By Sarah Earle

The ingredients in your typical antiperspirant or deodorant can be pretty frightening: aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex (a possible contributor to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s), cyclopentasiloxane (which has also been linked to cancer and tagged by environmental groups for possible organ toxicity and endocrine disruption), propylene glycol (a suspected carcinogenic), and the list goes on.
Nearly as frightening, though, is the prospect of using an ineffective deodorant. Let’s face it, most of us reading this article are willing to make some sacrifices for the sake of our health and a greener planet, but walking around in a stench cloud probably isn’t one of them.
I’ve tried a couple of all-natural deodorants in the past and found them to be less than stellar. So it was with some trepidation that I decided to give my right underarm a break from my tried-and-true Secret Shower Fresh invisible solid and test some products without those menacing ingredients.
And I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Even up against sultry weather and sweaty situations, all of the products fared pretty well. Either I’ve gotten less sweaty in my mid-30s, or Earth-friendly companies have really stepped up their efforts to deliver an effective product.
Bottom line: I’ll probably hang on to my Secret for really tense occasions (while it may be acceptable to smell a little funky after a five-mile run, I don’t think I’d want to risk it at a job interview), but for day-to-day stuff, I’m pretty comfortable going all natural.

Tom’s Natural Care of Maine, aluminum-free lavender deodorant
This deodorant, available at many local drug stores and supermarkets, boasts “botanical hops to inhibit the growth of odor-causing bacteria.” It does contain propylene glycol, but the rest of the ingredient list reads like a botany textbook. It went on slightly sticky but not annoyingly so, and I liked the lavender scent. (Some online reviewers complained of burning and irritation, but I didn’t experience that myself.) At the end of an 85-degree day that included gardening and house work, the old sniff test turned up very little unpleasant odor. After the next morning’s run, the Secret on my left underarm had held up a little better than Tom’s, but to be fair, I probably should have replenished it before heading out the door: It says 12-hour protection right on the label, and I was pushing 24.
Grade: B-minus
2.25 oz.: $4.24, Target

Dr. Bronner’s 18-in-1 Hemp Peppermint Pure-Castile Soap
I love this crazy stuff as a shower gel and all-natural bath soap for the kids, not to mention as a source of reading material in the shower. Quote: “Thank God we don’t descend down from perfect Adam & Eve to sinful sinner, brother’s keeper, divided slave!” I even used it to wash the dog after he had an unpleasant encounter with a skunk last year and couldn’t believe how well it got out the smell. I’d noticed while doing my shower reading that it boasts “deodorant” among its numerous suggested uses, so I decided to give it a try. At the end of a sweaty day, I can’t say I was given to as many exclamation points as the product’s label, but I liked how utterly botanical it was, and the minty scent was divine. I’d probably use it again on a quiet office day or bring it along on a backpacking trip (where stinking is all part of the fun).
Grade: C-plus
16 oz.: $9.24, Target

Kiss My Face, fragrance-free liquid rock
I was a little put off by the strange-sounding ingredients in this roll-on, also widely available at drug stores and supermarkets, but the Environmental Working Group’s cosmetic safety database (cosmeticdatabase.com: a great resource for conscientious shoppers) set my mind at ease, giving it a 2 out of 10 for hazardous ingredients. It went on a little wet, as is pretty typical of roll-ons, but dried quickly and kept me dry for several hours. Late in the day, when I was outside running around with the kids, I got to feeling a little icky, but not bad enough to need a shower before heading out to run some errands.
Grade: B
3 oz.: $5.29, Shaw’s

Lafe’s natural and organic deodorant stone
A chunk of pure natural mineral salts about the size of an ice cube, this product can be found at Real Green Goods or ordered online. For a few dollars more, you can get one that comes with a little dish (kind of like a soap dish) for keeping on your bathroom counter. One of its claims is that it’s nonstaining, a major benefit I hadn’t thought of initially when I purchased the products (and one I’m guessing applies to most all-natural deodorants). I rarely even buy white t-shirts anymore because of the ugly yellow deodorant stains that always materialize after a few months and would love a remedy to that problem. For no reason other than timing, this product got put to the ultimate test: a grueling game of soccer in a non-air-conditioned field house on an 80-degree evening. There is no way to put it delicately: I was positively pouring sweat by the time I got out of there. While it would be ludicrous to think I would still smell fresh, I didn’t notice a significant difference between my two underarms. I liked that the product contained absolutely no suspect ingredients, and while the application process of wetting the stone and rubbing it on was slightly more of a hassle than my usual deodorant stick, I’ve turned to it several times since the initial test and am happy to report that I’m still not walking around in a stench cloud.
Grade: A-minus
3 oz.: $4, Real Green Goods