Natural deodorant has come a long way since the early days. As more people become aware of harmful ingredients like aluminium and parabens in standard supermarket brands, new non-toxic deodorant brands are popping up everywhere in the form of pastes, sprays and roll ons.
A lot of us know natural deodorant is the better option, but some brands do a dismal job of stopping body odor. Most people who’ve switched to a natural deodorant probably noticed it can be hit and miss. If you’re unlucky enough to pick the wrong one, you might wonder if it did anything at all — a disappointing outcome after paying over $10.
As tempting as it may be to revert back to a standard deodorant after a bad experience, understanding why it should be avoided will help you persevere. The armpits are the gateway to the lymphatic system which protects us from invaders like bacteria, toxins, viruses and fungi — making the underarms a particularly vulnerable spot to be smearing chemicals. The toxic ingredients in conventional deodorants accumulate in the lymph nodes, stopping them from doing their job properly and making it harder for the lymph nodes to protect us from harmful invaders.
If you’re yet to make the switch, or haven’t found a non-toxic deodorant that works, we’ve done some investigating; both by trying several brands ourselves, along with researching trusted recommendations from our friends and our audience to find out how these 7 deodorants perform.
Aesop
With Vetiver Root and Coriander Seed, the active ingredient in Aesop's Deodorant Spray is Zinc Ricinoleate, which does an excellent job at masking mild underarm odor. Filled with essential oils, it’s definitely the most luxurious and in our opinion, the best deodorant on the list.
Soap Club
If you love Aesop’s deodorant but can’t part with spending $35 dollars on your underarms, Soap Club is the closest thing you’ll find to it. In a similar amber bottle with a spray nozzle, its active ingredient is also zinc, along with magnesium which does a great job at masking body odor. It almost smells good enough to be a perfume, with clary sage, sandalwood and other antibacterial essential oils.
Eco Sonya Coconut
A vegan, cruelty free and organic formula, Eco Sonya Coconut Deodorant is unisex and smells just like summer. They use bicarbonate as their active ingredient, which is a powerful antibacterial, helping to prevent body odor from forming.
Sativa Spirit Hemp
Used by Arcaa’s founder, Sativa Spirit Hemp contains moisturising Cannabis sativa seed oil, Bicarbonate to reduce bacteria. The unisex scent uses sustainably sourced ingredients including Sandalwood, Frankinsence, Finger Lime and Cinnamon leaf and is made specifically for sensitive skin types.
Woohoo Body Paste
Recommended to us by a trusted friend, Woohoo Body Paste stands up to her self confessed position as a “really sweaty person,” even after a long run. The paste comes in a cute green jar and is applied with the fingertips. They’ve just gone zero plastic, offering their colourful range of deodorants in tin — including their unisex wild extra strength formula, surf formula and mellow formula for sensitive skin.
Black Chicken Axilla Paste
With a unique blend of active ingredients to stop body odor; including kaolin clay, tapioca powder and bicarbonate, we found Black Chicken Azilla Paste after running a poll with our Instagram community asking what their favourite natural deodorants were and this one came up again and again. Making a name as a bit of a cult product, they also make deodorants for sensitive skin.
No Pong
Another one recommended highly by Arcaa’s community, No Pong allows your skin to breathe rather than blocking armpit pores with aluminium salts like generic deodorants. Using bicarb as its active ingredient, along with beeswax and coconut oil to keep it on your skin all day, it’s generously scented with lemongrass, cedarwood, frankincense, ylang ylang and geranium.
APHA.LAB
If you’re attached to that cool, dry feeling from standard roll on deodorants, but other natural deodorants don’t cut it, APHA Lab has cleverly re-engineered that same feeling but in a balm form. Their deodorant ‘roll on’ uses comes in two dreamy scents, Cactus & Clay and Grasslands, filled with chamomile and rose geranium intended to capture the feeling of spring.
Yes love this one so much, it is now available through Arcaa.
Apha.Lab Grasslands $29.95
Apha.Lab Cactus Clay $29.95