Natural Deodorant . . . An Adventure of Its Own

So maybe this whole blog won't just be about fitness adventures.  Perhaps if we re-frame it as "adventures in sweating," then this topic of natural deodorant will fit right in. (Only problem with that is that Abbie doesn't sweat....she sparkles.  Ugh!)

A little bit of curiosity ends up with this!

A few years ago, I heard about a possible connection between aluminum-based antiperspirants and Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.  My grandmother died from Parkinson's in 2013.  Given that it's already in my gene pool, I slowly started to think I should look into lifestyle choices that might lower my risk for this terrible disease.  And given that I'm unaware of anything else I could be doing to lower my risk factors, natural deodorant seemed like my only option.  The problem with this deodorant/antiperspirant issue is that I sweat a lot . . . a whole lot!  None of that "I don't sweat, I sparkle" nonsense for me.  It's more like, "I don't sweat, I erupt!"  So it kinda seemed like this was going to be a fool's errand for me to switch over to something natural.

But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a smart choice.  The body sweats naturally . . . why was I getting in the way of that?  I was literally clogging-up my glands so they wouldn't function as designed.  What?!?  Even without reading all the research, it seemed like it wasn't something kind to do to my body.

Before taking the plunge to natural deodorant, I did quite a bit of searching online and reading reviews.  How on earth was I going to pick something that wouldn't leave me smelling like a dumpster or would just be masking the smell with some awful scent??  Ultimately, I landed on Bubble & Bee for my first purchase.  I got two sticks of deodorant and two sample sizes of the pit putty cream.  I liked the smells, as they weren't over-the-top and intense.  The sticks crumble a bit and flake-off when applying, at times.  Keep in mind that it was summer time when I made the switch.  Summer = hot weather = more sweating.  Since I'm a teacher, I suppose the up-side is that I wasn't going in to work during July and didn't have to worry about offending people with my smell if the product didn't work.

The pit putty was particularly interesting because I had to rub it in to my underarms.  Since it has a variety of oils in its ingredients, I usually wash my hands after applying . . . which makes the putty more of a nuisance than the regular ole stick.  Without washing, it leaves a bit of a greasy feeling on my fingers.  I'm sure I could just rub it into my hands instead of washing them, but something about that seems strange to me.

So how did they do?

•  I noticed a lot more sweat from my armpits!  Even when I wasn't working out, my shirts got noticeably wet around my armpits.  This was really an eye-opener for me to realize how much work aluminum-based antiperspirants were doing to keep this from happening.
• Despite all the armpit sweat, I didn't smell terrible.  Often times, I did start to smell a little "natural" at some point during the day, but I think I was the only one who noticed (because I literally tucked my head down and took a big whiff of my pits!).  I asked some folks if they could smell me, and they all said no.  While I didn't manage to smell fresh and clean all day, I think Bubble & Bee managed to keep away any fierce b.o.
• Now that it's winter time, I don't notice the sweat as much during the run of the day.  I'm staying dryer if I'm just going about my regular business (read: not working out).
• I notice stress-sweat more now than with aluminum-based antiperspirants.  As a teacher and retreat director, I am often in front of crowds and do a lot of speaking, and now I notice sweating with some of those instances (even if I'm not hot) more so than I did before.  It can be a little embarrassing to stand in front of a room of teenagers with my clothes visibly wet from sweating, but I don't think about it.
• These deodorants don't store well in the heat.  Because of this, I have to remember to bring my gym bag (it's got the deodorant inside) into school rather than leave it in my car.  The sticks will crumble in too much heat and the cream will melt (it can be put in the fridge to cool-off and get reconstituted).    Eventually, I purchased the spray from Bubble & Bee to go in my gym bag and travel bag so I could avoid this process of always bringing my bag inside.

Along the way of this adventure, I saw an advertisement for Schmidt's natural deodorants on the sidelines of the Portland Timbers' field, and decided to give them a try (purchased a trial sized stick and cream from their Etsy site).  And for Christmas, a friend gave me a stick of Native unscented stick deodorant.  At this point, I guess you could say I'm all-in.  I could wear a different deodorant every day of the week.  Yup, that is classified as a problem!

So far I've been rather pleased with all these products I've tried.  The Native deodorant is the one that most resembles (in the consistency of the product) the stick antiperspirants I've used in the past.  The stick deodorant from Schmidt's was a little grainy (almost seemed like it was an exfoliant) and Bubble & Bee's product was a little dry/flaky.  As far as the two creams go, I prefer Bubble & Bee over Schmidt's for its smoother texture.  The Schmidt's cream was not very creamy and was therefore a bit of a mess to get out of the jar and apply.

As far as cream types go, I prefer Bubble & Bee--it's smooth and simple.  A plastic spade (provided) is required to get Schmidt's product out of the jar--even then, it's flaky and somewhat messy.

 

At this point I am sold on natural deodorant.  I tell my friends about it and try to convert them.  The more I use them, the more convinced I get that there is something seriously messed-up with traditional antiperspirants.  I will keep going on this train.  If you've got natural deodorants you recommend, please leave a comment and let me know!