I’ve finally put together the following vlog that answers one of the questions/comments that I get regularly when I talk about my lifestyle of avoiding toxic chemicals in my beauty and body produccts.

1. What do you use for deodorant?
followed by
2. That crystal deodorant didn’t work for me/someone I know uses it and they stink

Short answer: I use a crystal deodorant (affiliate link) in combination with an all-natural solid deodorant from Nature’s Gate (affiliate link). The longer answer usually involves explaining why I avoid the chemicals in conventional commercially produced deodorants and antiperspirants, which I went into with more detail in my post about how I don’t wear antiperspirant. I’ve also provided more educational links farther down this post below the video. Personally, I am avoiding aluminum and phthalates.

As for the follow-up/second question – I have found that when I’ve recommended crystal deodorant to personal friends, they always tell me “it didn’t work”. Recently I started asking questions about how the deodorant was applied and found that it is most likely a problem of incorrect application. There’s really no way to describe this where you’re not going to get bored and stop reading, so I made you a video. You’re welcome

Here you are: why the crystal deodorant “doesn’t work” {video here}

Resources on deodorants and antiperspirants:

• Dangerous Chemicals in Deodorant and Antiperspirants from Natural Cosmetics
• This article from Cancer.gov says that no conclusive evidence has been found linking antiperspirants/deodorants with cancer but there is conflicting evidence regarding the variety of chemicals that are in these products and the action of purposefully plugging the pores in the underarms.
• Quick breakdown of how ingredients in deodorants can affect young people from Education.com.
• To get controversial, some green folks even avoid the crystal because it has aluminum from the earth (not the kind linked to Alzheimer’s). Jennifer wrote a post about how crystal deodorant does contain a type of aluminum.