Every Man Jack: Apply Twice If You Struggle With Sweaty Pits
Exchanging my husband’s hygiene products is what I like to imagine as “the final frontier.” He’s been using the same tried and true deodorant ever since his freshman year. Yep, the man is brand loyal and likes the classics.
He also has a huge heart.
So, when I asked if I could test out some natural deodorants on him he was 100% willing. But, he did have one caveat—if he was smelly by the end of the day, for three days in a row, it was game over for what he joking (and lovingly) calls my “granola” products.
So far, we are two for two in failed deodorant attempts. My hubby’s brother uses Every Man Jack deodorant, so I thought it would be a great third trial.
Every Man Jack has a pretty great EWG Rating of a 3. It is free of aluminum, parabens, phthalates, preservatives and dyes. The deodorant is formulated and manufacture all of our products in the United States (Minnesota, California, Vermont and Texas). Oh, and All of EMJ’s products are PETA certified.
Before you buy, here’s a few good things to know. This deodorant is a solid (not a gel), and uses some pretty unique ingredients to fix natural deodorants typical downfalls. The cotton extract and witch hazel absorb your sweatness (sweat-wetness). The lichens to help keeps odor microbes at bay. When I looked over the ingredients I was a bit hesitant when I saw “fragrance” listed. For a lot of brands that’s code-word for all sorts of ingredient junk. So I reached out to Pete (Every Man Jack's assistant brand manager and asked for more details). He wrote back that the company uses “a proprietary blend of natural essential oils and derivatives for fragrance.” I’m a big fan of essential oils, but the FDA hasn’t developed a hardy definition for the terms for “natural derivatives” he mentioned. So, in the future I’ll probably want to do a bit more sleuthing to find out more details behind those components.
When it comes to deodorants, it’s good to remember that everyone's flora is different, but here are some pros and a few cons my husband and I both experienced. Blush, yep, I ended up trying this deodorant too—I didn’t mind wearing the masculine scent. I also found out they do have a product line for women know called Own. I haven’t tried that out yet though.
Pros:
Your pit hair is safe. This might sound weird but the first two deodorants my husband tried were fairly sticky-feeling and so it tended to pull on his pit hairs (as my husband jovially explained to me). This deodorant earns an enthusiastic “huzzah” for not causing pit pain.
It smells like the Old Spice man had a sexy, yet subtle (essential oil wearing) lumber-jack cousin. Or at least that’s what EMJ’s Cedarwood deodorant smells like to me.
Less red-skin rashyness. Pit rashes are the worst, but my hubby didn’t have a reaction to this.
Less white-shirt pit stains. Did you know that pit stains aren't from your sweat? It’s actually the aluminum in your antiperspirant that makes the stains. So, that’s another benefit of using EMJ’s deodorant.
Things to Plan For:
The stopping-odor-dead-in-its-tracks aspect of this deodorant fades around 2ish (according to my husband) so in the experiment he found himself applying twice (and three times if he worked out or went rowing). I think as long as you are expecting this (and keep an extra deodorant in a handy spot (work drawer, backpack, gym locker) then it’ll be okay. But if you are a one-shot deodorant user (and have some more potent flora, then you might not want to opt for this).
Also, after five months or so using the same stick I didn’t have any problems with the consistency, but I think I must’ve left it in my car on a super hot day because it’s melted it a bit and hasn’t ever really gone back to it’s silky smooth normal application, it’s bit more of a sticky mess. So, if you live in warm climate that’s just one thing to be aware of.
Update: So, one of my readers reached out to me w/ some more info and it does look like the fragrance in these deodorants has some synthetic ingredients at some level (see here - pages 7-11). I followed up with Peter for the details and he mentioned that EMJ uses something called an “aromatic extract - which is the purest, most natural form of fragrance that you can get on the market. It’s extremely expensive for any company - let alone one with our price point” All-in-all I do think EMJ provides safer options than many other products out there, but it’s good to know what you are using before you apply it. I do wish this brand was more transparent about their ingredients on their website—in fact, there’s a bit of drama going on right now about whether or not their parent company (Presidio) has been falsely advertising EMJ’s products are more “green” than they actually are. Eeek. Hopefully, it all works out.
Cheers,
Lemon
Good for You - This deodorant is free of aluminum, parabens, phthalates, preservatives and dyes. You may want to be mindful of is the synthetic compounds in the fragrance and also grapefruit seed extract (which can occasionally be contaminated, depending on sourcing).
Good for Others - Every Man Jack has been involved with charity rides, and does donate some of it’s profits to ZERO - The End of Prostate Cancer.
Good for Earth - The company’s shampoo and body wash bottles are made with at least 50% post-consumer recycled plastic and they try to incorporate recycled materials into our packaging whenever possible. All of EMJ’s products are PETA certified.
C&C Overall - For a more-natural deodorant, it’s really rather affordable. I like to look at EMJ’s products as the “gateway deodorant” that can help your loved ones get off the aluminum-antiperspirant bandwagon. If cedarwood isn’t your jam, you can also opt for more of their other subtle scents: citrus, sandalwood and mint. For long term-use I’d probably want to evolve to a deodorant without synthetic fragrances. Ultimately, we’ve got our fingers crossed that EMJ will update their ingredients and sourcing transparency. We appreciate their products and their packaging but we’d love to know more of what’s specifically in it and where it comes from.
