AM Lalor
Being sustainable can be complicated, especially given the rise in eco-chic products in recent years. Often, we are encouraged to buy products— particularly products like toiletries— because they are labelled as environmentally friendly, organic, or natural. These products are terribly appealing, especially if you like nice things but also want to care for the environment. There are, however, two problems with this sort of thing: firstly, that labels like ‘natural’ and ‘sustainable’ are vague enough not to really mean anything, and secondly, that overconsumption, even if one attempts to do it ethically, still has negative consequences on the planet. With this in mind, Act Aware has decided to begin slowly reviewing toiletry products, both on the basis of functionality, and in terms of how well they live up to their claims of being sustainable. This week, we are comparing two deodorants for you: Happy Moon and NUUD.
Happy Moon (Lavender Deodorant)
We came across Happy Moon at Lekkernassuh. Happy Moon is a company that makes products that show love for the earth in the Netherlands. Their deodorants are for sale in small, recycled glass jars from Lekkernassuh. One thing that particularly impressed me was the short and very understandable list of ingredients in the product: baking soda, coconut oil and lavender extract are the ones I remember being there, and there was certainly nothing that struck me as being harmful. The product is also very pleasant to use: you add a pea sized amount to each armpit and rub in; it smells good but not strongly. And, most importantly, perhaps, it works really well all day. In terms of sustainability, this product also seems well thought out to me. Glass can be recycled indefinitely, unlike plastic. The ingredients are most likely harmless to nature (although it must be said that I’m no expert in this). And, most excitingly, it seems like it would be possible to make something like this yourself. Act Aware is hoping to run a workshop at AvB with Happy Moon sometime before Christmas— so if this sort of thing interests you, keep an eye out for it!
NUUD Deodorant
If you have a search history anything like mine, NUUD has probably popped up in your Facebook advertisements: that’s how I came upon it, anyway. Their marketing is sleek, professional, and accessible— think Innocent Smoothie vibes. The claims they make about the deodorant are pretty astounding, too. They say you only need to apply it once or twice a week, that the 15ml tube will last you six weeks (it should, it costs €12,95). It’s vegan, comes in a tube made of sugarcane rather than plastic, is carbon neutral, and has micro silver as its main ingredient. The website tells you that you can change the world with your armpits. Which perhaps says enough. Oftentimes this sort of hyperbolic advertisement strategy encourages suspicion in me. Changing your deodorant is not going to change the world; if you’re lucky, it might have a tiny positive effect.
But it would be easy to forgive such exaggerations if the product itself was impressive: but alas. I’m not a particularly sweaty person, but the deodorant does not last more than two days on me, in contrast to NUUD’s claims. In short, then, it probably won’t last you more than three weeks (that’s how long it took me to get through it), which means you’d end up spending over €20 per month on deodorant. Frankly, I’d rather buy chocolate.
Act Aware 