Review: which sustainable deodorant is best?
Review
Which sustainable deodorant is best?
I don’t know about you, but I’m trying to find more sustainable versions of the products I use every day, especially the ones that come with a lot of waste. Take deodorant for example, I’m a stick deodorant kind of gal, which means I’m forever throwing away plastic packaging that can’t be recycled. So, over the last couple of years I’ve done my best to find a more sustainable alternative, and here are three of the pit pong protectors I’ve tried so far…
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Wild
Wild was the first alternative deo I came across when I started my search. Truthfully, I didn’t have to search long as I was plagued by social media ads for it, and every green influencer was talking about them. I decided to sign up via a voucher code from one of those influencers.
First thoughts
My first thoughts of Wild were positive, they offer a refillable deodorant case (and you can choose from a number of different colours and designs) and a range of different deodorant scents. When I first signed up they fell into that “weird alternative smells” bracket with none of the “usual” scents like cotton or linen or sea salt. You know, the clean, inoffensive smells we’re all used to. I think I opted for bergamot, mint, and coconut. They were fine, but not really my choice of smell. So I was pleased to see them release a fresh cotton and sea salt version not long after, and you best believe I snapped that up. Ahhh freshness.
Performance
The first thing to note about Wild is it’s a deodorant, not an antiperspirant, so it won’t stop you sweating. It’ll just cover up the smell. I’ve always used antiperspirants so this was a bit of a new experience for me and I wasn’t sure how much I’d like it.
People say you go through a transition period when you move away from antiperspirants to natural deodorants, and that this transition period only lasts around two weeks. I didn’t find this to be true, I just smelled sweaty and felt wet all of the time even after this “transition period” was supposed to have happened.
Because of this, my clothes started to develop yellow underarm stains that were hard to remove and anything I wore during physical activities just stank of BO. Even my big winter coat which I wear on hikes on only the super cold days, and with multiple layers underneath, had the sour BO smell.
Overall, I wasn’t that impressed with the performance, especially as everyone online was singing its praises. Don’t always trust the influencers ;).
Sustainability creds
From a sustainability PoV Wild are pretty good - they have created a cute refillable case that’s made from durable aluminium and the refills come in cardboard tubes that can be recycled once they’re used up. The downside to the cute, refillable cases, is that they keep releasing new designs which encourages people to buy additional cases (which they don’t need) so this somewhat undoes their buy once, last forever ethos.
In terms of the ingredients and how they’re sourced, their website says they take the greatest care sourcing the highest quality ingredients and that they are all plant-derived and never tested on animals. From what I can see, this is all true and they’re pretty transparent about what goes into their product, even explaining what the constituent parts do.
They’re B Corp registered company which means they operate to a certain standard when it comes to social and environmental performance and they have to be transparent about their supply chains and employee working conditions. This is a good sign for a socially conscious company and it is something you should look out for when shopping around. I can’t not say though, like all certification standards, they’re not a panacea so please do your own due diligence into companies you want to give your money to.
Price*
A case will set you back around £10.
A refill costs £6.50 without a subscription.
A refill costs £5.20 with a subscription.
20% discount for subscribing.
16p per gram (no sub), 13p per gram (with a sub).
So, when I started this blog, refills were 43g which made them 13.95p per gram. However, since I first started putting this together Wild have redesigned their cases (to be smaller) and have reduced the refills to 40g, wait for it, without changing the overall price. This now makes them 16p per gram.
How long did I use it for?
I first bought my Wild deodorant in winter 2020 and used it through until August 2023 (with a few dips back into non-sustainable deodorant for various reasons). So that’s nearly three years’ use.
Rating and conclusion
2/5
Not for me. I tried to like being Wild. But in the end I smelled more feral than anything else.
NOTE: since I first put this blog together, they have now released a roll-on antiperspirant. I’ve not tried this so can’t comment on how well it works.
Life Supplies
Life Supplies comes in a nice utilitarian metal and glass case, however this is quite heavy which makes it less suitable for your washbag.
Since I was fed up of wet pits and sweaty smelling clothes, I dug deep into Google to find a sustainable antiperspirant (which was surprisingly hard to do!). Eventually I stumbled upon Life Supplies and their subscription-based personal care products. Finally, an antiperspirant without the waste! But, hold on, it’s a roll-on. That means wafting around my bedroom for the best part of ten mins with my arms out like some sort of a parody of a cormorant waiting for it to dry. But, planet first, pride second!
First thoughts
The Life Supplies antiperspirant comes in an attractive glass and metal container which really appeals to my utilitarian preferences. However, it’s very heavy which makes it a bit awkward to travel with. The lid screws on and off easily and the product just glides onto your pits. But, again, Life Supplies have gone for the weird smells. What is it with sustainable companies picking smells you won’t find anywhere else? They offer it in two smells: eucalyptus and Sicilian orange.
I started with eucalyptus which I wasn’t too taken with at first, but eventually it grew on me. The smell reminds me of the sauna at my local swimming pool or watered-down Olbas oil, so it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. I’ve also tried the Sicilian orange which I’m not sure I like - it smells very sweet. However, the smell quickly fades on your body which is a good thing.
Performance
Once I got used to the scents, the product was actually pretty good. It dried relatively quickly and the smell lessened once it dried. I’m an active person so I put my antiperspirant through it’s paces, and this one holds up. I’ve done hikes, runs and intense martial arts sessions and come out smelling relatively fresh. There’s none of that nasty, sour BO smell at the end of the day and your clothes just smell like they’ve been worn, rather than they’ve been used to mop up the sweat of the entire human race. I was impressed. Additionally, I didn’t notice any nasty, yellow underarm stains like I was getting with Wild.
Sustainability creds
Life Supplies tout that they follow the science and shy away from marketing jargon. They are transparent with their ingredient lists and those lists do contain ingredients that you might actually be familiar with. They follow a vegan formula so it’s good if you’re looking for a company that avoids animal testing, although they don’t yet have the leaping bunny mark.
They’ve pivoted in the last year or so to focus more on their toothpaste (which I will review shortly), so there isn’t much information available about the deodorant’s sustainability. It does say on their website, however, that the refill cartons contain plastic (they are plastic lined) and they have a plastic lid, which means they are not as easy to recycle as some of their competitors.
Life Supplies are not B certified which marks them out as different in the sustainability market. This makes it harder to know how they source their ingredients and if they support a fair supply chain. With this in mind, I don’t think they’re as transparently sustainable as some of their competitors.
Price
A case (which comes full) costs £21, and £16 if you subscribe.
A refill costs £25 or £20 if you subscribe.
It costs 12.5p per ml if you don’t subscribe and only buy when you need it.
It costs 10p per ml if you do subscribe.
A refill carton holds 200ml (4 refills), which means your antiperspirant bottle is about 50ml.
How long did I use it for?
I bought my first bottle in August 2023 and used it through until January 2024. That’s six month’s use. I’ve also recently started re-using it and am happy with its performance.
Rating and conclusion
3/5
+ Cheapest of the products I’ve used.
+ Nice, durable case.
+/- You’re heavily guided into taking out a subscription, which I don’t like. And you’re financially penalised when you don’t which is unfair. But, on the plus side with subscriptions, you won’t ever run out.
+/- The available scents might not be to everyone’s taste and they’re quite limited compared with the competition.
- Case is heavy and awkward when travelling, especially as this is a liquid form of underarm protection.
- Drying time is a bit inconvenient.
Smol
I’ve used Smol household products for years and have always been very happy with their performance. So, when I saw they were offering personal care products I thought they would be worth a try. While I was generally getting on okay with the Life Supplies anti-perspirant, I still wasn’t sure about roll-on; the drying time was inconvenient and I wasn’t sold on the smell. Smol, however, offered a stick anti-perspirant that smelled like cotton! Yes! An antiperspirant! A dry stick! A normal smelling product! Sustainable packaging! Was that so hard?
First thoughts
It’s tiny. Like, really tiny. Like maybe just one half of a deo stick you’d buy from the supermarket. On the one hand this is great for travelling, it tucks neatly into my washbag; but I also have to use it everyday, this surely won’t last me more than a week?
Packaging is good, it’s a simple, push-up cardboard case. Tbh, why do you need a re-fillable outer case when you can just use the inner case and be done with it? Once the deo is all used up, you can simply pop the leftover cardboard into your recycling.
The smell is okay, it is cotton-y, but it smells far more synthetic and cleaning chemical-y than any other antiperspirant I’ve used. Maybe that’s to be expected when Smol’s bread and butter is surface cleaner! But, on the whole, it’s not an offensive smell and its other features redeem it.
Performance
I’ve been using this antiperspirant for just over two years and I’ve generally been happy with them. I still don’t think it’s quite as good at stopping the sweat as my old, off-the-shelf Dove stick, but it’s not bad. And as I said before, I put my antiperspirants through their paces (running, hiking, martial arts).
I have found that the antiperspirant does rub off onto my clothes, and it’s not like my old Dove stick that just left a white mark, this leave a thicker, greasier mark that doesn’t come out in the wash. This is particularly noticeable on white t-shirts that end up with grey, greasy stains at the pits. it does an ok job of preventing my clothes from smelling like BO but I think the Life Supplies anti-perspirant does a better job.
While the stick is small, it lasts a surprisingly long time. I can comfortably get a month out of one small stick, so my three-pack is lasting me the three months in between my subscription deliveries. I’m pleasantly surprised!
Sustainability creds
Smol is a B corp which means they’re signed up to support fairer supply chains and products that have a lower impact on our world. Additionally, they publish evidence to support their claims and an impact report, so if you want to dig into the numbers you can. They’re also vegan and leaping bunny certified.
Smol seem to be the most open when it comes to their sustainability credentials, it was easy to find this information on their website and there is a way to get in touch with them if you want more info. On the whole, as a consumer, this gives you the best impression of how they operate as a company and that it might not just be “sustainability lip service”.
Price
Three 34g deodorant sticks costs £12.50
This works out at 12p per gram.
No discount for taking out a subscription
How long did I use it for?
Since January 2024, just over two years. I’ve now switched back to Life Supplies.
Rating and conclusion
4/5
+ Comes in cotton smell! Though it’s little synthetic which is a shame.
+ Lightweight, recyclable packaging.
+ Travel-friendly size without being too small for every-day use.
+ Most competitive on price, they also keep an eye on highstreet named products to keep them fair.
- You can only order this product from within a Smol account, which means you have to sign up and subscribe.
- Middling on price, not the best but also not the worst.
- Leaves greasy marks in the armpits of your t-shirts.
Things to consider
Deodorant vs. antiperspirant: a deodorant doesn’t stop you perspiring, an anti-perspirant does. So if you don’t want wet pits then you need to be looking for an antiperspirant. However, it’s not quite that straight forward, there is some evidence to suggest antiperspirants are bad for your health. So you need to weigh this up when choosing between them. For me, I’ve done my research and come to the conclusion I’m willing to take the potential health side-effects for dry pits.
Cost: these products are more expensive than the equivalents you can buy in the supermarket. You’ll have to decide if more sustainable alternatives are affordable in your situation. Though, if you look hard enough, you can nearly always find an influencer touting a 10-20% off voucher.
Subscription vs. not: like seemingly everything these days you have to subscribe to your deodorant provider rather than just buying it as and when you need it. If you’d told me twenty years ago I’d be subscribing to antiperspirant and getting it through my letterbox I’d have thought you were mad. But here we are. Generally, for consumables like food, personal care products, cleaning products etc. I don’t mind subscriptions as I’m always going to use them up and need more. But, being tied into a subscription might not suit your financial situation. Most of these companies do you let you buy their products as a one-off, but then the price is significantly higher, again making it financially unviable for people to make sustainable swaps.
Watch out for “fast fashion” tactics: Wild in particular are the main culprits for this with limited edition cases and a constantly changing line-up of colours. Remember, you’re making these swaps to be more sustainable, not collect different colours of aluminium tubing.
Alternatives: there are an increasing number of companies offering sustainable deodorants and antiperspirants now. These are just the ones I’ve tried and my experiences of them. Please take these and one woman’s opinion and do you own homework and make your own mind up about the products you choose.
Happy perspiring! :)
Price summary
To offer up a comparison, the original Dove antiperspirant I used to buy is £4.00 for 50ml in Tesco (at time of writing). Which makes it 8p per ml. Obviously this isn’t a direct comparison as we’re using a weight and a volume, but they’re going to be fairly similar. Dove have also just started offering a refillable deodorant but whether this is also sustainable, I’m yet to investigate.
Price per gram (pence)
*prices correct as of publication on 06 April 2026
