Best Natural Deodorant for Travel in Hot Sweaty Climates

This may seem like a strange topic for a travel blog, but once I learned the potential dangers of using anti-perspirants, I embarked on a personal quest to find the most effective, all-natural deodorant for our trip to Southeast Asia. I know our fellow travelers care about their wellness and might find my research useful, so I decided to publish my findings.

Updated: June 2020. Originally published: February 2019.

The problem with anti-perspirants

It was thanks to living abroad in hot climates that I first realized there might be an issue with the anti-perspirants I was using. I spent two summers in college as a volunteer in the Dominican Republic, a country in the tropical Caribbean. Both times, I developed sore bumps in my armpits. It was strange and uncomfortable, but they eventually went away.

More recently, we lived for two years in Jamaica during our Peace Corps service. The sore, swollen bumps in my armpits came back again!

I mentioned my sore armpits during a check in with our Peace Corps nurse, a native of Jamaica. She knew the issue right away and explained that the chemicals in the anti-perspirant I was using were causing blockages and swelling in my sweat glands. 

The nurse advised that I stop using anti-perspirants and switch to deodorant-only, or else go all-natural like the local Rastafarians do. I found some new deodorant and, sure enough, the swollen glands went away shortly after.

The only problem was: I suddenly had body odor issues.

At the time, I thought clogged sweat glands were the only issue. It was a minor but temporary annoyance that could be remedied by reducing my anti-perspirant use. But it seemed that I really still needed anti-perspirants to keep body odor at bay.

As I did more research later on, I realized that there are a number of concerns when it comes to anti-perspirant products. Parabens, aluminum, and other chemicals common in anti-perspirants can affect our armpit’s natural bacteria and may increase risk of damaging developmental and reproductive hormones when they enter our bloodstream. Aluminum alone is linked to a number of health issues, from seizures and alzheimer’s, to bone formation disorders and kidney problems. There’s also concern that using these toxic compounds could increase risk of certain cancers, as they can enter the bloodstream through the skin.

I determined that a little more sweat wasn’t worth the risk. (And I learned that sweat itself isn’t the cause of underarm odor anyway.)

Unfortunately, my first few attempts with all-natural deodorants fell short. I found that the under-arms of my shirt sleeves weren’t smelling too pleasant, even when I wasn’t sweating that much. I was constantly reapplying.

I knew there must be a better solution out there.

Finding a safe deodorant that works for our travels

Because we’re digital nomads, we tend to spend several months of the year in warmer climates. It seemed worthwhile to find a natural, non toxic deodorant that actually works for me.

I reached out to some of the top natural deodorant companies about my research project and Bali Secrets was kind enough to send me several samples. I want say a big thank you to them, but rest assured, all the opinions in this article are my own and are not swayed by this fact.

Deodorants that didn’t work

Long before my research project, back when I first quit anti-perspirants while living in tropical Jamaica, I was using a Tom’s of Maine anti-perspirant.

Tom’s is a household name in our hometown of Portland, where people are really into sustainability and natural products. They sell “all natural” deodorants and anti-perspirants, but of course, the anti-perspirant contains aluminum and was clogging up my glands.

I first tried sticking with the Tom’s brand. Unfortunately, the deodorants for women weren’t effective on me. I’ll admit that in desperate times, I would sometimes use my husband’s deodorant – Tom’s of Maine for men – and that did seem to be more effective.

(I understand now that there can be a transition period after switching from anti-perspirants, depending on your body chemistry. The underarm bacteria may need to “detox,”so that in itself can cause changes in sweat and smell for a while. Hard to say if this affected my experience with Tom’s.)

My second attempt was to grab the most affordable, natural-looking deodorant off the grocery store shelf. I walked out with Herbal Clear (Naturally!) Sport Deodorant. This one had a similar texture to Tom’s of Maine for men but a less cologne-like fragrance. It listed primary ingredients of tea tree oil and vitamin and advertised benefits like: hypoallergenic; aluminum free; and no parabens, alcohol, dyes, or artificial bactericides. “Utilizes botanical Lichen to prevent odor before it starts.”

Unfortunately, the Herbal Clear wasn’t totally effective for me either. After several weeks, I gave it up. I will say that when I examined the stick again for this article, I noticed these instructions: “recommend 6-8 circular swipes for maximum effectiveness.” I was probably doing closer to 4 swipes, so perhaps I just needed to lay it on thicker?

Next, I did my research. Schmidt’s Naturals: Charcoal + Magnesium Deodorant and Bali Secrets Natural Deodorant: Delicate Rose rose to the top in my first round of testing.

For the first month, I thought they were both great. I’ll detail the pros and cons below. Long story short, though: by the end of three months, I had developed blotchy red sores on the skin of one armpit (the sweatier one).