Real Adult Confession Time: I sweat. I sweat a lot, and when I gained weight in the last 4 years, I found that I sweat even more. Worst of all, sometime around the age of 16, I started puberty, and when that I happened, I found that my sweat, smelled funky. So since adolescence, I have been searching for a cure for sweaty, stinky underarms, which is my biggest problem, we will have to hit my feet and the occasional boob sweat issue another time.
About 2 years ago, I went searching for a better version of deodorant that wasn’t full of chemicals. I had read an article somewhere about there being a link between chemicals and heavy metals in deodorant that help with the sweating and stink, but could also lead to cancer. I also was starting to have issues with skin irritations and breaking out from my deodorant. The smells also were not pleasant. Why would you want your underarms to smell like a Jamba Juice smoothie mixed with a wildflower field? So I saw Taylor’s Brand PITS! Natural Deodorant online at one of my favorite cloth diaper/ natural baby stores and gave it a try. It was called Hippie Pits, and I thought it was cleaver, but turns out, Hippy is not a scent that works for me. So I used it and did not get any irritations, but the smell was just too strong and so I quit it and moved on to another brand, and another brand, until finally I just went back to switching between Dove and Secret brand. Only problem is that I keep getting break outs and rashes, and its just unpleasant and I hate my pits.
So a few weeks ago, I saw a broadcast from BalmBaby owner Malena on Periscope and she went over a few of her products and answered many product line questions. She did a bit of a discussion about the benefits of her product line, and then talked about the different scents that she offered in the PITS! line of natural deodorants. I turned my head away from the distraction at the time to listen up, because it just changed everything for me. Maybe at the time 2 years ago there were not as many options, scent wise, but whatever the case, I was getting back on the PITS! wagon that day thanks to that particular scope.
I didn’t make time that night, or even that week, but when I finally had time to put in another skin care order from my favorite retailer, I stopped into their other products department and found PITS! and ordered a jar. They only had Hippy and Woodsie. I decided to go with Woodsie (hoping for some reason it would have cedarwood in it).
Woodsie PITS! arrived on Friday and I have given it 3 days and put it to the test. Here is a break down of how things went down.
Day 1 started with my morning using Secret Deodorant because it was what I had, but by mid day, the scent of the fruity floral became annoying and I felt like I could smell the stink of my sweat through the floral mix, making for a gross sweaty flower fruit smoothie. When I got home that afternoon, PITS! was sitting in my mailbox, and so I immediately opened it up, lathered it on my underarms and it neutralized the gross scent. I made the mistake of not just jumping into the shower that night, which was my own fault, and I thoroughly regretted it the next morning.
Day 2 started with me getting up early for some snuggle time and to head to the doctors office for a check up. I went to apply more PITS! and it turns out my underarms were a gross mess of scents. I tried to cover it up with PITS! again, but it wasn’t working because the grossness of the sweat and leftover deodorant from the day before was just becoming a stew of not awesome. I grabbed a quick shower and scrubbed down my body and left my skin ready for a fresh lather of PITS! and then threw my running shoes on, knowing full well that I would need to head out and do some training after the doctors appointment. Things went well and then about 2 hours after I applied PITS! I headed out on a 6 mile run through the hills to train for my triathlon. I didn’t make it the whole 6 miles though because the sun came out, it was hot, and I was just not having it. I was sticky, gross, and sweaty. I thought for sure that PITS! wouldn’t be working when I got home. I was wrong. I didn’t smell of anything, not even the original scent of Woodsie. It deodorized everything and became neutral. I was very impressed.
So I took another quick rinse off, and didn’t even really scrub down much because I knew I was going to be spending my afternoon with a bunch of drooling sick kids, and I didn’t want to waste my time when I knew I was going to shower again anyways. So I didn’t even apply a second layer of PITS! and decided if it was going to work for 18 hours, I might as well push it. Carrying around a 25lbs 1 year old, and chasing after a 3 year old took its toll. I was sweating and exhausted again. I was happy when it was all over and I was heading home, except I remembered that I need to get my underarms waxed!
Gearapalooza is next week and I wanted to have my eyebrows and underarms at least cleaned up for that, even if nobody is really going to see it. Well, I slightly freaked out in my mind because I didn’t have anything I could slather on to cover the smell, except I lucked out, there was no smell at all! Taylor’s PITS! lasted a whole day without losing its power even though I power sweated through it during running, and then sweated some more during babysitting. I was surprised, and slightly ashamed that a product that worked so well meant I was walking into the spa with sweaty underarms for a waxing. Crys, my wax girl did my eyebrows without a hitch, and then I had her do my very overgrown underarms. She did her normal powder and wax routine and then did one arm and was shocked and told me to double check, was there not a single left behind hair there? She was able to wax all the hair and leave 0 irritation. She asked if I had done anything different, and I just told her about my new deodorant and she was shocked, she said something in there must be good for waxing because that is the easiest wax she has ever done. The same thing happened on the other arm. Easiest wax ever and it left no residue and no skin irritants. It had to be the PITS!
I was already over the moon with the product last night, but today I gave it a day 3 test because everything in my world needs 3 day tests in my mind. This Sunday in particular was a very stressful day, and I knew it was going to be. I also knew that the building where I work wouldn’t have air conditioning since it was a weekend, so it was going to warm, stale, and I was going to be sweaty and stressed out. I was stressed from the moment I woke up. So I grabbed my morning shower, did my hair, got dressed and went into the office at 9am. It was early, it was already warm, and I had a ton to do before people showed up. So I worked and stressed and sweated in the heat of the stale-noA/C building. When the first person showed up to “help” me set up, I could only think of all the things that had not been done yet and how I stressed I was about that. Things kept on going for the next 3 hours until guests arrived. I had my messy hair up, and I was running around greeting people and stressed out. I could tell that with 2 shirt changes that my Taylor’s PITS! was really being put to the test, to my surprise though, after 8 hours, I still did not have stink.
It’s been 12 hours since I first applied PITS! this morning, and its official, this stuff works. I am so happy to have found it. I am hoping it will improve my skin issues over time and as my underarms heal, it will keep the goodness going.
There are some things I do have to point out about PITS! though. The packaging for it is not the most appealing thing to look at. For one, its a hairy underarm, and while I like the truth behind my product, its kind of gross to look at. I know the packaging varies from girly version to manly version, but I have the manly version right now because it was the only other scent in stock at my favorite retailer, and I just put a sticker over the hairy.
The container is glass which I love, because I know nothing is leaching, they even use a metal lid which helps keep the toxins out. I also love that I can recycle and clean the jar easily. However, the alternative to that is that because its glass, it doesn’t apply like the conventional deodorants we have all come to know. So I am getting used to scooping out a little bit using a qtip and applying with my fingers. So if you’re in a rush, this could be annoying to have to wash your hands twice just because you’re applying deodorant. This is forcing me to take some me time to do self care though, so I am happy with that.
Those are really my only two complaints about this product right now. The pros definitely outweigh the cons. Pros of this product are awesome with the way that natural ingredients are used to neutralize the bacteria that forms that gross smell when you’re sweaty and warm. It’s made of all edible ingredients, in case you have a pet or small child who might get into it. It has some serious healing qualities. My skin is soft, and it isn’t sticky, which is one thing that bugs the heck out of me with conventional deodorants, the residue. I am not worried about PITS! leaving behind any traces on clothing, and I am not worried about it showing white streaks on my skin.
Remember though, that this product is a deodorant, and not an anti-persperant. It is something I need to get used to for sure, but in reality, most deodorants don’t really stop the sweating. You have to wonder though, if you’re removing your body’s natural way to cool down by blocking the pores from sweating, what is that doing to your insides? I always wondering that when I use products, what is it going to do to my body’s natural rhythm.
PITS! is definitely becoming a staple in my house, and I look forward to purchasing more scents in the future when I finish this jar. Trying to convince H to help is still a bit of a push, but if he likes me going green and clean, he better get on board too.
Don’t judge a jar by it’s cover or a brand by its website. Taylor’s and BalmBaby is still a generally new small company that is finding its footing. It’s growing, has a fan base and definitely has a lot of retailers now who are selling their products. They website is hard to navigate, and it has a lot going on all at once. The product labels need an upgrade too, but I am thinking that is currently in the works. Consider that BalmBaby and Taylor’s is still a small family run business, and so they aren’t quite fancy yet, but that just leaves room for improvement. They will need a bit of an upgrade in the future and some new product photography, but I am sure that will be in the works over the next year or two. For now, if you find it hard to navigate BalmBaby.com directly, check out your local natural baby retailer, many of them carry BalmBaby and Taylor’s products and if they don’t, ask them to! I haven’t had a chance to try most of their BalmBaby products of many of their other ones yet, but I am looking forward to it.
The growth of this company is great, and BalmBaby is really great at connecting with their audience and bringing you into their lives. The best companies have no filters and I thoroughly enjoy going with Malena on her hikes, hang out with her in the office, and learn all there is to learn about what is being produced at BalmBaby HQ all through periscope.
Know your brands, know your products, know the family you support. We are all in this community together.
The Jayne Project 