This new trend just stinks.
A large number of Generation Z Americans are not using deodorant or antiperspirant, according to a recent poll conducted by YouGov.
About 40% of those surveyed in the 18-to-24 age group said they hadn’t used the product in the last month. For 25-34-year olds, that number drops to 31%.
In addition, 48% of respondents ages 18 to 24 said they haven’t purchased deodorant in the past year. For 25-34-year olds, that number went down to 37%.
“It’s not that Millennials and Gen Zers lack personal hygiene habits. They’re close to overall population percentages when it comes to washing their hair every day, for example,” according to therelease by YouGov.
One reason could be the move toward more natural products, which can be in short supply.
Take Megababe’s Rosy Pits as an example. The Instagram-famous aluminum-free deodoranthad a 13,000-person waitlist last summer.
Cayley Ross, 20, from New York, said she made the switch to a natural alternative after reading articles on social media.
“I think in general, lots of articles and random facts show up all over the place regarding health benefits or drawbacks of certain products or ingredients — gluten, dairy, coconut oil, aluminum in deodorant, etc., and of course it’s so hard to know which ones are true,” Ross said.
“A friend said to me, ‘Apparently they use aluminum in deodorant and scientists are saying it causes cancer, that’s why I stopped wearing deodorant.’ And then she told me how it took a while, but she didn’t even really need to use it — she just didn’t smell anymore. At the time I was skeptical but more and more, these articles are popping up so you never know.”