Men sweat. This is what my sweaty husband told me after one particularly sweaty evening at the gym. I was trying to convince him to leave behind his conventional deodorant and go natural. Not totally natural. I’m not crazy. Men sweat. My goal was simply to get him to agree to a one-week test drive of a deodorant made from natural ingredients—no synthetic fragrance or preservatives.

I didn’t want to blow this opportunity to convert him to the natural side, so I did my research, sniffing and rejecting at health food stores (the ideal spot for natural deodorant, though some drug stores may have a few options) across the city before brining home any test subjects. I’m partial to a floral scent, but for Paul, I sought out naturally occurring masculine scents—a tough task since most noses are accustomed to the synthetic machismo of Old Spice et al.—guessing that he’d never go for anything that smelled like a damp forest or a freshly cut plot of grass. He seemed like a pine or sage man and so I hedged my bets on three strong contenders: Aubrey Organic’s Men’s Stock Natural Dry Herbal Deodorant , Burt’s Bee’s Herbal Deodorant and Weleda’s Sage Deodorant .

The plan was to test each one for a week, but the Weleda was rejected on day one. Paul found it “too light” and claimed it couldn’t stand up to the demands of his day. Aubrey and Burt’s each passed the longevity test with clea...