Let’s establish two things straight away: first, given that Lavender Tangerine Deodorant ($15) is a paste in a tube, it is the most unusual deodorant I’ve ever tried. I mainly use nondescript stick deodorant; it usually comes in bulk packs from Costco and sometimes has hockey players on it. The only time I’ve every really applied something close to liquid deodorant to my armpits was by accident, when I was pounding fence rails all afternoon one summer and I didn’t realize that the Alberta sun had melted my sensible stick deodorant. Secondly, “lavender tangerine” sounds like it’d smell like the locker room at Curves, but it doesn’t; it’s actually sort of a gender-neutral botanical smell. Either way, I’m a fan.
This deodorant is one of Leaves of Trees concoctions, and their whole shtick is all-natural everything (no parabens, triclosan, phthalates, petrolatum, formaldehyde, SLS, silocones, PPD, or BHA), so this deodorant is mainly argan oil, sodium bicarbonate for the deodorizing, and kaolin clay for the moisture absorption. Moisture absorption is something this deodorant does really well—I wore it throughout long stints in the TIFF rush line-ups, and my shirt stayed pleasant even when my mood did not.
A caveat: you only need a little to work. More than that feels like hair gel on your armpit hair. One day I’ll learn to follow simple directions . . .
