Last summer, I tried a silicone-free deodorant that changed everything for me: No Pong. With its creamy texture and shockingly effective (yet silicone- and aluminum-free formula), it completely changed my outlook on natural deodorants. Its formula was creamy, comfortable, and effective, and I immediately set out to find something similar in stick form for better ease of application.
After months of searching for new options and testing each one, here’s what I’ve been using.
Why use a silicone-free deodorant?
I’ve written about my silicone-free product regimen many times before. There’s nothing wrong at all with using silicones, and I actually love how they feel and perform—but, like many others, I happen to be sensitive to them.
My skin can tolerate a small amount of silicones in a powder-formula product, but stubbornly refuses to work with liquid silicones. Even kissing someone who’s wearing a moisturizer that contains silicones can be enough to give me a rash and subsequent acne breakout, so I do my best to eliminate silicones from my (and my partners’) regimens.
Deodorants and anti-perspirants are the area that I’ve found it’s most difficult to do that in. There aren’t a lot of options available, and frankly, a lot of the ones that are silicone-free by coincidence just don’t work very well!
Mario Badescu: The best silicone-free deodorant
I love Mario Badescu’s acne products, so it feels like fate that their new Mario Badescu Deodorant ($14 USD at Ulta) is what’s keeping me from breaking out. I can hardly begin to describe just how much I love this deodorant.
Unlike anything else I’ve ever tried, the Mario Badescu Deodorant is luxurious. It feels like skincare for your underarm, not a preventative product keeping smells at bay. Its packaging is gloriously heavy and well-machined, with a lid that twists on so satisfyingly.
With a vegan formula that’s free of parabens, baking soda, aluminum, and silicone, this is a great pick for anyone with sensitive skin. It features sage, cucumber, and ginger root oils to combat odour in a base of coconut oil, arrowroot powder, and shea, and it works like a charm.
I never have to reapply this deodorant throughout the day, and I never have to rub it in. Mario Badescu absolutely nailed the perfect texture with their long-lasting formula, and it smells spa-like and fresh with notes of powder and cucumber. It really is the best silicone-free deodorant.
All natural silicone-free deodorants
I’ve been testing a few other deodorants as well, to varying degrees of success. For a lot of this, I’ve been using my partner’s pits, which I find are a more conclusive test of how long-wearing a deodorant will be.
We’ve been going through Native deodorant ($12 USD) left and right. It’s easy to apply and easy to re-order, but I haven’t been happy with it. The formula is a little softer than what I like, and I find that the only reason we buy so much of it is because my partner has to reapply by midday—and really, what’s the point of a deodorant that doesn’t deodorize?
So, the testing continued.
Next, I tried Mother Dirt Deodorant ($16 USD), which is a probiotic deodorant with lemongrass. (The probiotic Graydon Skincare Berry Rich changed my life, and I’ve been into probiotic skincare ever since!) It’s fairly effective, and I love its earthy, lemongrass scent. But the Mother Dirt brand is on the pricey side, and I never wanted to apply it. The formula is just a little bit too scratchy; too rough when it goes on.
More options from the drugstore and beyond
From there, I looked toward a budget option from Schmidt’s. Schmidt’s Natural Deodorant (about $10 CAD) comes in a whole range of scents, and they’re so easy to find. I tried the baking soda-free Sensitive formula and gave my partner a Signature stick to try, and I found that they were more effective than Native deodorants—but the scents (while nice) are so strong.
Each Schmidt’s formula is Leaping Bunny, EcoCert, and vegan certified, but for me, their formula was too creamy. I found myself having to rub it in, which defeats the point of switching from a tub or jar. However, with a wide range of scents (the Hemp Seed Oil and Rose smells just like rosewater) and affordable price point, they’re a good, portable option!
Finally, I have to take a moment to talk about my two standbys. I still love Lovetica deodorant, but I can only ever find it on Amazon, and it’s often out of stock. I wanted something more reliable, even though I really felt like it was the best for invisible protection.
And, if you’re really in a bind and you need to grab a stick of silicone-free deodorant between dropping the kids off at school and making it to a packed day of in-person meetings, look no further than Adidas Cotton Tech Absorbent-Deo. It’s available at most drugstores, and while it is far from chic, it is unexpectedly silicone- and aluminum-free!
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