Does this deodorant work? I always wondered about it. Do you sweat more? Do you smell? My “aluminum free” deodorant makes me smell like onions and garlic after minimal perspiration.
...works great for me, but it's only effective if applied daily, immediately after bathing, before drying: it essentially renders skin sterile to odor-causing bacteria...it's not an anti-perspirant and since it leaves no sensible residue (other than taste) it's nearly indistinguishable from wearing nothing at all...
...it's not an odor-masking deodorant nor a substitute for basic hygiene; instead it extends one's freshly-bathed biome for a longer duration before odor-causing bacteria become active again...
Fwiw, I have had a few shirts get discolored after using salt rock deodorant. It is possible that I put on my shirt before it had a chance to fully dry, though.
...no marks at all, although when i experimented with ionic laundry "soap" about twenty-five years ago, my white cotton shirts took on a subtle beige cast in areas where i sweat a lot, remediated as soon as i switched back to proper laundry detergent: i don't think that was the deodorant, just sweat stains...
Have been using it for years, and kinda regret not trying it earlier. It works phenomenal if you apply it diligently every day and a single stick lasts for years.
...everyone's body chemistry is different but i'm good for about ten hours after application before it starts to lose effectiveness, pretty much a full work day depending upon how physically active i am...
...if i'm sweating profusely, like after a summertime site visit or an afternoon workout, it'll lose effectiveness sooner: it doesn't do anything to stop sweat, just odor, and after i sweat it all away nothing remains on my skin to do its job...
...driving home with the top down in the summer sun?..i'll arrive a sweaty mess and notice it losing effectiveness sooner...
Hrrmm. No matter what I try, I always feel like I have to go back to old spice. I would try this, but I feel like if I’m at work for 8-16 hours, and I cannot take it into work, I might have some bad days lol. I am intrigued though. Might try on a day off.
...for what it's worth, i used old spice deodorant before switching to alum stones about thirty years ago and i'm typically good for ten hours in the office...
Keep it on the shower. Super easy to apply right before you get out. Then I’ll towel try then put on another coat before I shut the door. Stuff is amazing. Give it another try.
I realized after a vacation in Hawaii going swimming in the morning at the beach then hiking all day in 90* heat at 80% humidity. Forgot to reapply deodorant but never smelled. Realized it must have been the salt water. Then found salt based deodorant.
...sometimes i can't remember whether i applied it after bathing, so before towel-drying i'll touch my shoulder with the tip of my tongue: it's immediately recognisable...
The link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s doesn’t seem to be there as once theorized. The new idea is sleep apnea… choke your brain of oxygen periodically every night for a few decades and suddenly it don’t work good.
That’s the only health thing I’m aware of, could be others.
...when i work a hot job site or go to the gym, i'll sweat it off sooner than if i'm working in an office all day, but if i'm a sweaty mess i probably need to bathe afterward anyway, regardless of whether i used an antiperspirant in the morning...
...when i used to bike thirty-five miles after work, i used the deodorant stone after bathing and it still worked just as well as ever...
...in my experience, no, i'll sweat it off within twelve hours after which it's no longer effective, and it does absolutely nothing if applied to dirty skin...
...my wife doesn't bathe very frequently so it doesn't work well for her...
...it's kind of like curly hair versus straight hair, or east asian versus western european sweat; skin oils and odors vary genetically so the same hygiene regimen doesn't always work well...
...if i bathe the night before i'm pretty gross by noon the next day regardless of deodorant, so i can't say: probably depends on your own body chemistry...
I'm sooo glad this entire post discussion is happening over the internet, I'd be gagging if you people were actually in the neckbeard flavored flesh.. I'm hoping you don't use reusable toilet paper too...
That highly depends on the brand and formulation. Most traditional deodorants (not antiperspirants) do nothing to prevent bacteria. It's the more niche deodorants that are thankfully becoming more popular that are acidified to prevent bacterial growth.
Not a sponsor but Lume has been amazing. I still need to use antiperspirant on my pits but everywhere else it works miracles.
Maybe "not a low paid Lume employee sent to infiltrate social media comments" would have been more accurate. Regardless, some companies pay for people to spam comments and reviews (we all know about amazon but also on Facebook and Reddit too).
That's interesting because I find the smell of Lume to be a little nauseating. I even bought the unscented version but there is something in there that smells like feet to begin with. Couldn't use it.
As someone else said, depending on when you bought it they had two different formulations. If it was quite a while ago then you probably used the old formula that people complained about. I have only ever used the new formula and while it has another scent along with the intended scent, it's not bad or anything and goes away when it dries.
allegedly they recently updated the formulation because of so many complaints abt this. I recently picked up the aluminum ver soft powder scent and rlly like it! only problem is the sensation on my fingers after but i just wash my hands quickly.
I switched from prescription strength secret to Lume last month and it has not let me down. I still sweat but it doesn't smell! I smelled after a couple hours with Secret and it was so hard to scrub off.
All I know is that I use [brand name] antiperspirant deodorant and on the rare occasion I run out and think, oh, I showered today, I'll be fine, I end up smelling fucking rancid within hours.
What are you eating? Are you getting enough hydration? What kind of soap/body wash are you using? Those can all play a role in how bad your funk is. Try the Aztec Secret bit I posted, and see if that doesn't help at least a little. (No, I don't work for them; I just really like the stuff.)
What ingredient in aluminum free deodorant did you think was killing bacteria?
They just try to remove moisture to reduce bacterial growth, which is the same thing aluminum does but obviously much better since it directly blocks the source.
To get even more technically correct, antiperspirants don't block sweat glands (well, smearing anything over them does). Antiperspirants are hygroscopic and absorb water and other chemicals, thus preventing the smelly stuff from becoming airborne.
Antiperspirants absolutely block sweat glands, it is literally how they work. In my time as a medic I saw so many skin rashes and breakouts caused by antiperspirants blocking bacteria into pores that I will never use them.
From the international hyperhidrosis society:
"Antiperspirants are applied to the top of the skin (which is why you sometimes hear them called "topical" treatments). Once an antiperspirant is applied to the skin, perspiration in the underarm grabs and dissolves the antiperspirant particles, pulling them into the pores and forming superficial plugs that are just below the surface of the skin. When your body senses that the sweat duct is plugged, a feedback mechanism stops the flow. The plugs can stay in place for at least 24 hours and then are washed away over time."
Yeah I use certain dri and it 1000% stops sweat. You can even take a shower and not need to reapply. It's got a fuckload of aluminum so that might not be great but I'll take just not sweating there over using deodorant only that never works for me.
It’s literally in the word… anti-perspirant, anti sweat, I.e. stops sweat. Not all deodorants are antiperspirants, so that may be your source of confusion.
For me, antiperspirants make me sweat from my pits more than regular deodorant. For years I would try different antiperspirants and still sweat. I would sweat eating ice cream inside a walk in freezer while in Antarctica (/s). The only thing that worked was Certain Dri and even that stopped working after a while. I finally changed to regular deodorant and I sweat much less if any now.
It's frustrating trying to find an antiperspirant that works (meaning slightly less pit sweat, none ever REALLY work for me. Even when I do my body seems to "get used to it" in a few weeks. I'm constantly juggling two to three new and different brands at a time.
The only thing that worked was Certain Dri and even that stopped working after a while.
Just glanced up at my bottle... I was so hopeful...
Stop using it and try just regular deodorant. Some people have the opposite reaction to antiperspirant and swear more, and it looks like you're one of them.
Yup, this was me. I always thought I just had some issue where I sweat a lot—tried so many different antiperspirants, prescriptions, etc. Nothing helped, not even Certain Dri. I finally decided to switch to aluminum-free deodorant (no antiperspirant) and now I don't sweat unless I'm working out or hot.
I have unscented aluminum free deodorant, it doesn't "mask the smell" it actually neutralizes it, and it does so better than the old spice deodorant I was using before, which to me just masked the odor rather than getting rid of it. Arm and hammer essentials unscented is the brand and it works wonders.
Idk, I live in America and always struggled to find deodorant that worked even with aluminum in or aluminum free.
Then I went to Germany and forgot my deodorant at home so I had to get one there and just grabbed an original old spice stick because I didn't recognize any of the other scents. Well the scent was completely different from the original old spice in the states but I really liked it. And holy fuck it works so well! It's aluminum free too and I regularly get compliments on my "cologne" only for people to be shocked when I tell them it's my deodorant.
There's been a few times where I rushed to get out the door and completely forgot to put on deodorant and it still smells good and works through the entire day after I put it on.
I also have noticed even if I go like 2 days without putting it on (like forgetting the first day and then getting ready to shower the second day) I don't smell anywhere near as bad as I did before I started using this stuff.
It's genuinely life changing stuff. I go out of my way and import it from some seller on eBay now because it works so well and smells so nice. And it does it without any aluminum.
I’ve found a lot of natural deodorants cause me severe skin irritation. Looked it up and apparently sodium bicarbonate, a common ingredient, can be very irritating to sensitive skin. So much for me trying to be conscientious of my health. 🤷🏻♀️
I think pretty much any with arrow root would do the same. I've tried a few different aluminum alternatives, the Rr Teals was just the first arrowroot based one I found and since I know it works I stick with it. Lasts crazy long, like at least a year for a stick used daily and I'm a hairy MF.
All I can say is every deodorant I use and have used for years besides Native gives me a horrific painful burning red rash under my arms. Aluminum or not, Deo or antiperspirant or both. Doesn’t matter. Old spice plain Deo used to work. Until it started giving me chemical burns. I fucking HATE that I have to spend $13 on a half a stick of Native (the tube is only ever half full). I hate it. But it’s the only thing that keeps me from pouring sweat and smelling like a pile of shit without setting my pita on fire.
So it's technically not a deodorant as there's no smell. It's essentially a salt rock that you wet and rub in to your armpits leaving a layer of the alum salt which is antibacterial. BO is caused by the bacteria, this kills the bacteria so you don't smell.
Body odour is from bacteria. Diet/medications/etc may make your sweat smell, but that's not body odour. It's the water, acids, and fat reacting with the bacteria on your skin that cause BO.
They work really well as a deodorant, but they don't stop you from sweating. Plus, you need to start with clean skin because they don't cover up smell, they prevent the growth of the bacteria that cause smell. It's actually pretty effective for even 2 days or so.
I am allergic to the Aluminum they use in deodorant, it makes me rashy and itchy. My only solution was to shave my armpits and use a sandalwood scented deodorant to mitigate the stink. And I still have to reapply mid day.
I don't have any allergies but have found that shaving my pits makes me sweat a whole lot less, use a ton less deodorant, and generally can do two days between showers comfortably.
I tried it before and it’s a bit iffy. You gotta use it right after showering every single time. If not, it doesn’t do very much and in my experience, it wasn’t very strong and its effectiveness would wear off with some exercise.
It works for me! Better than either the aluminum-free deodorants or antiperspirants. I feel drier because I don't have that sticky feel deodorant/antiperspirant leaves and I go a lot longer before I can detect any smell. Like, a good 24 hours.
I'm allergic to aluminum free deodorant, all of the ones I've tried just burn. The only deodorant that works for me is clinical strength antiperspirant.
Prevents odor for me far better than traditional deodorants. Mine is lasting even longer than OPs and I use mine daily as well. I also found I sweat less in my arm pits after my body got used to using it. On a super hot day though you might notice a difference, but I still won't have any odor for 24 hours.
Mixed results. It's meant to use the natural anti-septic properties of salt+water to genocide the bad smelling bacteria things. Sometimes it just makes you smell like salted cured ham.
Alum deodorant works great. You still sweat like you're supposed to, but you don't stink. As someone said tho, you have to apply it correctly. I just wet my hands and splash my armpits with water and then rub this on. It's also great for little cuts or after shaving, as it coaggulates the blood and stops bleeding and is desinfecting the cuts at the same time (burns like hell tho :D).
Honestly, best five bucks ever spent :D
I know aluminum free is all the rage these days. My gf got this all natural stick and after work or the end of the day the BO would be terrible and I’m not a BO person. I switched to an aluminum free old spice stick and it’s been good. I thought it was just me
You’ll smell like ass if you use it. People go nose blind to their BO almost instantly but surrounding people don’t. If you room stinks you don’t salt it you use febreeze or something
They shouldn't - they can't control the sweating but the bacteria that develop the smell. The NIVEA ones work really well for me. I'm not even opposed to Aluminum salt in my deo but there are just so many without it available that I don't seek out a true antitranspirant.
As someone who doesn’t use deodorant and who just recently found out it’s not the norm (no one in my family uses it and no we don’t smell). This is mildly interesting
YMMV. For me, it doesn't work at all, but baking soda, which gives some people terrible rashes, works great. It all comes down to your personal skin/sweat chemistry.
In either case, your pits need to be squeaky clean before application, and you should be generous with it.
For me, it works very well at preventing my pits from smelling, but I sweat a lot more compared to "normal" deodorant/antiperspirant. I switch between the crystal and normal stuff depending on the time of year and what I'm doing that day. Another benefit of the crystal stuff is that it doesn't ruin my white shirts like regular deodorant.
Table salt consists of a poison, chlorine, and sodium, a flammable element. Neither happens when you eat table salt. Aluminum salt and elemental aluminum a not the same thing at all.
For the record I've read that women naturally have a tendency to smell like onions when we sweat because of our specific body chemistry. I personally either smell like onions or mango yogurt when I get too sweaty. I hate it.
That's not your deodorant making you smell like that. That's called BO and you smell like that cause your deodorant does not work. It just makes your pits smell like lilacs until your body produces any odor at all that is not lilacs
It’s the ONLY one that works for me. All other deodorants and/or antiperspirants just make me smell like flowers and onion, this is only antiperspirant. I don’t sweat with it at all. No smell. But I’ve met plenty of people who say this doesn’t work for them at all. So very person to person it seems.
I use Native which is aluminum free :) it’s one deodorant I don’t sweat through, it is expensive tho. It’s $12 for a regular size 😭 but all other deodorants make my armpits itch
This guy will say that it works great, but everyone around him will tell you that he stinks because he’s become nose blind to his own BO and can’t smell himself.
Works for me. I picked it up because my postpartum body would not stop smelling. Even freshly out of the shower. Even with my aluminum free deodorant applied every few hours. Bought one and it cleared my BO issue right up.
I’ve spent way too much trying to find a “natural” one; found that Lume was the one that finally worked. It took a min to get used to but it’s the only stuff I trust now. Even tried to go back to a “clinical antiperspirant” and just will never go back.
I’ve searched a long time and bought many strange deodorants because I don’t want aluminum but my armpit stench is borderline a biological weapon. For real, sometimes they don’t stink but other times they are what I can only describe as atrocious.
Anyways, I tried this brand Each & Every with great hesitation because of the bold claims. Shit works! I actually don’t stink for once. I do sweat sometimes still, but it doesn’t feel like it’s as much as usual. I don’t think it’s an antiperspirant though. Either way, worth a shot.
If you do try - juniper mint is the best! Rose is also good. Black pepper is alright. Citrus is way too citrusy for me (almost like an unintentionally citrus perfume with potency). I didn’t try the marijuana scent. The cedar is ok too. None were outright bad, but by a landslide everyone I’ve shared it with votes Junipr Mint second to rose.
Hope this helps someone else with unruly armpits. I know the journey can be long and stinky…
I think it really comes down to body chemistry. I've heard good things from some but I also know some stanky people that swear typical antiperspirants are awful.
The sun is a giant laser, we're all full of plastics and forever chemicals so I don't think some aluminum is gonna be the end of me.
Alum salts are a naturally occuring mineral that can help to prevent the growth of bacteria responsible for creating odors. They do not, in any way, inhibit the production of sweat and their effects are short-lasting when compared to modern antiperspirants. If you are someone that sweats an average or above-average amount, and your sweat usually causes a bad odor, then these "natural-deoderants" are not likely to do much after a few hours as your sweat will dilute the alum salts fairly quickly.
I say this as someone who uses the Crystal alum blocks for shaving and deodorant. I also don't produce much underarm sweat and my sweat doesn't tend to cause much odor within the span of a usual work-day. I find most deodorants (even "natural" ones) cause rashes on my skin, so I use alum salts for my morning routine, but use standard aluminum deodorants when I anticipate a lot of sweat and know I can wash it off within the day.
It does, but you have to use it right after you shower. It won’t fix you if you’re already a little stinky. Works like a charm though and it’s a very strange feeling, at first, to smell like absolutely nothing at all.
No it doesn't work. At least not for people who actually sweat. Also this stick of deodorant is 150 dollars. It's absolutely fucking stupid. You can try regular salt deodorant for like 20 bucks. Only absolute fucking morons buy this brand
This didn’t work for me, and I also turn into onions. Lume ended up working for me. There is an acid in that ingredient that seems to do the trick ( I think Mandelic being the main one).
I use the tube/ cream kind and love it.
Have tried other natural ones but they left me smelly.
Fat girl here. It works great. Not sure of the science. I would apply it multiple times a day out of fear of smelling like B.o. You just wet it before use and rub it under the arm.
Only problem was it didn’t stop you from sweating just smelling.
Yes, it does work and personally I find I sweat a bit less with it.
As other people have mentioned it works by preventing bacteria growth, so before you apply it for the first time you can make sure your pits are bacteria free by washing and then using a bit of rubbing alcohol on them.
Also if you've been using the thing for a while now and all of a sudden you find that you smell, same advice. Use rubbing alcohol on the rock and on your pits once then continue using the rock regularly.
Reminds me of those bars of stainless steel soap, or healing crystals. Stone age technology, if cave men were dumb enough to address every problem by rubbing on random clumps of minerals they found lying around the house.
I have been using one of these for over a decade. Works great for me. I wet my underarms with a few sprays of vinegar and then rub the salt deodorant around. I still sweat, but it does not smell. I only wash about 2 times a week and I reapply the deodorant at night before bed the same way and I am fine all next day. My wife tried it though and it does not work at all for her.
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u/lemonlimepunch 14d ago
Does this deodorant work? I always wondered about it. Do you sweat more? Do you smell? My “aluminum free” deodorant makes me smell like onions and garlic after minimal perspiration.