Tom’s of Maine Naturally Dry Antiperspirant

Tom’s of Maine makes natural health and beauty aids like toothpaste, floss, and deodorant. And until recently, deodorant was your only option for underarm sweat detail from Tom’s. But (happily for all of us who want to fight both the stink AND the wetness of underarm sweat) it has just released an antiperspirant: Naturally Dry Antiperspirant. This stuff really is all natural, including the active ingredient of aluminum chlorohydrate, which is

made from recycled aluminum (which was originally derived from natural mineral bauxite ore)

That’s good enough reasoning for me! I am thrilled to find a cruelty-free antiperspirant that actually works. I’ve been using it for about two weeks, and I have absolutely no complaints. It comes in stick form and goes on smoothly. I haven’t noticed it balling into little clumps or leaving residue on my clothes. The powder smell is very pleasant but not overpowering. And it seems to wash away completely in the shower (which is important to me despite evidence that there’s no causal link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s).

Granted, it hasn’t gotten above 70 degrees yet, so I haven’t tested it in the heat of summer. But even if it falters (like most antiperspirants do), I think I’ll be a lifelong user.

The Honest Company Laundry Detergent

I’ve written about The Honest Company before. It is an online store that sells its own personal, baby, and home care products that are all natural and cruelty free. It is an amazing company with an incredible philosophy. Check out its principles and prepare to be impressed.

I have been using its laundry detergent for a few weeks now, and I am loving it. You know how when you find a natural or cruelty-free product that could replace a standard product you already use  and all you’re really hoping for is that it doesn’t suck? Like, it never crosses your mind that it could be better than the synthetic products you already use, but you’re willing to sacrifice to use a product you believe in? Well, I am happy to report that that’s not the case with this laundry detergent.

I have one of the high efficiency washers, so it’s hard to find eco-friendly and cruelty-free detergent that I can use in it. Happily, the Honest Company laundry detergent is safe for high efficiency machines. It works well, smells nice, and is free of “SLS, synthetic perfume, glycol, enzymes, dyes, phosphates, 1,4-dioxane, chlorine, DEA, formaldehyde, petrochemicals, caustics, and optical brighteners.”

It’s a bit on the expensive side ($12.95 for 70 fl. oz.), but it really does work just as well as synthetic laundry detergents, so it’s worth it to me. That being said, I will probably rotate it out with other, cheaper laundry detergents from Seventh Generation and Ecover.