If antiperspirant has never agreed with you, you are not alone. Plenty of people skip it, or skip underarm products altogether, because they don't want aluminum on their skin. A natural deodorant gives you another option: help with odor, no aluminum.
Most people use "deodorant" and "antiperspirant" as if they mean the same thing. They don't. One is designed to stop sweat, and it uses aluminum to do it. The other is designed to deal with odor, and it doesn't need aluminum at all. Once you know the difference, natural deodorant makes a lot more sense, and it's easier to know what to expect from it.
Side by side
Deodorant vs. antiperspirant
| Deodorant | Antiperspirant | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Helps control odor | Reduces how much you sweat |
| How it works | Absorbs moisture, neutralizes odor and adds scent | Aluminum-based salts form temporary plugs in sweat ducts |
| Will you still sweat? | Yes | Less |
| In the U.S., it is regulated as | A cosmetic | An over-the-counter drug |
| Typical key ingredients | Baking soda, starches, oils, botanicals | Aluminum compounds such as aluminum chlorohydrate |
| Bauer Power! | ✓ This is Bauer Power | No |
Why people go aluminum-free
Aluminum is the ingredient that makes an antiperspirant an antiperspirant. It's also the ingredient a lot of people are trying to get away from. Some find that antiperspirants just don't agree with their skin. Some don't want to plug their sweat ducts every single day. And some have given up on underarm products entirely: they wash, keep things dry and hope for the best.
If that sounds like you, a natural deodorant is the middle ground. No aluminum, a short ingredient list you can actually read, and help with odor. Bauer Power! is made without aluminum, from six ingredients, in very small batches.
One honest note: "aluminum-free" doesn't mean every skin will love it. Bauer Power contains baking soda (as the mineral nahcolite) and essential oils, and some sensitive skin reacts to those. Try a small amount on one spot first.
What's the difference between deodorant and antiperspirant?
An antiperspirant reduces sweat. Its active ingredients are aluminum-based salts, which react with sweat to form temporary plugs in the sweat ducts. Because it changes how the body works, the U.S. regulates antiperspirant as an over-the-counter drug.
A deodorant deals with odor. It doesn't stop you from sweating. Instead, it absorbs moisture, neutralizes odor and usually adds a scent. A deodorant without antiperspirant ingredients is regulated as a cosmetic.
Many store-bought sticks are both at once. A natural deodorant like Bauer Power! is only a deodorant.
Where does body odor come from?
Here's the surprising part: fresh sweat has very little smell. Underarms have a type of sweat gland that makes a richer kind of sweat, and bacteria on the skin break it down. That breakdown is what creates the smell we call body odor.
Where body odor comes from
Sweat + bacteria = odor
Sweat
Fresh sweat has very little smell on its own.
Bacteria
Bacteria on the skin break down certain compounds in underarm sweat.
Odor
That breakdown releases the compounds we notice as body odor.
Antiperspirant works on step 1, by reducing sweat.
Deodorant works on step 3, by absorbing moisture and neutralizing odor.
How does natural deodorant work?
A natural deodorant works on the odor side of the problem. Most rely on a few simple jobs:
- Neutralize. Baking soda is the classic odor neutralizer and one of the oldest deodorant ingredients.
- Absorb. Powders such as arrowroot soak up moisture.
- Glide. Oils and butters hold everything together and help it spread.
- Scent. Essential oils add a light, fresh smell.
What a natural deodorant won't do is stop sweat. That's the trade-off, and it's worth knowing before you switch.
Inside Bauer Power!
Bauer Power is J.D. Bauer's take on a natural deodorant: a short list of ingredients, made in very small batches in Redlands, California, and sold in a small jar.
What's in Bauer Power!
Six ingredients. That's the whole list.
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Nahcolite gets its name from its chemistry: Na, H, C and O, the sodium, hydrogen, carbon and oxygen in sodium bicarbonate. It forms in places like the Green River Formation in Colorado and Utah and at Searles Lake in San Bernardino County, the same county as our Redlands workshop.
Six ingredients, made in very small batches, and no aluminum. A short list you can read in one breath.
How to use a jar deodorant
If you have only used sticks, a jar can look a little unusual. It's simple once you try it.
How to use a jar deodorant
Four steps, about ten seconds
- 1 Start clean and dry. Apply to clean, dry underarms, like after a shower.
- 2 Scoop a little. Use an amount about half the size of a pea. A little goes a long way.
- 3 Rub it in. Smooth it on with your fingertip until it disappears.
- 4 Let it absorb. Give it a moment to sink in before you get dressed.
If your skin is sensitive, try a small amount on one spot first, and stop using any product that bothers your skin.
A short history of deodorant
Deodorant as a product is newer than you might think. For most of history, people managed body odor with washing, perfume and clean clothes. Commercial deodorants and antiperspirants only arrived around the turn of the 20th century, and it took some bold advertising to turn them into an everyday habit.
The most famous example is Odorono. It started as a liquid a surgeon developed to keep his own hands dry in the operating room, and his daughter, Edna Murphey, began selling it in 1912. Sales grew, but in 1919 copywriter James Webb Young, working at the J. Walter Thompson agency, wrote an ad for the Ladies' Home Journal that treated underarm sweat as something to be embarrassed about. It was shocking for the time, and it worked: by 1920, sales had risen 112 percent.
Timeline
How deodorant became a daily habit
- 1888 Mum, often called the first commercial deodorant, is trademarked.
- 1903 Everdry, the first commercial antiperspirant, goes on sale.
- 1912 Odorono, a liquid antiperspirant first developed by a surgeon to keep his hands dry in the operating room, is introduced at an exposition in Atlantic City.
- 1919 An Odorono ad in the Ladies' Home Journal treats underarm sweat as an embarrassing secret. By 1920, sales are up 112 percent.
- Today Shoppers can choose between antiperspirants and deodorants made without aluminum, including short-ingredient natural options.
Natural deodorant FAQ
Is natural deodorant the same as antiperspirant?
No. A deodorant is meant to help with odor. An antiperspirant is meant to reduce sweat. Bauer Power is a deodorant, so you will still sweat.
What does "aluminum-free" mean?
It means the product does not contain the aluminum compounds that antiperspirants use to reduce sweat. Bauer Power is made without aluminum. If you have been skipping antiperspirant because of the aluminum, an aluminum-free deodorant lets you deal with odor without it.
Why is baking soda in so many natural deodorants?
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) has been used to fight odor for a long time, and it was among the first ingredients patented for deodorant. Nahcolite is the same compound in natural mineral form.
How much should I use?
Very little. With Bauer Power, an amount about half the size of a pea per underarm is plenty.
Will it stain my clothes?
Bauer Power is made to go on non-greasy. As with any product made with oils and butters, give it a moment to absorb before you get dressed.
Ready to try it?
Small batch, short list, no aluminum
Bauer Power! Natural Deodorant
Coconut oil, shea butter, nahcolite, arrowroot, tea tree and lemon, made in very small batches in Redlands, California. Vegan, made without aluminum, with a very mild natural lemon scent.
Pair it with a bar from our handmade soap collection, or read the stories behind every product.