Serenity and Fire with Krista

What’s Really Hiding in Your Deodorant (and What to Use Instead)

• Krista Guagenti

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Most of us use deodorant every single day — but how often do we actually think about what’s inside it?

In this episode of Serenity and Fire, I'm breaking down the truth about the ingredients hiding in your daily deodorant routine — from hormone-disrupting chemicals to hidden “fragrance” formulas and what to look for instead if you’re trying to support your body’s natural balance.

You’ll learn:

  • The top five ingredients to avoid in conventional deodorants (and why they matter)
  • The difference between blocking your body’s natural processes vs. supporting them
  • The safest, most effective ingredients in clean deodorants that actually work
  • How to read labels like a pro and why transparency is the new luxury
  • Spa-approved product recommendations

Clean isn’t complicated — it’s conscious. Once you understand what your skin is communicating, you can make choices that respect your biology and support your wellbeing from the underarms up.

Mentioned Brands:

  • Oliver & Flynn (unscented and scented natural deodorants)
  • EO Clean Care Products
  • Wonderfully Made artisan deodorants
  • Force of Nature Clean

Learn More:
Shop the clean products featured in this episode at Panacea Luxury Spa Boutique

Follow @serenityandfire on Instagram for more conscious living and modern wellness content.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Serenity and Fire, the podcast where wellness meets grit. I'm your host, Krista Guidenti, founder of Panacea Luxury Spa Boutique. Join me as we dive into the intriguing world of biohacking, clean living, cutting-edge spa trends, and the hustle, grind, and grit of entrepreneurship. From my personal battles with weight management, infertility, and the 30-year journey to create and launch my dream business, to building a sanctuary for those who have been touched by cancer. I'm here to share real talk, inspire big dreams, and spark a passion for holistic living inside each and every one of you. So let's dive in. Welcome back to Serenity and Fire. Most people don't really think about what's in their deodorants. It sits quietly on your vanity or in your medicine cabinet, it goes on every morning, and it's typically a set it and forget it type of product. But if you've been following this underarm detox series, you already know simplicity doesn't always mean safety. And what we put on our skin matters, not so much for detoxing purposes, that isn't really the job of our skin. It matters because our skin is our protector. It's the body's first line of defense against bacteria, viruses, pollutants, and other external threats. It absorbs and reacts to what we put on it and is one of our most powerful communication systems in the body. And when we look at the truth around our deodorants and antiperspirants, many of the more conventional products on the market contain ingredients that are designed to block or mask those communication pathways in a way that doesn't provide support or balance to our bodies. In episode two, we explored what happens when you stop using aluminum-based antiperspirants, how the skin rebalances, and why ingredients like baking soda and hypochlorous acid can dramatically influence the health of your underarm microbiome. Today we're going deeper into the world of ingredients, the ones that support your biology and the ones that quietly disrupt it. This isn't about fear, it's about awareness. Once you understand how to read a label and decode the ingredients in a product, you can reclaim control over what enters your body's ecosystem. Your underarms are home to a complex, sensitive microbiome. The skin here is thinner, more vascular, it has more glands than other body parts, and because it is often freshly shaven and subject to heat and friction simply by the way we go throughout our day, the skin in this area is even more permeable, which means it absorbs ingredients more readily than some of the other areas of our bodies. This makes daily product exposure uniquely impactful. For better or for worse, what sits on your underarms daily matters. When you use products that block sweat, kill bacteria indiscriminately, or flood your skin with synthetic fragrances and other toxic chemicals, you're sending mixed signals to the body. The goal of Clean Deodorant isn't to do nothing, it's to do the right things by supporting balance, neutralizing odor, and respecting your body's natural biological processes. Let's look at five common additives you'll find in conventional formulas and why many clean living advocates, including our friends over at Force of Nature Clean, say to leave them behind. The first ingredient I want to look at is triclosan. Triclosan is a synthetic pesticide once used in antibacterial soaps, and believe it or not, it is still permitted in some deodorants, acne products, and toothpaste. This ingredient has been linked to hormone disruptions, especially in the thyroid system, as well as antibiotic resistance and even liver toxicity. The FDA banned triclosan in 2016 because manufacturers failed to provide proof and data that they were both safe and more effective than plain water and soap. But the ban did not apply to all personal care products like toothpastes. And because it can act as an endocrine disruptor, meaning it interferes with our normal hormonal processes and signaling, it's best to avoid this one entirely. So check your labels and skip anything listing triclosan or triclocarban. The second ingredient is aluminum. As we discussed in our last couple of episodes, aluminum salt plugs sweat ducts to stop moisture. The concern lies in their estrogen-like activity because studies have shown that aluminum can mimic estrogen's behavior in a lab setting. Trace absorption near breast tissue has led researchers to question whether or not daily exposure could influence hormone-sensitive cancers. There's no conclusive proof yet that aluminum causes breast cancer. And currently the position by major health organizations like the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute state that there is no strong epidemiological evidence to support a link between antiperspirant use and breast cancer risk in humans, but enough mechanistic overlap exists to justify caution, especially when gentler alternatives exist. Choosing aluminum-free deodorant simply means respecting uncertainty and erring on the side of conscious caution and biological balance. The third ingredient I want to talk about is fragrance. Fragrance sounds harmless, but it's actually a legal black box. Manufacturers can literally hide hundreds of undisclosed chemicals behind that single word, many of which are carcinogenic, neurotoxic, andor hormone disrupting. Fragrance blends often contain phthalates, allergens, and solvents, yet manufacturers aren't required to disclose their full formulas. And because the fragrance industry is self-regulated, these blends rarely undergo independent safety reviews. Even labels that read natural fragrances can actually contain synthetics. And I want to dive deeper into that in a future episode, but for now, just know the rule of thumb is simple. If you see the words fragrance or perfume on the label, it's best to set it down. Choose products labeled fragrance-free, or if you really need something scented, be sure the scent comes from non-toxic products like organic essential oils. We're going to dive deeper into essential oils here in just a minute, but before we do, the fourth ingredient to avoid is phthalates. Phthalates are often buried inside that same word fragrance. They make scents last longer, and unfortunately, they also can be potent endocrine disruptors. They've been associated with reproductive toxicity, asthma, altered testosterone levels, and developmental issues in unborn children. You won't see phthalate written on the ingredient list, but avoiding fragranced products is your best defense. And last on our top five ingredients to avoid are parabens. These are preservatives with mild estrogen mimicking properties. They extend the shelf life of products, but have been detected in human urine and tissue samples tested by the CDC. So they're under continued review for potential links to hormone disruption and reproductive toxicity. Like aluminum, there's no proven causal link to breast cancer, but the pattern of estrogenic activity keeps them under scrutiny. To skip them, look for ingredients ending in parabin, like methylparabin, butylparabin, and propylparabin. So let's switch gears a bit and talk about ingredients that are actually good for you. Safe ingredients you should look for in our natural deodorants that work with your inherent biological systems rather than suppressing them. So the first one is going to be magnesium hydroxide. This ingredient neutralizes odor without raising pH or irritating your skin. We also want to look for zinc racinoliate. This one traps or binds odor molecules instead of killing that good bacteria. Arrowroot and tapioca powders, or even non-GMO cornstarches, can gently absorb moisture while allowing the skin to breathe. And then when we look at coconut oil and shea butters, these are going to hydrate and support the microbiome. Charcoal or bentonite or kaolin clays help pull out impurities in the skin, balance the oils, and they help keep the pores clean. Kolin clay is generally considered milder and more suitable for sensitive skins, while bentonite clay has stronger absorbent qualities that are effective for oily and acne-prone skin. Activated charcoal has a high absorptive capacity, which allows it to also attract and draw out impurities from the skin. It works similarly to the clays in that it holds on to the oil and impurities it absorbs, allowing them to be rinsed away. Before I jump into my last ingredient on the safe list, here's a quick refresher on what we talked about regarding baking soda in our last episode. Baking soda's alkalinity gives it odor-neutralizing power, but overuse pushes your skin's pH from acidic to alkaline. That shift weakens your natural skin barrier, encourages irritation, and can cause redness or dark patches. If you love a baking soda formula, choose one blended with buffering oils or alternate it with magnesium-based products to let your skin recover. Okay, so now for the last healthy ingredient on the safe list, and that is essential oils, which provide natural scents and antibacterial support when used sparingly. But a little bit goes a long way, which is what we're going to talk about next, because essential oils can be both therapy and threat. They're concentrated plant extracts rich in natural compounds that neutralize odor-causing bacteria, but they don't always stop there. Because they're broad-spectrum antimicrobials, like I mentioned in our last episode, strong or highly concentrated exposure, especially on a daily basis, can also suppress the beneficial bacteria that help keep your underarms balanced. The Environmental Working Group, or EWG, rates most common essential oils as low to moderate hazard, depending on concentration and the potential for sensitization. Noting that essential oils are generally safe when used sparingly, which is typically under 1% concentration and always diluted in soothing carriers like shea, jojoba, or coconut oil. But when overused, they can definitely irritate or dry out your skin, disrupt your pH, and cause sensitization. Dermatology research echoes that short-term, low-level essential oil exposure can coexist with a healthy microbiome, but daily high-dose use can shift skin pH and diversity over time. So the experts do agree on that. So what do you do if you want a fresh scent with your deodorant? How do you scent safely? First, you want to favor deodorants that use essential oils as accent notes and not as main actives. Think 0.3 to 0.8% total essential oil concentration. You also want to avoid anything that says essential oil powered or EO-based antimicrobial formulas during the first four to six weeks of your microbiome reset. Once your balance returns, lighter blends like tea tree, peppermint, lavender, vetiver, even geranium, grapefruit, rosemary, bergamot, neuroli, chamomile, or rose, all which are beautiful oils, can be used for subtle scents and emotional uplift without oversanitizing the skin. But if you're seeking a clean, spa-fresh scent without that microbial disruption, try these options instead. The first one to think about is plant hydrosols like lavender, rose, cucumber, or chamomile distillates. They add light, freshness, and hydration and are generally considered to be microbiome safe because they are significantly less concentrated and milder than their essential oil counterparts. And while they possess antibacterial properties when used in smaller concentrations, they have far fewer safety concerns and less risk of irritation. If your priority is to completely avoid any ingredient with broad spectrum antibacterial action that could potentially disrupt your armpit microbiome, you should also avoid the hydrosols in a leave-on product, especially one like deodorant, and opt for more inert ingredients like prebiotics or mineral-based absorbers like magnesium hydroxide or zinc ricinolate, which both neutralize odor naturally without affecting your healthy flora. Another ingredient to think about is gnoni fruit stem cells. Emerging cosmetic biotech data suggests that innovative products using ingredients like noni fruit stem cells are claimed to shift the metabolism of odor-causing bacteria to neutralize scent at its source without killing off the beneficial bacteria. You can also look at botanical ferments like kombucha or lactobacillus filtrates. These mildly acidify and support good bacteria. And then there's hypochlorous acid. Of course, I'm referring to the miracle product from Force of Nature that I keep raving about as an all-in-one multi-surface, multi-purpose cleaner, deodorizer, and disinfectant that can also be used to manage your underarm odor. This non-toxic, germ-killing, microbiome-friendly product neutralizes odor-causing microbes while preserving your microbiome balance. It's even safe after shaving. And then you can look at fragrance-free bases with a light mistine by spraying on diluted essential oil hydrosols over your deodorant instead of mixing it in with your deodorant. So the goal isn't to never use essential oils, it's about using them intelligently and intermittently. Think of essential oils like sunlight, beneficial in brief balanced exposure, but excessive doses can burn your biome. Now let's talk about another common ingredient in clean deodorants, and that's organic ethanol. Ethanol acts as a quick drying base and a natural preservative. And I bring this up because one of the natural deodorants we carry at Panacea, which I'm going to show you here in just a minute, has organic ethanol as its main ingredient. While it is antimicrobial, it does evaporate fast, leaving minimal long-term impact on your microbiome. The one concern with this ingredient, however, is dryness. Frequent use on frequently shaved or sensitive skin can strip moisture and cause irritation. I personally use this one and do not have any issues with it, but if you're someone who already has very dry skin, or you decide to try this one and it does end up drying out your skin, you might want to try another option or be sure to add moisturizers like vitamin E oil, jojoba oil, or shea butter after you apply the deodorant. In fact, EWG rates ethanol as a low hazard product and recommends that it be paired with humectants or emollients like glycerin or aloe to help protect your skin barrier. At Panacea, we kind of view it like a dry martini, refreshing in moderation, dehydrating in excess. If a deodorant uses organic alcohol, buffer it with moisture or alternate it with a non-alcohol option to keep your skin supple and calm. Okay, so let's talk about how you can read ingredient labels like a pro. First, you want to prioritize transparency. Look for short ingredient lists. Five to 10 items is ideal, and the ingredients should be things that you actually recognize. Second, you want to seek third-party verification. Certifications such as EWG verified, made safe, or USDA organic indicate third-party review, so be on the hunt for those as well. And then you want to be cautious with vague claims like natural fragrance or antibacterial complex. Those words have no legal definition and marketing can definitely be misleading in these cases. Chemical-free doesn't exist because literally everything is made with chemicals. What matters is whether those chemicals are biocompatible and non-toxic in the way the body processes them. Your underarm routine should read more like a wellness ritual rather than a chemistry experiment. And transparency is the new luxury. So as we begin to wrap up for today, remember switching to a clean, natural deodorant is all about removing what overwhelms your biology so your body can regulate itself more gracefully. And be patient while going through this process and keep the end goal in mind. Less odor, less irritation, more confidence, and doing all of that by allowing your body to heal through alignment. That means letting your body do what it was designed to do and choosing products that honor that intelligence. Every ingredient choice communicates something to your body. When you simplify your inputs, your body simplifies its responses. At Panacea Luxury Spa Boutique, and of course here on Serenity and Fire, we teach healing through alignment, the art of working with, not against your biology. That's what this series is really all about. You don't need perfection, just progress, awareness, and the courage to ask what's in the bottle before it touches your skin. So before I close for today, I wanted to share a few products that we carry and love in the Panacea Boutique. So the first group of products I want to talk about is by a company called Oliver and Flynn. And this is probably my top recommended product when you're seeking out an unscented deodorant. Their products are generally small batch, clean label formulations that emphasize minimal ingredients, things like magnesium hydroxide, arrowroot powder, coconut oil, and light essential oils. Of course, the unscented versions wouldn't have the essential oils in them, but the products they carry that do have essential oils in them are modest and there are no alcohol or heavy baking soda bases, so they're considered microbiome friendly. So this is what the products look like, and you can see that their packaging is very eco-friendly as well. This is the unscented and this is the regular scented. Um, and they do just push up from the bottom, which is nice. And then the second group that I want to mention that we love at Panacea, and we actually carry these products in our locker rooms, and that is the EO brand, which actually stands for everyone products, not essential oils, which is what I always thought it was for the longest time. But, anyways, it's an established clean care company that adheres to USDA organic, EWG verified, and cruelty-free standards. Most of their sprays use organic ethanol as a natural preservative and quick dry base, which, as we discussed earlier, is microbiome neutral, but potentially drying if used daily without hydration. This is the product I mentioned earlier in the episode. And while they also contain some beautiful essential oils, the profiles, which are typically blends of lavender, citrus, vetiver, rosemary, and geranium, are typically less than that 1% concentration and they're buffered with aloe. So as we mentioned earlier, according to EWG, these are definitely within that safe essential oil concentration limit to allow them to be microbiome-friendly. So these are a couple of the scents that we carry at the spa. This one is lavender, and this one is called a centering citrus, but it has a lot of really beautiful ingredients in it. And then the third group that I want to talk about is by a brand called Wonderfully Made. Their natural deodorants are from an artisan line that tends to use magnesium hydroxide, arrowroot powder, shea butter, and small essential oil blends. They're free of aluminum, parabens, and synthetic fragrances. And the essential oil levels are modest, and the product includes soothing fats or waxes, which should allow your body to maintain microbiome balance quite well. And these products, I'm really excited about them. We just got them in, but they do come in a couple of different scents as well. And like I said, the ingredients are so clean and healthy for your body. Um, they do have a little bit of essential oils in them. So if you start to find that those deodorants aren't blocking the odor as much as you would like after you've gone through your detox and rebalancing phase, I do recommend alternating any deodorants that have essential oils in them with an unscented deodorant and also leaning on your underarm detox bar or the kombucha cleanser that we talked about for a period of time until that microbiome is back in balance again. Your underarms might seem like a small detail in your wellness journey, but details compound. Clean isn't complicated, it's conscious. It's not about deprivation, it's about discernment. And once you start reading your labels with curiosity instead of fear, you'll realize your body was never the problem. It just needed honesty, conscious selection, and a little less interference. And that's the true science of going clean. So now that you've learned what to look for and what to leave behind, it's time to dive into what's happening beneath your skin because ingredients are only part of the story. Your skin is alive, home to trillions of microbes that protect, communicate, and respond to everything you do. In our next episode, we'll talk about how to nurture that invisible ecosystem, how to rebuild harmony after years of oversanitizing and overscenting, and how to restore balance. Okay, that's it for today's episode. Thank you so much for listening to Serenity and Fire. If today's episode inspired you, the best way to support the show is to follow, leave a review, and share these episodes with those you love most. And don't forget to follow us on social too at Serenity and Fire. Until next time, keep balancing Serenity with Fire. I'm Krista Gogenny and I'll talk with you more in our next episode. At Panacea Luxury Spa Boutique, we don't just offer traditional spa treatments. We create rituals that relax your mind, restore your health, and rejuvenate your spirit. From biohacking technologies to advanced oncology trained care, everything we do is designed to help you heal on the deepest level with clean, holistic therapies, products, and amenities that are second to none. And right now you can experience two of my favorites our whole body LED lightbed or hyperbaric oxygen therapies. And as a thank you for listening, you'll get 10% off your first session when you use the code SERENITI10 at booking. What is your panacea? Let us help you find it because true wellness isn't a quick fix, it's a ritual.