Deodorants: can we stay smell-free and non-toxic?

I think one of the first things in natural cosmetics after trying no-poo (more on that when I get to hair care) was trying to find a 'clean' deodorant that also stopped me from being smelly all day long.

The search was quite long, and I'm not sure if I've found my holy grail in natural deodorants yet.
I first made a homemade stick deodorant and a roll on, then experimented with a cream type. I found that aside from it being awfully messy (especially the stick deodorant) to make, I wasn't getting the consistency nor the function of store bought conventional deodorants.

I think I also had a mindset that I had to stay dry, like when you use a chemical laden antiperspirant. Once I got away from those thoughts, I decided to try some store bought natural deodorants, mainly in roll on form, some in pump spray.

I tried many store bought ones that DEFINITELY did nothing, worse: they made me smelly!
Even though I like some of the Hauschka products, their deodorants are definitely not part of the products that I enjoy. Neither are the Weleda deodorants, nor the Alva ones. They just didn't work.
I was slowly giving up hope that I was ever going to not be smelly if I wanted to be chemical free under my arms.


At some point I happened to be in a Douglas shop doing some work research and stumbled across a natural deodorant from Biotherm. It is called Deo Pure Natural Protect and has the EcoCert label. This is one I still like using, even though it's expensive. I find it works especially good when doing sports and when you know it's going to be a very hot day. If you don't like alcohol, then this roll on is not for you. I find it works well and is gentle enough to even use after shaving. The fragrance is a nice fresh and sparkling witch hazel and citrus fragrance. There is also a men's variant of the same deodorant, and I've used that one as well. The fragrance is a bit stronger litsea cubeba, but function and price are the same. I just happened to get the mens one when I found the women's variant was not available. This is one of the items of natural cosmetics that are great to get at airports in bulk, as you can really save on the cost!

The second Deodorant I found was from Ovimed, a stick deodorant. Unfortunately, aside from all the nice essential oils there are still petrochemicals in this one, so it was a one off buy. It did work, and if you don't mind propylene glycol et al, then this could be a very nice aluminium, talc, silicone, and paraben free alternative. It certainly worked very well, although the smell is quite special. I would say the smell is a herbal spicy citric fragrance. Not really my thing, but the fragrance doesn't overpower at all.

At the moment my favourite everyday deodorant is the cream deodorant from Soapwalla. I love the consistency, the smell and how well it works, even on warmer days. The consistency is light gritty, but not too bad, considering it is a baking soda based deodorant cream. So far I haven't noticed stains on my clothes either. The fragrance is quite polarising I think, but also totally natural, and I really like it. There are notes of tea tree and peppermint and I find that the peppermint lasts longer.

Last but not least: the deodorant creams from Ponyhuetchen. This is a Swiss brand/shop, and I like them a lot. I recently ordered Bluetenzauber (a pretty floral fragrance) and Kokoskuss (a sweet coconutty fragrance) and got a sample of Erlkoenig (a green herbal fragrance) to try out. The consistency of the creams is light gritty, but not overly so. They go on really nicely, and so far have not stained my clothes. They work well, and last all day long without losing their functionality. The fragrances of these three aren't natural, so be aware when you order deodorant creams to check should this be important to you. I don't mind too much, I think the dosage of fragrance is very low anyway, so it shouldn't cause issues to non-allergic people.
Since the allergens aren't labelled on the ingredient list, I would think that they are below the registration level or allergen free.

I still have a Speick roll on deodorant to try out. I got it in my first ever Biobox in April. Once that has been tested, I'll post an update.

Next post will be about gardening: veggies and herbs and I'll post a recipe for my ultimate salad dressing.

XX, C