Adventures With Eco-Friendly Deodorants

Years and years ago I found out that there was an ingredient in antiperspirants that had been directly linked to Alzheimer's. From then on out I stopped using them, because I mean really, Alzheimer's is *freakin'* scary shit. It wasn't until a few years ago that I jumped on the eco-friendly beauty product band wagon and started to try out new deodorants that were made out of healthy ingredients.

If you have tried this before you know where this was going. Let's just say for a few months I was a smelly, unhappy mess. I first started with some stick that didn't work. Then I tried the salt rock that you wet and put on and that lasted all of, I don't know, 2 hours. I was seriously unhappy until I found SoapWalla's deodorant cream. I have been a very loyal customer to her for about 3 years. Until recently.

I understand that everyone needs to make money and as something gets more and more popular, the price will normally go up. Well when I first started buying her cream it was about $7.50. Now the price is up to $15.00. I'm sorry but that is a huge increase. Adding on shipping and the inconvenience of having to order it weeks in advance (god forbid you forget and run out of your current stash) and I was fed up.

Now I am experimenting with other brands. Ones that are more accessible  so that I'm not always having to think about ordering new stuff when mine is getting low. Here is a list of products I have tried for about a week each and what I thought. Keep in mind that everyone is different and I'm sure there are people out there that love all of these products. Also, I paid for all of these myself and have not been contacted by any of these companies so this is not a sponsored post.

Soapwalla Deodorant Cream - This stuff is obviously what I have preferred for a long while. It took me some time to get used to putting it on my hands and then rubbing it on as it is not a stick but it really wasn't that big of a deal. It has a strong scent in the bottle but once applied it isn't that strong anymore. I found that it would last all day, through an evening yoga practice and I wouldn't smell until the next morning when I was showering anyways. Once it absorbed into my skin there wasn't any funkyness in my pit (ie, it wasn't sticky or wet). As I mentioned above, I love this stuff but it's getting to be pretty expensive including shipping and the inconvenience to use.

Tom's of Maine Naturally Dry -  When I first started experimenting with other brands I picked this one up. I love love loved it! That was until I remembered to read the ingredient list a few weeks later and found out this has aluminum in it. I didn't mention this above but aluminum is the ingredient in antiperspirant that has been linked to Alzheimer's. I will say that if you just cannot make the switch to deodorant, this is a good option.

Desert Essense - I bought this stuff right before Matt and I went camping in PEI for labour day weekend. I am so glad that Matt and I are comfortable around each other because for the rest of the weekend I pretty much smelled bad when you got too close. I found this stuff stopped working after about an hour or so. But it stayed on your skin creating this yucky sticky environment in your arm pits. Granted it was a humid weekend but I still don't think it should have had that type of reaction.

Tom's of Maine Long Lasting - On the way home from the above mentioned camping trip I was so fed up with smelling bad that I made an emergency stop into Lawtons and found this stuff. It was pretty much the only non-salt crystal deodorant in the whole store. It has a pleasant smell, only a teeny tiny bit of stickyness at the end of the day and after using it for a week I can say I actually liked it.

Nature's Gate Winter Clean - Why I tried a new one I honestly can't tell you. I guess I either like to torture myself or try every possibility. This stuff is unscented and honestly, it doesn't stand out to me. It was a while ago now that I tried it, and I switched back to Tom's of Maine Long Lasting after a week or two. Not much of a review but oh well!

This is where my stinky journey comes to an end. Although I loved the first two products, I stopped using them for their own reasons. I am still using the long lasting Tom's of Maine one. I'm sure when that one runs out I will try another new one and the adventure will continue. One can fantasize about an amazing, eco-friendly deodorant after-all :)