Saturday, May 13, 2017

Underarm Shenanigans: Probiotic Deodorant Battle



Probiotic deodorant keeps catching my eye both on Instagram and on blogs I enjoy reading. Especially this review of The Dirty Goat Soap Company by my friend Jay at The Candle Enthusiast. There was a Black Chamomile scent I kept trying to catch from The Dirty Goat but was never quick enough to ensnare. Lack of success lead me to search out other probiotic deodorants crafted by small business owners. Of course, Etsy was a brilliant place to start. I landed on the Handcrafted Honey Bee Smartypits (Natural Probiotic-Infused and Aluminum Free Deodorant) and Nora Pearson: Natural Beauty Vitamin Sea Deodorant Spray. I have worn both now for weeks and decided I can now talk a bit about my experience.


The Handcrafted Honey Bee Smarty Pits Deodorant cost $5.00 for a 0.35 ounce travel size, and a full sized 2.65 ounce runs $12.00. This is a solid deodorant that you have the option for choosing baking soda free, or original formula. I went with original. Ingredients: Arrowroot powder, sodium bicarbonate, beeswax, fractionated coconut oil, avocado butter, coconut oil, fragrance, vitamin E and probiotics.
The scent is more like soft herbal lavender. It does not interfere with my perfume choices and is pleasantly mellow. 

The second one that struck me as interesting was the Nora Pearson: Natural Beauty Vitamin Sea Deodorant Spray. I chose No. 9 in "Fresh," a full 60 ml spray bottle cost $14.99. Ingredients: Witch hazel, magnesium, distilled water, propanediol (propylene glycol for skin conditioning), Lactobacillus ferment, coconut fruit extract, arnica extract (in sunflower family), chamomile extract, Dead Sea salts, essential oil and fragrance blend.  
The "Fresh" scent is a woodsy lavender with pine and cedar tones and herbal qualities. I love it. It does come on strong at first but then fades and contains itself to the pits nicely. 


Handcrafted Honeybee Smartypits

Pros:
- Great branding and packaging
- Solid goes on easily, no pilling, not dry and brittle but smooth and nourishing
- Is a workhorse, helps reduce some sweating and prevents odor even after a long day of work indoors and outside in the Florida heat
- Long lasting product, the small size has been worn quite a bit with plenty still left
- Reliable, can be ordered anytime
- A curated scent selection of: Lavender Rose, Unscented, Tweed and Spice, Eucalyptus Spearmint, Mango Coconut and maybe another one? 
- Great customer service

Cons:
- A tad pricy at $12 for a full size, but I admit, I plan on swinging it
- White reside if not careful when putting on black shirts... just like any white solid deodorant


Nora Pearson Vitamin Sea Deodorant

Pros:
- Great list of beneficial ingredients
- The spray doesn't leave a white residue
- Great packaging
- Stellar scent selection, I want to say close to a dozen scents at least
- Feels refreshing, if a little tingly in the pits
- Price is high but fair for such a large amount of product, I feel like with only using 2-3 sprays per pit, it will last ages
- Ease of ordering and availability 

Cons:
- Does not lessen sweating
- Allows for body odor to come through after a few hours, won't hold up through a whole work day or in heat/exertion
- Not great for immediately after shaving pits, will sting

Nora Pearson does offer solids too. 

Between the two I would repurchase the Smartypits without hesitation. And I will, for both Savanna and myself. I do like the Vitamin Sea Deodorant for summer time cooling, refreshing the pit area and for night time application. I do plan on repurchasing this product too. Just in a different capacity. I like the scent and beneficial ingredients. 

So yeah, not much of a battle when I would and will buy both again, but for hands-down pit protection... go with the Smartypits.

*** Hey guys! Guess what?! Colleen alerted me to the fact that Smartypits can be tried for free (with only the cost of shipping) if you sign up for their newsletter. They will then send you a link to try a travel size in each formula for FREE! (plus the cost of shipping) Go check it out! Link here. Scroll to bottom to sign up.***

15 comments:

  1. Deo shenanigans ☺. I never thought I would abandon the mass produced stuff but switched over in my mid 30s. I haven't tried any probiotics though! I was going to get some more Moona deo but have a few from other companies and am trying not to end up with too much.

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    1. They are shenanigans!!!! Finding a decent commercial deodorant was hard enough for me... I sweat a fair amount. But once I found Mitchum it was all good. But then I started getting worried about all the lymph nodes/breast cancer/aluminum chatter and decided to give natural a try. The Puur Body Tonic was ok but didn't last all day. then I tried some almond roll-on natural one from the grocery store, hated the smell and it really didn't keep me fresh. So the trial continued. I may still try to get my hands on a Dirty Goat one in a fun scent but if I can't then I would be happy with the Smartypits as my go-to deodorant. I did side eye the Moona ones but I wasn't sure if I wanted to at the time. I was focused more on the bath salt and candle. And I needed to behave. If you find one you truly love will you let me know? Oh! And my two Arcana soaps came yesterday afternoon!!!! Thank you, Jean! I am so excited!!! I will send your gift out next week. <3

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    2. Yay! ☺. The deo that works the best for me is from bluelessentials on Etsy but it's not clear and she's been on hiatus for a while.

      The clear ones I like are Moona's, I got the orange bergamot scent, and the unisex scents from LiveBeautifullyBody on Etsy. Her Urban Breeze is listed as masculine but smells to me like the powder scent from Secret. ☺ All the scents are all natural but she has a wide range of notes she uses. And she has sales regularly which is nice.

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    3. Thank you for the recs! I knew you would have some! <3

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    4. Sign up for their newsletter Jean and Handcrafted Honeybee will send you two travel sizes for cost of shipping ($3.95).

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  2. I have been eyeing natural deo for awhile now especially after reading Jay's review but I've also been worried about the whole switch over experience from store brand to natural. Jay said something about having to take steps so you wouldnt have a reaction. So that's one reason why I haven't switched, also the pricey of it all has kind of held it back but it's something I feel i need to look into

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    1. There is definitely an adjustment period! Maybe do it on a weekend or a time when you know you won't be terribly active or won't care if you are sweating and stinking. They do have a four pack travel size you can choose for $15, which is a nice little discount, like getting one free. I think I will try that pack next. And with four they will last a good long while.

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    2. Ok, Colleen let me know about some free travel sizes! Sign up for their newsletter and you will get two travel sizes for the cost of shipping ($3.95).

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  3. I headed over to the Smartypits site after reading your post and took advantage of the free starter set. I used Schmidt's for a time but once summer rolled around it just didn't keep me dry and I'd end up with pit rash. Excited to give Smartypits a try...thanks Julie!

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    1. Wow! A free starter set? How cool. I looked around but did not see anything about that. Could you send me a link so I can post it here for any readers that might want to use it? Thank you!

      Pit rash is awful! I hope Smartypits will be a good match for you! <3 Have a great weekend, Colleen!

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  4. Who would have thought natural deodorant would provide such fascinating reading? But it honestly does! These things are must-know when venturing into new product territory.
    I'm so happy I found The Dirty Goat and last I saw all scents were back in stock.
    The rose hasn't fared as well as the pine festive one, but the scent turned out beautifully. The consistency has pilled or flaked more and I've used this one up more quickly, but it's been warmer out. Summer will be the true test.
    The deodorant free option from Smarty pits sounds perfect, I'm going to bookmark these pages. It's really not something I want to run out of because although pricier, I know I'll never look back on drugstore kinds again.
    Thanks for the review and more natural products for the pits:)

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    1. LOL! Right?! But it does... it totally does.

      Yes, she does have the yuzu, rose and vetiver in stock pretty much all the time, but I was really REALLY wanting the Black Chamomile. I can't really see myself using a grapefruit or straight rose for deodorant but I might swing the vetiver. Thank you for the feedback. <3

      I am curious how the baking soda free version compares to the original formula now too. I may buy a travel size just to test it out. Thank you for spurring me on to try new natural deodorants!

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    2. Sign up for their newsletter and they will send an original formula and baking soda free one for the cost of shipping ($3.95). I went rebel and bought unscented. Ohhhh man! Talk about a test.

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    3. Awesome, I will sign-up, thank you! I'm hoping for a re-release of the Black Chamomile soon, myself, as it's my favorite. If I see it, I'll snag one for each of us.

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