More Fun With Deodorant
Posted on March 14, 2008 by
There have been several comments about natural deodorants not doing their job quite as well as we’d all like them to.
Here are some things I forgot to add to my post this morning that may help:
1. Drink enough water — if you are well hydrated, your sweat will be less concentrated and less stinky.
2. Wear natural fibers. Synthetic fabrics often have that “plastic bag” effect and make you sweat more. Branch out beyond cotton. Bamboo has a natural antibacterial quality and can be woven into super soft, luxurious fabric. 100% wool resists odors very well, which is why it’s used in a lot of active wear (like SmartWool). If you do wear synthetics, try wearing a camisole or undershirt made from natural fibers.
3. Carry deodorant with you and reapply as needed. You can also always take a mini-Dr. Bronner’s bath and start over with clean armpits.
That’s the one good thing about Tom’s of Maine, it travels well because it’s not made of the melty stuff most other deodorants are. However, I don’t like the way it smells. Currently, I’m using Dove because it’s unscented, and that is trumping everything for me at the moment.
I think Tom’s changed their scents around, because they don’t seem to have the scent I liked.
I still use antiperspirant for important stuff — when sweating would be mortifying. Adidas makes one that uses cotton to absorb sweat and is aluminum free. I’m sure it has lots of other bad stuff in it to make up for it. But I only use it when I absolutely have to.
so i’m insanely picky and, until now, very disappointed in my natural deodorant options. living in texas, you need *something* withs ome staying power or it’s stink city.
oyin handmade makes an all-natural (really) product called Funk Butter that might just be my deodorant for life. (you can find it at oyinhandmade.com.) it comes in a tin (yay, less plastic!), and, since i’ve only tried the unscented, i can only vouch for its awesomeness, but the black cedar fig shea butter smells delicious to me as well and i might be willing to try the scented funk butter version.
plus, hey, it’s called funk butter!