The Pits ... Au Naturel

Natural Deodorant.

Those two words conjure images of unwashed dreadlocks, harem pants, Birkenstocks worn with wool socks, and brownies made with carob. They invoke the hippie sentiments of free love, nudity and communal living. Those two words are so not me.

But given what I’ve read about the chemicals that are used in antiperspirants and the damages they can do, and without going into it too much here (find out more about toxicity of antiperspirant here, or here), I thought, hey, why not give it a try? It’s not like I’m substituting my make-up or lipstick – no one can see the difference if I switch.  But I learned pretty fast that natural deodorant is not about what you can see - it’s about what you can smell.

First off, I realised that natural deodorants require all natural fabrics. Whilst I am not generally a fan of synthetic fabrics anyway, a lot of clothes now contain at least a small percentage of synthetic fabrics to make them more durable, and I remembered this partway through my first day of natural deodorant, which also happened to be the hottest, sunniest day of London summer. “Fresh” and “clean” were not the words that came to mind.

The other thing which took a lot of getting used to was not being dry. Because antiperspirants block the sweat glands, they not only prevent you from smelling, they prevent you from sweating. Again, I forgot that this would be an issue until aforementioned very hot day, when I was confounded by the appearance of two small wet patches that I thought had been banished long ago (it appears that natural deodorant was their passport back into Laurenville).

It was a lot to get used to.

After about a month of hurried rendezvous with my travel sized natural deodorant spray bottle in WC cubicles at restaurants, furtive sniffing of pits when no one was looking, and paranoid interrogation of highly trusted colleagues on their opinion of my freshness factor, I have resolved to make the switch permanent. Finding a brand that works for me has taken some time. I’ve tried Weleda, Tom’s, Neal’s Yard and Salt of the Earth. Salt of the Earth and Neal’s Yard worked best for me. I’ve also heard that Burt’s Bees does a great natural deodorant, but I haven’t been able to find it in London (despite relentless searching at all my favourite hippie haunts).

This eco-switch took a bit of time and experimentation, but the results have been good enough for me to make the change a permanent one. And for now, my brownies are still made with chocolate, I reserve wool socks for skiing trips and Ugg boots, and the nudist commune isn’t calling .... yet.

GG Rating

Good for Flaxseed Fanatics