Deodorant vs Antiperspirant. In collaboration with Secret Deodorant.

Did you know that deodorant and antiperspirant are NOT the same thing and just because a personal care label says “organic” doesn’t mean that it’s safer? This might come as a no brainer to some, but I had no idea. I’ve seen these myths floating around the internet and in collaboration with Secret, I’m digging deeper into both to share the facts.

I never really sweat until I was pregnant. I could wear any product, or no product at all, because even after a hot yoga class I’d come out feeling fresh with no drop of sweat on me. Cue three months pregnant and that all went out the window. I was working up a sweat just walking to my hot yoga class! I couldn’t believe that I was sweating and smelling… like what?! I went through multiple products trying to find something that worked and didn’t understand why I was either sweating or smelling a little “off”. That is when I learned this: deodorant is designed to mask the scent of body odor created by sweat while antiperspirant is designed to prevent you from sweating quite so much.

This was eye opening and made it easier for me to choose certain products for different activities of the day. This works for me, but it might not work for everyone else. Oh, you might be wondering about aluminum. I researched and the FDA, American Cancer Society, Alzheimer’s Association, and National Cancer Institute have all refuted negative health claims. All this to say, do what works best for you and what you plan to get done that day. Having a few options never hurt nobody!

One other thing that has stumped me was the trend of organic health and beauty products. Organic is all the rage these days. I’ve been digging deeper into my organic research to see what being “organic” really means. To my surprise I found that organic rules for personal care products are not as straightforward as those for food. The FDA regulates personal care products, but the agency does not regulate the term “organic” for personal care products. The organic label refers to the conditions under which an ingredient was grown, not whether it is safe for use. In addition, personal care products only need to be 95% organic to bear an official USDA Organic seal. I highly suggest that if organic is important to you that you look deeper than the seal on the front. There are personal care products that are 100% organic but they aren’t the only ones with the USDA Organic seal.

What is your go-to deodorant or antiperspirant? What about organic cosmetics? Something you look for or does that only matter to you when it comes to food? I’d love to know your thoughts on both below. Cheers!