This may be getting close to TMI for you, Dear Reader, but I just have to share this great personal find. I've been wanting to avoid standard antiperspirants for years now, for all those bad juju reasons we've all heard about -- and because rolling aluminum bits into my body on a daily basis just seems stupid, quite frankly. (For what that does, read the postscript.)
However, this posed a big, big problem because while I can deal with the transition from anti-perspirant to deodorant okay, I just did not want to ... well ... stink. There I said it: stink. Smell. Clear a room smell-bad. This is a big deal for me, and I bet it's a big deal for you. Sweat is one thing. Stink is another.
So, imagine how thrilled I was after all this trial and error to find Tom's of Maine's 24 Hour Crystal Confidence Roll On Deodorant. I like the Citrus Zest version, because the scent is so nice. I also like that it works.
Not to say that other natural deodorants didn't work -- they just didn't work for me after around 3 -4 hours. Working from home, this is easier to accommodate than my past life in the Office. I had gotten into the habit of using some of the other versions periodically during the day, because forewarned was forearmed. Better to be a little nuts and add a little more here and there, than have a Deodorant Failure. Funk is bad.
No need with Tom's of Maine's 24 Hour Crystal Confidence. Now, it doesn't last me for 24 hours. But it'll go a good 12 or more. And that, to me, is just fine.
Try it -- see what you think.
PS - Potassium alum vs aluminum in anti-perspirants
Tom's of Maine Crystal Confidence does contain potassium alum, but this is different from commercial antiperspirant's aluminum component. Potassium alum has a different chemical composition; you can buy it in solid, crystal form as Thai Sticks if you prefer that to Tom's version, and from what I've read, it's not absorbed into the skin. It's too big, cellwise.
Potassium alum lies on your skin and kills baceria; in the commercial anti-perspirants, some form of aluminum ( aluminum chloride; aluminum zirconium tricholorohydrex glycine; aluminum chlorohydrate; aluminum hydroxybromide; aluminum hydroxide) actually goes into your body to chemically block the sweat glands from releasing their liquid. Apparently, the sweat glands just swell up with sweat that's not allowed to escape naturally. Ewww.