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In the Facebook groups I follow, there is one question that keeps coming up over and over again—“Can anyone recommend a zero-waste deodorant that really works?”
I thought it was a strange question to continually come up, but there seems to be a need for a good answer, so I took it upon myself to do some more in-depth research and figure out which natural deodorant really works.
You might be wondering, what makes a deodorant zero-waste? For the purposes of my research, I went with a product packed in a glass jar, and lid that can be recycled. There were a few minor differences in packaging beyond that, which I’ll explore in more detail.
I researched, ordered, and tested three zero-waste deodorants:
- Piper Wai
- Meow Meow Tweet
- Kaiame Naturals
All three are vegan, cruelty-free, and aluminum-free. They all are applied in tiny amounts, by rubbing them into your underarms with your fingers.
What I came to realize after testing was there are three key ingredients in a natural deodorant:
- Baking soda—absorbs sweat and neutralizes bacteria
- Activated charcoal— absorbs sweat and neutralizes bacteria
- Magnesium-- neutralizes bacteria
I’ll get right to the point--the winner is….Kaiame Naturals!
Kaiame Naturals has all three of these ingredients, as well as another ingredient, colloidal silver, which is a powerful anti-bacterial agent.
For three weeks, the Kaiame Naturals lasted all day, better than a conventional deodorant. I never got the sweat-mixed-with-chemicals smell half way through the day that I got with conventional deodorant. It kept me mostly dry, better than a conventional anti-perspirant. I still sweat when I normally would, but the deodorant wasn’t blocking my pores with aluminum, just absorbing the perspiration with charcoal and baking soda.
It also edged out the Piper Wai with the scent, and this is a personal preference. It has a very faint scent which disappears quickly after applying. It says it’s Lavender scented, but I think it is more tea tree oil (which is one of its ingredients).
One other little advantage is the texture of the Kaiame naturals, which is slightly softer than Piper Wei, and rubs in easily.
Kaiame Naturals comes in a glass jar with a steel lid, so it’s fully recyclable. (I forgot to make note of the outer packaging when I received it though.) Because it’s so concentrated, this little jar lasts quite some time. After three weeks of daily use I still have more than half the jar.
Piper Wai was the first natural deodorant I ever tried, years ago when the two inventors were on Shark Tank. I have been a big fan of it, because it is effective and natural. I emphasize that it is effective, because you will not stink all day when you use this. But it didn’t win this contest for me because of two little things: the plastic lid and the strong scent.
Granted, the strong scent, which is mostly tea tree/eucalyptus, is a result of the many essential oils they use for anti-bacterial and odor-blocking purposes. And it’s not off-putting, just strong. The great thing is it’s a gender-neutral scent.
It should be noted that the texture is a little stiffer, so I often find that when I’m rubbing it around, little “crumbs” fall off.
I still put it up right up against Kaiame, and will definitely use it up, but I’ll continue to purchase Kaiame after this.
Piper Wai comes in a glass jar with a plastic lid, which has a better style, but is ultimately not recyclable. It was sent in a very small bubble wrap bag. It’s also very concentrated, and a little jar will last for a few months, depending on how much or how little you use.
Meow Meow Tweet had really good reviews, but man, it did not work! By the end of the day I had a serious case of BO. I gave it three days just to be fair, but it didn’t work for me.
My guess is it didn’t work because it does not contain either baking soda or charcoal, however one of their selling points is that it does not contain baking soda because some people get rashes from it.
It looks like arrowroot powder is meant to be the moisture-absorbing agent, but I was still quite…moist.
I do like that many of their ingredients are fair-trade and/or organic. The scent is very light and pleasant, also from tea tree oil.
Meow Meow Tweet comes in a glass jar with a metal lid and it’s packed in a small paper box, so it is recyclable. I imagine it would also last a long time, but I won’t be keeping it to find out.
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Hope that gives you some options for adding less trash to the landfill and buying more natural products! I still have two more zero-waste, natural deodorants on my list to test, Pure Chimp and Schmidt’s, so I’ll update when I get to them. In the meantime, take care and stay fresh!
~Sarah