Natural & Cruelty-free Body Care
Posted by sarahsmile on Dec 06, 2006 · Member since Aug 2006 · 37 posts
Hi, this is not food related but vegan related. I have a very personal kind of question. I use all natural and cruelty-free cosmetics and body care but I have an awful time finding a deodorant that works well. I have tried a few different brands (Tom’s of Maine and Kiss My Face) but both worked only O.K. and the Kiss My Face is so sticky. I refuse to by anything from the drug store because they ALL test on animals. Any suggestions??
No, but I've got the same problem. Tom's of Maine does NOTHING to help combat body odor and wears off pretty much instantly. Same goes for the Kiss My Face roll on deodorant. I'm a massage therapist (in training), and I need something to help with the hot and sweaties after several clients.
Has anyone tried the alum crystal thing? I keep wondering if it works.
I tried a natural deodorant that I felt worked okay, but I can't remember what it was-- I think it was Jason. The problem for me is that both natural and commercial deodorants attack my delicate underarm skin and I get terrible, cracking, red rashes that leave the skin peeling. I don't know why my pits are the most fragile part of me, but they are-- even sweat (if I leave off the deodorant entirely) will give me a bad rash. I freak out every time I hear about links between deodorant and breast cancer, or about ingredients in deodorant being dangerous to health, such as aluminum or propylene glycol.
These are wonderful resources for cruelty-free body care, but I could wish that they were organized by product type rather than by company:
http://www.caringconsumer.org/resources_companies.asp
http://www.choosecrueltyfree.org.au/
Mitchum deodorant (and any Revlon product) is made without animal testing, and it works like crazy-- I am unfortunately sensitive to it, but you may not be! I don't think it qualifies as "natural" though... it's an imperfect solution.
I bought a stick of Tom's of Maine once... and I swear that it actually amplified my underarm odour and stimulated my sweat glands. Gross, but no joke.
I've been using Jason brand Deodorant Stick (Apricot scented) for the past couple years with great success. It doesn't prevent me from sweating entirely (I'd actually be a little concerned if it did, yikes), but it does a good job of keeping the moisture down and odour away. I smell mildly of apricots most of the time, and it's quite nice. ;D They have other scents too, if apricots don't tickle your fancy. Oh, and I run/bike/kayak/hike a lot (well okay, I did before I broke my arm in a mountain biking accident, it's hard to get back into the swing of things), and it seems to last right through these activities. It came in handy on hot days when I was an Interpreter in a national park, I was a sweaty guide (no thanks to the horribly un-hiking-friendly uniform) but a nice smelling one. ;)
I tend to avoid Kiss My Face products due to their paraben content. All natural my ass! It was very difficult for me to let go of their Peaches & Creme moisturizer. It smells exactly like fresh peaches. When we separated I was devastated!
I used to use the crystal type deodorant and it worked fine (at least I thought it did - maybe my friends would tell you something different!) Now I've been using one from Lush Cosmetics called Aromacreme. It's a soft deodorant that you rub on with your fingers. I love it! You might have to play around with it a bit. I had a very bad reaction to it at first but I found that if I rub it between my fingers to soften it and put it on armpits still damp from the shower or bath it doesn't bother me. Lush makes many other deodorants too and if you're lucky enough to be near a store they'll give you samples to try and find what you like best. You can check out their products at www.lush.com.
The crystal sticks have kept me smell free although they don't stop wetness.
I would definitely recommend using it on the bottoms of your feet -- what a difference when you take your shoes off on a hot summer day or are going shoe shopping!
I have used the Crystal Rock with great success for almost 2 years now. I usually put it on twice a day (at night and in the morning). In the morning, if I know I'm going to be doing something that might cause me to be extremely sweaty, I sometimes also spritz a little body perfume under my arms after applying the Crystal Rock.
Thanks everyone! I have a ton of new things to try.
ah! mdvegan! There is hope yet that KissMyFace and I will be reunited! I've been pining away for that moisturizer for too long. ;)
i just learned about internal deodorizing using chlorophyll. (it's extracted from alfalfa)
you might be able to do the same thing just by eating more green veggies.
Absolutely nothing worked for me, until I decided to try plain old baking soda. I will never use anything else! It even works better than any of the mainstream deodorants I used to use before becoming vegan.
towanda, do you moisten it and rub it on, or dust it on like powder, or what? I'm intrigued!
i have the same problem for the most part, but i really like the Jason Aloa Vera deodorant. it works the best out of everything i've tried thus far
I have used the crystal to good effect, having found that commercial drugstore deoderants irritate my skin. BUT bear in mind that the crystals contain aluminium clorhydrate which has been linked to breast cancer. Currently I buy a stick from the healthfood store which is based on aloe vera. The brand is "Health and Aloe" but that may be a Spain-only thing. It was expensive (like $4) but is lasting a good long time, I think I've had it for almost a year and it's still going. Very light, pleasant fragrance and effective on smells.
What a wonderful idea to use baking soda. Kinda speaks badly for our society when we forget about the basics... ::)
Like duckalucky, I'm very intrigued - do you make a paste and rub it lightly on, or dust it with some sort of brush, or something else entirely?
While at the library last week, I borrowed "How It All Vegan" --chocked full of interesting recipes and tidbits. In the back it has homemade vegan personal care recipes. Their deodorant suggestion is 1/2 cup cornstarch + 2-5 drops of essential oil. Dust on with powder puff or hand. I haven't tried it. I imagine that baking soda would be dusted on as well. I was thinking about the properties of each, cornstarch and baking soda, and it seems to me that it would be more effective to combine them, but that's just my thought.
Yeah, I want to know about baking soda, too.
A really nice company that makes platbased body is www.lush.co.uk :D It's SOOO nice, not tested on animals and good for you.
I was in the same position as you months ago..... Looking for a cruelty-free deodorant for myself and my fellow friends...LOL!!!
I've tried Toms of Maine and Kiss My Face...none of those were favorable!
I can only rave about the Thai Crystal Roll-On (the only thing you must know is not to re-apply if your arms aren't clean, since it's odorless it takes on the scent of your underarm. Hope that made sense..) And the best thing about it is it's only mineral salt and water. This stuff has worked better than any commercial brand I've used. One application per day is fine for me.
Tamika :)
I love Lush's natural products. I haven't tried Lush's deodorant, but will give it a try.
I highly recommend the Lush's "Dream Cream" hand and body cream for exteremely dry, cracking skin, eczema, if you haven't discovered it already. It's on the company website and also available at amazon.ccom at the link below
http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Cream-Hand-Body-LUSH/dp/B000225ZJM/ref=sr_1_1/102-0127042-8579312?ie=UTF8&s=beauty&qid=1173809452&sr=1-1
It's made with oat milk, chamomile, rose water, tea tree oil and other natural ingredients. I bought it after unsuccessful prescription creams for eczema. It's $20.95, but you get twice as much as you get in a tube of the prescription stuff that I got for the $20 co-pay. It works great and you don't need to use a lot either.