Is Aluminum Deodorant Bad?

Is Aluminum Deodorant Bad?

We get asked this question all of the time, and the short answer is, we believe so, and we’re not alone. Let’s just say that we have done enough research that we won’t sell you any deodorant that contains aluminum and we’re happy to tell you some of the reasons why. 

Let’s back up a bit before we get too much into science. Keep in mind that your body sweats as a way to remove toxins from your body. Actively sweating is a great way to clear the lymphatic system since it releases toxins from the body. Sweating is your friend, but it’s not always a great time to have sweaty and smelly sweat… so what to do? Our thought, is Aluminum is a metal, metals are not your friend. Aluminum salts are added in to deodorants to keep your from sweating. So before we even talk about the scientific studies linking aluminum to breast cancer and Alzheimers, think about this… Your body naturally removes toxins from your body to keep you healthy. Amazing! We are taking products that are potentially hazardous to our body and applying them to our healthy body to stop ourselves from sweating. We are telling our body, stop removing the toxins, keep those toxins inside. We are doing this every single day. What would the long term impact of continuously using aluminum in our deodorant do to our lymphatic system (our system that cleans our body in many beautiful ways)? So we say, sweat on!!!! 

Deodorant Articles & Studies We Think You Will Care About

Oh, those studies that I mentioned above, are here: 

• Did you know that aluminum was actually linked to breast cancer in a 2009 study? 
• Alzheimer's disease linked to exposure to aluminum
• Alzheimer's disease and aluminum study
• Are Deodorant Crystals Safe? 

Aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex glycine is the type of aluminum companies often use in antiperspirants. Did you know that this ingredient is prohibited and restricted in cosmetics and other beauty products in Canada and Europe? So why are we allowing companies here in the USA to include this ingredient in our personal care items? We think this is wrong, and we don’t trust it, so none of the personal care products you find at 4 The Greater Good will contain it. We know, that’s why you love it here, because we do the work of removing all of the sketchy products made of legal but totally gross ingredients.

So now that you have decided to switch from deodorant to a natural deodorant, what can you expect? Lucky you, we wrote an entire blog about that here, “How to Painlessly Switch to All Natural Deodorant” In short, give your body an opportunity to transition, and remember the smell is the bacteria that grows on the perspiration. So simply wash your under arms a bit more frequently while you transition. Also, keep in mind after a couple of weeks your body will rid of all of those toxins that aluminum was trapping inside and the smell will be much better. 

This is How Much We LOVE You

Now that you know how much aluminum is (in our opinion) a bad option for deodorants, what are some aluminum free deodorants that actually work? 

The good news for you all is that during the shut down of 2020 (and before that to be fully transparent) we have been trying every natural deodorant we could get our hands on; or at least the plastic free ones. Here is the catch, most of them do not work. That’s the truth. They have baking soda that irritates the underarms, or they claim to help but they just don’t cut it. We found quite a few natural deodorants that met our threshold in terms of good ingredients, sustainably harvested ingredients, plastic free, and fair wages to the makers… the problem is that most of them left us still smelly. Sad but true. 

Fortunately for my friends and family, I was doing lots of this testing at home… Unfortunately for my kids, they had to deal with it ;) The good news here is the testing led me to make some huge realizations that I want to share with you all. 

What Natural Deodorants Actually Work?

The first is, a best selling & award winning plastic free, aluminum free deodorant from Kokoa Botanics, Caribbean Coconut. Their most popular deodorant smells like a vacation with its sweet scent of Caribbean Coconut, and the powerhouse of Magnesium Hydroxide, Baking Soda, and a few other incredible ingredients, make it our favorite deodorant too! 

Next up we love the way Magnesium and Zinc work in terms of helping to mitigate odor. So we are huge fans of the Kokoa Botanics Zinc + Magnesium Deodorant. This deodorant comes in a grapefruit & ylang ylang scent, thanks to essential oils. This deodorant works extremely well and we are big fans. This deodorant comes in a cardboard tube and is plastic free and of course aluminum free and vegan! We are proud to carry this deodorant and recommend this very highly if you are ready to make the switch; or if you have already made the switch but are less than thrilled with your current natural deodorant. 

Next on our list we loved Ethique’s natural deodorant. These ingredients are a 3 rating on the EWG website, and is also aluminum free. These deodorant bars come in a cardboard box and are also palm free and vegan! 

We hope to add more natural deodorants to our list over time, but I promise you before we add them, we’ll be sure they work. After all, even if a product meets our 4 the Greater Good requirements for product and planet safety, it still needs to be a great product or it doesn’t make the cut. 

Our goal with the natural deodorants is not to block the sweat, but to minimize any odor that sweating causes. The arrowroot powder in these deodorants does a great job of absorbing sweat, NOT using aluminum to suppress it. So when you ask us, Is Aluminum Deodorant Bad? We hope the article above has helped to guide you to making a more informed and healthy choice for you and your family!