THAI Natural Crystal Deodorant Stick (4.25 Ounces)

I've used a number of deodorants over the years, always using unscented versions. (I tend to hate most perfumes or colognes). This stuff is, of course, unscented. So that's great.One problem with most deodorants is that they go on sticky and take a long time to dry, thus slowing me down when getting ready in the morning.Further, most deodorants damage or leave odd, hard residue in clothing.This product is simply potassium alum (Presumably, as Wikipedia states: " the double sulfate of potassium and aluminium, with chemical formula KAl(SO4)2").It is in the form of a cylindrical "block" with a rounded end to make it comfortable to apply. The idea is to wet the block so that some of the potassium alum goes into solution, and then you can rub that around over the desired area of the body to spread that solution of this "salt".Think of it as a block of salt. When you get it wet, or rub it over wet skin, some of it dissolves and goes into solution in the water. Then, as that salt water solution evaporates from your skin, it leaves behind the salt which had been dissolved into it. Simple.Presumably you are creating a saturated solution, so the amount of this "salt" that you end up with is directly proportional to the amount of water you're starting with. If you need a bigger dose of the alum, then you can just use a bit more water. A way to use it is to start with your arm pits (or whatever) already a bit wet.In any case, to me, a pleasing aspect of this is that you end up with your pits simply wet with this salt water solution, so it dries quickly, leaving no sticky goo that rips out your arm pit hairs later, or flakes off like some kind of bizarre pit dandruff, etc.It also doesn't appear to leave any residue in or on clothing the way many deodorants do. It's invisible in my experience.Another benefit is that the block lasts a very long time. The small amount you dissolve away from the surface of the block each time you use it means that the block lasts a LOT longer than any containers of normal deodorant. I'd guess that one of these blocks will take the place of 20 (or more) containers of "normal" deodorant. Maybe more! I have yet to use more than, perhaps, 15% of the very first one of these that I bought. So it's extremely cheap to use.Of course it has aluminum in it. But from what I've read, there are NO properly controlled, double-blind, peer-reviewed studies that show any harm to people from exposure to aluminum. The fears about this have been widely debunked. Some claim that this particular form of aluminum compound is safer than normal deodorant formulas because the aluminum is not readily absorbed into the body. But I haven't seen scientific evidence that aluminum is absorbed into the body from ANY deodorants, so none of this is of any concern to me.If you "believe" that aluminum is an issue, and want to use this deodorant because of that, go right ahead.For me, the benefits are:It doesn't stink. No perfume.It doesn't make my pits itch or give me the dreaded "armpit rash" the way some deodorants can.It is INCREDIBLY economical.It is far faster to apply and to dry. I don't have to use a hair dryer on my pits, or dance around flapping my arms to try to get ready fast in the morning.It doesn't stain or damage clothing.It actually seems to prevent B.O. very well.The only downside is that after a while, the chunk of alum wears down so that it is no longer held firmly in the base of the container. It wobbles and rattles around, and eventually, it will fall out. That's not a horrible problem because you can just hold it directly and throw the container away if you'd like.What I did was try to break the plastic base away from the chunk, but I ended up breaking the block off. So I broke up what was left stuck down in the base and dissolved it in some water. One source says 1 gram will dissolve fully into 20 ml of water at room temp. So that ratio will give you a saturated solution.I didn't measure things, but just dissolved the broken up base part of this block in, perhaps, a pint of water,and put that in an empty bottle I had. I've been just putting some of that in the palm of my hand and rubbing that over my pits every day. The effect is just fine, and it's arguably just as easy to apply that way. I haven't touched the main part of the block that broke free of that which was left in the base. At this rate, I'll get a year or so out of a single block of this stuff!For me, this has been an excellent product, and saved me a LOT of money as well as time getting ready in the mornings!Edit to add:It's now been almost a year and a half since I bought this. I took the rest of the block of potassium alum salt and dissolved it into another quart of water. I've been just putting a small amount into the palm of a hand and then rubbing that over the opposite armpit, and then using the other hand to apply some to the other pit. I then rinse my hands off under running water.The stuff dissolves rapidly, so it doesn't take much water or effort to rinse my hands off.Using it this way, I am STILL using the first one of these deodorant blocks that I bought one year and four months ago! My wife is now using it, working out of the same bottle of the dissolved potassium alum salt! So my guess is that I will get at least a year and a half of use out of a single one of these deodorant sticks when using it the way I do. And it's very effective in preventing arm pit odor. So this is the cheapest deodorant that I have ever used by an enormous margin. And I like it the best of any deodorant I've ever used.

NOTE: Salt deodorants work by killing the bacteria that cause odors under your arm. It is not an antiperspirant, it's more a natural antibacterial. You will absolutely not like this item if you are looking for something to stop you from sweating.Pros: Last a long time, no odor, natural, no chemicals or additives, works great on under arm smell, lasts a couple days after applied,Cons: not an antiperspirant, some people find it ineffective, easily broken if droppedI purchased this for the first time after trying many, many different types of deodorants and antiperspirant. Between living in Florida and L.A. heat was a given, and sweat happens. I would notice that when I used most deodorants I would not sweat, and there wasn't a "sweat smell" under my arms, but there was a weird unpleasant smell that would happen sometimes. A sort of "dirty deodorant smell" that would appear towards the end of the day and the "deodorant balls" that formed under my arms (yuck) with some deodorants. I tried all sorts of brands, different scents, unscented, roll-on, stick, gel based. Most were fine, no sweat, no gross under arm sweat smell, but by the end of the day it was all the same, almost like the stuff had broken down and got funky. I have a sensitive nose, and even if no one else smelled anything, I did and it was gross.One day I was reading about using salt to kill bacteria that caused odors, and someone mentioned salt for deodorant. I was up for anything so I purchased some. I used it the day I got it, I was sure it would fail, and was actually amazed that it worked. While I did sweat in the heat, there was absolutely no odor, no sweat stains, no clumpy white stuff under my arms. The lack of smell was actually unbelievable. It took me a while to get used to feeling wet under my arms sometimes and not thinking "Oh no! I am gonna smell!" but after a while I just trusted I would not smell even while sweating.My husband, who is very manly and can kick some deodorant butt when working in the yard, tried it after a few months of seeing me use it. Let me tell you now that I really did not think it would work on him and was shocked when it did. When he uses it he can sweat like a pig, but there is no odor. Actually works better for him when he knows he is going to be sweating because most antiperspirant aren't going to stop you from sweating at the gym (or working in the yard) and fail you so why bother. The salt didn't fail and he was odor free... sweaty, but odor free.As an added bonus, I found this out a few times while camping, that if I couldn't put more salt on the next day, as long as you haven't washed it off or showered, it works just the same! I also learned on that same camping trip that if you did start smelling you could rub more salt stick under your arms and it killed the smell within moments (It was a LONG camping trip -lol-).For smelly feet folks it will work on your feet, too. Jump out of the shower, rub it on your feet and between toes if you can, and let it dry a bit before putting on shoes. Wives, get your hubby to do this and you will thank me later.When you first use it it feels like you are putting nothing on and it can be weird. There is no white or gel goop to show you everything is covered. Just make sure to wet the stick and rub it EVERYWHERE under your arms. I actually go up my arm a bit and down my side a bit, not just the center underarm. There is no such thing as using too much, so go to town. After a little while you will get the hang of it and it will be nothing. Putting it on after a shower makes it simple, I don't even dry under my arms, I just rub the salt bar while wet and make it easy. I also took mine out of the bottom part and rub it longways under my arms, it covers much more area per swipe and makes it much faster to apply.Be aware that if you drop this it can shatter and be useless. I dropped mine and had to purchase another after it broke into a million sharp pieces.Overall, I personally LOVE it. I use it everyday, and have never been let down, but I am ok with being wet under my arms on very hot occasions as long as I know I will not smell. For some people this will be a deal-breaker. It will not stop you from sweating, it will just stop you from smelling. If you are ok with that, you will absolutely love it.