Stinky Girl, A Product Review Of Schmidt's Natural Deodorant

Full disclosure: I'm a stinky girl. Some girls don't sweat and they never smell like anything except roses and sunshine. That's not me. I'm foul. I have to scrub and dub-dub. I have to apply industrial strength deodorant. I have to sniff test anything I think about re-wearing without washing.  The strange thing is that I don't really sweat, I just get damp and stagnate. I believe if I did sweat I would push the stinkies out and they would float away. Instead, they just build up and create a noxious stank that emanates from my pits. Thankfully, I stay on top of this and I doubt any of you would realize this truth about me. 

Enter Schmidt's Natural Deodorant, Lavender and Sage. Apparently Birchbox thinks I will enjoy it. Normally they are spot on. I lack faith with this one though. Normal deodorant has a boat load of aluminum chloride that acts as an antiperspirant to actually plug your sweat glands.  They also have some smell good stuff that acts as the de-odor part. With Schmidt’s, there is no aluminum chloride, so you will still sweat, but the product promises to effectively neutralize odor and absorb wetness.

Day one: I apply the product post shower; heeding the directions to "gently apply a small amount to underarms" Strike one: I really do not enjoy the smell of lavender. The sage isn't bad, but the deo sort of smells like a high end blend of Herbs de Provence. Combine that with my honeysuckle lotion and men's Escape cologne and I'm a French prostituée eating leftovers from a fancy dinner on a hotel bed. (Yes, I wear men's cologne).

Workout #1 should be a pretty good test for Shmidty. The weather is cooler than it’s been being, but as I warm up the box starts to feel really, overly hot so I turn on a fan. I do a quick pit-sniff and everything is fine. I lift my arms up and down a few times to test for stickiness and there is none. So far so good.

WOD #1 is a 10 minute EMOM with burpees, toes to bar, and OHS. I’m panting and hustling. If I was going to stink and sweat, it should have started here.

WOD #2 is another 10 minute EMOM of handstand push-ups. After I’m done, a friend who knows I’m experimenting with this deo, runs up and sticks her nose in my pits. LOL she pronounces me officially NOT STINKY!

I am not 100% convinced that the Schmidty is that good. I am assuming it is my 48 hour Right Guard that hasn’t worn off yet. We shall see.

PM: Shower and apply Lav & Sage before bed

Day 2:

AM-I get up and head to work to coach and workout. I haven’t applied any more deo since last night’s shower. Workout #1 for me is some lifting and mobility work. Nothing overly strenuous and I do not sweat or smell.

Midday- Take shower, apply Lav and Sage and head to a routine Dr. appointment. I don’t know about you guys, but every time I go the doctor I get a little nervous and my body acts like I’m about to enter enemy territory. My internal temp goes up, my BP gets a bit higher and my pulse quickens. Research shows stress sweat is stinkier than physical activity sweat due to the increase in cortisol and endorphins being released. This appointment should really test the product and SURPRISE! I leave the appointment and still smell like a French whore! (Which is a good thing in my case, remember?)

PM- Workout #2 is a high rep barbell workout. As I am warming up, I can smell the garlic on my hands that I chopped at lunch which makes me thing, “Hmmmm…lavender, sage and garlic….I smell like a pork chop!” (It’s always about food)

At this point I am starting to lose some skepticism and think maybe this stuff actually works….

Day 3:

My rest day! YAY! Since I don’t go into work until later today, I focused on taking care of some housekeeping. No shower or extra deo, just starting working. I also did Romwod outside in the beautiful sun and can say I did not stink! That’s 24+ hours after the last application!

I took a shower before heading into work and was still pretty hot when I put Schmidty on. I wasn’t stinky, but I did feel damp under the pits all day long. I know the product said it would absorb wetness, but where, exactly would the wetness go when the product absorbed it? It is still going to be under my armpits, right? I keep thinking of soggy diapers…..

That evening I noticed my pits were kind of itchy.

Day 4:

AM-Get up, shower, apply Lavender and head to work. Notice again that I am damp under the armpits and it isn’t going away. It’s really hot outside today and this is a deodorant, not an antiperspirant, so no big surprise there. I am, however, still feeling some itching and now I get to add in some burning. That is not cool. As much as I pretend that I am a complete bad ass, my skin is kind of a sissy so I’m not sure it’s liking what is going on.

PM- Amazingly, I still smell fresh as a daisy, but the slight itching and burning is becoming more pronounced and I have red whelps in my pits. Really.not.cool. I don’t know if I’m allergic to something in the deodorant or just the constant dampness is irritating my sensitive skin.

I take a shower and go to bed without deo of any kind to let me pits breathe a bit.

Day 5:

AM: It’s Saturday! Once I got to the gym I realized I had never put on deodorant at all this morning so I used the Lady’s Speed Stick I keep at the gym. The itching and burning is gone, mercifully. And I keep noticing throughout the day that pits are dry as a bone. That’s a really, really, really good feeling. Score one for antiperspirant.

Day 6:

Once I get out of the shower, I look at the Schmidty and ponder whether to try again. I love the idea of a natural deodorant, but the moistness in my pits when I use it is really aggravating/distracting/gross/odd. And since I’m not sure if I’m allergic to it or not, I decide not to experiment any further and grab my old anti-perspirant/deo and cake it on.

Here’s my official review of this product. It is a great option if you want to go natural and avoid aluminum chloride. I was NEVER stinky and I worked out 4 of the 4 days I used it. I even made it through a doctor’s appointment that would normally make me very stinky from the stress.

However, I just couldn’t get over the wet pits that stemmed from it being a deodorant only. Apparently, neither could my pits as they rashed out in protest. I’ll hang on to this product and try it again in the fall/winter when it’s not 100% humidity and heat and see if that makes a difference.

If you are looking to try something natural, I would recommend you try Schmidt’s. They have different varieties if Lavender and Sage isn’t your jam. I think the Bergamot and Lime sounds divine!

UPDATE
I shared my thoughts with Schmidt's and they were super nice with their response and offered to exchange my product for another one.

Thanks for sharing the Schmidt's love! After reading your blog post I wanted to share some tips and tricks to better your Schmidt's experience. Some report a temporary transition during which they may experience more odor and wetness while the body releases fluids previously blocked by aluminum in the sweat glands. Not sure if this is the case for you, but it might be that you'll notice increased effectiveness after giving it some time to "kick in." Also, I do have one pro tip for you: try holding it under your arm momentarily to soften upon contact with body heat--this is the perfect time for maximum absorption so it should give you a little extra boost.

By the way, we also offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, we'll always be happy to set you up with an exchange so you can try one of our other products. Our Charcoal + Magnesium deo combines some of our most effective ingredients into a single formula! You’ll find adsorbent charcoal, magnesium, and odor neutralizing sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) all in the same smooth deo. Find out why this innovative deo is shaking things up on our blog: https://schmidtsnaturals.com/care/charcoal-magnesium-schmidts-best-formula-ever

Wow! What great customer service!

Stay Strong Y'all!

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