When I was asked by Crystal Spring if I wanted to review a new deodorant aimed at young girls the first thing I thought about was the smell of sweat that wafts through my house of an evening (way too many hormones in my house) and I emailed straight back to accept.
Not only did I receive a 'rock chick' deodorant for my daughter but also the classic stick and spray version, as well as a set to giveaway on the blog... oh you lucky readers!
The first thing I did when opening the package was to take the top off the deodorant and have a sniff (well that's what you do with toiletries isn't it) after reading the label and realising there was nothing wrong with my sense of smell I thought I would look at the ingredients and see what was actually used in the product. Basically there is only 1 ingredient; Potassium Alum - a natural mineral salt.
The product actually reminded me of a block of ice, it is dry and needs to be run under water to use or used on damp skin when you get out of the shower or bath.
Ive never really looked into products and what makes them smell nice, I know I always buy things because of the nice scents they have but does this have an effect on our health?. Here is some information provided by the Women's Environmental Network
"The amount of fragrance chemicals used each year is enormous – nearly 1 million kilograms of benzyl acetate, a synthetic ‘floral’ fragrance ingredient, are used in the US each year. Ingredients in fragrances are the most frequent cause of allergies from cosmetics, and have been found to cause one third of all cosmetic allergies. Children in particular tend to be more sensitive to fragrances, and can develop allergic reactions easily. Data from Sweden shows that perfume is the most common contact allergen in men, possibly caused by shaving, and damaging the skin, increasing the chances of absorbing the fragrance chemicals and thus developing an allergy. Might a similar response occur for women shaving their legs or underarms and then applying cosmetics such as lotions or antiperspirants/deodorants?"
"Current legislation does not restrict the quantities or combinations of fragrance chemicals that may be used in cosmetics. This is due to change; the European scientific committee (SCCNFP) has recently introduced restrictions concerning certain fragrance chemicals, many of which are known allergens, either restricting or banning their use completely, or insisting on their labelling in the ingredients list. Currently the law requires only that the label includes the word ‘parfum’ in the EU or ‘fragrance’ in the USA. According to the cosmetics industry this is because a typical cosmetic often contains between 50 and 100 fragrances, which is too many to be easily labelled. This creates a problem for people who are sensitive or allergic to a particular fragrance chemical as they cannot determine what compounds are present in the fragrance."
I like the idea of using natural products but I'm not so sure that many people worry about what chemicals are used in everyday toiletries, I mean we see everyone buying them in their local supermarkets and drugstores so we assume that they are safe, unless we know that we suffer from a certain allergy ourselves we don't look out for ingredients that may have an adverse reaction.
When it comes to our children on the other hand I'm sure the majority of people tend to buy things that are seen as 'environmentally friendly' or 'gentle on the skin' because we wouldn't want to cause any unnecessary harm to them.
The Rock chick deodorant is described as suitable for children ages 6 years or over, is suitable for vegetarians and vegans and is not tested on animals.
My daughter was very happy with the deodorant and didn't mind that it was unscented as she uses it straight out of the bath and tends to use her own scented products ( body spray, perfume) on top of her clothes afterwards anyway. She did say that the fact that you have to use when you are already damp or you have to run it under the tap meant she couldn't use it on the go, however there are the spray versions that contain aloe vera and are unisex. A travel size version of this will be included in the giveaway.
I think this product is perfect for girls (or even boys) that are just hitting puberty and want to start using toiletries that are natural and safe for their young skin.
To have a look at all the products that are on offer from Crystal Spring including their Salt of the earth range visit their
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