One of the hot topics lately is about the best natural deodorant for women. I think I got 5 DMs on Instagram about this yesterday alone! With the breast cancer scare years ago, this is one of those items that is in the back of every girl’s mind. But do you have to sacrifice smelling good for safety? Here are the best natural deodorants.
As you know, I’m really big on safe beauty. I kicked off my Ingredient of the Week series that breaks down one chemical at a time in an easy to understand way this year. I also have been talking about the best clean beauty products and call out where I incorporate safe beauty products into my skincare and makeup routines regularly.
Of course, I always caveat that it’s important to make the switch to safer when it’s best for you. It’s a personal decision that everyone can make for themselves! Even I don’t have a makeup bag that’s 100% safe – most of the products that I use daily are, but safe beauty brands just haven’t found a way to create products that work as well in every category. At least, not that I’ve found yet! But keep following along and I promise to find them all eventually!
One of the less sexy but most common personal care products is deodorant. I’ve been wearing natural deodorant for 6 months and am honestly, really impressed with the ones I’m talking about today. Brands have made leaps and bounds since I last tried to go au naturel. You can’t go wrong with any of them.
TIP: If you’re thinking about making the switch to natural neodorant, I strongly recommend using this body wash in conjunction. It helps fight odor, decreasing your chances of smelling. Both my husband and I use it and whenever we travel, I notice we both emit more odor.
Primally Pure Deodorant
This is my personal favorite because of the smell and effectiveness. I’ve been trying natural deodorants for 3 years and this one has completely taken me by surprise. I love the smell of the charcoal scented one but I’ve also been dabbling with their blue tansy. It’s also been the most effective natural deodorant I’ve tried, easily lasting more than a day and through a workout.
You can find Primally Pure on their website.
Taos AER Deodorant
I loved the palo santo blood orange scent for a little something different and I think that’t the main draw of this brand for me. This product isn’t a stick – it has little perforated holes in the top of the tube like a gel deodorant. The consistency is something between a stick and a gel and it applies really well. Their website describes it as a gel to powder and that’s probably the best description. For this reason, I’d say it applies better than Schmidt’s. It’s truly luxurious and the scent is unlike anything else I’ve seen – so unique! This product also lasted until my next workout like Schmidt’s.
Taos’s Deodorant is also aluminum, paraben, and phthalate free. What I really liked is that it’s also fragrance free – it just contains a blend of proprietary essential oils. While that doesn’t disclose exactly what’s inside, it’s similar to Schmidt’s disclosure message.
You can find Taos at Credo Beauty.
Type:A Deodorant
Type:A doesn’t go on like a stick so if you have sensitive skin this is a great option! It’s comes in a tube where you press up the product and slide it over your skin. If you’ve found natural deodorant easily irritates you, the abrasiveness of a stick deodorant may be the cause. I also feel like the citrus based one called The Visionary works the best to fend off odor.
You can find Type:A at Credo Beauty, Target, and Amazon.
Schmidt’s Natural Deodorant
This is Matt’s favorite deodorant (he loves the Charcoal Magnesium scent). I also use this in my rotation because I’ve had great success with the Lily of the Valley scent for sensitive skin. It doesn’t contain aluminum (which causes those unsightly yellow stains), parabens, phthalates, or artificial fragrance.
Overall, it’s affordable. Yes, it’s a little more expensive than the value pack of Dove you get at Costco but safer products will ultimately make a healthier you. Second, it lasts over 24 hours. I put this on in the morning and this is one of the few natural deodorants that lasted through my workout the next morning (depending on how intense my workout was). Third, the scent is amazing. This is personal to me but I also liked that the wax in this is sourced from plants versus beeswax (aka cera alba or cera bellina).
I only have 2 critiques. The first is that the product is a little hard in its stick form (which is also why I love Type A). You need to leave the stick on your skin for a few seconds to let it melt from your body warmth. In all honesty, I rarely spend the time doing this and I’m fine but if you have sensitive skin, you may be irritated otherwise.
You can find Schmidt’s at Target, Walmart, Amazon, or Costco.
Kopari Deodorant
This deodorant glides on the best of any of the stick deodorants which I’m assuming is due to the coconut in it’s formula. The product isn’t powdery like most deodorants either so it does have a different consistency that I really like. It makes it invisible on dark fabrics too since it isn’t white! They’ve also recently expanded their scents. The only thing is that it doesn’t last a full day but if used in conjunction with the body wash above, it’s still a solution.
You can find Kopari at at Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom, and Urban Outfitters.
Native Deodorant
If you’re new to the brand, I’d recommend trying the sample pack. It’s $30 for 5 mini sized deodorants and is a great way to sample multiple scents plus they are great for travel. I’ve tried quite a few scents but unfortunately, it didn’t last throughout the day for me. Native applied better than Schmidt’s but not as well as Taos – it was right on par with a regular deodorant.
The only other thing I found which was a minor concern was stearyl alcohol. When I questioned Native’s ingredients on Instagram, it wasn’t so much that it was bad for you – just that it does contain this skin irritant (stearyl alcohol). I had quite a few people say that it irritated their skin so this makes sense especially if you’re sensitive! If it doesn’t irritate you, don’t worry! You’re good to go!
You can find Native on their site, Target, and Amazon.
Freedom
I found this brand one on QVC and really like the scent of it. It probably feels most similar to a Dove deodorant that most people are used to as it has more of a powdery consistency which also makes it visible on black fabrics. It works really well though and will last through the day! The Bergamot Lime scent is my favorite.
You can find Freedom at QVC.
Brand that Didn’t Work.
I don’t think you can go wrong with anything above but I can’t say that for every brand unfortunately! I bought a sample size of Lavanila and it really did not work well on my skin. The stick was so hard that it ended up being too abrasive during application for me to even continue using the sample size. I ended up tossing it!
Do you have a vote for best natural deodorant for women? If you have one that isn’t listed, add it below!
How long did you test each brand before deciding? I tried Schmidt’s first, now native. I feel like neither are super effective, but I definitely like Schmidt’s more than native. Not sure if I gave them each enough of a chance yet though!
I tried Native for about 2 weeks but could tell after the first day that it just wasn’t cutting it for me! I was hoping it would getting better and it did… slightly. I’d used Schmidt’s for a month but if it’s not working, it could also be what you’re eating, your water intake, etc.!
I love these posts – thank you so much!
Schmidt’s Charcoal is the better than ‘prescription strenght’ Antiperspirants for me!!! I’ve tried the lavender scent and it’s great but doesn’t keep me dry like the charcoal one does.
As far as ‘armpit detox’, that’s just false info going around. You can’t change the chemistry/microbio of your armpits with 10 min of charcoal on the skin, you just have to wait out that week of adjustment period.
I JUST switched to non-toxic…love love love Primally Pure!
Just purchased Schmidt’s at Wegmans and if you download their app they always have coupons for health and beauty so I saved money which makes the price tag even more reasonable!
Good to know!! Thank you for sharing!!
Thank you for this review. I have Schmidt but have wanted to try AER. I haven’t always had luck with most natural deodorant with the exception of the crystal deodorant which is what I have exclusively used for years. The only downside is how chaffing it can be on a beach or pool day. Since I don’t love the way Schmidt applies, I’m now going to try AER. Thanks!
I can’t wear deodorant with baking soda but I do like the deodorant from Primal Life Organics. I’m also wanting to try the deodorant from Biossance. Also, it’s often forgotten, but doing a pit detox before switching to a natural deodorant helps to make the transition easier as well.
Nice post