Just One Mama's Quest for the Best Natural Deodorant

I hate to admit it, but I love trying new products! I'm always looking for the next best thing that's going to be a game changer. I'm a busy mom and I do have a taste for the "finer things" - a hard lesson learned when I actually took a look at the prices in the Pottery Barn catalog. But I've found that there are times when the splurge is worth every penny - and there are other times when the cheaper product is actually superior.

Not the fanciest or most glamorous product by far - but here's something worthy of discussion: aluminum free deodorant.

I was really shocked when I saw the negative consequences that aluminum can have on the body, and to think that I've been rolling and spraying it on to open pores, dangerously near my children's milk source - well that made me instantly ready to try alternatives.
This is my fourth-ish try at aluminum-free deodorant. I sought out options on Pinterest. Option A was homemade deodorant. I love homemade stuff. I've made homemade Scentsy cubes to homemade baby wipes and there are some great recipes out there. I used a coconut oil based recipe using my favorite coconut oil for deodorant and while it smelled great at first, it wore off within an hour. Not ideal to need to re-apply deodorant on the hour, so I knew that wasn't the way to go for me.

Next I tried a Tom's of Maine stick deodorant that my grocery store carried. Easy enough to acquire, but a bit more pricey than DIY. The lemongrass flavoring smelled fresh at first but did NOTHING for stink, at would simply mix the B.O. smell with what I can only describe as *scent of health food store* - and not in a good way.
I went straight to the Amazon app and searched for "all natural deodorant" - filtered for top-rated items to show up first. Love that feature! Schmidt's was the winner. The price made me want to run for the hills and reclaim my old spray bottle of Dove - but I bought it with one click and waited patiently, using my lemongrassish for two days until it arrived. The jar is fairly small and the deodorant itself is solid - not easily spread. It does come with a plastic spatula about the size of my pinky nail which is hard plastic and gave me hella ingrown hairs in the pits. My children have now claimed said spatula as a Play Dough tool and I couldn't even find it to take a pic! I followed all of the reviewers advice - used a moderate amount, moisturized my pits with coconut oil before application, ran the jar under warm water...but nothing helped with the application process so there was no way it was helping with stink. After a week of giving it an honest try, I was tired of smelling like I hadn't yet mastered puberty.
Enter LAVANILA: The Healthy Deodorant! This stuff smells delicious. I bought a 3-pack of 2.0 oz roll-on deodorants which set me back about $20 from Sephora.com, but the trio is $16.91 on Amazon.com right now! And let me tell you, I feel classy again! I wouldn't say this compares to the 48-hour freshness touted by Dove or other brands. Sure, you will want to throw a stick in your bag to re-apply at the gym or on your lunch break, but honestly they are the perfect size and price to do so, and applying deodorant 2-3 times a day isn't that bad considering that it's made with all-natural ingredients. There's no smearing with a tiny plastic spatula, it's a simple roll up stick, doesn't irritate the skin at all, doesn't cause dark skin in the pits, and doesn't stain clothes. Trust me, I've done the black sweater test - all good! ;)
If you're looking for aluminum free, good smelling, non staining deodorant...this is it. If you want to try, show me some love for putting my pits (and the olfactory bulbs of my loved ones) at risk to find the best aluminum-free deode on the market click on and try the Lavanila Trio - I know I'm going to snag myself another trio at this price right now.
What's your favorite natural deodorant or deodorant alternative? Sharing is caring!

*Super exciting news, I'm adding reviews to Mama's Little Homeschool! Yay...and I joined the affiliate program over at Amazon.com to provide links to certain products which are featured in this post.*