I quit conventional deodorant years ago and never went back. Here's how that actually happened, because the story is the whole point.
After my first baby, in early 2019, I quit deodorant cold turkey. I honestly can't remember what prompted it. I was deep into activated charcoal at the time, so every few days I'd mix a little charcoal paste with water, smear it on my underarms, let it dry, and rinse it off. Worked like a charm.
Then something weird happened. Around then we were making a magnesium lotion, and someone tried it on their armpits — and discovered they just... didn't smell. No fragrance, no antibacterial anything. Just no BO.
That accident is why I look at deodorant completely differently now.
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WHY BO HAPPENS
**Q: What is body odor, really?**
Here's my take: BO is a sign your body isn't running optimally. And the lowest-hanging fruit for that, by a mile, is that you're low on magnesium (or other salts).
**Q: How is that different from how normal deodorant works?**
Completely different. Regular deodorants either kill the bacteria, plug your sweat glands shut, or cover the smell with fragrance. All three treat the odor as the problem, not a symptom of a deeper problem.
Topical magnesium does none of that. It goes to the source — you're supporting your body so it runs better, and the smell resolves because the *reason* for it is gone. You're not fighting your body. You're giving it something it was missing.
**Q: But isn't sweating the problem?**
Sweating is supposed to happen! It's how you regulate temperature and move things along. I'm suspicious of any product whose whole job is to shut a normal function down. The goal was never a body that doesn't sweat — it's a body that works well enough that sweat doesn't turn into a problem.
THE WEIRDEST THING WE LEARNED: TRY YOUR FEET
**Q: What if magnesium on my pits doesn't work?**
Try your feet. Seriously. One of my friends put the magnesium on her underarms and got nothing — so she put it on her feet overnight, and *that* did the trick. Her BO was gone. Crazy, right?
**Q: Why would that work?**
The soles of your feet have some of the highest densities of sweat glands and pores anywhere on your body — even more than your armpits. So they're a fantastic spot to absorb magnesium and get it where it's needed. (I think that's an evolutionary trait to facilitate bare-foot grounding, but don't quote me on that).
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MAKING THE SWITCH (and sensitive pits)
**Q: What's in your deodorant?**
About as simple as it gets: tallow, magnesium chloride dissolved in distilled water, beeswax, and jojoba. That's the whole list. Same handful of ingredients as our magnesium lotion, just different ratios — and the deo actually has slightly less magnesium, not more. You don't need to overdo it.
**Q: Why does my skin sting or get a rash when I switch?**
Because magnesium is a **brine**, and underarms can be genuinely sensitive — years of product plus the micro-damage from shaving leaves that skin reactive. A sting doesn't mean magnesium isn't for you. It means your skin needs a rest first.
**Q: So what do I do about that?**
Go back to the charcoal-and-water masks for a few weeks to let the area calm down, then reintroduce the magnesium gently once it's settled. Easy does it. Or skip the pits and go right to the feet. You can also use the "deo" tube anywhere on your body.
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CHANGES
**Q: It used to work and this week it doesn't**
Magnesium is something that is used up daily, and during periods of stress (hormonal, emotional, dietary, alcohol), it requires more. My personal advice is to remove as many of those various stressors as possible, but I live a very simple, boring life lol. SO, just know what to expect, and I would possibly add magnesium flakes in my bath, add some deo to my feet, and if oral supps are your thing, maybe this is the week to add some in (I don't really do oral supps anymore, but if I was super low in mag I would do maybe a couple of days just to try and get levels back up). Also worth considering your intake of salt and potassium. All three go together. *Not a doctor ;)
xo Caitlin