An Honest Review of Fussy Deodorant

We all want to use products that are safe for us and the planet and an eco deodorant is one area I thought I had nailed. I switched to Wild around 5/6 years back and was happy but as many of us know, Wild were recently bought out by Unilever and as an unethical company, I just couldn’t continue supporting them. Greenwashing does not wash with me. So, I made the decision to step out and try new deodorants that had since hit the eco shelves. Fussy seemed to come highly rated by many of my readers and I liked the fact that it was very similar to Wild, so I have been trying it out and promised everyone a review. It has now been around 8 weeks of use and these are my honest thoughts…

About Fussy

Launching as a Kickstarter project in 2020, Fussy brought their refillable, eco-friendly deodorant to market in order to help banish some of those single-use plastics you regularly buy for your home/health. They are B-Corp certified, vegan and cruelty-free, plus the refills will break down in your home compost bin. They were also featured on Dragon’s Den and secured investment from 2 of the dragons – Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones. Fussy has since built a loyal following of over 400,000 customers and sold over 1 million deodorants.

“We’re on a mission to banish single-use plastic from your bathroom. With simple, high-quality and effective personal care products that are backed by science not buzzwords”

Fussy

Ordering Fussy

When I came onto Fussy’s website, it was easy to use and follow. You first pick a case (if you want one) and then choose your purchasing options – a one-off shop or subscription. The subscription is a great deal as it allows you to choose just 1 case and 1 deodorant scent, but refills are reduced by 15% and you get free UK delivery all for £14 a month. However, because I was trying this out for the first time, I opted for the one-off payment of £28 for one case and 3 scents – Jasmine Bloom, Lavender Fields and Parma Violets. Shipping at time of ordering was £3.50.

Fussy Review

First Impressions

I loved that the Fussy Deodorant came in fully recyclable cardboard packaging and that everything could fit snugly inside. I opted for their Mint Green case because the colour looked lovely on the screen and it was just as lovely in real life (just a side note to say that I know the refills do fit inside the old Wild cases but I wanted to be able to review this product in full for my readers so I chose to get one so I could feedback on this too).

The scents were, ummm, not what I was expecting. Parma Violets was an immediate no, I didn’t need to smell it more than once, it was awful which was disappointing. Lavender was ok, a gentle aroma but to be honest, I was expecting stronger, thankfully Jasmine Bloom ticked the boxes.

Popping the deo inside the case was very easy, and once done, you’re good to go.

Trying Fussy Deodorant

As I had already been using an eco-friendly deodorant for a number of years I thought this would be a straightforward transition (unlike the switch from normal antiperspirant to eco deo) but my body had other ideas. I actually began with Lavender because it was such a light scent I thought it would be enough. Sadly, I was wrong. I was finding myself wet and smelly by at least lunchtime – without doing much other than working at a laptop – and I had to keep reapplying. I persevered with this for around 2-3 weeks I would say but decided to ditch this scent for the stronger Jasmine Bloom to see if I had more success.

To begin with, I did. I liked the smell, I was less wet (I say wet because it wasn’t like sweat, more like the deo was reacting with my body and leaving me wet) but things started to change… And sadly not in a good way. I started to notice that I was again smelling partway through the day and was reapplying the deodorant to combat this. But the increase in the deodorant brought on that wet/sticky feeling again and I was left with huge wet marks on my t-shirt at a kid’s birthday party which was super embarrassing. But I am a trier and I didn’t want to give up. I wanted this brand to work for me (probably because it would have been easier overall), so I pushed on through. Through school runs, exercise ramping up because I am training for the three peaks, another kid’s birthday party, gardening, running errands, but I am sorry to report that my body just was not accepting this eco deodorant.

Giving Up

Yep, I am sad to say that I have had to give up. After around 8 weeks of use, my armpits are still wet and smelly at certain points in the day and Fussy did not hold up during exercise, leaving me very uncomfortable. As we all know, not all products are for everyone, I know loads of people who didn’t get on with Wild yet I did. I also know loads of people who rave about Fussy but I, unfortunately, can’t be one of them.

One Other Niggle

I can’t write this review without mentioning the annoyance of the case. Firstly, with the mint green I chose, it is so hard to tell which is the lid and which is the bottom so I would often be pulling at it realising it was the wrong way up but the other issue with the lid is that there is no grip whatsoever which made it tricky to remove it. This is certainly a big design flaw, and in my opinion, would be even harder for somebody lacking hand/finger strength or someone who has a disability. The other very annoying thing about the case is that it doesn’t stand up properly, as the base isn’t big enough. I would continually try to get the thing to balance but after several weeks of use, I just gave up and had it laying down on my unit.

Overall Thoughts

A great product that ticks so many boxes for sustainability, but has a case that needs a huge rethink. Reading other reviews, it clearly works for many, sadly, not for me. On to the next deodorant test.

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