Update: My True Wild deodorant arrived while I was in Chicago this week. Trying it out today and loving it so far!
I know, I know: this is supposed to be a blog post about ethical beauty. And who ever wants to talk about sweat??
I get it. But to be truthful, we need to talk about how you stink. Or at least how I do. Natural deodorants are one of the key products emerging from the indie beauty movement, and to be honest, nobody really wants to talk about it.
I met Nisreen and Scott of True Wild Botanics at the Indie Beauty Expo, and I fell in love with their products and their outlook. Their background is in gardening and landscaping. They grow all their own plants for their products! Their energy and enthusiasm was infectious.
But Nisreen and I got to talking about deodorant, because it's one of their newest products. She admitted — she stinks! I admitted that I do too! Honestly, all humans do. That's why we tend to wear deodorant.
But commercial deodorants are full of aluminum and those parabens and triclosan that I talked about in the first part of this series. Those are the "anti-perspirant" part. The problem is that they're known to block lymph ducts. Stopping your body from perspiring can really only be achieved by plugging up the holes where sweat can come out. Not only does this lead to painful lumps but a surprisingly high number of people are sensitive or allergic to these chemicals, especially on their delicate underarm skin.
I know I am. I have been on a quest for about ten years to find natural deodorant that works. This is exactly what Nisreen and I talked about. I'm not a hippie and I generally give a good amount of thought into how I look (and smell). I've tried about ten different brands of natural deodorant in the past ten years or so, and the trick is not just to find one whose scent you can stand but to find one that will actually work for more than a couple of hours.
At the moment, I'm personally using a product that we don't carry at our store. But I'm excited for our True Wild order to come in! In the meantime, we're already carrying Spinster Sisters and Sam's Natural deodorants. While I haven't personally used them, we have customers who swear by them! Admitting you stink is the first step — doing something about it, naturally, is the next.
Read Part 1: What is Clean Beauty? and Part 2: The Ethics of Makeup