Tested: 5 Popular Natural Deodorants, Because It’s About That Time Again
It’s public knowledge that researchers have long suspected a link between the aluminum in traditional deodorants and cancer, which is a huge bummer for anyone who’s ever worn it or plans to in the future. This leaves one part of the population rubbing potentially cancer-causing chemicals into their armpits every day and another either skipping deodorant entirely, which is frowned upon, or relying on natural deodorants to kill the stink, which by all accounts don’t always work as desired. It’s the opposite of a win-win.
For my part, I have a few reasons for not loving regular drugstore deodorants. Cancer has something to do with it, but so, too, does the fact that I hate the chemical-laced, sharp, unnatural way they smell. I guess smelling like a plastic cucumber that’s melting in the sun is better than smelling like B.O., which is fucked up but true.
MORE: 10 Things No One Ever Tells You About Deodorant
And so, while I’ve tried a lot of natural deodorants, I’ve only ever found one that truly works, and that one eventually caused me to develop a flaky, itchy skin condition so disruptive to my quality of life that I required a topical prescription cream to address it. Turns out that baking soda, which appears as the key ingredient in most natural deodorants, will do that to ya if you have sensitive skin. Back to the drawing board!
In the never-ending pursuit of a formula that works, that does not cause me pain, that actually nixes odor entirely, I’ve come up mostly empty, but not for lack of trying—I’ve tried them all … and now I’ve tried five more. The good news is that this story has a happy ending.
