BOLD BEAUTY

For years now I have been very concerned about what I put on my body. The problem was there weren't many products available that were "natural" and if there were they weren't widely available.

Thanks to consumer buying power and the pressure from small innovative beauty companies the larger companies were forced to step up their game by removing the stuff you don't really need and keeping in or adding ingredients we can use.

Today I would like to applaud Arm & Hammer for being one of the "big" companies to take out the stuff we don't really need.

I was very excited when I first saw the ads for Arm & Hammer's Essentials Natural Deodorant because we all know that baking soda is tough on odors. I still had a little doubt in my head as to how effective the Arm & Hammer would be. Over the last year I was beauty director for an organic magazine and had a chance to "test" SEVERAL of the natural deodorants. They all basically failed the test in odor protection. There's nothing like going around apologizing for your odor because you're testing a deodorant. A socially crippling job, but someone's gotta do it.

I also didn't feel the need to test another deodorant. I already have a favorite natural deodorant that I love called Crystal Alley Deodorant, Keeping Abreast of it. It is made of Angstrom Zinc and Silver which kill odor causing bacteria. I wish I could say the same for a lot of the natural deodorants out there. BUT since a lot of viewers from BEAUTY 212 have told us they would like for us to report on products that are more mainstream I decided to take one for the team.

The moral of the story is I have run out of my Crystal Alley Deodorant and can feel confident about substituting in the Arm & Hammer Natural Deodorant! Two thumbs up on this one!