*Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice. The solutions I mention here are based solely on my own experience and I do not garuntee you’ll get the same results. It’s also important to consider any interactions between your medications and any remedy suggested on this blog. Please consult your physician before trying any medical advice.
Switching to a natural deodorant can be a dauting task. How many times has someone said, “Natural deodorant doesn’t work for me.” It’s no secret that commercial deodorants are filled with harmful chemicals like aluminum so at some point, anyone who is trying to live a healthy lifestyle is going to look at their deodorant and try to find an alternate solution. I sure did. “Switch to natural deodorant,” I thought, “It’ll be so simple.” But the harsh truth was that the moment I used my first swipe of Toms deodorant, my pits started smelling terrible! It turned out that switching cold-turkey was not going to be as easy as I thought.
If you’ve tried to go natural but were met with issues with body odor and sweating, let me share my journey with you. Here’s how I “took the long way around” and switched to natural deodorant without all the stink.
Cutting out the Antiperspirant
I started with my reasoning to switch to a natural deodorant, to remove the aluminum, which seemed to be the key ingredient to all of these antiperspirants. But it turns out, women’s deodorant is very hard to find without antiperspirants. So I thought I could take a small step and start using my husband’s Old Spice. Because Old Spice is not an antiperspirant and doesn’t have aluminum! While I did have a bit of a cologne smell, it was a simple first step until I found another solution. I used his deodorant for almost a year before taking the next step. And to be honest, “smelling like a guy” wasn’t even an issue. I smelled fresh and nobody cared.
Understand that your Diet and Environment can affect Body Odor.
During this time of using old spice, I started to wonder what causes body odor. After a quick google search, I saw that gut health can have a big impact on body odor, and we know that gut health is directly impacted by what we eat. Thankfully we had already started eating clean at this point so I let this time of old spice be a time for my body to detox a lot of yucky foods as well as chemicals that I was often exposed to. While I am not a medical professional, I have a theory that my body actually needed to detox from using commercial deodorants. This can be a common thing when switching to a natural product so it made sense to me that I needed to get the artificial fragrances and other chemicals out of my system before a natural deodorant could work effectively.
I think it’s also important to note that other factors like stress and even the clothing you wear can impact your body odor. I can actually tell a difference when I wear cheap cheap clothes vs 100% cotton. Just a little food for thought.
Switching to Natural Deodorant
After about a year, I finally decided to try a natural deodorant. I had heard of a brand called Primally Pure by my favorite podcaster (5 points to Gryffindor if you can guess who that is), and I figured I’d give it a try. (PS if you shop with the links above, you can get $10 off $50) This brand had so many raving reviews for it’s deodorant and I cannot recommend them enough!
My first fragrance I tried was Blue Tansy. It had a bit of a sweet floral but also fruity scent. My first use with it was completely stink-free! This deodorant is a non-toxic blend of tallow, baking soda and essential oils that will leave you excited to put it on your skin! After my first day using this, my also husband gave it a try and he actually bought the tea tree deodorant and used for years!
There is a small drawback to using a non-toxic deodorant and that is due to the fact there are no preservatives, the deodorant can have a shelf life. I would recommend buying the smaller tube and replacing more frequently. I found that after a while the scent shifted and maybe that was bacteria from my arm changing the fragrance or the essential oils changing after a period of time. Either way, it’s my number one recommendation for a natural deodorant.
Primally Pure is not sponsoring this post in any way. I just love their products and if you purchase through any links, I get a small kickback at no cost to you 🙂
Looking for more ways to improve your health? Check out 5 New Years Resolutions for a Healthy Life!
Switching to Baking Powder
Then came the day of boils. Yes, gross and yes, super uncomfortable. I ended up getting boils under my armpits and they just would not go away. Here’s the quick version. I go to my doctor who tells me its a staph infection in my armpits. Originally we thought maybe it was from my razor (Throw them puppies away after a use or two!), but it later came out that I probably got it from my gym. Nonetheless, I immediately stopped using deodorant and shaving and switched to baking powder so my arms could heal. I also started making my own sugar wax and waxing my armpits. I ended up loving these results so much that I have still not shaved my pits! Let me know in the comments if you’d like to hear more about my DIY sugar wax.
Anyways, the infection was so persistent that my doc scheduled a consult with a surgeon to get that gland removed. A SURGEON! Thank goodness, the day before my appointment, I stopped into my local health store and told the worker what was going on. She immediately said it was boils, not a staph infection, and explained that the bacteria there really just love the way I smell! She suggested that I try a turmeric pill because the turmeric would change my body smell and the bacteria would not thrive. Why not try it right?
The infection was gone in 24 hours. COMPLETELY GONE! I still went to my surgery consult and told them that I didn’t think it was going to be necessary. They actually agreed and sent me on my way! I haven’t had a single issue since, and I also put a lot more weight in my health store peeps than I used to!
So at this point I had switched from commercial deodorant, to non-antiperspirant deo, to natural deodorant, and now to baking soda. It turns out that since my body was already used to a natural deodorant, the baking soda worked really well and was a lot cheaper!
Here are two ways we used baking soda as a natural deodorant.
- Make a paste by mixing a little baking soda and a few drops of water. Mix it in your palm and then rub it on your arm pits.
- We ended up just rubbing the dry powder on our pits and it worked just as good!
Switching to the Thai Stone
Eventually we got tired of using baking soda. It was great except for when we did sweat. Baking soda will leave a white ring on your clothes if you sweat which did not work for me when I had to wear black in a concert. Soooo…I stumbled upon the Thai deodorant stone at my health store and gave it try. This natural deodorant is made of Potassium Alum (different than aluminum). Potassium Alum is a naturally occurring substance where aluminum is bonded to Potassium Sulfate. This results in a larger molecule that is not absorbed into the skin but rather sits on the skin and prevents odor-causing bacteria from growing.
I have had great success with the stone, even lasting up to 48 hours if I skip the shower one day! I’m super happy with the results and intend to continue to use it until I get the itch to switch it up again. I’ve got no sweat stains, no stink, and the stone lasts for a really long time! (At least until I drop it and it breaks and I have to get another one…)
I share all of this to say, if you have had a bad experience switching to natural deodorant or think “Natural deodorant doesn’t work for me,” try taking a second look. There’s a good chance your body needs to detox and your only choice is not to grace the world with your stink. Try taking it nice and slow. Start with a men’s deodorant that isn’t antiperspirant. Use it for a while and then make the jump to a natural deodorant. Try a few different ones until you find what is right for your body.
Just starting your journey to a healthier life? I share 3 actionable steps to a start a healthier lifestyle here!
