New year, new you? This is my favorite season. Amongst the holiday chaos that has me calling my therapist to debrief on family time gone awry, I get really into the process of learning – and dissecting – lessons from the year past. I circle the big lightbulb moments, find some common themes, and then set out on vague resolutions. As someone who has an innate distaste for authority and/or limits, I find that these kinds of *wilfully unambitious* goals tend to motivate me more than rigid rules.

What do wilfully unambitious goals look like, you ask? My list for last year included cutting down on the toxins and chemicals I was putting into my body – a guide on how to do so, right this way. From eating mainly organic and non-processed foods to making sure the water filter stayed fresh, the dietary side of things seemed easier than aiming to topple Google’s CFO. It was when I looked at my beauty shelf that the “ahhh, I have no idea what I’m doing” feeling set in. Too often we choose convenience over our own health, usually due to limited options. Among the more criminal was my drugstore deodorant – packed full of alcohol and aluminum – that I’d been using since the big “B.O.” entered my vocabulary.

I’d made efforts with health food store varieties for years, only to catch myself at the end of the day canceling plans, all to avoid going out with a prominent ‘sweat vibe’. I’d go back to my old aluminum-filled friends with arms wide open, welcoming in the safety they offered. But then I told myself: this year would be different. This year I would be more dogged than ever in my quest to find, and stick to, the Holy Grail of natural deodorant.

I found myself perusing my personal Mecca. For people in Los Angeles, you likely know of where I speak. Larchmont Beauty Center is our French pharmacy equivalent, with almost everything I’d stock up with if in Paris, and it’s located within a 2-mile radius to my house. Easy! It was here that I spotted Real Purity’s High Heat Organic Stick Deodorant. When the label told me that it had been designed for intense perspiration, my brain (and sweat ducts) immediately stood to attention. Maybe, just maybe, a natural deodorant made for sport-level activity could stand my office chair lifestyle. And so, purchase I did.

Buy Real Purity High Heat here, and join me, as we embark together on this very unscientific experiment.

Day 1: Made of coconut oil and the fact that it was mid-summer, I learned that this baby is best left in the fridge, especially after 10% of it was used in the first underarm swipe.

Day 2: OMG, THIS ISN’T WORKING. I research detox periods and learn my underarms are just having a bit of a meltdown, purging my bad habits. I take a deep breath and decide to give it a week.

Day 3: I raise my arm and move toward my most emotionally-invested coworker. I ask her to tell me if she can smell me in close proximity come 6PM. No sweat. Nothing, but greater intimacy with a desk buddy. Things are looking up!

Day 4 – 7: I repeat the questionable process with friends, someone I was dating, my dog and others, until I’ve become assured that it is not in my head and that this is holding up.

The verdict? Sure, it’s a bit of an odd feeling to go to the fridge to perform the deodorant ritual, but it was a small price to pay to get a step further toward non-toxic living. The coconut oil seems to also be making my skin softer, too! A welcome bonus. And look, I still catch myself performing fearful sniff tests due to natural deodorant PTSD of yore…but if the fact that I’m on my fourth stick isn’t testament enough, I don’t know what is.

Words, Megan Laber.