Our Story
How it began...
Early 2014 I (Luke) and Laura received news that Laura’s work colleague had been diagnosed with skin cancer; and she wasn’t much older than us. This really opened our eyes, especially since her doctor’s professional advice was to stop using unnatural skincare products that contain chemicals such as SLS, found in detergent soaps and body washes. If these unnatural ingredients are so bad, why are we knowingly covering our skin with them every day, we questioned. This was a real eye opener and the point we decided there had to be another way.
The Search...
Laura and I started to switch many of our cosmetic brands to the natural alternatives, but we found that not all products were made equally. Particularly, the many natural deodorants that we tried would sometimes work on Laura but had limited effect on me. In short, I stank!
Fast forward to 2015 and we had discovered a wide range of natural and beautifully crafted skincare brands and had even perfected many of our own homemade recipes. But after trialling every natural deodorant I could get my hands on, there still wasn’t one that cut the mustard. And this was where our little natural deodorant adventure started.
Our Creation...
If we couldn’t buy one, we’d make one! It turns out that making an effective natural deodorant is more complicated than we thought. Our creation had to be 100% natural, vegan (so beeswax-free), gentle on our skin, completely eco-friendly and most importantly; it had to work, even on me.
Every day I would investigate how different deodorants work, write up experimental formulas and Laura would create them in our kitchen. Each formula had the same thorough test: we would both apply the product we were testing and go on a run, then another run at midday, and again in the afternoon. We’d then keep wearing the same deodorant that night and, in the morning, we’d go on a final hot and sweaty run to really put it to the test! We got really fit.
After more than 3 months we finally had a product we were happy with and that passed our ridiculously diligent testing.
We’re so glad we persisted as now Pit Putty is loved by thousands of customers around the world. Although Pit Putty is no longer made in our kitchen, every batch is still made my hand and with love. And finally, we have a natural deodorant that really works, even on me!
