Common Causes of Deodorant Irritation
You’ve finally mustered the courage to take the leap and toss your old commercial antiperspirant for our natural deodorant. Just from ordering your pit’s new pal, you’re already envisioning greener pastures and feeling optimistic about the future. You apply it for the first time and can’t believe you’ve gone so long without this plant-powered miracle worker. For some people, however, this bright and cheery new relationship takes a turn for the worse. Either immediately or after a period of time, your pits itch or show signs of irritation. It all seemed so perfect at first, what gives?
Above all else, everyone’s skin type and body chemistry are different; no two are made quite the same! While this is awesome in a lot of ways, it may cause certain people to have a reaction to natural deodorant. The vast majority of customers experience nothing but great smelling underarms, but some may develop irritation due to an adjustment period or baking soda sensitivity.
ARMPIT ADJUSTMENT
When switching “au naturale” from a commercial deodorant or antiperspirant, your pits might just need a bit of time to adjust to their new easy-going lifestyle. Change isn’t easy for anyone, especially your underarms, so take it slow on the little guys and practice some patience and TLC.
If you find that you’re experiencing some irritation, try cutting back to very minimal application or discontinuing use until the irritation stops. For most, a transitional period of 2 to 4 weeks will allow the environment under your arms to become acclimated to the deodorant, leaving everything good as new and smelling better than ever.
BAKING SODA SENSITIVITY
Baking soda is a primary ingredient in our natural deodorants and is used to neutralize odor causing bacteria. Not only does it safely allow your body’s natural sweating process to occur, but it also keeps you smelling fresh and clean at the same time.
That being said, your underarm skin is one of the most sensitive areas on your body and some people have a difficult time when applying baking soda to this region. Without going too Biology 101 on you, your skin has a natural pH value which is generally lower than baking soda. Your skin is more acidic while baking soda is more alkaline. Sometimes this difference in pH value can result in irritation.
What can you do? Before completely ruling out our natural deodorants made with baking soda, try out our “less is more” approach. The cause of irritation could simply have been that you were a little too gung-ho about your new natural lifestyle change and were slathering on an unnecessary amount of deodorant.
Our deodorants come with a fantastic “instructions for use” card that’s super helpful for proper application! Our online reviewers testify to how important following these directions was to their success with our natural deodorant. However, if after following all instructions and reducing to 1-2 swipes you still experience irritation, it’s likely that you have a sensitivity to baking soda regardless of the application amount.
SHAVE IT FOR LATER
If you’re someone who shaves your underarms, you know how easy it is to nick yourself here and there. But even if you emerge from the shower unscathed, shaving will always cause microscopic cuts in your skin, leaving lots of tiny open wounds. If you put on your deodorant immediately after shaving, the ingredients may happily glide their way right into those tiny cuts, leaving you and your pits feeling not so hot.
The easiest way to avoid this type of irritation? Save it for later. Shave in the evening, catch a good night’s sleep, and then apply your deodorant in the AM when you’re ready to tackle the day. We know it smells so good that it’s hard to resist applying, but trust us on this one. Your pits will thank you.
A SWIPE OF SAM’S
We have been making Sam’s Natural hard-working deodorant since 2011 and have thousands of long-term customers enjoying its effectiveness every single day! Based on each individual’s unique skin type and body chemistry, however, our product is not for everyone. If irritation does occur, please reduce the application amount or discontinue use. We know you may not want to, but you’ve gotta listen to your body!
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