little white truths

I'm still pushing out the Ethique reviews and this deodorant is next on my list. As you may know, I switched to natural deodorants last year because I found that normal ones were irritating my armpits, and I haven't looked back since.

This one does work, but it's annoying to use and it also keeps sweating out oil - which I'm not sure it's meant to do (and it's not hot here so I don't know why the formula is doing this). More on that below.

Ethique claims/product details:

• A gentle deodorant bar for all skin types, including sensitive skin
• Helps prevent body odour and lessen sweating
• Aluminium free
• Formulated without baking soda to be gentle on skin 
• Zinc oxide, magnesium hydroxide and spiny bamboo extract (which can absorb twice its own weight in moisture and oil) help to keep odour at bay for day-long freshness
• Contains sweet almond and jojoba oils to keep skin nourished and smooth, and has the delicious fragrance of lavender oil and natural vanilla
• Made in New Zealand
• Certified carbon neutral company; certified palm oil-free; certified cruelty free; certified vegan and gluten free
• RRP $23.99 AUD for 70g, but do shop around

Verdict

When I first opened this product, it was saturated in oil (you can see the sweat marks in the second photo above), and it has kept sweating oil for the two months I've had it open.

I'm not sure whether others' bars have done this, but I wonder if that's why mine is super hard so I can't run it along my underarms to apply it (I have to scrape some off with a fingernail) and also why it doesn't apply or spread well (it's dry and crumbly so it doesn't stick easily to my skin).

It's a natural deodorant in bar form and mine has been something of a nightmare to use because it's not easy to apply. It does smell faintly of lavender and vanilla, but the scent isn't strong and it has also faded to non-existence since I've opened it.

The good news about the product, though, is that it does work. Many natural deodorants don't stop my clothes getting smelly, but this one does and that's a plus. The bad news is that I find it hard to get a coating across my underarms for the reasons mentioned so I need to apply quite a lot each time, which means I'm getting through it faster than I should be.

I've also seen from the reviews that it can stain pale clothing due to the colour, and while I haven't had that issue (I mostly wear dark clothing - especially in the cooler months), I can see how that would happen so it's something to be aware of.

Another thing to note is that quite a few reviewers have said that this deodorant isn't strong enough for them so it doesn't stop them from stinking, and while I personally haven't had that issue, I wanted to mention it all the same because enough people have made that comment that it's worth raising.

Overall I think this deodorant works, but mine sweats everywhere and it's hard to apply so I wouldn't buy it again. While I may have received a dodgy bar, I don't like it enough to take the chance on a second bar and I've used other natural deodorants that I prefer (eg Black Chicken does a great one, which I'll be reviewing soon).

Not for me.