Body Care: Crystal Essence Mineral Roll-On Deodorants

Crystal Essence mineral roll-on deodorants: Chamomile and Green Tea; Pomegranate; Lavender and White Tea.

Three years ago I've switched to natural deodorants. I have tried few on the market, but these ones from Crystal brand are my favourite. First of all let me do a quick ran through some facts. Antiperspirants block sweat glands. Deodorants can not make you stop sweating, they remove odor. They can do it either by just masking odor with fragrance or using ingredients that kill odor causing bacteria. I have to say, that when I stopped using antiperspirants, I didn't sweat for two weeks (makes you wonder how blocked those glands were...). A lot of natural deodorants feature a blend of essential and basic oils, that just smell nice, but does not really work in the way I want to. Crystal Essence deodorants feature potassium alum, which does kill bacteria. It is natural occurring mineral, and you can use it in solid form as deodorant as well. I do prefer a more processed version of it though.

Crystal Essence offers multiple versions of natural deodorants (solid, spray, roll-on). There are fragrance free versions available as well, though I like a bit of a scent. Below I will discuss ingredients and my experience with three versions of mineral roll-on deodorant (my personal favourite type).

Ingredients:

Water, Potassium Alum, Natural Fragrance (Extracts and Essential Oils), Polysorbate-20, Cellulose, Sodium Bicarbonate, Benzoic Acid, Zinc Gluconate.

Excellent (only beneficial ingredients, proven research)

Good (mostly beneficial, not extensive research or just not quite outstanding properties)

OK (mostly thickeners, emulsifiers, mild preservatives, pH adjusters, all that is necessary, but not a skincare per se) 

Bad (irritants and anything bad that shouldn't be in skincare, usually fragrance)

Ingredients Discussion:

The list is short and sweet, with potassium alum as an active ingredient. Zinc gluconate also has some anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. The only grey area is presence of essential oils and extracts. They are different for each type of deodorant (according to their name). Chamomile & Green Tea  and Pomegranate ones are the best. In this case those extracts and oils have antioxidant and calming properties (rare case with essential oils!). Lavender & White Tea one is of course not so good. I didn't experience any irritation myself, but in a long run it can cause a low grade inflammation, due to a presence of lavender.

Consumer Thoughts:

These deodorants are very watery, so if you are switching from solid ones, it takes some time to adjust. I personally do not mind the texture. It is hard to rate deodorant, since it is very individual (how much you sweat, how much body odor do you have etc.). I am not very sweaty and smelly person, so they do work fine with me. I find that they do not work the whole day though. So during important times, I use deodorant twice a day. But generally I do not get too strung up on that. It is actually more important to change your expectations and set of mind I would say (if you really want to go down a natural route).

Scent wise my favourite is Lavender and White tea. Scents are very hard to describe. This one actually doesn't smell much of lavender surprisingly. Even though I shouldn't be using products with lavender, I still repurchase it from time to time. My second favourite is Chamomile and Green Tea. I also have purchased it multiple times. The scent is the lightest of three and very fresh (more like soapy fresh). Pomegranate deodorant has the strongest scent, and though it is pleasantly fruity/floral one, and doesn't linger for too long, I find it a little bit too overpowering and not as refined as the other two. I am not sure I will repurchase it.

Packaging/Pricing:

Company recently have changed packaging from see through to opaque plastic (you can see on the picture that chamomile one is in the new packaging), which I am thrilled about. Price is very budget friendly ~3-4$ US. You can find it at local whole foods store or on IHERB.com (here).

Verdict:

Chamomile and Green Tea 5 out of 5;
Pomegranate 4,5 out of 5;
Lavender and White Tea 4 out of 5.

P.S.: Company is cruelty free.