Those who follow me on Twitter will know one important fact about me: I have debilitating anxiety issues and have had for most of my adult life. What’s strange about anxiety is that the symptoms often change. My brain shifts the goalposts. So, I could work really hard to get control of the panic attacks and hyperventilating, but then my brain will change focus and make me sweat. It’s exhausting and I’m always searching for new ways to cope with it. What has happened in recent years is that I’ve started sweating a lot in situations that make me fearful. So, while I still have to deal with the anxiety, I now also have to deal with the embarrassing symptoms too and my deodorant is regularly letting me down. So, I decided to try a natural deodorant balm instead. Step forward Native Unearthed’s Activated Charcoal Natural Deodorant Balm!
This is completely different from any deodorant I have used in the past. I hate aerosols and as I previously said, my usual deodorant, which is a Nivea roll-on, is not doing much to help at all. The activated charcoal deodorant comes in a small jar with a screw-top lid. On opening my first impression was that it looked disgusting, but smelled like heaven. There’s a subtle scent of lavender which isn’t overpowering and is just pungent enough to feel soothing.
The balm itself is firm. It takes a little bit of effort to get it out of the jar, so perhaps some kind of spatula in the lid might be a good investment for the brand – but I know this all costs money to produce and would cut into the brand’s profits and since they’re not well-known yet, I can see how that might not be viable. According to the side of the jar you should “use the spatula” but I didn’t get one of those. I used the back of a teaspoon to get it out and put it onto my skin, using a pea-sized amount as directed.
What’s great about using a natural deodorant is that it is paraben and aluminium free. To be honest, I didn’t know that deodorants needed to be aluminium free, but here we are. Every day’s a school day. It’s formulated mostly from baking soda, charcoal and some nice scented oils, such as coconut, rosehip and lavender. There’s also shea butter in there to keep your skin lovely and moisturised and arrowroot, which kills fungi, kills bacteria and is just an ideal natural product to have in a deodorant.
Ok, to sum up, the things I liked about this were the smell and the fact that it’s all natural. It didn’t work any better than my conventional Nivea roll-on deodorant, but that’s ok because it didn’t work any worse than it either. I reapplied about the same number of times I would with a roll-on too. So, the question is whether I want to pay a little bit extra for a natural product and feel all virtuous or stick to my chemical laden cheap roll-on. This Native Unearthed product is not tested on animals, uses high-quality, vegan ingredients and can be easily purchased on the high-street for £7.99 at Holland and Barrett, so it’s not like I’ll have to jump through hoops to buy it, but it does seem a bit expensive just for a deodorant, especially when I’m currently supplementing my income with Carer’s Allowance. The short answer is that yes, I would re-purchase but only when my finances are healthier.
How important is wearing a natural deodorant to you?
The best natural deodorant to use nowadays is charcoal deodorant. Natural charcoal deodorant is made up of activated charcoal, shea butter, cocoa butter, and a blend of essential oils, among other nourishing natural ingredients. Activated charcoal is made from burning wood, regular coal, or other natural materials. This enables the charcoal to create porous surfaces that help suck out impurities from the skin. Visit my blog to know more http://charcoaldeodorant.org