Q: I’ve read in your columns once or twice about using deodorants or antiperspirants that do not contain aluminum. I have looked around, and I can’t seem to find any that do not. Recently, you recommended deodorant containing tea-tree oil, because it doesn’t cause yellow stains on T-shirts. How do I find it?

A: With some difficulty. Since underarm yellowing is, perhaps, the number one problem brought up by Style Guy’s correspondents, I have spoken to people in the fashion industry about it, and there doesn’t seem to be much consensus as to the cause. Is it the aluminum? Is it the bacteria or the salts in perspiration? Is it diet? Or is it a combination of all these? Personally, I use Weleda sage deodorant, which is available in better health food stores and hipper pharmacies, and I have no yellow-stain problems. I do use tea-tree- oil soap (from Kiehl’s), and tea-tree oil is a powerful natural antibacterial and antifungal agent. As far as I’ve been able to determine, tea-tree-oil deodorant and antiperspirants are easiest to find on-line. Two formulas available via the Internet are “Desert Essence,” from www.mineralconnection.com and www.nutripeak.com, and “Jason,” available at www.passionforlife.com, www.acneclear.com and Yahoo!, which seems to have the best price ($3.55). Let me know if any work for you.

November 2001

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