I Tested Out Natural Deodorant To See If It Really Does Work (You’re Welcome)

In recent years natural deodorants have become an increasingly popular alternative to your normal everyday roll-on/spray.

You may have seen articles with convincing reasons to go natural, with everything from conventional deodorants being linked to health issues to clogging your pores and probably being the reason why your ex broke up with you. OK, maybe not that last one.

There’s no denying natural deodorants sound kind of scary – first up, any sort of change can be terrifying let alone one that may leave you feeling unprotected from your own body odor. Secondly, do they really even work?

Before we get too deep into this, it’s important to note there’s an actual difference between using deodorants and antiperspirants – deodorants help block body odor but they don’t actually stop you from sweating, whereas antiperspirants aim to stop you, or at least reduce your chance of, sweating.

Anyway, if you’re ever been curious about natural deodorants, today is your lucky day.

I decided to test out using a natural deodorant for a week to see what all the fuss was about. I wanted to test it in all kinds of environments: on a normal day, on a day when I was wearing a singlet top and had my underarms feeling more exposed, on a warmer day, and during two different types of workouts to test the overall effectiveness.

Here’s what happened when I trialled natural deodorant for a week:

View this post on Instagram

It’s time to let your body sweat, naturally. Don’t you worry about odours – our Axilla Deodorant Paste will neutralise your bodies odour keeping those nasty smells at bay. The best bit? It’s 100% natural and cruelty free. #axilla #deodorantpaste #naturaldeodorant #naturalremedies #blackchickenremedies #toxinfree #crueltyfree #chemicalfree #organic #australianmade #wellness #enjoytheprocess #vegan #remediesforwellness #makeyourselfapriority #selfcare #wellnessrevolution #wellnessblogger #selfcaredaily #lowtox #selfcarefirst #summerskincare #summergoals

A post shared by BLACK CHICKEN REMEDIES (@blackchickenremedies) on Aug 29, 2019 at 6:01pm PDT

For this trial I used Black Chicken Remedies natural deodorant paste. All you need to do is use a pea-sized amount, rub it into your armpits and carry on with your day.

Test one: Normal day

For my first test, it was important just to start out with a regular day. I wanted to test this whole natural thing, but I was a little scared. I absolutely packed my roll-on in my handbag thinking I’d need to do a refresher at some stage during the day if one of my co-workers started looking and sniffing pointedly in my direction.

Test one was an absolute breeze. I thought about my armpits a lot more than I usually do, sure. But they didn’t smell or feel any different so it was an overall success.

Test two: Pilates class (after work)

After applying the deodorant following my morning shower, I was hoping it would last me all day but I wasn’t sure how it’d fare after my 6:30 pm gym class. I was only doing pilates which is pretty low-key so I wasn’t planning on working up a serious sweat but I also knew I wouldn’t be showering again until I got home, so it’d be one (potentially) smelly train ride home.

I finished the class, gave myself a sniff test (which my gym buddy didn’t even question when I started just randomly sniffing my underarms, find yourself a mate like that) and guess what bitches: I didn’t smell ANYTHING and I also actually wasn’t feeling super sweaty, which was a nice surprise.

What is this miracle worker?

Test three: A warmer day & the uncovered armpit trial

Disclaimer: as you can see by the date and timing of this post, it’s not summer yet. But the weather has been starting to get gradually warmer and on a sunny day where we were blessed with 23-24 degree weather I took the next logical step in this experiment. I wore a sleeveless jumpsuit and let my armpits fly free.

Now because my usual attire up until then had been t-shirts/shirts with sleeves, this was the first time my arms were just out in the open, doing their thing.

While again I smelt fresh AF, I did notice I felt a little more sweaty when I was out and about walking around. There was nothing to show for it – no dampness on my clothes – but the sensation did make me feel a bit weird and paranoid.

Test four: Body Pump class (after work)

So the natural protection survived a mat pilates class but would it survive a more strenuous workout? Would I even survive a more strenuous workout? Hard to say at the best of times.

There was no way I wasn’t getting sweaty during my body pump class AND when you team that with the fact it was at 6:20 pm and I hadn’t applied deodorant since early that morning, I was ready to smell like a sweaty mess.

I survived the class (barely) and I was definitely sweaty but, you guessed it – I had been wearing this paste for approximately 12 hours and was still protected from any signs of BO.

Final verdict on natural deodorant:

I can safely say I am surprised and am still happily using it over my other roll-on alternative. The real test will come though when the Australian summer hits to see if I can truly put up with the fact natural deodorants aren’t as great at absorbing any moisture.

Stay tuned.