Sweat.
It’s such a personal thing, and yet so visibly, public. It’s natural, every single person on the planet sweats, so why do we consider fabrics and patterns with the appearance of sweat in mind? Maybe it’s never crossed your mind, or perhaps you’ve been hyper-aware of it all your life – I fall into the latter of the two camps unfortunately, but for the first time in my life I’ve found a product that has helped to keep this at bay.
I have always joked about being a ‘sweaty lassie’, but it was never uncontrollable – I just always felt a bit whiffy after a day at work and if I was stressed it would exacerbate it. When I passed my driving test and began to commute by car to work, I used to have to drive in a vest top and whip it off in the car park at work before putting on my actual work clothes cause I was a riot by the time I’d driven the 40 minutes in an anxious flap.
Like I say, I was always fairly able to deal with it – I knew what materials would make me sweat and knew which deodorants paid lip service to the promises of ‘keeping you dry’ so could plan accordingly.
Then through lockdown I began to notice my bodies responses changing. I was no longer cold in bed every night, instead I’d be lying in bed with even our summer quilt far too heavy even in the depths of winter – if you know me at all you’ll know how unusual this is for me. I think I’ve verged on a disciplinary at work due to the temperature I’d keep our office at! I found that even the slightest exertion had the sweat beading – I’m not super fit, but doing simple housework never initiated this response before.
I wracked my brains and couldn’t figure out what had changed, I then realised that it had potentially coincided with a change in my medication. Sure, enough upon looking into this a little further, this was listed front and centre as a side effect.
Around this time I began seeing loads of posts for Wild Deodorant and seeing influencers I follow sharing the products too. I wasn’t too sure about it at first, it’s pretty pricey compared to a standard can of Dove, but the rave reviews were too enticing for me not to give it a try.
“Wildly effective and sustainable”, their tagline caught my interest as I do – contrary to my mother’s beliefs – try to have less of an impact on the environment where I can. I eat meat and I do shop at fast fashion brands, so if I can make small changes elsewhere I will. Alongside this tagline, they have four key call outs that they use as their marketing strands.
1. Effective
2. Sustainable
3. Convenient
4. No nasties
I couldn’t judge the efficacy of the range prior to purchase, but from the wide range of good reviews I’d seen prior I wasn’t going in completely blind to the buying experience. With regards to the sustainability of the product it appeared pretty sound. There is always the slight eye-roll when a brand refers to ‘nasties’, what does that even mean? Is it that it contains preservatives? If so, that isn’t a negative slant for me.
Wild is a brand that I’d seen on Instagram countless times, and I suppose with any Ad you take these endorsements with a pinch of salt but also trust that creators have the same genuine interest in what they share.
When I signed up and placed my first order, I went for a powder pink case and a Pina Colada scented refill.
My first impressions of the product were great to be honest, the case itself is sturdy and would withstand being jolted around inside a gym bag – luckily mine lives on the end of the bed! Each refill comes in a cardboard cylinder with a lid to preserve its freshness until you’re ready to use it. With this being the first scent I’d used, I was really blown away by the strength of the fragrance, but also how gentle the product was.
I began to notice that where before I’d have been uncomfortable after a short while in any type of cotton or polyester knit due to excessive sweating, this was beginning to plateau. I’m not saying that the deodorant was a miracle worker by any means, but it began to have a really positive impact.
The downside to the deodorant is the fragrance by the end of the day. As I already said, I was having trouble with being a bit pongy by the end of each day, and so the highly scented deodorant refills should have been my saving grace, but instead I found them to be nauseatingly cloying. I felt that the smell of the deodorant never fully left my clothes and lingered far longer than it should have – though I haven’t experienced this as noticeable with the fragrances I’ve tried since.
My next order I placed contained the Fresh Cotton and Sea Salt, Jasmine and Mandarin Blossom, and Sandalwood and Patchouli; these were all instant hits as far as initial scent was concerned. I used the Sandalwood and Patchouli first as it sounded quite exotic and was a little bit unique, it was lovely and I didn’t find such an unpleasant result with the fragrance as it settled and wore on the skin. Currently, I’m using the Jasmine and Mandarin Blossom and it’s a lovely fresh scent that I think would be beautifully suited for the spring.
Each order I place costs £15 for three of the deodorant refills and you can dictate the frequency of these and delay them where need be. For example, I get three delivered every 12 weeks as I tend to use one per month – this month I lost my deodorant case under the bed and so I have bumped by delivery forward to the end of January to allow me to use up what I have already.
So circling back to the claims made by Wild, I do find them to be effective as I’m far less self conscious about my sweat and how awful I feel it looks; it is sustainable as there are no aluminium cans being thrown to landfill each month, each element is either reused or recyclable; it’s terribly convenient, my refills drop through the letterbox each month with absolutely zero effort from me!
My only gripes? I feel that the case gets a bit grubby from the deodorant stick while in use as the refills are pretty malleable in texture, but in the grand scheme of things that’s barely even a concern. I also do struggle with how the fragrance from the deodorant changes throughout the day, though this could be down to my own body’s chemistry. Or I’m just a pure stinky minger.
Would I suggest Wild? Unless you’re completely opposed to beautiful scents and improving our impact on the planet, yes!