I’ve been making my own deodorant for about a year now with great success, so I was excited to come across Truly’s Natural Deodorant, which is perfect for those of you who’d rather not make your own!
What’s the point of using a natural deodorant? I decided to only use natural when I learned of the harmful effects of aluminum in commercial anti-perspirant deodorants – it’s an endocrine disruptor, and may contribute to thyroid and reproductive cancers and problems. It’s practically the same as my homemade recipe, but they add powdered sugar and beeswax.
So, why do they use powdered sugar? Here is their explaination, from their website:
The sugar in our deodorant combines with your own perspiration to create a hyper osmotic solution that prevents odor causing bacterial growth. Before antibiotics, sugar and honey were used to prevent infections in open wounds. In an article called “The Sweet Art of Healing”, Dr. Julian Whitaker explains why they work:“When sugar or honey is packed on top of and inside of an open wound, it dissolves in the fluid exuding from the wound, creating a hyperosmotic, or highly concentrated, medium. Bacteria cannot live in a hyperosmotic environment any more than a goldfish could survive in the Great Salt Lake. Scientists have tested the viability of many types of bacteria, including Klebsiella, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pyogenes, and none of them have been able to survive in a honey or sugar solution.”
When the indoor temperature is lower than about 65 degrees F, the deodorant hardens (due to the coconut oil) and you’ll need to use the back of your thumbnail to scrape out enough for good coverage.
My Verdict?
Overall, I found it to be a pretty good deodorant, keeping most of the stink and sweat away. And it is far better to use this product than traditional deodorants, for the reasons I mentioned above, though. I’m very happy to see a true natural deodorant hit the market and hope it makes its way into stores so the general public will be exposed to a much safer product. I’d give it a 7 out of 10, and here’s why!
Pros:
- Made from organic coconut oil
- 100% natural ingredients with no added chemicals – just baking soda, powdered sugar, coconut oil, and beeswax
- Easy to apply with the weather is warmer (70 degrees indoors or warmer) because the coconut oil starts to soften at this temperature
Cons:
- Perspiration – I did not find that it did a good job preventing stickiness, even now in the middle of winter.
- Skin Irritation – It can NOT be used right after shaving, as it greatly irritated my skin. However, it does say on the packaging to not use on broken skin, so we are pre-warned. There have been several days where I did smell at the end of the day with Truly’s deodorant.
- Application – if the temperature in your house is colder than about 65 degrees, then you’ll need to use the back of your thumbnail to scrape off enough for good coverage, which I found to be easy enough to do.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
Sorry you had an issue with applying after shaving. We do it all the time and don’t have any problems with it…it may be time for a new razor
. Also just a heads up on the lavender oil, it has been show to have estrogenic effects so I would hesitate to use it daily so close to breast tissue.
Best wishes to you,
Angela
Thanks for commenting, Angela. I have recently changed my razor, and still got irritation. I’m pretty sure it’s the baking soda – I have very sensitive skin so this problem may not arise for those who don’t. I have heard that about lavender and tea tree oil, but what I found there was only one study that showed that. I’m crazy about those two oils so I’m so torn on that issue
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Yes, Sara, sometimes its hard to wade through all the information out there. And we do realize that no product is going to be perfect for everyone, so we do offer to refund the purchase price for anyone who might not be satisfied for any reason. Check our website for details on our money back guarantee.
Thanks again,
Angela
That’s great! Thanks for sharing.
My only wish is that we could figure out an applicator bottle that works like traditional twist ups … I just don’t like to rub it on myself. Just one of my idiosyncrasies.
I totally agree! According to Truly’s, and I’ve experienced this myself, is the coconut softens a lot at room temperature and higher. So, it becomes this nasty, mushy mess if in a twist up container like you’re talking about. So, basically, you’d have to use something other than coconut oil.
You might try substituting arrowroot powder for part of the baking soda if you make your own deoderant. I have also added bentonite which absorbs the dampness and stickiness somewhat, but if you want to use unbleached bentonite, which is organic, it is slightly gray and may leave stains on garments. Stains can be removed. Also, for the person who would like twistup deoderant containers, beeswax can be added to your mixture (melt the beeswax, then coconut oil, then mix with the soda, arrowroot, and bentonite.) Stir in essential oil of choice as you mix in the powders. Since I use a little tea tree oil, I find that grapefruit and sage help mellow the tea tree oil scent, and is not too “girly” scented so my husband can use it too. You can reuse old commercial containers or order them online. It needs to be thick enough in consistency to stay on a spoon, which you use to pack it into the deoderant dispensers.
I hadn’t heard of bentonite, thanks for sharing. In my deodorant recipe, I do write that you can substitute cornstarch with arrowroot powder, but it isn’t really a substitute for baking soda. Baking soda does an excellent job of absorbing sweat and preventing odor-causing bacteria, but can be irritating. Adding beeswax is a great idea, and so is adding grapefruit and sage oils. Thanks for sharing your experience!
If you are looking for a good natural deodorant without aluminum, Lush sells natural deodorant bars made of baking soda a tea tree oil. My husband uses it as well and they really work.
Thanks for the tip, Sarah! I’ve never heard of Lush before. Learned something new!