#goodebox

New Limited Edition Goodebox Available NOW!

Attention Beauty and Subscription Box Lovers! Goodebox has released a new Bonus box. These are one time only purchase boxes (no subscription required). The new box is called the Be Fabulous box and features 10 products. Goodebox features all natural and cruelty free products. The box is $30 and features many FULL SIZE items. What do you think about this new bonus Goodebox? Are you grabbing one?…

The Holy Grail. The One Ring to Rule Them All. The Lost City of Shangri-La. There are all these mythical places and objects we've been searching for since humans figured out that we yearn for things...more often than not, things we cannot have, no matter how hard we try.

I thought, for actual years, that I would never have dry armpits. It seems like something so trivial and simple, but when you've sweat through every shirt you own and bring cardigans to work when it's 100 degrees out so you can cover up your giant pit stains in that kind of important client meeting you have that afternoon, it can be more than a little annoying.

One of the most vivid memories of my adolescence is sitting in World History sophomore year of high school, right when school started in August. The air conditioner was running full blast in this particular classroom and I was blessed enough to be seated directly in front of it. It felt amazing until I felt cold under my arms and realized my armpits had soaked completely through my shirt.

I felt disgusting and unloveable and gross and freakish and I wanted to disappear right then and there. I turned into one of those "unsure" people from the TV commercials, never raising my hand all the way, making sure to stand in the second row in photos, keeping cardigans and hoodies on hand at all times. Secret came out with their clinical formula at about this time and it helped mitigate the situation somewhat, but never to a point where I completely stopped worrying about it. I avoided wearing white shirts and light colors in general whenever possible. Because as soon as I got comfortable, the pits would come back in all their dark, damp glory.

I've always been sweaty in general, but recently it has gotten bad again, so much so that I've seriously contemplated getting armpit Botox to hopefully kill the sweat altogether. I've switched between brands and types (gel, cream, solid) over the years and gave a natural deodorant a brief run on my first major Paleo push. It failed miserably, both at keeping me even remotely dry or even really preventing the stinkwaves from radiating.

So when I got this dense little tub of natural deodorant in my August Goodebox, I couldn't help but be dubious at best, and outright disdainful, if we're being totally honest. Fuck a bunch of “natural,” I thought. Prescription-strength cancer deodorant won't even work on my renegade pits so why bother? But I had to try, right? That's whole point of getting these stupid boxes is to maybe discover something that might actually work for once, something you might never have considered in the past.

Like most beauty box products I'm slightly wary of, I tried it on a weekend. I wore mostly sleeveless shirts and I didn't work out. Usually at the end of the day with regular antiperspirant, even clinical-strength, there would be a lovely little bottom note of body odor overtaking the deodorant fragrance. But even with this unscented new product, no such smells arose. I felt emboldened and wore it to work on a Monday with a loose sleeved top. No odor. I wore it the next day, and the next, and the next, with no discernible stink and very little wetness. If anything, there was some slight dampness that dissipated quickly.

The most astonishing part of this tentative trial period is that I didn't sweat through any of my clothes–not my nice office clothes, not my casual tees. My workout clothes got a little sweaty in the armpit regions, but not soaked, and still not all that stinky. I made my husband sniff my armpit one evening to see if I was crazy and losing my sense of smell altogether. He gave me a weird look but even looked surprised himself when he said, nope, no BO.

So with all this backstory and personal perspiration angst in mind, I'm kind of astonished to now be a daily user of this natural, fragrance-free deodorant from LoveFresh. It only has six ingredients: Fair Trade Shea Butter, Organic Coconut Oil, Arrowroot Flour, Kaolin Clay, Aluminum-Free Baking Soda, and an Emulsifying Wax. The most incredible part, for me anyway, is that not only does it completely prevent any odor, but that it somehow manages to reduce wetness as well. I'll get damp, sure, but I have no soaked through a single shirt since I started using this product. I tempted fate with a white button down the other day and while I still had some moisture, there were no damp spots or stains.

And that's kind of a fucking miracle to me. That something so simple, with such basic natural ingredients, could be that effective on what I thought I was a lost cause. Like, I'm trying not to get emotional over fucking deodorant, but I can't help it. The product itself has a slightly gritty, creamy feel to it that massages in nicely, absorbs quickly and moisturizes really well–I've had very few instances of irritation or ingrown hairs since I started using this. It doesn't take long to absorb, and obviously, no white marks on clothes anymore.

Literally the one thing that could improve this product would be some sort fragrance. Because it doesn't smell bad, per se, but it does have that sort of earthy smell that a lot of unscented natural products tend to have. There's a Moroccan Rose Absolute scent I'm going to have to try once this pot runs out, because that will go amazingly with all the LUSH rose-scented products I splurge on in the cooler months.

I try not to associate too much of my self-worth on superficial things like beauty products, but when you find something that resolves an issue that’s bothered you about yourself for actual decades, something that suddenly relieves one of your most persistent and deeply-rooted anxieties, you can't help but realize the power of self-care, of treating yourself and your skin and your body like it matters and has value, allowing it to breathe and removing some of the harsh ingredients and negative feelings you have towards it. It's a small liberation, a victory, to be able to move on with your life and focus on bigger and important things than how badly you might smell and how gross your uncontrollable glandular functions might appear to others.

So I can unequivocally state that I am officially a natural deodorant convert thanks to LoveFresh. They have a stick available, too, but it’s $24 for 3.6oz while you can get a full-size 4oz pot for $25, which is what I will be purchasing once this tub starts to run low. 

This is hands-down one of the best products I've received in any beauty box ever, and mad love to Goodebox for introducing me to it. It's a relief and it came at a time when I was in dire need of a product that actually works for once. No more chemicals and thoughts of numbing toxins under my arms, just natural goodness, and less terrifying levels of stink and sweat on me.

Final Rating: 

I’m a sucker for natural beauty and skincare. I can’t help it. I got on that paleo kick years ago and my quest to find products that are natural and healthy that also make me feel gorgeous and glamorous continues (while my quest for ketosis, sadly, has not). I only subscribed to goodebox a month ago, but already the July box has already impressed me with full-size products I actually use and love, from brands both new and known, so right now they’re kind of my gold standard for natural/healthy beauty boxes. 

The August goodebox, I have to admit, was not as good as July, so I’m hoping it’s not just a one-time thing from them. It can’t be all downhill from here–it just can’t, dammit.