I tried natural deodorant for a year and this is what I learned – it doesn’t matter which brand you use as to how you care for your armpits outside of deodorant use. You need an armpit routine. Learn how to create the best self-care routine for your armpits here.
I’m afraid I have to admit, I struggle with body odor. Now, I understand there are a lot of factors that go into play with body odor like hormones, genetics {detox pathways}, gender, body hair, food sensitivities, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. But it’s an unfortunate thing, especially when I recognize some people just don’t smell.
Can you believe some people don’t have to wear any deodorant at all? I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.
But without dwelling on what isn’t, I’ve decided to take it into my best interest to tell you what happened in my year of experimenting with natural deodorants and other tools to help lessen my body odor and bring you my favorite natural deodorants.
need more than deodorant?
Are you more than a deodorant kind of person? Do you know the one who has to reapply deodorant more than just once or twice a day? Me too, and over the year, I found some pretty great ways to lessen body odor. Here are my top tips that helped me:
1. Fix your hormones
Our body odor changes with our different cycles, while this is normal – if you’re finding your body odor is getting out of control, you may need to re-evaluate how your hormones are functioning. Try cycle syncing and do a hard reset once a quarter {check out this 5-day hormonal reset for guidance}.
2. Dry brushing your armpits
Dry brushing is great for our entire body as it helps to mobilize lymphatic fluid. But it’s especially important for our armpits where thousands of lymph nodes are housed and quickly become congested with old lymphatic fluid. Dry brushing your armpits in soft circular motions once a day can help move the fluid and lessen the smell.
3. Try an armpit detox mask
You can learn all about the armpit detox mask here. Try doing an armpit mask monthly or bi-monthly as a way to cleanse your pits.
4. Hair or no hair?
I know no one likes to talk about hairy armpits, but hair can decrease the smell. When you shave, you open up the hair follicles that can become more easily trapped with irritants and increase sweating. Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t shave, but do be careful about what you apply post-shave.
Try to shave at night and let your pits sit without applying anything. If that’s not possible, at least give them a few minutes before you load the follicles up with particles.
5. Rebalance pH
In some cases, the smell is an imbalance of bacteria on our skin. This Mother Dirt pH Spray can help rebalance the bacteria, getting rid of the bacteria creating the scent. I’ve also found witch hazel or apple cider vinegar rubbed on with a cotton ball a few times a week to be beneficial.
My Favorite Natural Deodorants
- Primally Pure Deodorant
- Native Deodorant
- Primal Pit Paste
- Schmidt’s Charcoal Magnesium Deodorant
- Arm & Hammer Unscented Deodorant
- Toms Deodorant
what I learned
Armpits are high maintenance and require just as much care as our faces do. Think about all of the pampering and products we apply to our face. And now to know that our armpits are just as important. Don’t overlook them and start experimenting.
What I found in the year of armpit research {embarrassing I suppose} is that you have to ebb and flow with the different cycles of the seasons and cycles of your hormonal flow.
The more in-tuned I was to the seasons and my cycle, the more quickly I could manage my odor.
All of that to say, there is no perfect formula or deodorant or product that I found to work long-term. There is no one and only. Instead, I learned some products worked better in the winter {Primally Pure and Arm and Hammer}, some that did better in the summer {Schmidt’s and Toms}. But the most crucial thing was rotating brands.
One for daytime use, one for night time use, and trying to avoid all products at least 3-4 nights a week in an armpit fast.
the dreaded rash
If you’ve been around the block with natural deodorant, than you know about the dreaded rash. Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of fire pits, and it isn’t pretty. One way around this is the steady rotation. Keep four different brands at home on hand, along with using a combination of armpit fasting {no deodorant at night} and witch hazel.
Once I got into a good rotation with different brands and airing out my armpits – the rash was non-existent. I think after month two I haven’t experienced it again.
However, it is essential to note that your armpits are going to be the most sensitive after shaving. So make sure you use a light deodorant or keep your pits open.
And don’t forget to dry brush! Every single day or as much as you can to prevent the build-up that causes the rash!
create an armpit routine
It sounds bizarre to create an armpit routine – but they are critical in the detoxification pathway and lymphatic movement. Don’t disregard the health of your armpits. You can judge how well they’re doing by the smell or the rash or the combination of both.
Create a personalized routine – it doesn’t take more than a minute to drybrush your pits. And the deodorant use I’m going to assume is already a habit, so keep your focus on switching up the brands daily.
Take it for a spin, try something new, and, most importantly, keep it natural. Your pits will thank you.
