Tom's Deodorant

Oh, Tom's. Tom's, Tom's, Tom's. I don't hate you. I don't even dislike you. I really don't. I swear. So, it was with an open mind that I approached your deodorant. This one was labeled as a  men's deodorant with a "Mountain Spring" scent. So, I was looking forward to seeing what this would be like. If you've read my previous posts, you'll know that it's been a bit of a mixed bag for me when it comes to cruelty-free deodorant. I liked the smell of the Herban Cowboy deodorant, but it turns out that I developed a rash under my arm as a result of using it. The Burt's Bees deodorant was nice, worked well, didn't leave a rash, but was just a little bit sticky when applied. So, while not a wholly negative experience, I also haven't one that I've been completely impressed with either.

So, next in line was Tom's of Maine Mountain Spring Deodorant. On first sniff, all signs were positive. Nice, not overpowering, not fruity or flowery. Good stuff. So, the first time I applied it was immediately after stepping out of the shower and drying off. I put on the deodorant, and a foam developed. I guessed that maybe I hadn't washed all the soap out of my armpit and this was why I was experiencing this lather. So, I washed out my armpit again, dried it out (making sure that my armpit was completely dry) and re-applied the deodorant. This time, there was only a faint bit of lather. After using it several times, I realized that if my armpit was even a little bit wet, the deodorant would lather up when I applied it.

OK, so how does it work? In a word, horribly. Though it says on the label that it provides "24 hour odor protection" and reiterates that point with (in an even larger font and underlined) "long lasting", I'd smell my armpits a few hours later, and they stunk. I mean, they really stunk. And I'm not a stinky guy. I'll get some stink going, but nothing horrible or overly noticeable. But after using the Tom's, my odor was offensive even to myself. And when you can't stand your own stink, something is seriously wrong. And to add insult to injury, that rash that developed when I used the Herban Cowboy deodorant was even worse after using the Tom's deodorant.

Since I've been testing out different cruelty-free products (which has been almost a year and a half now), I have only had to discontinue using one product (the Burt's Bees toothpaste, because the seam popped open and was toothpaste was leaking out the side), until now. There was just no point in continuing to use this Tom's deodorant. Not only was it not effective, but it actually made me stink worse than if I wasn't using deodorant at all, and I developed a rash. As I said before, I don't dislike Tom's of Maine at all. I have a great deal of respect for the brand and their longtime commitment to no animal testing. So, it saddens me to have to give them another bad review. But my reviews wouldn't be honest if they weren't objective. And in my objective opinion, the Tom's of Maine Mountain Spring Deodorant is just plain awful. Sorry, Tom's.