Sweating your Sweat?

Looking to add a natural personal product to your every day routine? One place to start is under your arms! There have been some alarming reports about the potential dangers with traditional antiperspirant brands, due to aluminum (more on this in a second).  

First, let’s start with a little science (in case you skipped some of your high school chem classes to go to breakfast, ahem). 

Did you know that deodorant and antiperspirant are two different things? Deodorant masks sweat, it doesn’t stop it. It’s a fragrance to make you smell sweeter even though sweat doesn’t actually smell (crazy, right?). Sweat mixed with bacteria is what creates B.O. Antiperspirant on the other hand, was created to stop wetness.

While there are lots of “natural” ways to do this (such as baking soda, arrowroot, and shea butter) most of the mainstream brands labeled antiperspirant use aluminum, an active ingredient classified as a drug by the FDA. Aluminum’s job is to block the sweat glands, preventing sweat from happening. This is where the science reports and all the toxic versus non-toxic convo happens. Click here for some additional resources: http://time.com/4394051/deodorant-antiperspirant-toxic/ https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths/antiperspirants-fact-sheet.

There are a ton of brands from which to choose. Lucky for you, I have schvitzed my way through many of them. One caveat in these product reviews – sweat is unique to each individual. I’m in the average-to-slightly-sweaty category, and I worked out using each of these brands. All of the brands below are either classified as a deodorant or natural antiperspirant.

Schmidt’s

I heard about this brand from one of my go-to sources for new wellness products, Goop.com. Schmidt’s is available online and offers several scents; I went with a jar of lavender and sage. It comes with a teeny tiny spatula to dole out the deodorant. As a lover of all things mini, I was mildly obsessed with scooping out the product, rubbing it between my fingers, and applying to my pits. Ironically, the thing I originally loved most about this product was the reason I lessened my usage; after a while, it just became a messy annoyance. The product itself worked pretty well during a regular day, but it left my clothes feeling damp after a medium level workout. Cost: $8.99.

Scent: 3/5

Application:2/5

Post-workout Smell Test: 4/5

Kiss My Face

This is another well-known, non-toxic brand. They make a lot of personal products for your body, face, and hair. Unfortunately, it was not a winner for this Sweaty Betty. The lavender scent was nice and the bar application was easy. But after applying, I never really lost the slick, sticky feeling under my arms.  And I definitely don’t like that! All of the company's products are vegan and cruelty-free, so they are definitely worth checking out. Cost:$5.99.

Scent: 3/5

Application:3/5

Post-workout Smell Test: 1/5

The Healthy Deodorant (Lavanilla Laboratories)

Heads up: This might be a splurge product. Upon purchase at Anthropologie, my husband literally asked me with a distinct tone of incredulousness, “Just how much are you willing to spend on deodorant?” I wanted so badly for this to be my winning product, my ride-or-die, my “I told you it was worth it.” But it wasn’t. I loved the roll-on, I loved the vanilla lemon scent, heck I even loved the branding and packaging (which is cute enough to leave out on the counter), but it just didn't keep my underarms dry enough after spinning to head straight to the grocery store. And that's what this busy mom needs to do! Cost: $14.

Scent: 5/5

Application: 4/5

Post-workout Smell Test: 3/5

Moon Organics

This is a local, organic brand that my mom came across at the weekly Decatur Farmers Market (Go, Mom!). This is my current product winner. I like the frankincense and thyme smell, the product goes on smoothly and dries quickly. It does a pretty good job of covering up the smell after a hard and very sweaty hot yoga session. Plus, I love supporting a company based in Marietta. Cost: $9.

Scent: 4/5

Application: 4/5

Post-workout Smell Test: 5/5

One of the great things about starting your journey to eliminate toxic products with deodorant is the low price point. For about $10 you can try deodorant and see what you think, versus an expensive serum or face cream.

Have you tried any of these? Did they pass your sweat test? Would love to hear about your favorites, so comment below!