After months and months of testing all natural deodorants I am so excited to finally report my findings with you!  I really wanted to approach this almost like a scientist. Totally unbiased and clinical. So I had my girlfriend test deodorant after deodorant with me for over 3 months.  We wore each deodorant for at least 1 week in an assortment of conditions from everyday temperatures and activities, to hot summer days, stressful situations, and intense workouts.  Before I get into my favorites though, I will give you a brief background on my deodorant history which may be very similar to yours!

Personally, I did not wear deodorant consistently until about 5 years ago. I was never a huge sweater growing up and also didn’t do a ton of intense workouts/activities so I just didn’t really need to wear it!  (I feel like some people have a more intense sweat gland situation and smell than others and I was fortunate in that it just was never an issue for me!) Honestly, I only started wearing deodorant when I began doing more physically intense workouts like Soul Cycle and boxing and felt self conscious that I would start smelling since I was working out so much!  So, I picked up a generic deodorant at the drugstore that everyone seemed to have in their cabinet and used it for 2 years thereafter.

Everything was fine with it… (I honestly didn’t really notice a difference one way or another. And I was wearing it more for mental clarity/security) but when a guy I had been dating opened up my medicine cabinet and literally gasped at the deodorant I had and said, “You use this stuff?!  You know this is terrible for you and has aluminum in it which causes breast cancer.  You shouldn’t use this. Seriously Kat.”  I was SO shocked and taken aback by his reaction and had NO idea it was bad so I immediately started researching it myself.  He was a jerk. But I can thank him for opening my eyes to the aluminum in deodorant haha!

Anyways…  I was stunned to find article after article talking about how many of the ingredients in generic deodorant, primarily aluminum, were linked to breast cancer!  And yet government articles I was finding insisted aluminum was NOT linked to cancer… Very conflicting!  Either way, I knew that I didn’t want to even risk the small chance of aluminum causing cancer. So I threw it out and began looking into all natural deodorants.

For months, I tested all natural deodorant after all natural deodorant and was very sad to find that they made me smell TERRIBLE!  I was mortified at my new body odor. And literally started canceling workouts and friend dates because of it.  My body felt out of whack and I almost felt like I was producing MORE sweat during this phase!  Probably from the stress and fear of smelling bad LOL!  I decided to do some more research on why this could be/what was happening/if I even should continue wearing deodorant.  It was a super embarrassing time. Thank goodness I’ve now figured out what works for me!

First and foremost…

I will never wear a deodorant with aluminum again.  Second, if you are thinking of making the switch from regular deodorant to all natural, give your body at least 2 weeks of not wearing ANYTHING to adjust before trying a new deodorant.  I know, I know, this seems scary especially if you are a sweater… But trust me your ph levels and smell will even itself out and then you’ll have a neutral base to incorporate/test out an all natural deodorant into your routine.  Third, when choosing an all natural deodorant remember that everyone has different ph levels and takes to chemicals and scents differently. So what may work for one person, may not work for you (which is what I found in this testing process that my girlfriend and I did together.).

Fourth, what you EAT and your overall health does have a huge impact on your body odor.  You could have body odor regardless of what deodorant you use because of something being imbalanced internally.  This is why I am such a stickler about what I put into my body. Because I have found that it directly impacts my scent!  If I eat spicy, greasy food or something that doesn’t sit well with my system, I notice I have more of a BO scent than if I’m eating fresh, healthy, organic food.

Finally

I don’t think anyone really NEEDS deodorant.  I think it’s a great safety, precaution tool to smell more fresh. But if you’re balanced internally/healthy and sweat out the toxins/go through the elimination phase I truly believe your body will even itself out and that you will sweat AND smell less.  Nowadays, I wear deodorant maybe twice a week max, I rarely sweat, and hopefully I don’t smell (and if I ever do – I hope my friends would tell me!!!)

After talking with my girlfriends about what deodorant they use/what works for them – I was surprised to learn many of them, especially the ones in LA, now don’t wear deodorant either!  They have let their bodies even out naturally and if anything, they use this cool crystal deodorant stick.  Here’s a roundup of all of the deodorants I tried and which ones I liked/disliked + why!

All Natural Deodorants

Scully deodorant

I was turned off at first that this was a liquid spray, but I have to say after wearing it for weeks, I became super impressed with it!  My girlfriend Jesse who did the testing with me was equally as impressed.  This has a minty scent and tingles for the first few seconds you spray it, but that quickly goes away.  What we both loved about this is that the ingredients (which I found out have been used for over 100 years in their family’s secret recipe) completely neutralize all body odor and the spray has no scent (after those first few seconds) so it doesn’t compete with any perfume you want to wear!  Neither of us had any residue, BO problems, or stains.  This was definitely one of my favorite deodorants that we tested.

Curie deodorant

This deodorant is my #1 favorite.  I LOVE the white tea scent which is not overly strong, floral, or “earthy” smelling – it’s just a pretty and subtle smell.  I also love the texture – it is exactly how you’d want a deodorant to feel.  It goes on smooth but isn’t too sticky and isn’t too dry – it’s the perfect in between.  And most importantly it worked and I did not have to reapply it during the day!

Schmidt’s deodorant

My girlfriend Jesse and actually another close friend of mine both love Schmidt’s and say this is their go-to deodorant. *Jesse does say that she can’t wear it with black workout clothes during hot yoga because it does stain them white.  I on the other hand tried this deodorant and hated it!  It totally stained my clothes and I had white streaks running down my arms during yoga – not cute.  Another reader who saw me doing the deodorant round up on Instastory a few months ago – messaged me saying this gave her a rash.  So this is a perfect example of how everyone’s ph levels and bodies react differently!

Kopari deodorant

This coconut oil based deodorant just won Allure’s Beauty award.  I trust Allure’s Beauty roundups, but I have to disagree with their findings here!  I really like Kopari as a brand and LOVED the scent of this product, but the texture was too gel-like and made my armpits feel damp for most of the day.  It just didn’t seep into my skin/absorb at all for me, and my girlfriend said the same thing.

Native deodorant

I bought the mini travel pack of Native deodorants so that I could test 6 of their scents.  The coconut vanilla scent was my favorite and I wore it throughout my Italy trip in August.  It was a really hot summer as many of you know and this definitely worked.  I had no body odor or stains.  I was happy with this deodorant, BUT the only thing I will say is that I felt like it was a bit too dry texture wise and was kind of chalky going on + didn’t glide/absorb like I’d have preferred.

Malin + Goetz deodorant

This gave me BO at two different points in my life (I tried it back in 2016 and again this past summer in 2018) and it just smelled WAY too earthy for me.  It’s like pure eucalyptus so you smell like a sweaty Equinox gym sauna. NOPE not for me!

Crystal deodorant

I haven’t tried this but wanted to include it after several friends recently told me they have been using it for years and love it.  Note – they said you need to apply it right after you shower or else it doesn’t work.  I’m intrigued now and am going to try it and will report back!

PiperWai deodorant

This was a thick black sticky paste that you roll under your arms and smelled super earthy… It was a no immediately for Jesse and I. Also, I didn’t block out any odor whatsoever.

AER deodorant

I tried this deodorant back in 2016 and was obsessed with the Palo Santo scent.  A ton of bloggers I love use it and rave about it.  The texture was a bit too gel-like for me, and it didn’t mask my BO (but this was when I was first transitioning out of regular deodorant and I haven’t re-tested it since.).  I wanted to include it here because again, everyone is different and I did really enjoy the scent and so many others seem to really like it!

Overall, my two favorite deodorants were from Scully and Curie.  If I had to choose a third it would be Native.  I hope you enjoyed this roundup and would love to hear what your deodorant experiences have been and which ones are your personal favorites!!!