Keep reading for our explanation of what natural deodorant is, how to use it for best results, and which specific brands we’d recommend if you want an option that really works.

WHY USE NATURAL DEODORANT

The argument for using natural deodorant all comes down to putting the best possible materials in direct contact with your sensitive armpit skin. Natural deodorants have a ton of potential benefits: they don’t block or clog your pores like some traditional deodorants do, and they don’t contain some of the questionable ingredients in regular deodorants like the aluminum that we mentioned above.

Natural deodorants allow the natural sweat process to continue as intended, which may actually reduce armpit bacteria (which causes smells) over time. The intent is to block odor rather than blocking sweat itself, letting biology run its natural course in your body.

Most conventional deodorants have ingredients that pose health concerns. Some of these ingredients, like Triclosan (read a study here) and Phthalates (study can be found here) disrupt the endocrine system creating an environment for a host of health concerns. Aluminum is one of the more common ingredients found in antiperspirants and studies have been done to show the link to breast cancer.

NATURAL DEODORANT TIPS AND TRICKS

When starting natural deodorant, our best tip is to give it a bit of time for your body to adapt. There tends to be somewhat of a detox process when you switch from regular deodorant to natural deodorant, and there can be some unpleasant effects in the first few weeks after making the swap.

As you wait out the transition period (which typically lasts 2-4 weeks before normalcy is established), make sure to drink lots of water and stay active to encourage your body to sweat naturally. You may also want to focus on clean eating, as sugary, greasy foods can actually make your sweat smell worse in the hours and days that follow.

Lastly, some people also find that their body seems to adapt to the natural deodorant over time and it loses some of its effectiveness, so you may want to have two options on hand that you can swap out periodically. You could also use one container to completion and then pick a different brand or scent the next time.

BEST NATURAL DEODORANT THAT WORKS

Everyone has their own opinion about which natural deodorant works best to keep odors at bay, so we’d recommend picking one or two that seem promising and testing them yourself for the full four-week detox period to see what you think. If at the end of four weeks you’re still not convinced it’s working, swap to an alternative and repeat the process until you find one you like. Everyone’s bodies respond to deodorants—natural and otherwise—differently, so it’s a bit of a trial-and-error approach to find your best fit.

All of the deodorants on the Lilly.B shop are free of baking soda so they are suitable for the most sensitive skin.

With that in mind, here are a few of our favorite options:

• Cleo + Coco Sensitive Deodorant
• Agent Nateur Holi (Stick) Sensitive Deodorant
• Rustic Maka Natural Deodorant

Try these out if you decide you’re ready to jump on the natural deodorant bandwagon!