The Best Natural Deodorant

When I decided to commit to switching to natural beauty, there was no question I was starting with deodorant. Let me tell you how big of a deal this is. My armpits are possibly the stinkiest, most sweaty as they come. Yeah, think teenage boy in the summer bad. I was the girl that clinged to her clinical strength deodorant for life. It was the only thing that worked. BUT this outweighed all the health risks associated to wearing conventional deodorants. Honestly, I'm not sure I would have made this change or journey without having breast cancer diagnosis hit close to home (you can read about that here). 

It's been over a year of testing, hating, loving and back to testing. It is frustrating and plain smelly. Boy do I wish I knew what I know now. Luckily, I am 100% positive I've found something that works. But let's dive into the gists of what you should know before switching to natural deodorant:

• Girl, you need patience and commitment for this switch. Unfortunately, it's not an overnight thing. Your armpits have built up all the product for years of your conventional deodorants and need a grace period to detox. Let me tell you it's not pretty. This could take weeks to a month. 
• Do yourself a favor and try not switching during the Summer months. Like I said, it's going to get smelly. 
• After doing all that detox period, your body could get used to your natural deodorant and stop working like it did. This happened months after for me. It's disheartening--I KNOW. Many times, people end up buying several brands and rotate. It's not ideal, but something to know.
• Most natural deodorants contain baking soda and your body could be sensitive to it or become sensitive to it. There are formulations without it, but not many.
• Natural deodorants will still make you sweat, but kill the smell (after the detox period).
• While natural deodorants do work, you might have to increase the amount of times you apply it. For me, I noticed I had to apply 2-3 times a day.  

The truth is I thought I found my deodorant and it stopped working. Then, I had to start using two brands of  the deodorant for my own little concoction. I was applying that multiple times a day and still self conscious of smelling half the time. Even worse, I started to develop a sensitivity to one of deodorants. Again, I just could not give up on this process for my health. Not to mention, I wanted to find something for the women in my life and ultimately you. While this two deodorants several times a day and the occasional rash was not ideal, I stuck with it.

Then one day, I received a sample of SWAY Deodorant and I haven't looked back. As you know, I've been burned before with natural deodorant, but guys this by far has been the best natural deodorant I've used. Trust me, I have been using this skeptically for about two months, but have only good things to say. It hasn't been on the market longer than a year, but is very different from other brands. First off, they understand that there is a detox period and make a Detox Starter Kit. It comes with a roll-on deodorant and a dusting powder. While I didn't have that weird detox period, I'm certain it's because I've been using natural deodorants for the past year. The other big difference is there isn't any baking soda. They actually use apple cider vinegar in their deodorant. The funny thing is another natural brand suggests doing a detox paste with apple cider vinegar. You'll also appreciate that over time your body might need less applications and will not stain your clothes. And the woman behind the business is one of nicest business owners, so there's that. Never did I think I would be able to forgot about whether or not I put on deodorant and I can't tell you how awesome that is.

Have you thought about switching to natural deodorant or have?