Tom's of Maine Long Lasting Deodorant Unscented No Aluminum

In my previous post, I mentioned that I have had some medical issues. I'll get into that later in much detail, but for now, I'll just say that I've recently learned that I'm Estrogen Dominant, so I'm on a mission to rid myself of xenoestrogens and phytoestrogens. I'm seeing a Naturopath. She's amazing. So I'm not getting treated with hormone replacement therapy or anything made by the pharmaceutical companies. I get natural supplements. Again, I'll talk more about that later. As part of my pursuit to rid my life of the phytoestrogrens and xenoestrogens, I'm trying out new personal hygiene products. This is some scary stuff. My goal was to start with something pretty benign like body wash or shampoo. I wasn't quite ready to jump into the crazy world of deodorants without antiperspirants, but here I am writing about one. 

So the background story of how this happened. I was out of deodorant. I meant OUT of deodorant. I normally use Degree Men Dry Protection Anti-Perspirant, Cool Rush. I'm not a guy, but I sweat and I stink like a guy. Degree for Men had been the only thing that ever kept my dry and not stinky. It had to be Cool Rush too because of my lovely breathing issues. I tried Degree Men Dry Protection Antiperspirant, Extreme Blast, but I was coughing in no time. Anyway, once I find a product I like, I stick with it until it's discontinued. I've been using the same deodorant for years. You could probably even put it into decades by now! I wasn't ready to switch, but I was out! I knew I didn't want to get the same stuff with the aluminum in it. I didn't want to get the same stuff which was rated as a 4 on the EWG site. I'll talk more about the site later.

Anyway, a friend of mine suggested that I get the Dove one. She said they had a deodorant and antiperspirant that had no aluminum so it was going to be my baby step down the EWG numbers. However, I couldn't find it at Walmart. Keep in mind, I didn't have much time to shop since we were on a timeline to get somewhere. I didn't spend a ton of time looking at each one. My vision also sucks so I had to have hubby read the labels. He totally loved that. Anyway, I saw a sticker that said No Aluminum on Tom's of Maine Long-Lasting Care Deodorant Stick, so I grabbed it and headed to the checkout.

When I checked the EWG site, Tom's of Main was listed as a 1. I felt pretty proud of myself! I moved down three spots on the list! (Down is the direction you want to go.) I was scared to try it and end up all stinky and sweaty, but I had no choice. I went for it. It was a bit odd at first, but I got used to it. It felt like I didn't have any deodorant on. It went on smoothly, but it's more of glycerin kind of thing than the solid lotionlike substance of Degree. My pit skin was sticking together! How pleasant! I made it through the first day without incident though. I didn't have sweat pouring out of me and my shirt wasn't wet. I didn't stink either. However, we pretty much did grocery shopping and sat on the couch that day.

I have now used it for almost a full week. The packaging says "Long Lasting Natural 24 Hour Odor Protection." I don't agree with that claim for my life. Maybe if you don't do anything all day, it's fine. Maybe if you don't sweat like a man, it's fine. Twice this week, I went to physical therapy before work. Each time, I was starting to smell like onions before I made it to work. I had to get a second hit of deodorant because there was no way I was going to make it through the day. On the days after I had physical therapy, I worked out at my house before my morning shower. So here's the chain of events.......

5:00 AM: Shower
5:20 AM: Applied Deodorant
7:00 AM: Physical Therapy
9:00 AM: Second hit of Deodorant after verifying that my pits indeed stink like onions
4:00 AM: the following morning workout at home
5:00 AM: My pits stank bad as I was getting into the shower

By the time my workout was over, I stank and I stank bad! I didn't want to be near me. I can't imagine how other people would have felt being near me. However, I did not take the time to wake up my husband to get his opinion on if I stank or not.

Bottom Line.......This is NOT the deodorant for me at this point in my life. At Walmart, it was about $4.50 for one stick. It was on sale at Natural Grocer's for $3.99 the next day. I hate to waste the money, but I seriously can't just keep checking my pits and reapplying deodorant. Maybe I can get my money out of it by using it for my Sunday lazy day deodorant. That's about all it can handle. I have heard though that the healthier you get, the less your pits stink so maybe I just need to give it a few months of detoxifying and then try it again.

I'll let you know what I end up with next and tell you how it goes.