During my year of working with Dr. Morrison, I have learned a great deal about healthy choices. This includes knowing the ingredients in cosmetics, soaps, cleaners, foods, a broad variety of things. What I realized is when you purchase something you are voting with your money; supporting a movement in the market, as well as its effect on your body. Until recently, I neglected to think about one of the most important products I use on a daily basis: my deodorant.

I have been using Old Spice’s Arctic Frost antiperspirant for eight years. During that time, I never even glanced at the  ingredient list. I just wanted something that fitted my criteria of smelling decent, not costing too much, having a ‘manly’ scent, and that worked: covering up my BO. About two weeks ago I ran out. I decided to see what’s in this thing I use every day of my life!

The result was pretty scary. I could bash Old Spice all day with the things I have learned from Dr. M, but instead I wanted to explore the options I had for change. I went out to the Whole Foods spin-off retail location ‘Whole Body’ and selected Burt’s Bees Deodorant.  This container was 4 oz, smelled good, and was 87, which wasn’t too terrible but more than the $3.50 of my Old Spice.

Marketing & Background:

I’m a guy, but that doesn’t mean that I’m immune to marketing. In fact just the opposite. Research says that men purchase more impulsively than women! And,  the first one I tried was definitely because of the marketing. Just about everyone knows about Burt’s Bees from their lip balm. But they have a whole line of great natural products that are effective without the chemicals. I felt great putting this stuff on because it was real. The ingredients list was impressively short and filled with things like coconut, corn, lemon, orange, rosemary…etc. and it smelled fantastic.

Function:

As for the deodorant qualities I was somewhat let down. When I finally brought myself to purchase the product, I was right down to the plastic plunger on my old stick, so I wasn’t smelling great that day. Putting the Burts Bees right over that funk made me smell almost worst, as though I had developed a deep jungle musk that wasn’t pleasant for an office. I quickly went home and showered!

The next day, after getting ready for work and showering, I applied the deodorant, got dressed and  went out into the 90 degree summer weather. It had a pleasant drag, not enough to pull out hairs like some deodorants, however it felt like its thick smear was smothering my pores, not just a fresh light coating.

Not a drop of sweat throughout the outrageously hot NYC subway trip to Manhattan and still feeling comfortable this stuff is helping my skin, not hurting. As the day progressed, and I went out for lunch and later out for dinner with friends I started to really notice that it wasn’t stopping me from sweating despite that thick application. I thought, ‘ok, it’s a deodorant, not an antiperspirant.’ However, when I smelled myself I smelled like that deep jungle musk again. Granted, this was under fairly strenuous conditions and extended use. I think it could be my imagination but it really does feel like it’s only half masking my BO, turning the smell into something different, not bad but not good.

Price, Smell & Ingredients:

The 4 oz bottle is more than the 3.5oz of my Old Spice, and for double the price. The Old Spice goes for around $3.50 depending on where you get it and the Burt’s Bees for $8 from Whole Body.

As I said before, the smell of this stuff is just great when you smell it by itself, but if you do any kind of physically strenuous tasks or live in a climate that gets over 70 degrees I would be wary. I guess you have to ask yourself if you like that clean, crisp smell or if you like something a bit more earthly. I didn’t think I was uncomfortable smelling like I did before, but as I now sniff the remnants of my Old Spice I detect a bleach-like chemical smell and I feel a lot more comfortable knowing I have real natural ingredients. Maybe that will make me sweat less.

With my experience I give the product an 8/10

Pros:

• Great smell
• Natural ingredients
• Marketing fits with what I want as a guy

Cons:

• Pricey
• Feels a bit like it’s smothering your pores