Avoiding Aluminum and Trying Natural Deodorant

Aluminum. The latest thing I’ve wagered war on in this household. I put away all the aluminum pots leaving only the stainless steel ones. I also purchased ceramic baking dishes from Ikea to replace aluminum oven trays and I try to limit aluminum foil where possible. The only area in my life where I haven’t been able to minimize my aluminum intake is in deodorant (or anti-perspirant which is what the stuff really is but I tend to call it deodorant).

For any of you who may not understand why I’m trying to avoid aluminum like the plague – it’s because of its’

association with Alzheimers disease. While I’ve been hearing rumours of this for years, lately it’s been hard to ignore all the new research that keeps linking aluminum to Alzheimers and dementia.

I used to use Dove daily but hated the fact that I was literally applying so much of this crap onto my body every. single. day. But of course we can’t just ditch using deodorant. So again, like with everything else, my best attempt is at moderation. I decided to give natural deodorant a try a while back and have been using it regularly for about a year now. I rounded up all the aluminum-free natural deodorant that I’ve tried along with my thoughts (pros and cons) so if you have been thinking of avoiding aluminum and trying natural deodorant then I hope this post helps you.

Arbonne Pure Mint Deodorant

First up is the Arbonne pure mint deodorant, which is the first natural deodorant that I ever tried. What I loved right off the bat was the overwhelming mint fragrance as well as the texture of the deodorant. It felt very smooth and silky to the touch. The deodorant didn’t clump or cake up and glides effortlessly on the skin almost feeling like a liquid coating. Because of how thin it feels I would always end up putting more of it on than my regular Dove anti-perspirant.

Performance wise it was a bit disappointing with the deodrant lasting only a couple of hours. Literally within a few hours I would just stink. Like pretty bad. If you want to know just how bad it gets I do briefly mention it in this post on taking care of dry winter skin. I went through about 3 of these natural deodorants before I decided to look for other options. At approximately $20 CAD for a stick I felt that was a bit too costly for a product which didn’t provide me with enough coverage to leave the house in with confidence. Also, I felt like I was going through them too quickly, probably because I was applying so much of it due to it’s watery texture.

Green Beaver Tea Tree Natural Deodorant

Next up is the Green Beaver tea tree natural deodorant coming in at a much more reasonable price point of approx $8 CAD. At the time of purchase the only scent available was the sage one. I have to admit, not the most pleasant scent. Texture wise it was very similar to the Arbonne natural deodorant, but it didn’t feel as “thin” so I didn’t have to over-apply it. It lasted me a reasonable amount of time, similar to the usage I was used to with the Dove. It did perform better than the Arbonne natural deodorant, but still, coverage would only last a few hours and then you just reek. Definitely not all day coverage but decent enough for the price point and using natural deodorant in itself.

Lovefresh Natural Deodorant

Lovefresh is a Toronto-based luxury line of beauty products that I discovered recently through their body lotions. Even though they are a bit pricey, I was very tempted to try their natural deodorant because of how much I love the lotion I bought. They have a vast selection of scents and I settled on the Moroccan Rose natural deodorant which just smells divine. At a hefty $24 CAD per stick I was hoping it would all be worth it.

First impressions weren’t that great simply based on the texture of the deodorant. It was very chalky, a little bit difficult to apply (didn’t glide as nicely as the others) but I was stuck on that beautiful rose scent and just couldn’t let go. After a while I got used to applying the deodorant in a way that goes on evenly (just have to apply a bit of pressure) and now it just feels normal.

Based on the other two natural deodorants that I had used my expectations on performance were quite low at this point but the Lovefresh natural deodorant just blew me away. I can actually go almost all day smelling like roses instead of smelling like hot garbage and without having to re-apply. Worth all of the $24. I’ve had it for just over a year now, use it almost every day and I haven’t even used half of the stick yet.

Final thoughts on natural deodorant

Hands down my favourite out of all three is the Lovefresh natural deodorant. It’s got a beautiful long-lasting scent and it works – probably as much as is possible for a natural deodorant to work. While the price point is the highest out of all three, you don’t need a lot of this stuff and it seems to last forever.

One thing you have to keep in mind is that deodorant does not stop you from sweating like anti-perspirant does, it only masks the odour of your sweat. So no matter what brand you go with you need to understand that you will still perspire (which is the body’s way to rid itself of toxins).

Having said all that, again I bring it back to moderation. While I cannot scrap anti-perspirant altogether I do minimize my daily aluminum consumption by wearing natural deodorant wherever possible. So if I’m working from home all day, stepping out for errands, or just doing basic things I opt for my Lovefresh natural deodorant. I typically will reserve my Dove anti-perspirant only for going out all day/night, events and other social gatherings.

Again, I am not suggesting to ditch the anti-perspirant all together, as I know that’s not realistic but simply avoiding aluminum and trying natural deodorant is a great way to cut back on just how much aliminum we are putting into our bodies daily.