How good does your deodorant make you feel?
Ethical Influencers tipped me to Coconut Matter, a cool beauty & wellness company, which gave me the opportunity to try out a set of 4 of their Mood Deodorant. I LOVE coconut and coconut oil products, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried it in deodorant form, so I was pretty stoked to test it out.
Package & contents
The package of 4 came in a small, lightweight box and everything was recyclable.
The packaging of each deodorant stick is made of paper tubes rolled by hand with food-grade wax paper on the inside, and biodegradable laminate on the outside. So even if your area doesn’t recycle or have compost, it’d at least biodegrade in the landfill.
The cruelty-free ingredient list gets an A grade – it’s free of aluminum, triclosan, baking soda (who knew this was a high allergen?), paragon, phthalates, alcohol, fragrance, and plastic.
There was also a handwritten note from Shadow – nice touch!
Each stick has a fun phrase on the package when you lift up the cover, hence the mood part. The scents definitely help too — more on that later.
Each stick is only 30g in weight, vs. the 57g of product I currently use. However, their site says that they don’t use water (“aqua”) in their products while others do, likely using it as an unnecessary filler ingredient. How interesting!
Instead of twisting the bottom to push up the product, you simply push up with one finger. A little force goes a long way.
Quality
In order to test the quality of the product vs. what I currently use, I did an old-fashioned pit vs. pit test while working out.
After about a 20-minute run, with Lavanila on my left armpit and Mood on my right, I was more sweaty on the left. Both work, but it was eerily dry on the right! Mood isn’t marketed as an anti-perspirant, but it sure acted that way.
Scents & moods
I’ve used both unscented and naturally scented deodorants, and prefer as little scent as possible.
I found that Mood’s Free (Unscented) still smelled slightly floral, but it wasn’t overpowering. Ingredients include coconut oil, shea butter, rice bran wax, sunflower seed oil, and a few other herbs. It says ‘Self love is the best love.’ Truth!
Zen contains cedarwood, bergamot, and vetiver and took me back to a dark, early morning yoga session I once had in Yaletown. It’d be great for yin or restorative yoga, or during meditation. The phrase on the package is ‘Sweat off the stress.’ One thing I learned this year is the power that smell has in memory, so consider trying out the scents in Zen if you have a lot of stress in your life!
The Hero scent made of eucalyptus, peppermint, and rosemary is bright and uplifting and I’d use it while running, during a high intensity yoga session, or if I just had to wake up earlier than usual. The package says ‘Conquer the day.‘ It smells like spring and winter at the same time, so could be good for all seasons.
Even better, wear it if you go to a gym and just smell yourself every time you don’t want to smell others sweating!
Spring describes the lavender, geranium, and lime scent perfectly. It’s like spring blossoms, so would be a great scent to wear in cold seasons to remind you of warmer ones, or on a nice date night instead of using perfume. I don’t imagine men will want to wear this one as it’s a very feminine scent, while the other three deodorants are pretty androgynous. The phrase on the package is ‘Bloom with grace.‘
Other bonus points
- Hand-made from scratch
- No plastic lining
- Easy to travel with
- Streaks on clothing disappear easily. This one is HUGE! I’ve been burned in the past by sticks that were clear, but still left white marks on my dark clothing.
- Fair trade, made by women from the Solomon Islands
Why switch?
If you’re like me you might only be using one or two deodorant sticks each year, and after using ALL of the product, you put the package in the recycling bin hoping that it gets recycled. However, we never know whether what we put in the bins actually get recycled, and globally, not everyone has recycling facilities. Coconut Matter estimates that over 142 billion units of packaging in 2018 was produced by the beauty industry, most of which ended up in the landfill or ocean. And if you read my plastic waste post, it just isn’t cool.
Coconut Matter also says only 50% of bathroom product waste gets recycled, and only 1 in 5 people recycle toiletries. Just in the USA, the number of soap bottles would fill 1164 football fields.
I had another look in my bathroom to see what else was made of plastic and whether it was recyclable or not.
- Facewash and hair product bottles: I refill at The Soap Dispensary, otherwise recycle.
- Disposable razor: Not recyclable. I’m eventually going to switch to a safety razor when my disposable stash runs out.
- Cotton swabs: Not recyclable if made of plastic. Use paper or bamboo!
- Makeup packaging: Not recyclable, although you can donate used mascara wands in Canada.
- Toothpaste tubes: I take apart the top, and put the tube into soft recycling, but most people won’t take that step.
- Toothbrush: Not recyclable, but reusable.
- Floss package: Recyclable, although with the metal piece, I fear they would discard to the landfill.
- Hairbrush: Not recyclable, though it has a long life.
- Trash can: Recycle
That’s a long list of plastic that goes to a lot of different places. It’s got to stop!
If each Canadian swapped out one deodorant stick a year for a zero waste version, that’d be 37 million plastic tubes diverted from the landfill or ocean!
How to buy
Although the website is primarily marketed to US and Hong Kong customers, shipping to Canada is available. Each stick is $16 USD (or $45 for the set of 4) plus shipping, so it’s a premium product, but consider the quality and low environmental footprint.
Coconut Matter also has lip balms, lipstick, soap scrubs, body balms & butters, and coconut oil-based products.
They’re launching a Kickstarter campaign soon for their new BLISS mood, so you can sign up for updates, contests, and get 30% off products.
www.coconutmatter.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/coconutmatter
Instagram: @coconutmatter
#KeepItNiu
#CleanIsChic
#CoconutMatters
Disclosure: I received all four Mood Deodorant sticks as part of this review.
Select photos courtesy of coconutmatter.com.
