we tried this

Six Women Test a Wildly Hyped Natural Deodorant

Photo: Courtesy of the Retailer

Megababe is a body-positive beauty company that’s unafraid to tackle physical nuisances like chub rub and boob sweat. Their natural deodorant, Rosy Pits, comes free of aluminum, alcohol, and baking soda. When it launched, it attracted so much attention that it sold out within eight minutes and then promptly acquired an 8,000-person waiting list, before finally becoming available at Ulta.

There are plenty of reasons a person might want use natural deodorant. Maybe you don’t like how antiperspirant blocks your pores. Maybe you’re sick of getting yellow pit stains. Or maybe you want to avoid aluminum, which some early studies have linked to Alzheimers and breast cancer (although they’ve been proven inconclusive.) Regardless of why, though, if you use a natural deodorant, you want it to work. Was Rosy Pits worth the wait? To find out, several Cut staffers tried it out.

Erica Smith, Beauty Writer

I’ve wanted to stop clogging my poor glands with anti-perspirant for a while, but I could never stick with a natural deodorant long enough to completely kick the habit. I’d always crawl back to the chemicals because I could smell me, I was certain everyone within a block radius could smell me, and I didn’t smell all that great.

Thankfully, I was able to chat with Megababe founder Katie Sturino in August and she passed an elusive Rosy Pits my way. It was still summer then, so I was pretty sure I’d give up within a week. But to my surprise, I’m still swiping this under my pits today.

Granted, I can definitely still detect the special, natural scent of my armpits when I use this deodorant, even though it does a better job of masking it. But Rosy Pits makes it easier to sleep at night because I no longer wonder if I’m dying. The scent is amazing: fresh, clean, and subtly rosy. And it feels very refreshing to apply — like you’re jade-rolling your armpits.

Kelly Conaboy, writer-at-large

I purchased Rosy Pits after reading about it on here on the Cut. I briefly thought I could be a woman who wore men’s deodorant, which I could not — it somehow made me smell much worse than no deodorant at all. Rosy Pits was and remains a great alternative. It genuinely smells good (rosy, indeed) and, as far as I know, it effectively wards off body odor.

It doesn’t irritate my skin like some natural deodorants have in the past, and it goes on easily. I love its little pink container. It seems crazy to pay $18 for deodorant, but it’s lasted for a few months of daily use and I believe it’ll last a few more, so, actually, is it really that crazy? I’ve convinced myself that it isn’t.

Gabriella Paiella, Senior Writer

About a year and a half ago, I decided to switch over to natural deodorant. I, a master of self-delusion, convinced myself it was working until one fateful day last winter. I was wearing a thick, cozy sweater and having a conversation in the office when I suddenly got a whiff of my armpits; they smelled exactly like what looking at a picture of Woodstock (’69 and ’99) feels like. It was bad!

I cycled through pretty much every natural deodorant that came in stick form, some of which were more successful than others, before I tried the coveted Megababe Rosy Pits. I have no complaints so far — the texture and the scent are both intriguingly light, but it’s powerful enough that I don’t have to worry about BO creeping in by 3 p.m.

Izzy Grinspan, Senior Editor

I’m pretty high-maintenance about deodorant: I want my armpits dry as powder and freshly perfumed. I wish I could say that Rosy Pits changed my mind, but alas, it did not. The smell was nice and fresh and the packaging is adorable, but then there was the wetness issue.

Rosy Pits goes on wet and stays wet for about five minutes after applying. The deodorant’s website explains that this is to be expected: “The formula includes corn starch to help with moisture absorption, but as with any aluminum-free deodorant, some wetness is normal.” But I couldn’t get used to it.

And that wasn’t the only way this deodorant made me feel damp. I tend to sleep under a lot of blankets because my bedroom is freezing, and I kept waking up feeling notably sweaty. Also, if I went more than a day without showering, I could smell myself. So personally, I’ll be sticking with the unnatural stuff.

Morgan Sykes, Snapchat Editorial Assistant

I am a very sweaty woman who also has extremely sensitive skin. I’ve been using Dove Sensitive Skin anti-perspirant for years because my body rejects other brands with rashes and itchiness. I’ve always wanted to go the natural deodorant route, but often, I didn’t love the product’s scent, it was ineffective, or most alarmingly, the natural ingredients seemed to infuriate my skin.

Enter Megababe Rosy Pits: The smell is incredible, it goes on clear, and the packaging is adorable. I’ve been using it for two weeks now (the time they say is necessary for your armpits’ microbiome to adjust), and I’m excited to say that I’m going to make the full-time switch. Unlike a lot of aluminum-free deodorants, Rosy Pits doesn’t use baking soda. Although I definitely smelled ripe and oniony during the first week, by the middle of the second week, I can say that I truly have pits that are rosy.

Katie Klein, Snapchat Motion Graphics

I’ll just say it: I love this deodorant. This one just smells the absolute best, and works. I actually think Rosy Pits is misnamed since it smells more like a luxury musk deodorant you could buy at a Goop pop-up. It’s a solid and keeps my pits soft without that awful white pilling.

I put it on around 7 a.m. and it works for about 12 hours, starting to wane around hour 8. By the time I’m home from work, I’m not nearly as fresh as I was at that start of the day, but you’d have to get pretty close to me to be able to tell. I recently starting giving my preteen niece some fancy natural deodorants, but I think I’ll keep this one for myself.

If you buy something through our links, New York may earn an affiliate commission.

Six Women Test a Wildly Hyped Natural Deodorant