Jade Belly Dance

 A fine quality product from Weleda, the sage smells refreshing and is a nice change from the overly floral smells often marketed to women. It is also sufficiently androgynous a scent in our culture to appropriate for either men or women. It is comes in a 100ml glass bottle with spray nozzle. This makes it heavy and awkward for travel but so much nicer for home use.

Effectiveness

The problem with it is that a situation doesn’t require much exertion before you are probably requiring another application if completely masking your scent is our aim. In winter, in a non sweaty job one could probably get away with one application in the morning however if it’s hot weather like Australian summers or you tend to be bit more sweaty, you would find it probably doesn’t perform as well as you might hope. I certainly wouldn’t recommend it for stage. It’s not an antiperspirant which is good thing in terms of natural health. It is much better for the body because it allows it to sweat which is a natural process, detoxifying and cooling one down.  However as much as one has natural aspirations; if you are pouring sweat all over your costume before you go on stage is not a good look. So if you’re after an antiperspirant or strong deodorant look elsewhere. This product would be strong enough for everyday light use or if you’re willing to reapply several times in the day. It is a very pleasant natural scent, low irritant, high-quality product.

Safety:

I found this a little dodgy – the ingredients are listed differently in 2 seperate places online, this list is the one on my package Ingredients:

Alcohol, Water (Aqua), Fragrance (Parfum)*, Salvia Officinalis (Sage) Oil, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, Ammonium Glycyrrhizate, Limonene*, Linalool*, Geraniol*, Coumarin*.

EWG gives this product a moderate rating (5) which is not great. The biggest concern seems to be possible allergies to the ingredients particularly the Limonene which is from citrus. I am not sure that is a fair rating as for instance I am sensitive to oats and almonds in natural products but that doesn’t make them toxic to the general population. The unnamed fragrance is more of an issue for me and I am pretty disappointed that this company doesn’t give a full transparent list of its constituents. I am sensitive to smells and generally have a problem with anything not based on essential oils so I am going to trust me nose on this one and state that I don’t believe this product to be harmful and that I think the ewg has over-stated the potential risk from this product. I mean it list the wild rose version of this product is next to the likes of BRUT. One makes me feel ill in an instant (BRUT) and the other has no negative effect on me (weleda).

Why I am going to back weleda despite the moderate rating by the ewg

Weleda products contain:

• No synthetic preservatives
• No synthetic fragrances
• No synthetic chemicals
• No synthetic anything

Weleda has contributed significantly to ensuring the quality of natural and organic cosmetics by assisting in the creation of a rigorous independent certification scheme. The non-profit initiative “NATRUE” was founded in 2007 by Weleda and other pioneers of natural and organic cosmetics in Europe. It ensures that in future, natural and organic cosmetics will meet the highest standards and that skin care products and cosmetics labelled ‘natural’ really are just that, no matter where in the world consumers are shopping. It meets International Biodynamic® standards and Kosher Certification and is a member of the Union for Ethical BioTrade.

My summary: 3.5/5

Product: Weleda sage deodorant

Effectiveness: 3

Packaging: 4.5

Safety: 3.5

Price: $23.95 AUD

Size: 100ml

Suitable for day wear: yes

Suitable for stage: not really

Where can I buy it: In most health food shops in Australia including Kombu locally or internationally from http://usa.weleda.com/natural-products/natural-body-deodorant.aspx