My Honest Natural Deodorant Journey: The Best Brands, Rashes, and Ruined Clothes

If you are looking for a natural deodorant that actually works without making your armpits itch or ruining your favorite shirts, you are in the right place. I have spent a lot of time trying different brands to find what works. Here is my honest breakdown of what I’ve tried, why I’m moving away from certain ingredients, and how to fix the dreaded oil stains on your clothes.

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Why I looked for a natural deodorant

I use to use Dove back in the UK but when I moved to New Zealand, for some reason it stopped worked for me. I don’t know if they have a different ingredients list but I just found it stopped working for me. So I started to find something else.

I also heard about trying to avoid aluminum from deodorants so thought it was a good opportunity to try some other brands.

This articles goes over some of the things I’ve learnt so it hopefully helps you in your search for a deodorant that can work for you.

Why is my natural deodorant giving me a rash? (Baking Soda vs. Oils)

A lot of people search for why their natural deodorant causes a red, itchy rash. Most of the time, the culprit is sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). It is way too alkaline for sensitive skin and can cause nasty friction burns. If your armpits are irritated, it can be worth switching to a bicarb-free formula.

However, moving away from baking soda usually means switching to heavy oil-based formulas, which have their own pros and cons:

Coconut Oil & Shea Butter:
- Pros: They moisturize your skin and glide on smoothly.
- Cons: They are heavy oils. If you use too much, they transfer onto your clothes and leave dark, stubborn grease stains under the arms.
Perfumes & Alcohol:
- Pros: They make the product smell amazing.
- Cons: Synthetic fragrances, heavy essential oils, and alcohol are major triggers for skin irritation and burning, especially after shaving.

Slo Natural Deodorant Review: My Favourites and Flaws

I started out trying the New Zealand brand Slo (you might know them by their old name, Aotearoad), which comes in eco-friendly cardboard tubes.

The Favourite: The Slo Patchouli + Rose is my absolute favourite. It has a gorgeous, earthy floral scent and feels really nice to apply in summer.
The Sensitive Option: Because of underarm irritation, I also tried their Bicarb-Free Wild Orange version. It’s much gentler if you are trying to heal a rash. But it’s worth noting it can still sort of feel like it’s scratching the skin if it’s cold.
The Issue: The problem is that these are quite heavy oil deodorants. Over time, I’ve noticed they have stained so many of my clothes with oily patches, which is why I am moving away from them now.

How to get natural deodorant stains out of clothes

If you are in the same situation as me and have a pile of shirts ruined by greasy underarm marks, don’t throw them out yet! Standard laundry powder won’t shift these heavy oils, but this quick method works:

Apply Dish Soap: Put a few drops of regular liquid dish soap (like Dawn or Fairy) directly onto the grease stain. Dish soap is designed to cut through heavy oils.
Scrub: Give it a gentle scrub with an old toothbrush to work it into the fabric.
Soak: Soak the area in a mix of one part white vinegar and four parts warm water for 30 minutes to dissolve the waxy buildup.
Wash: Pop it in the washing machine on a warm cycle. Make sure the stain is completely gone before putting the shirt in the dryer, or the heat will bake the oil in forever.

Crystal Unscented Mineral Deodorant Review

Because I am moving away from heavy oils and baking soda, I just started using the Crystal Unscented Mineral Deodorant Stone. It’s made of natural mineral salts that stop odor-causing bacteria without leaving any marks on your clothes.

So far, so good: It isn’t sticky, and there is absolutely zero risk of oil stains. I can give an update once I’ve used it more.
The Packaging Sucks: My only complaint is the packaging. It costs almost $10, but the plastic container is really hard and brittle. I didn’t even realize it was actually cracked and broken when I got it. It still works, but it’s annoying for the price. If it gets too annoying to hold, I’ll probably just move the crystal block into another plastic pot.

Other Natural Deodorants I Have Personally Tried & Tested

I have been tested out a few popular brands while exploring natural deodorants, and wanted to share my completely honest thoughts on them:

1. Schmidt’s Bergamot + Lime

The Good: This one smelled absolutely amazing and fresh. It actually did a really good job of stopping body odor throughout the day, too.
The Bad: Unfortunately, it really irritated my underarms. Schmidt’s uses baking soda in this specific formula to fight odor, which can be a bit too harsh if you have sensitive skin or after shaving.

2. Schmidt’s Charcoal + Magnesium

The Good: Since the citrus one gave me a rash, I tried their Charcoal and Magnesium stick, which is supposed to be gentler. It had a nice, subtle, clean rain scent.
The Bad: I found this one to be quite expensive for what it is. Honestly, I just wasn’t that taken with it overall and didn’t feel it was worth the higher price tag.

3. NOW Solutions Rose + Ylang Ylang

The Good: I picked this one up because the floral rose and ylang-ylang scent sounded lovely, and it did smell really nice out of the stick. It felt very soft going on less scratchy.
The Bad: It just didn’t work very well for me. It didn’t keep me fresh for long, especially compared to the coconut oil-based deodorants I usually prefer. It seems like my body just responds much better to coconut bases!

Other Natural Deodorants I’m Looking Into

Essano Spring Bloom Natural Deodorant

If you want a liquid roll-on instead of a solid block or a heavy paste, another supermarket option is the Essano Spring Bloom deodorant. It uses fermented sugar cane instead of baking soda or aluminum.

(Note: They recently rebranded this from their old “Lily Flower & Chamomile” scent, so some online reviews mention the smell is a bit different now).

Below are various reviews of the different scents online

From what I can see the reviews are quite mixed. I thought the spring bloom smelt nice but now I see the review that is smells like toilet spray and actually can see that now but initially thought was nice 🫣, the spring bloom definitely has the strongest smell, so not sure how it smells on but if you want something with a stronger smell that was one with the strongest smell.

Crystal Pomegranate Roll-On

I smelt the Crystal Pomegranate Roll-On and the other crystal roll ons. It uses the same mineral salt protection as the unscented stone but in a liquid format with a fruit scent. I personally found the pomegranate to have the strongest smell again out of them. If you have sensitive skin might be worth avoiding scented deodorants.