When it comes to creating a sustainable personal care routine, there are many changes you can make. In this article we will tell you all you need to know about conventional and eco-friendly deodorants.
For many people, using deodorant is a part of their daily routine, which they wouldn’t want to leave out. But like so many other products, deodorants have an impact on our environment.
If you want to live a more sustainable life, looking at the products you use on a daily basis is vital. So here we look at the deodorant in relation to our planet and what you can do to reduce its impact.
The Environmental Impact Of Conventional Deodorants/Antiperspirants
It might not come as a surprise to you, but conventional deodorants aren’t the best for our environment. There are two main reasons for this:
- Water pollution
- Plastic waste
The ingredients used in conventional deodorants and antiperspirants are often harmful or even toxic for aquatic life. They enter our waterways through waste water from when we shower or wash our armpits. While many are stopped during the water treatment process, some get through.
The worst offenders are the synthetic fragrances that are used to cover up body odour. A study by Bonato et al., from 2023, has shown how detrimental the most commonly used synthetic fragrances are to our environment.
On top of that, most of the ingredients used are made from petrochemicals, which means fossil fuels. Not only is the use of fossil fuels contributing to global warming, ingredients made from this limited source tend not to be biodegradable.
This means they stay in the environment for a long time, causing harm to our ecosystems.
But it’s not just what’s in the conventional deodorants or antiperspirants that’s the problem, it’s also about how they are packaged. Plastic is often the chosen material for the packaging, which isn’t always recyclable.
Even if it is, plastic packaging is mostly made from fossil fuels. And because plastic can only be recycled two or three times, recycling isn’t the answer. So we have, whenever we can avoid plastic, unless it’s reusable.
Find out more about how conventional deodorants are bad for our planet in our article about this topic.
Our-Top Rated Eco-Friendly Deodorants
| Cleaning Products | Value For Money | Performance | Ease Of Use | My Rating | Full Review | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Excellent | Outstanding | Very Simple | 4.87/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
 | Outstanding | Great | Very Simple | 4.87/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
 | Excellent | Outstanding | Very Simple | 4.87/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
Aerosol Deodorants Contribute To Air Pollution
Aerosol deodorants and antiperspirants add an additional strain on our environment. They contain harmful ingredients, but they also contribute to air pollution. That’s because they emit so-called volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
They act as propellant to ensure the deodorant or antiperspirant shoots out at high velocity. A study from 2021 by Yeoman et al. found that aerosols are responsible for more air pollution in the UK than cars. Shocking, right?
Besides these propellants, often butane and propane in deodorants, are also made from petroleum, so fossil fuels again. Plus, to make aerosols cans work, you don’t just need the propellant but also vapour in the can.
This doesn’t leave much room for your deodorant. So you need so much more material for the packaging, which is a waste. True, most cans are made from aluminium, which can be recycled. But aluminium is in high demand, which means using more than necessary, puts pressure on production.
And aluminium production is a high-emission activity, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. This, of course, makes global warming and climate change worse.
Read our article about how bad aerosol deodorants are for our planet to find out more.
Should You Stop Using Deodorant? – I Didn’t
So what’s the solution, stop using an antiperspirant or deodorant? There are many people out there who advocate for this. Although often they cite health concerns and focus on antiperspirants.
While both terms are sometimes used to mean the same thing, there is a difference. Both are designed to stop body odour, but they achieve this in different ways.
Antiperspirants block up your sweat glands under the arm, effectively stopping your armpits from sweating. Without sweat, odour-causing bacteria can’t survive and there is no body odour.
In contrast, a deodorant creates a hostile environment under your arms to keep these microorganisms that are responsible for the smell at bay. But you still sweat, because your glands aren’t blocked.
It’s the antiperspirant and their sweat blocking function that many people say is unhealthy and therefore call for people to stop using it. The main reasons given are a supposed link between aluminium and breast cancer, which scientists don’t support, and the misconception that sweating removes toxins from the body.
Neither of those are true, but I still think that stopping my armpits from sweating is wrong. After all, it’s a natural function and helps to regulate my body temperature. So I decided to stop using antiperspirant, but not deodorant.
The reason I decided to continue to use a deodorant is that living in a society that demonises body odour, makes it really difficult to embrace your own scent. We have been conditioned, from a very young age, to associate body odour with uncleanliness.
This means that every time we sweat we feel self-conscious. Have you ever tried to smell your underarms without anyone noticing to check you still smell fresh as a daisy? Same here.
The thought of not wearing a deodorant alone makes me break out in a sweat. And I just couldn’t imagine ever getting used to it and not worrying what other people might think. So I decided: stop using deodorant wasn’t for me.
Read more about why I didn’t stop using deodorant in my article.
So what’s the alternative? Read on to find out.
Types Of Eco-Friendly Deodorants
If conventional deodorants are bad for the environment and stopping to use them completely isn’t the answer then what is? Eco-friendly deodorants. They come in different forms to suit every taste: sticks, creams and crystal blocks.
The difference between conventional and eco-friendly deodorants is the ingredients they use and the packaging. We have already seen that commonly used ingredients in deodorants and antiperspirants are synthetic, made from petrochemicals, non-biodegradable and harmful to the environment.
In contrast, sustainable deodorants use plant-based, often naturally-derived, biodegradable and safe ingredients that won’t harm our planet. They are also better for people with sensitive skin.
This is especially true for fragrances, which are the most detrimental ingredients commonly used in many products, but especially in antiperspirants and deodorants. Essential oils are the preferred way to get scent into eco-friendly deodorants.
They are natural and have a much smaller impact on our environment than their synthetic equivalents.
When it comes to packaging, eco-friendly deodorants tend to stay clear of plastic, especially single-use plastic. Apart from plastic-free packaging, refills are also popular, which is better for our planet.
So far for what eco-friendly deodorants have in common, but there are still different types:
- Natural deodorant
- Crystal salt deodorant
- Probiotic deodorant
None of these are antiperspirants. I have not been able to find an eco-friendly antiperspirant yet. While all these types are deodorants, they are different in terms of how they work.
Natural Deodorant
That’s the eco-friendly equivalent of the conventional deodorant, but not an antiperspirant. It uses ingredients that have the same functions: moisture absorption, bacteria killing and covering up odours.
The only difference is that the ingredients used are, as we have said, plant-based and biodegradable. One of the commonly used ingredients is bicarbonate of soda, which is well-known for its odour-neutralising properties.
It doesn’t give odour-causing bacteria a chance to make you smell bad. Natural minerals such as magnesium, calcium and potassium are also used to prevent bad bacteria under your arms.
So a natural deodorant will keep you dry and fresh without harming the environment.
Salt Crystal Deodorant
This type of deodorant is a different proposition. It only performs one of the functions of the natural deodorant: killing odour-causing bacteria.
Salt has antibacterial properties. You might have been told to wash a wound in salt water to prevent infections. I know our vet has recommended it when our cat had an injury on her paw.
The reason it works is because salt attracts water. When it comes in contact with bacteria, it absorbs their moisture, in effect killing them.
By using a salt crystal deodorant you create a hostile environment for bacteria in your armpit, which means body odour is prevented.
But because this type of deodorant doesn’t absorb moisture or contain fragrances, you feel damp more often, depending on the circumstances.
And without the fragrances, there won’t be a fresh smell. Now, I don’t mind, because the main reason we use deodorant is so as not to smell bad, right? But it’s a question of preference.
Probiotic Deodorant
This type of deodorant works in the same way as the natural deodorant, with one difference. To prevent odour-causing bacteria, it enlists the help of good bacteria.
You might know that our gut is full of microorganisms, including good bacteria. These help us to digest our food and keep us healthy. Well, it’s not just our gut that has these little helpers. Our skin is also colonised by them.
So rather than killing the bacteria under your arm, like the other types, the probiotic deodorant adds good bacteria to outcompete the bad ones. This way, you keep body odour at bay without destroying your microbiome in your armpits.
Probiotic deodorants do also contain moisture-absorbing and odour-covering ingredients, so that you can be sure to smell and feel fresh all day long.
If you are now intrigued and want to know more about this type of deodorant, read our guide about probiotic deodorants.
As you can see, there is quite a lot of choice when it comes to eco-friendly deodorants, but do they work? Let’s find out…
Find Your Eco-Friendly Deodorant Quiz
Answer 5 simple questions and get a personal recommendation:
Don’t Sweat It: Sustainable Deodorants Do Work
I have tried all three types of environmentally-friendly deodorants and can report that they all work. You see, they might use natural ingredients, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t effective.
We are conditioned, by adverts, to believe that man-made ingredients are better than what nature provides. This is simply not true. For one, the synthetic ingredients are very often imitating natural ones.
I have already talked about bicarbonate soda, which is highly regarded as neutralising odours, and certain minerals that kill bacteria.
Natural moisture absorbing ingredients include starch and arrowroot powder. They absorb moisture under your arms just as well as talcum powder, which is often used in conventional deodorant, but without the environmental impact.
As for fragrances, the base ingredients used by both eco-friendly and regular deodorants are the same. But they come from different sources. Limonene and linalool can be made from petroleum, but they also occur naturally in essential oils.
However, it has to be said that the scent from essential oils is subtler than that from synthetic fragrances. But that’s a small drawback, considering how bad artificial fragrances are for our environment.
If you want to find out more, read our article about how sustainable deodorants work just as well as regular ones.
Finding the Green Deodorant For You
So far so good, but with quite a good choice of sustainable deodorants available, how on earth are you going to find the one for you? Well, here are 5 things to look for:
- Look for a brand that has sustainability at its heart and who doesn’t just offer an eco range
- Check the ingredients used carefully to ensure they are plant-based and biodegradable, so they won’t harm the environment
- Look at what packaging they are using, and stay away from single use plastic
- Check reviews to make sure that the deodorant works to combat body odour
- Look for value for money, which doesn’t mean it has to be the cheapest, but you should get what you want for an acceptable price
For more detailed advice on this, read our article about switching to a sustainable deodorant.
Natural Deodorant Transition Period
One thing you need to be aware of though is that if you move away from an antiperspirant to switch to a natural deodorant, you are likely to experience a transition period.
To understand why this happens, we have to explain the difference between an antiperspirant and a deodorant. The former prevents body odour by stopping you from sweating. It does that by blocking up the sweat gland under your arms.
On the other hand, the latter does it by preventing body-causing bacteria from multiplying under your arms.
When you switch from one to the other, your body has to readjust from not being allowed to sweat to sweating again. This is the transition period and during this time, you are likely to experience the following:
- Sweating more
- Stronger body odour
Your body has to find a new balance when it comes to sweating, but the bacteria that live under your arm also have to rebalance themselves. Initially, odour-causing bacteria will increase, hence the stronger smell, but after a while a new balance is found and the smell becomes less strong again.
Everyone is different and will experience the transition period differently. Some very lucky people don’t have to go through it at all. In my experience, it isn’t a particularly comfortable phase, but it’s not the horror show that some people make it out to be.
For me, it lasted around four weeks in total. The first two weeks were the worst, when I felt damp and smelly a lot. However, since it has passed, I feel fresh and comfortable again.
If you want to know more about my experience, read my article about the natural deodorant transition period.
So there you go, you now know all you need to know about regular and eco-friendly deodorants. You are ready to make the switch and be a step closer to a sustainable life.
Our Top 3 Sustainable Deodorants
| Cleaning Products | Value For Money | Performance | Ease Of Use | My Rating | Full Review | Official Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | Outstanding | Very Simple | 4.87/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
| Outstanding | Great | Very Simple | 4.87/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
| Excellent | Outstanding | Very Simple | 4.87/5 | Read Review | Visit Website |
