January 19, 2011

Even Hippies Hate BO: Smelly No More Crystal Deodorant Stick

Excuse the blurry stock photo. I haven't had time to photograph the actual product under proper lightning yet.


Friends often accuse me of having hippie tendencies; an accusation which alternately amuses and irritates me. Like, seriously, what's wrong with being environmentally conscious, not drinking coffee and occasionally going for the vegetarian option on the menu?

(Btw, if you want to know whether a restaurant really cares about their diners, check to see what their vegetarian options are and how large the portions are. If they offer more than 3 choices, only one dish is centred around mushrooms and the food is good, rest assured that that place truly is vegetarian friendly.)

When I first saw Smelly-No-More in Guardian a few weeks ago, I was both tempted and discouraged to get it. On one hand, I was really curious to see if the whole salt crystal thing worked on cutting down BO. On the other, I knew that it would invite another crack from my friends on my perceived "hippie-ness".

Of course I bought it in the end. Curiosity always wins out.

Apparently, natural mineral salt is a great deodorant alternative for those with allergies or those concerned about the aluminium content in commercial deodorants. The product information printed on the casing claims that crystal salt has been used for centuries in Asian countries and is therefore one of the most effective remedies for BO. 

Hmm... I don't know about you but the first time I heard about crystal salt as a deodorant was at a New Age type store. There were some smooth salt crystals in a basket and I was musing out loud that they looked kind of odd as most crystals are usually left in their natural jagged shape. The store owner laughed and told me that those were for armpits, "not for cleansing auras, sweetie."

Other claims by Smelly-No-More is include anti-bacterial, is 300% more effective than other commercial deodorants and is not sticky.

Best applied after a shower, you just have to wet the top of the crystal stick and apply over your pits. The stick dries out on its own afterwards. In a fit of absent mindedness, I accidentally applied this over freshly plucked armpits. Ouchie.

Just remember that salt stings.

After a few weeks of use, I came to a verdict: Surprise, surprise. Mineral salt sticks actually work. I don't have strong BO but I do get whiffs of it once in a while, depending on what I have been eating. I don't smell with this, even after blue cheese. It doesn't work so well for sporting activities but it's alright for normal, everyday use.

Unfortunately, I still sweat buckets while using this. On the other hand, it is expected as this is a deodorant, not an anti-perspirant.

In answer to 2 questions which must be hovering on everyone's minds: No, you can't use normal table salt for your pits instead. If I am not mistaken, this is potassium alum and completely different from edible salt. 

Secondly, yes, I tried tasting it. It was weird.

Smelly-No-More retails at RM16.90 at 60g. There are bigger sizes available and I saw a twin pack offer in Guardian recently although I am not sure of the price. If you are the type who is concerned about BO and doesn't sweat much, I suggest giving this a go. One 60g stick will probably last for years.

5 comments:

Ashchronicles said...

Interesting! I've never heard of this deodorant before but I really want to look for something that could rid armpit stench! I probably hormonal problem bcz only my right armpit smells..U__U I hope this works! Read in the internet that you can rid armpit odor by wiping the said armpit with cotton pads sprinkled with a little bit of alcohol..also scrubbing underarm regularly would help...^^ I haven't been using deodorant for almost a month now but I have to scrub regularly..The smell kinda..subside..=) which is good~hee

Petra said...

Oh, goodo. I'll pick this up.

Eli said...

Aisyah: Thanks for the alcohol tip! Doesn't it dry out though?

Petra: Have only seen this in guardian so far. There's another salt deo stick in the market as well but its packaged in purple and kind of looks like lube.

joe said...

u are so great... i found ur blog by searching information about dry shampoo in googles... i hate reading in all ways... but the article that u wrote just can't stop me from reading it... ^^

Anonymous said...

Yep, it totally works.. Been using it for a while now :) and yeah, its a traditional remedy. It seems that the ibans in sarawak have been using something similar, its called 'batu tawas' ( i asked around)