Question: Does Natural Deodorant Expire?

Have you ever freshly squeezed some oranges to make natural juice at home? And if there was any leftover juice, did you notice how quickly it goes bad, compared to cardboard juice that you buy from the supermarket? That’s because natural products go bad more quickly compared to products that have all sorts of preservatives. And deodorant is no exception to that rule.

A Word on Natural Deodorants

People will buy anything that makes them smell good. If they could permanently eliminate sweating from their lives, that would be awesome. However, inhibiting sweat isn’t all that good for your health.

A good natural deodorant should contain the following three categories of ingredients:

● Essential oils that add a pleasant fragrance to the deodorant, which can be anything from lavender to sandalwood.
● Antibacterial ingredients with disinfectant properties, like tea tree or coconut oil.
● Ingredients which can naturally absorb sweat, like cornstarch or baking soda.

Your Personal Scent

A study conducted back in 2013 revealed that everyone has a different genetic variation that affects the way we perceive smell. Because of our different bodies, our natural odor combines well with some scent, while we find others repelling. Have you ever used a perfume that you found horrible, but loved the scent on another person? This means that finding the best natural deodorant for you will require some trial and error.

Fun fact: Did you know that your diet can also impact the way you smell? According to a study from 2006, people with a diet rich in red meat had a much most unpleasant body odor compared to those who consumed less of it.

Eating foods such as garlic or onions won’t just give a bad breath: they will also make your body scent more pronounced as well.

Does Natural Deodorant Expire?

Yes, all natural products expire at some point, and cosmetics do too. That’s because they don’t contain any parabens or other preservatives that are added to store-bought products to increase their lifespan.

The natural ingredients used to make deodorant will become contaminated with bacteria in time, but can also go bad. If you use expired deodorant, you can end up having a skin rash, an allergic reaction, an irritation, or develop some other skin-related problems, such as dry skin.

The sniff test might be a good idea if you can’t remember when you bought or made your natural deodorant. There are certain ingredients that have a bad odor when they expire, but that isn’t always the case. Natural deodorant can still expire and smell perfectly normal, depending on what’s inside it.

There are also natural deodorants that change their color or separate when they go bad but, again, that isn’t always a rule. These are just a few hints that can help you determine if your deodorant is still usable. You can check out some of the benefits to natural deodorant here.

On a general note, natural deodorant expires about six months to one year after the first use. If you make your own natural deodorant at home, label it so that you’ll have a more clear perspective of how long you can use it for.

However, if you use natural deodorant every day, even the best don’t last longer than three to four months, so the odds of having an expired deodorant are pretty low (unless you have like two or three of them which you alternate from day to day).

Does Regular Deodorant Expire?

It’s true that unnatural deodorant will last longer because of reasons we already mentioned, but they aren’t forever-lasting either. On average, deodorants last between one to three years after they’ve been manufactured, but store-bought products will have a very clear expiration date written on the casing.

Antiperspirant is considered over-the-counter drugs by the FDA because they change the way you sweat and can completely plug your pores to prevent sweat altogether.

Of course, there are tips and tricks that you can turn to if you want to prolong your deodorant’s life to the maximum:

● Always store it according to the instructions on the label. If you place your deodorant in a warm/sunny spot, it will most likely expire ahead of time, and could eventually melt, particularly if it’s very creamy or a gel-type of deodorant.
● Try not to buy more than two deodorants at a time. By having too many and alternating them, there are greater chances of them expiring before you get a chance to use them entirely. Some people like to use a specific type of deodorant in the summer, and another one in the winter, which means two of them should suffice.
● While it’s nice to have a deodorant with you at all times, carrying one in your bag makes it more likely to be damaged. Stick-type deodorant can easily crack, particularly if you’re not too careful with how you handle your bag, and just toss it around in all corners.
● Don’t open a deodorant unless you’re ready to use it. There are several types of deodorants out there without a specific expiration date but, instead, are labeled with a message like “good for 12 months after opening”.

Conclusion

Both natural and store-bought deodorants expire. If you’ve bought yours, you’ll most likely have the expiration date written somewhere on the packaging of the product. Alternatively, if you make your own deodorant at home, you should label it every time and stop using it after half a year to a full year afterward.

Even if there are ways to tell if your deodorant has expired, not all of them will be funny-looking or have a foul smell if they’re no longer usable. Oh, and did you know expired deodorants and deodorant containers can be recycled? Remember to properly dispose of your trash, particularly if you’re using cosmetics and body care products that have chemicals inside.

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