Flip over most personal care products and you'll find a paragraph of chemistry you'd need a degree to parse. Flip over ours and you'll find a short list of ingredients you can picture. That's on purpose. But short doesn't explain itself either — so here's the job description for every ingredient family in a Pretty Frank deodorant, plus the list of what we leave out and why.
One principle before the list: every ingredient has to earn its place by doing something — fighting odor, absorbing moisture, or caring for skin. Nothing is in the jar for marketing.
The Base: Skin Care First
Organic Coconut Oil
The foundation of our formulas. Coconut oil is a rich, skin-loving moisturizer that gives the deodorant its smooth, balm-like glide. It softens with body heat, which is why a pea-sized amount of our paste spreads so easily and why the stick applies best after a second against your skin. It also helps carry the odor-fighting ingredients evenly across the underarm.
Organic Shea Butter
Coconut oil's partner in the base. Shea butter is a classic skin conditioner — thick, nourishing, and soothing on an area of your body that deals with friction, shaving, and sweat all day. Together with coconut oil, it's the reason our deodorant feels closer to skincare than to a drugstore gel.
The Moisture Manager
Organic Arrowroot Powder
Arrowroot is a fine, silky starch from a tropical root, and it's our answer to moisture. It absorbs sweat at the surface so you feel drier — without blocking your sweat glands the way antiperspirant aluminum does. That distinction is the whole philosophy of natural deodorant, and we explain it fully in our guide to deodorant vs. antiperspirant. Working with your body means you still sweat. Arrowroot means you notice it less.
The Odor Fighters
This is where our two formula families split. Same base, same arrowroot — different odor-fighting engine.
Baking Soda (in our Extra Strength line)
Sodium bicarbonate is one of the most effective natural odor neutralizers there is. It's alkaline, and the compounds behind body odor are largely acidic — so it neutralizes them on contact, while making the underarm less hospitable to the bacteria that produce them. The tradeoff: that same alkalinity can irritate some sensitive skin with daily use. Most people do great with it. Some don't, and for them we make the second engine. Full comparison: baking soda vs. baking soda-free.
Zinc (in our Baking Soda-Free line)
Zinc compounds neutralize odor compounds and help keep odor-causing bacteria in check, and zinc has a long history in skin care. It pulls serious weight in our sensitive-skin formulas without the pH punch of baking soda.
Magnesium Hydroxide (in our Baking Soda-Free line)
The clever one. Magnesium hydroxide is alkaline enough to discourage odor-causing bacteria — the same trick baking soda performs — but it isn't water-soluble, so it doesn't dissolve into skin and disrupt the acid mantle the same way. Strong odor control, gentle delivery. It's the reason "baking soda-free" doesn't mean "weaker" in our line.
The Finishing Touches
Essential Oils
Every scent in our lineup — Lavender, Patchouli, Jasmine, Orange Vanilla, Coconut Lime, Charcoal Seaside — comes from essential oils, never synthetic fragrance. "Fragrance" on a conventional label is a legally protected catch-all that can contain dozens of undisclosed compounds. We'd rather you know exactly where a scent comes from. Prefer nothing at all? Unscented is available across the line, in both formulas. Our scent guide walks through the whole roster.
Activated Charcoal (in our Charcoal varieties)
In Charcoal Seaside sticks and our Unscented Charcoal jar, activated charcoal joins the party. Charcoal is famously porous and absorbent, lending a hand with moisture and giving those varieties their signature gray color. What it isn't: a detox miracle. We're frank about that in our charcoal deodorant guide.
What's NOT in the Jar — and Why
The back label matters as much for what's missing.
- No aluminum. Aluminum compounds are antiperspirant's sweat-blocking drug ingredient. We make deodorant — odor control that works with your body, not against it.
- No parabens. A preservative family many of our customers prefer to avoid. Our water-free formulas don't need them.
- No synthetic fragrance. Scent comes from essential oils, disclosed by name, or not at all.
- No petroleum. Our base is organic plant oils and butters instead of petrochemical derivatives.
- No water. Sounds odd, but it's a quiet flex: water-free formulas mean more active product per ounce, no need for the preservative systems watery formulas require — and we've saved over 40,000 gallons of water and counting.
Across the board, every formula is gluten-free, non-GMO, Leaping Bunny Certified cruelty-free, and handcrafted in the USA — unchanged for over a decade.
How to Read Any Deodorant Label (Ours Included)
Take this checklist to any brand's ingredient panel, including ours.
- Find the odor fighter. Baking soda, zinc, magnesium hydroxide — something has to actually do the work. If a "natural deodorant" is mostly waxes and fragrance, it's a scented stick, not odor control.
- Find the moisture manager. Arrowroot, or similar absorbent powders.
- Check the scent source. Named essential oils are disclosed; "fragrance" or "parfum" is a mystery box.
- Count what you can't picture. Long chemical tails aren't automatically bad, but a short list you understand is easier to trust — and easier to troubleshoot if your skin ever objects.
Frequently Asked Questions
What ingredient in natural deodorant actually stops odor?
The heavy lifters are baking soda in traditional formulas, and zinc plus magnesium hydroxide in baking soda-free ones. They neutralize odor compounds and discourage the bacteria that create them.
Why is coconut oil in deodorant?
It's the moisturizing base that carries the active ingredients, gives the product its glide, and treats underarm skin gently — an area that takes daily abuse from shaving and friction.
Does arrowroot powder keep you dry?
It absorbs moisture at the skin's surface, so you feel noticeably drier. It doesn't reduce how much you sweat — only aluminum-based antiperspirant does that, by design.
Are essential oils safe for underarms?
For most people, yes, at the levels used in a well-made deodorant. A small number of people are sensitive to specific essential oils — if that's you, use Unscented and see our guide to deodorant irritation.
Why does a water-free formula matter?
More product and less filler per ounce, no preservative system required, and a meaningfully lighter water footprint — we've saved over 40,000 gallons so far.
The Frank Bottom Line
A deodorant should be explainable in one breath per ingredient. Ours: coconut oil and shea butter care for skin, arrowroot absorbs moisture, and either baking soda or zinc-plus-magnesium-hydroxide handles odor — scented by essential oils or nothing. That's the whole formula. Pick your engine — extra strength or sensitive skin — and you know exactly what you're putting on your body.
