Aluminum-free deodorant: what to know before you switch

Short answer: "aluminum-free" means the product is a deodorant, not an antiperspirant. Without aluminum salts, nothing in the jar reduces perspiration — the formula works on odor instead. Once you understand that trade, choosing gets a lot simpler.

What aluminum does in a conventional stick

Aluminum compounds form temporary plugs in sweat ducts, reducing the sweat that reaches the surface. That's a functional change to the body, which is why the FDA regulates antiperspirants as over-the-counter drugs with an active-ingredient panel. Effective at its job, and clearly labeled.

We won't tell you aluminum is dangerous. Regulators in the U.S. and Europe continue to permit it in these products, and we're a skincare company, not a research institute. Our reason for leaving it out is simpler: we set out to make a minimal, fat-based cosmetic for underarm skin, and an OTC drug active has no place in that formula.

What changes when you go aluminum-free

• You'll sweat like you normally do. Expect to notice it for the first week or two if you're used to an antiperspirant.
• Odor control depends on consistency. Daily application on clean, dry skin does more than a heavy occasional layer.
• Formula quality matters more. With no drug active carrying the product, the base and the odor-control ingredient are doing all the work.

How to read an aluminum-free label

1. No Drug Facts box. A true deodorant is a cosmetic and won't have one.
2. Find the odor-control ingredient. Common ones are baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), magnesium hydroxide, zinc salts, or essential oils. We use magnesium hydroxide.
3. Look at the base. Coconut oil, shea, seed oils, propanediol, water, or — in our case — grass-fed and finished tallow.
4. Watch the length. Fewer ingredients means fewer variables if your skin reacts.

Where ours lands

Four ingredients: 100% grass-fed and finished beef tallow, organic cold-pressed unrefined coconut oil, organic arrowroot powder, and magnesium hydroxide. No aluminum, no baking soda, no synthetic fragrance, no seed oils. Hand-rendered and hand-poured in Taylor, Texas.

Keep reading

See the four-way deodorant comparison, read why some people prefer baking-soda-free formulas, or browse every ingredient we use and the sources behind our claims.