An all-natural deodorant that actually works

Switching to natural and low-waste products is not an overnight change. We’ve been working on it for quite a while now, and although there’s been some progress, there’s still a lot we can improve. The most recent focus has been our bathroom, where plastic razors have been replaced by a safety razor, shower gel has been switched for bar soap, and I’m attempting to cut down on chemical-laden, plastic-packaged products. 

One of the most exciting changes I’ve made is to switch to a new deodorant which is all-natural but actually works! I can’t tell you how relieved I am that this stuff works. I was prepared to accept the stereotypical result from natural deodorant - just being a little bit stinky all the time! But I’m so pleased to say that this is a deodorant that delivers on performance as well as its all-natural credentials.

The facts

nuud is an all-natural and vegan deodorant. In fact, nuud like to call it an anti-odorant, because it doesn’t just mask body odour like other deodorants, but altogether neutralises the bacteria that cause smell. This is mostly achieved by the micro silver in nuud - micro silver is super effective at killing bacteria (it’s even used in hospitals for the treatment of wounds). It doesn’t contain aluminium, which is great considering the controversy surrounding aluminium in deodorants. There’s an excellent detailed explanation of all the ingredients here.

The cream comes in a small recyclable bioplastic tube, as either a 15ml starter tube or 20ml standard size (note that they actually come in the same size packet, they just have different amounts in). It only needs to be applied every 3-7 days (even if you shower or do sports!) and each application only requires a pea-sized amount for each armpit. 

nuud do say that there is a ‘detox’ period, which could last up to 2-3 weeks, where you will temporarily sweat and smell more. This is because nuud helps restore your natural perspiration system, so your body will basically be detoxing for a couple of weeks. You might want to apply nuud more often during this period. 

Because nuud doesn’t clog your sweat glands like other deodorants, it isn't an anti-perspirant, so you will still sweat. But you won't smell!

How I’ve found it

Before I go into my experience, just a little disclaimer... I'm not a particularly smelly person naturally, so it's not like I was putting this deodorant through a super tough test! I’m aware that I’m at the end of the scale where I can get away with applying less often, and that wouldn’t necessarily be the case for everyone. Having said that, I’ve read reviews from people who have more serious perspiration situations and still found nuud worked for them.

Overall, nuud has been super effective for me. Firstly, the transition, or ‘detox’ period - I didn't find this a huge issue. It seemed to work great from day one, apart from one instance where I got incredibly sweaty power walking to the station. In that case I just took a shower asap and reapplied and had no more problems.

Now I’m about 6 weeks into using nuud, I have no trouble with odour at all, and am gradually increasing the amount of time between applications. I can now manage 5 or 6 days! This is one of my favourite things about nuud - it feels great to cut out one more thing to be doing every day, especially when that thing was previously putting more chemicals on my body. Also, since this doesn't stain or mark clothes, I don’t have the issue of getting white marks on my clothes when I get dressed in a hurry (which, let’s be honest, is all the time!)

One thing to bear in mind with this deodorant is the price. A 15ml starter tube is £12.95, and nuud reckon that it should last 6 weeks on average, so it’s definitely more expensive than most deodorants. However, I’m already 6 weeks in and the tube is showing no signs of running out, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it lasted another 6 weeks or even longer. Plus, once you’ve got through your starter tube there are more economical options for buying, including a 2 x 20ml ‘smarter pack’ at £24.95 (so about 30% cheaper). 

The fact that you still sweat does take some getting used to - at first I was paranoid that I smelt whenever I sweated, but this was never the case. Weirdly, I’ve actually noticed that I sweat more often, but less. This works great for me because I know my body is doing its natural thing, but I don’t have to worry about being a sweaty betty!

In terms of sustainability, nuud is certainly better than a standard deodorant, though not perfect. The fact that you have to apply so little each time means there’s less packaging waste and it’s more sustainable to transport than some other deodorants.

The tube is made of sugar cane-derived bioplastic, which is not biodegradable but is recyclable. The fact that sugar cane is more sustainable to produce than the sources of standard plastic is positive, but it isn’t immediately clear in the marketing that sugar cane bioplastic is not biodegradable or compostable. Having said that, nuud gave me a very thoughtful and thorough response on the sustainability of the packaging via social media, which gave me some comfort that they have thought carefully about the best way to package their product. Here’s that information, for anyone interested in the details:

“Our tubes are made of sugarcane. Technically it's still plastic (renewable bioplastic to be exact), but it doesn't have many of the downsides of regular plastic. They are produced 100% CO2 neutral and they are 100% recyclable through regular plastic waste. The growing of the sugarcane filters the air for CO2 and it needs little water and space. The stuff used to make the bioplastic from is actually a byproduct of the sugarcane, which would otherwise hardly be used. 

We thought about biodegradable plastic, but it turned out it's not as good for our planet as we'd thought. Biodegradable plastic is as of now extremely hard to recycle and it often ends up in the regular plastic waste stream, messing up the whole batch and making it practically unusable. Also, its degradable characteristics mean you'll have to keep producing new plastic, causing more CO2 emission than you'd want. We also considered glass jars, but having to take nuud out with your fingers would result in bacteria getting in contact with the cream, making it less effective over time.”

I’ll keep using nuud because it’s better on sustainability than standard deodorants, but I hope that the team manages to improve the sustainability of the packaging as more options become available.

Overall, I’m so happy to have discovered nuud! It feels great to have ditched standard deodorant in favour of something that’s kinder on my body and the environment, and that takes less effort than it used to. This is definitely worth a go if you’re looking to switch to a natural deodorant.

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