Sweaty But Not Smelly: The Body Shop DeoDry Review

Periodically I give "natural" and "eco friendly" deodorants a try. There's some general concern over the use of aluminum in antiperspirants and I figure better safe than sorry, right? I've tried LUSH, Tom's of Maine, and whatever else I come across. In general, they all sucked. I ended up using the LUSH deodorant in my shoes. Poop.

 It's not that I mind sweating, but I am definitely not a fan of smelling.

The other day I was in The Body Shop because, as usual, they were having a sale and I had some birthday bucks AND a Groupon to use. Schwing! I was trying to figure out to get when I came across the DeoDry deodorant. The girl sold it pretty hard, and although I was skeptical I thought I'd give it a shot because it's only $5.

Upon reflection, it's not like $5 for deodorant is like a steal. I'm pretty sure that if you go to Walmart you can get a two pack of whatever you want for $5. But in the world of natural deodorants $5 is actually a good deal.

Here's the tagline -

Enjoy odor protection with our unique blend of volcanic minerals and refreshing essential oils with a cool, breezy scent. Contains no aluminum salts or parabens! 

And here's supposedly why it works -

Community Trade aloe vera from Guatemala is renowned for its incredible soothing, hydrating and moisturizing properties — perfect for sensitive skin.

Community Trade alcohol is made from alcohol which comes from the organic sugar cane farmers of the CADO cooperative in Ecuador.

A unique volcanic mineral absorbs moisture to help keep you dry.

I've been using the DeoDry stick for about 3 weeks and here's what I think:

• It actually does a pretty decent job of controlling odor. I mean, by the end of an average day you're going to smell a bit, but it's nothing over powering or particularly noticeable (I made Tony smell my armpits to test this).
• If you shower at night you're going to need to wash up in the morning before you reapply.
• You're also definitely going to smell after you work out. Or at least I do. And strongly. I pretty much need to shower right away.
• It keeps you relatively dry, kind of. I say kind of because my underarms feel kind of sticky and wet, but it's from the deodorant, not actual sweat.
• You're not going to be able to get away with wearing sweaters a few times before you wash them. Maybe I'm gross, but in the past I could go a few wears before washing a sweater or a cardigan. Not any more. They get pretty smelly and icky after being worn for a day.
• I got the 'Chilled & Breezy' scent, but in retrospect maybe I should have gone with the 'Fresh & Floral' like the sales lady said because the Chilled & Breezy ends up making me smell a little bit like a dude.
• It hasn't decreased my underarm irritation at all. I was kind of hoping it would, but nope.
• If I was going to an actual even which I considered important, like a job interview or special occasion, I wouldn't use this product and instead would probably go for the old fashioned bad for you but effective stuff.

So. In conclusion I think this is a pretty decent natural deodorant for every day use. There are a few others that I'd like to give a shot before I repurchase this product again, but if those don't work out I'd totally go for the DeoDry in Fresh & Floral. In fact, given it's reasonable price, I wouldn't be surprised if this ended up being my go to product in the long run.