

I’ve tried 2 different Tom’s deodorants, and they’re not bad… but I’m finding the need to use the stick about every few hours (or else…)  My under-arms aren’t liking it too much either.  Whenever I apply this, I’m feeling a bit of a razor-burn even though I have none.

Though this does work, it’s not what the label says, “Long Lasting” or maybe it is?  Perhaps their measurement of time isn’t the same as mine?  Maybe their previous line only lasted 30 minutes?  By that measurement, 3ish hours truly IS “long”.  My husband had a different scent of Tom’s, and didn’t need to use it quite as frequently as me.  He got about 4 – 4.5 hours.  Not too shabby.

For me… Tom’s just isn’t cutting it.

 

Jason Natural Deodorant – with Aloe Vera

This line of deodorants is fairly extensive.  This gave me a good feeling.  If they’re successful enough to sell more than 1 scent, perhaps… perhaps these guys are onto something.  So I picked up their main product – their aloe vera stick.  This had a pleasant but not too strong scent and seemed to go on pretty smoothly.

Sadly, 3-4 hours later, after several days of use, and I’m having to reapply… and the B.O. is worse than Tom’s.  Gladly, I didn’t have the same “Razor Burn” feeling when wearing this, it felt nice – but was a dud… for me.

Jason’s deo didn’t do the trick for me.

Nature’s Gate – Spring Fresh

While I was trying the Jason brand deodorant, my husband was trying the Spring Fresh scent put out by Nature’s Gate – partly because to me, it had a scent which wasn’t really “spring”… it smelled almost like a really light good smelling cologne.

Nature’s gate is a brand which I’ve used in the past for lotions and they were quite nice, so I had hope… but the price point being around the $4 mark made me a bit leery.  It seems that most natural products of quality, tend to be more pricy (but they also last a whole lot longer than the standard consumer product, so it makes up for the cost).

This stuff, for him, was  a no-go.  Part of it, he’s not a “gel” type of deo guy.  It was odd to him.  He’s used to and prefers the stick.  So he maybe didn’t use enough – or it just wasn’t right, but after 3 days of use, he said that it gave him only 3 hours of protection and he had to run out to the car to re-apply another “smearing” of deodorant to keep the B.O. away.

I didn’t give it a try, so I can’t say whether it works for me… for my husband, the frequency of use was a deal-breaker.

 

Arm & Hammer Essentials – Natural

At this point, I’m beginning to wonder if we’re going to find anything that works.  There are still quite a number of brands out there, but the best we could find at this point was Tom’s.  My husband had been to the doctor who asked about the rash on the skin in his armpits… he hadn’t been feeling the “burn”, but his skin still wasn’t reacting well to the deodorant’s contents.

I was grocery shopping and just took a glance while at Top Foods.  I saw that Arm & Hammer had a deodorant.  I trust their brand for a myriad of reasons and use baking soda for cleaning, drain unclogging, and cooking, and also use their toothpaste after reading in a dental magazine article about their brand being the only consumer brand which doesn’t scratch up enamel in their whitening line of products.

So… I had a bit of hope.  They had several different ones – but I picked up the one whi
ch said it didn’t have aluminum and parabins.

First day… it was so-so.  4 hours in, and I needed to reapply.  But day 2, I applied a bit more carefully in the morning and went the entire day.

With my personally success, I told my husband.  So he gave it a try, and on the first day, he had all-day success!

The WINNER!

So that’s that!  Arm & Hammer, you’ve won me over, yet again.  I love your products and will continue to use your natural alternative to the standard consumer deodorant.  But Arm & Hammer… why oh why did you stop selling your chewing gum?  I miss it.  It was the only gum that I could chew which didn’t hurt my jaw.  Bring it back!

 

For those of you who are looking to do the same, I hope my quest helps your discovery process.  If anybody that I work with is reading this… well… maybe you didn’t want to know about my little secret experiment.

Too late!