The search for ethical deodorant
The three ethical deodorants I've tried so far haven't ended up well.
Firstly I used salt rock for a while but noticed minimal improvement and it didn't prevent me being smelly.
Infact the salt rock itself ended up smelly! Given that the smell is caused by bacteria and the salt is supposed to stop bacteria growth this means that bacteria was growing and thriving on the salt which was supposed to stop it. This was problematic.
Maybe I just have super strength bacteria?
The next ones I tried were T'eo and The Greeench from Lush. I tried T'eo first, this was a solid bar and had no plastic packaging, it worked really well in terms of stopping me smelling but after a few weeks of use I got a bad reaction to it. I went back to Lush and talked to the staff who recommended The Greeench as this was more gentle. However this came in a plastic bottle and I still got a reaction from it.
Next I tried Earth Conscious. This came in a nice tin and I was able to apply it using my fingers around the areas that were still sore. It came with the instructions not to apply it to damaged skin. Boy was it not wrong! Just applying it next to the areas made it itch and be sore from contact. But being a cream rather than a powder it didn't make a mess on my floor like the Lush ones so that was a plus at least. It also did work well in terms of smell reduction but I had to stop using it as I got too sore.
Googling it appeared that the problem was coming from the bicarbonate of soda. Lots of people reported having irritation problems from it and this was a key ingredient in all the ones that made me sore.
By this point I had realised that I didn't need to wear deodorant everyday. The days where I was in the house and was able to control the temperature so it was comfortable I noticed I didn't noticably start to smell. Just washing the bacteria off at the start and end of each day with soap and water enough. However the days where I was at work, I definitely needed something extra, at least for the sake of my colleagues and clients!
I've ended up trying to make deodorant myself from this recipe from Coconut Mama. It isn't Vegan friendly as it uses beeswax, so depending on the results I may try and source an alternative to this ingredient. I've altered the recipe slightly as I had no idea what Melaleuca essential oil was and my supplier didn't stock it so have used 4 drops tea tree and 4 drops lemon essence to replace it as these both have antibacterial properties.
Then add it to a container. The website suggests buying or reusing a deodorant container. I didn't have one so a small IKEA Tupperware seems to be the right size.
The results: day 1
I applied it with my fingers in the same way as the earth conscious one. Seems to go on ok, lightly fragranced which you don't really notice unless you're sniffing your armpits - which I don't do habitually but only for the sake of a thorough review! Have applied it to the red sore areas too so am a bit apprehensive about how that will go. 🤪
By lunchtime, my armpits smell of....nothing. Not fragranced but not smelly either, so that's good! The sore areas are also not feeling irritated.
By the end of the day, still not smelly. A quick pit check reveals that I am slightly smelly but as long as your bedtime routine doesn't include people sniffing your pits up close you'll be just fine.
A week later:
All in all considering I have just been applying various oils to my skin, this deodorant has fared as well as the other commercial products I have tried including non-ethical ones. You also only use a small amount at a time so I suspect it will last me a fair while too. I think I may have found a winner!
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