Natural deodorants - are they better?

[motheroreily]

I recently bought my daughter a natural deodorant. She's only 8 so I thought she doesn't need an anti perspirant or anything with lots of chemicals. Just she's been sweating in this weather.

Anyway, then I started reading a lot about how natural deodorants are better for you and watching some YouTube videos. They don't have aluminum or parabens. But if you use them you'll have a detox stage where you sweat excessively and smell. Anti perspirants have salts which block your sweat glands and you need to swear that all out. But once you're through that stage it's fine. And you can do an underarm mask to help with the detox.

This sounds like a lot of effort. Natural deodorants are also more expensive. And I'm not sure I want to switch myself. But had anyone done it and found it better? It is worth the transition?

My skin isn't particularly sensitive and I'm not that sweaty.

Just interested to hear from others really.

I've tried but they didn't work for me. I ended up getting smelly.

@uniglowooljumper I can't use driclor it makes my underarm skin cracked and sore

@Wavescrashingonthebeach

Exactly! I love that smell. I love it on a man in his armpits, and it’s one of the reasons I started to grow my armpit hair out.

I don’t like a nasty BO smell and my partner and I always tell each other if we’re minging.

I just know that these days even a nice, natural clean smell is unacceptable for some people, so I didn’t want to pretend that natural deodorant is going to do what one of those 48hr type ones do.

Arf at 'needing to see a doctor' for having sweat that then smells!

Some people - very few, though proportionately more East Asians - don't sweat much and their sweat does not smell. It's the same gene as dry earwax I think.

Anything that EVER mentions detox is codswallop and lies.

And no, natural deodorants will only ever be as good if they naturally have similar ingredients to "unnatural" devils' own hellspawn deodorants.

I used a natural crystal deodorant (Pitrok) several years ago and it worked for me. I then stopped using it and went back to Soft & Gentle/Sure type deodorants - I can't remember why. I read an article recently which reminded me about it so bought Pitrok again and started using it. There was no 'transition' period, it just works straight away for me. I find it is equally effective.

The only way to find out if it will work for you/your daughter is to try it.

I've used salt crystal deodorants for years and they work brilliantly for me. They don't stop me sweating but there is no odour at all. I've tried most of the main brands of antiperspirants and they don't keep me dry and I usually smell bad by the end of the day anyway, so for me the "natural" option works best. They last for years so are really economical and low on plastic waste.

I love the lush deodrant - it's just a bar no packaging and it works so well. No transition and it glides on really well.

I bought a three pack of Native and am thoroughly pissed off as it smell acrid after an hour. It really stinks! I don’t know if it is just me as I’ve not read a single review escribing this problem with Native.I am back using Sure, but would love A natural alternative.

I use Crystal deodorant stick. Hypoallergenic, fragrance and paraben free, doesnt stain, endorsed by The Cancer Treatment Centre(important to me), stick lasts for up to a year. I buy it in the US. Works for me!

I use the solid salt rock pitrok one (not the spray which is rubbish). You just put on after a shower or wet it a little. The first few weeks it doesn't do much, but now I could honestly go three days without it before getting a whiff of BO. It's amazing. Also, using shower gel increases body odour, use solid soap instead.

I had a paste which didn’t work and now I use a pitrock crystal which works perfectly.

I think if they are soaping their armpits daily with a flannel and wearing clean clothing then they don’t need anything extra.

This just isn't true. DS2 is just 13 and has a BO issue. He can have a shower and scrub with soap (and I literally sniff each armpit afterwards to make sure he's done it properly) and then a couple of hours later he's whiffy, particularly if he's done anything vaguely active. And it's a stale BO smell too rather than just the smell of sweat. Its puberty and hormones I'm sure but it really isn't the case that a flannel wash and clean clothes is enough for everyone. DS2 barely wears clothing anyway other than a pair of football shorts. He's bare chested most of the time.

A colleague of mine is always singing the praises of natural deodorant.

Unfortunately she stinks.

I've not used crystal deodorant but have found a natural balm that is great!
The Natural Deodorant Co, made in the UK, paraben & aluminium free. I have orange & bergamot scent and it works really well for me even on hot days. Just take a bit on your finger and smooth it on - absorbs quickly, smells great and never leaves marks on clothes 😊

.PaulinePetrovaPosey - Ballet Shoes? Loved that book when I was little. Wonder if there are ballet dancers with a bad case of B.O. and how their dance partners cope.

natural crystal deodorant usually contain aluminium salt (alaun).
which is the stuff in conventional anti perspirants that stops you sweating.

I find a combination of using bar soap & flannel, clean tops every day is usually enough.
for special days out or very hot days I put on a sensitive anti perspirant (nivea pure).

I tried the aromaco one that Lush do as I love the smell of it but by lunch time the smell had changed and I could smell the sweat, I tried it for a few weeks and ended up with a reaction to it if I used it after shaving so its no good for me unfortunately.

This is really interesting to hear people's experiences. We do use bar soap and that helps but it doesn't stop the sweat smell all day. I'll definitely give my daughter the natural one on hot days.
I might try it myself as an experiment (but not until the heatwave is over!)

Daily shower, clean clothes, flannels and dettol soap isnt enough for me. My armpits are hair free after months of lasering.

Dricolor makes my armpit itchy and sore. I dont have sensitive skin. It stops BO though.

Salt of the earth is totally useless for me. Pitrok worked for a bit then stink is back.

I got my dc Toms deodorant.

After reading this thread I had a look at various deos mentioned, and saw Nuud had a free offer for every 10th subscriber. Well, I was the 10th one yesterday so I will be receiving a free starter pack in the next week or so. I'm looking forward to trying it out. I've bought some bar soap to see if that helps too. I take it with these deos they just stop the bad smells and not the wetness?

I've started using jars of deodorant from the Natural Deoderant Company ... it's way better than Sure.. and those super strong ones irritate me.. I didn't go through a detox stage and I'm finding it more effective than the usual ones .. they smell lovely too ... I tried Ben and Anna's too... which is lovely but not good for white marks

@CarolineHackney ... just wrote my post about The Natural Deodorant Company too ... I think it's amazing and smells beautiful... also comes in tiny tester pots to try out

I've been using Kutis natural deodorant for the last six months and not had any problems. I initially switched to reduce my plastic consumption but feel better that I'm not using something containing aluminium. It's doesn't stop sweating like normal deodorant but that hasn't bothered me and I don't notice any kind of body odour smell. kutis-skincare.co.uk/collections/our-range/products/natural-deodorant