Check out Glambomb's Blog Review on the battle of antiperspirant VS. Lavilin underarm deodorant:
Ask anyone who knows me well and they will confirm that I am in fact a huge antiperspirant /deodorant whore. I am not going to lie, I pit out! Yeah, dainty ladies aren’t supposed to pit out, blah, blah, blah…. Well this here dainty lady does. I can manage the odor (most of the time) with layering on about 6 different antiperspirant in the morning- clinical strength, gel, dove (to keep the pits moisturized!), another clinical strength, then I just start applying the really yummy smelling ones. You’d think my little OCD routine would get me through the day, but of course not. Within a few hours I have to start re-applying in feeble attempts to stay somewhat fresh, and sometimes if an odor crises arises I have to break out the alcohol wipes. To sum up this story- staying smelling good is a full time job for me, and risky for my health. As you can imagine for years my mother has been on me “You’re going to get breast cancer! You can’t put on all those antiperspirant! Aluminum!!!!!”
About a year ago I did some research on natural deodorants to try and put to rest my moms panicked voice gnawing at my eardrums, plus my boobs are my favorite thing on my body and the idea of potentially risking my breast health does not settle well with me. In my search ‘Lavilin Underarm Deodorant’ came up a plethora of times, and had seemingly too good to be true results. A natural deodorant that lasted up to 7 days? Please! A clinical strength antiperspirant can’t even tackle my underarms for 2 hours! With the price tag of $15.99 I just wasn’t ready to bite the bullet only to be let down once again by hype, and no action. But with my antiperspirant pile reaching it’s maximum, and realizing I owned every single deodorant that graced the store shelf’s I recently decided that $15.99 was a small price to pay (I came up with a “Oh this made my armpits burn like crazy” return story just in case it didn’t work).
Once the little white box was bought and in my clutches I ripped it open in my best friends car, and read him the directions (as if he really cared), and stopped cold in my tracks: ‘Refrain from using any other deodorant for 48 hours to refresh skin and enable Lavilin to provide maximum protection’. Holy crap, can you say panic attack?!? 48 hours without the use of any sort of guard against B.O.? Really? I pictured myself barricaded in my house, too ashamed to step foot out in public because I’d smell of a man who just got back from a sweat drenched workout if I went 48 hours without deodorant of some kind! It got worse: ‘Do not use together with other deodorants’…. No layering?! I felt a stroke coming on! It’s safe to say I had a mini flip out in his car “Are they kidding!? I can’t do this?! Screw this natural shit!!!” … at that moment my moms rounded face floated round and round in my thoughts, her lips speaking the words: “….You have to stop wearing all that antiperspirant!’. Argh. To everyone’s shock, including my own, I didn’t wear antiperspirant for 24 hours. No, I didn’t make it to 48 hours as the directions called for, but at least I made the half way mark. That counts for something, right?
Day one: I washed my underarms with Dial anti-bacterial soap (I like this soap, it’s boring because I like girly crap that promises to leave me with silky soft and touchable skin. But dial gets the job done. I feel and smell clean after the use of this orange colored gem. I just discovered they make a ‘Tropical’ scent in the antibacterial series of Dial soaps… and we all know what ‘tropical’ means in girl language- sunny, bright, and airy! Yes please, I want to smell sunny, bright and airy!!). Once my underarms were thoroughly dried I applied the thick-ish cream deodorant. First thing I noticed… this stuff didn’t spread well. It looked like I spackled white Geisha girl face make-up on my whole armpit. Sure, I was a little over zealous with my application, but hey… I was nervous. I woke up the next morning and first thing I did was a sniff test. I smelled fresh. I smelled again. Yes, fresh! By mid day I had a bit of funk, nothing horrible, and barely noticeable… by that evening things took a turn for the worse and lets just say I was not smelling like a flower anymore.
Day 2: I decided to go rogue and apply it in the morning after my shower instead of at night. It says to re-apply when odor returns, so I did just that since within 24 hours odor returned. Surprisingly I didn’t feel defeated by this since I had armed myself with many knowledgeable reviews that said not to expect the claim of ‘7 days of being odor free’. Seemed most reviewers got 3 days of being odor free. But hell, 24 hours of being pretty much fresh-ish without having re-applying/layer made my heart sing!
Day 3: Again I applied it in the morning after my shower, because Lavilin tends to give out by the end of the day for me. On day three I discovered that if I started smelling a little funky it was far less than with any other antiperspirant I had EVER used, and I could freshen up with a bit of mint spritzing hand sanitizer I bought at Whole Foods. I started to develop a crush on Lavilin deodorant at this point.
When week 1 was up, I was still applying it everyday- and it was lasting throughout most of the day, but not past 24 hours. No biggie. Within week 1 I noticed my underarms became a little sore, probably due to the fact I was applying it everyday and I was applying it after the shower, which met after I shaved which the directions said not to do. Ooops. I told you, I am a rogue! The soreness subsided after I made it into week 2, I guess my pits just had to toughen up!
One con with Lavilin that I already mentioned is the white residue it leaves on your skin. Again, if I applied it at night I think by morning the white would be gone or at least lessened, and if I didn’t have to apply it everyday… so I am not blaming Lavilin for my rebel application techniques causing my pits to be white. I don’t wear too many sleeveless tops so this isn’t a HUGE draw back for me. Another con being I am now on my second box of this stuff, since I am forced to go the everyday application route it is sort of like a spendy little crack habit- but worth it. I have figured out the right amount I need, and I am past my experimental and wasteful test runs of applying too much too often, you know the whole trial and error phase where you get crazy wasteful with a new product?… Anyways, getting the hang of applying the right amount that works for me should help the deodorant last longer, hopefully. The last con is that I have noticed my first box of Lavilin was much more ‘hard’ and ‘sticky’ in texture. The second box is way more ‘creamy’ and ‘spreadable’, and I have to say it seemed like my first box had better performance? My body chemistry does like to play tricks on me, something will work amazing on me for a few weeks and then just give out without warning. I am hoping that this is not the case, but I am also hoping that Lavilin is not inconsistent with their product? Hmmm.
The bottom line of this 200 page review is that I would recommend this to ANYONE who has some funk. Seriously, I am a highly skeptical person, and while this isn’t some miracle that keeps me odor free for 7, or even 3 days… I will take what I can get, and 1 day is just fine by me! I highly recommend trying this if you are frustrated with trying to fend off embarrassing odor and running out of options. I never thought a ‘natural’ deodorant could perform so well.
P.S. The best, and most awe-inspiring news is that this deodorant didn’t give out on me during sex! Correct, this passed the sex test. I was nervous as hell especially since the sex test was with a guy whom I had never had sex with before, that would have been a really bad first impression if Lavilin had failed me in the midst of an epic sexual journey with someone new. As we all know when any product passes the sex test, you know it is a worthwhile product!
P.P.S. While I don’t have HUGE issues with wetness, keep in mind this is more for odor than wetness, as is the case with any deodorant. The transition from antiperspirant to a natural deodorant always is an adjustment, you have to go through that period of getting accustom to being a little more ‘damp’ than you may be used too.
P.P.S. I have also been taking Chlorophyll, which is a ‘internal deodorizer’, and that may contribute to some of my success with Lavilin.
P.P.P.S. If you read all of this you deserve an award!