Deodorantless?

So I've been using deodorant less and less. This may sound radical but hear me out. First off, I am not a product person. Even before I went green I didn't wear makeup or lotions or powders or perfumes often. Then a a couple years ago when I started to think about how to lessen my carbon footprint, I tried to cut out products as much as possible or use ones with more natural ingredients. Because I suddenly realized I wasn't comfortable with applying dozens of unrecognizable ingredients, chemicals, and preservatives to my body. I stopped wearing make up entirely (except for special occasions like work galas and halloween). I started using natural soaps and shampoos and so on. I switched to Tom's of Maine deodorant. But then I read this post which says that even Tom's of Maine may have parabens in it. I also don't like the idea of using products I don't actually need.

So sometime in the past year I stopped wearing deodorant on the weekends, when I'm not out to impress anyone (nor did I get any complaints of being smelly), but still wore it to work out of propriety. Then I realized that when I go to the gym at lunch and forget to bring deodorant to apply afterward, I've always been fine for the rest of the workday.

I've now decided to try to go totally deodorant free. I'm curious to see how long this lasts. I imagine I will have to bring it back out when New York City's sweltering humid summer hits and I'm sweating a lot more. Although, come to think of it, I actually spend most of my summer in an air-conditioned office so cold I wish I could wrap myself in blankets galore, so I likely won't need it a lot this summer either.

I'm kind of surprised because I think of myself as a person who sweats easily, especially when exercising. Maybe weaning myself off of it slowly helped my pores adapt and be less stinky? I think as long as I always shower right after exercise I'll be ok. Plus, you know what? I just don't care. The only person who is gonna get close enough to smell me is my boyfriend and he certainly doesn't care.

Even the New York Times agrees that the feeling of needing deodorant is mostly in your head. Anyway, if you're not ready to go full dirty hippie like me, some other options out there include green deodorant brands that have fewer scary ingredients, a crystal rock, coconut oil, or baking soda. I'm kinda intrigued by the coconut oil and will have to keep my eye out for it since I don't know where I could buy it.