What is natural deodorant

There is a lot of conflicting information online about parabens, aluminium and other ingredients used in antiperspirant and whether they are bad for you or not. We are not going to draw a line in the sand on the topic, instead we want to pose some questions for you to answer for yourself.

The bottom line is this, your sweat glands are doing a job when you sweat, they're a part of the largest organ in your body, your skin, and part of the job that sweating performs is a detox function. You have glands under your pits that are also an important part of your detox system.

At the very least, we believe it is a bad idea to use antiperspirant when you're exercising. Use a natural deodorant and still allow your body to sweat. You're going to shower when you're done anyway.

It's not the 'sweat' that smells, it's actually the bacteria that's in the sweat, so all you need to do is kill the bacteria and then you can smell lovely and still sweat the way nature intended you to. Common active ingredients in natural deodorant include bi-carb soda, arrowroot (to help with drying some of the sweat), charcoal powder and magnesium. You can even spray an alcohol based hand sanitiser under your pits in a pinch and get the same result. Long term, it may be drying or a little bit of an irritant so only do it if you're out and you have sanitiser with you but not deodorant. While many natural deodorants use a host of essential oils, they're not necessarily there in a primary role of killing bacteria, they're there to slightly mask any lingering smell or simply to just make you smell more appealing.

For most people yes. There is an adjustment period when swapping from an antiperspirant, so be prepared to be a little stinky for a week or two as you transition. It's best done in winter! Not only in our store, but all over the internet, there are people that swear by using natural deodorant and will never go back.

There are two main ingredients that may cause this.

ONE - bi-carb soda. It's a very natural ingredient and a food safe one too, it's used to help make flour rise in baking, but it can be a skin irritant for some. When natural deodorant first came on the scene around a decade ago now, there were hundreds of rave reviews, the complaints started trickling in. Over time, some were experiencing redness and irritation under their pits. Bi-carb free alternatives soon hit the market for those who needed them. We still think that bi-carb deodorants are superior, but a well formulated magnesium based deo comes remarkably close.

TWO - the essential oils. Not just in deodorant either. This can happen in liquid body wash, lotions and even in your natural skin care routine. It's actually quite difficult to find a diverse range of natural skin care without essential oils, which has always been baffling to us. Some essential oils are harsher than others, so be mindful if you find irritation with a scented bi-carb deodorant. It could be that you just need to swap to an unscented deodorant and not switch all the way to bi-carb free.
Heal your pits before trying another bi-carb deodorant or you won't ever really know what caused the irritation. We love the Amazing Oils Fix My Face Magnesium Moisturiser to do this.