Let me preface this article with some context - I have two sons and I’m not always perfect. My eldest is nearly 16 and he first started to wreak havoc (and body odour!) - when he was around 10 years of age. At the time, I was facing some serious health issues and like we do when we are stressed and don’t have the time to think things through thoroughly - we often opt-in for the shortcut solution and at the time, my short-cut was simple… I reached for the LYNX!
 

Yes, I too am guilty! 

Guilty of regularly and stealthily ducking into my local Chemist Warehouse and walking out with my concealed cans of “Out Of Africa”, “Dark Excitement” or “Voodoo”... Should be better known as “Voo DON’T”! As you definitely don’t want to smell like that - especially at the age of 10! But like so many others before me, even after roaming the aisles of the supermarket or discount chemist, I still often walked out with the LYNX!
 

So why should it be any different when my Tween #2 turned 10? After all, almost everywhere I turned, every room in our home, every bag, every shelf was a half empty, matt black bottle of LYNX and that pungent lingering stench!

Well I definitely had more clarity 3 years later. My health concerns were managed and I could actually digest what was happening right before my eyes. My boy was changing in many ways…
 

Tween #2 was 10. 
 

Not even the tiniest of hairs would I be able to see under his gorgeous little armpits yet he carried the stench of a grown man. It’s like it happened overnight and I was definitely caught off guard without the obvious hints like additional body hair, the odd zit popping around and tween hearing loss - one of the most common signs of puberty when your son so skill-fully doesn’t hear (read: listen) to anything you have to say. It wasn’t quite like this - yet! He was still so cute. His skin still so soft. He still wanted to hold my hand when we crossed the streets together. He still spoke to me during our frequent car trips together. But when we did take a car trip together after school or after sport, boy did I know about it. As I quickly got into a routine of winding down all four windows of the car for cross ventilation to try to eliminate the odour that followed him inside my car! 
 

So I quickly knew that before I received that call from his classroom teacher or the awkward conversation from my girlfriend carpooling Tween#2 to basketball, he needed NOT LYNX. I was not going to be dragged down that rabbit hole again - there needed to be something more appropriate for him.
 

I had also done some of my own investigative work and understood more about what was going on and why to my son’s prepubescent body. First thing’s first: we all sweat but sweat itself doesn’t stink - it’s actually the bacteria that grows on sweat that causes B.O.
 

But we can’t deny the odour  - so what to do about it?

Antiperspirant contains aluminium. And yes the jury’s still out. Antiperspirants will block and clog pores and prevent sweat from reaching the skin’s surface while aluminium free deodorants help fight the odour without blocking the pores.

Deodorant does not contain aluminium and is often far more gentle on the skin especially when dealing with the pits of tweens and younger teenagers. 

There’s also another factor in this whole mix of what deodorant my child can use and the answer is this: one that they are comfortable to use, happy enough to pull out of their school locker, their sport bag after training or take to their friend’s place for that sleepover. They will need to take it on that school camp, in the change room after swimming lessons or even after that chess tournament because our kids get sweaty in all situations and we need to have them covered.

And so Neon Goat was developed for this reason. For them.

My boys were happy to take Neon Goat with them wherever they were. It’s a brand for them. Not a brand nor a fragrance for a twenty year old man heading Out Of Africa! (Cue LYNX!)

Developed right here in Australia. Developed for young, sensitive skin  - no aluminium, no parabens , no nasties and it really works and they really do like the smell and quite simply - it’s cool. 

And so to answer the question posed in this article - At what age did I buy my son his first deodorant?

Well, everyone is different, but for me and my boys it was around the age of 10 and I was not well prepared. 

I am now because I have created it. I had the idea. I partnered with experts to formulate our products right here in Sydney, Australia and now with Neon Goat’s Shvitz Stick and Shvitz Spritz products - we have them covered. 

Who knew? My career woman ambitions have been rekindled by—I’m just going to own it—shvitz and smelly boys.

Over and out,

Jackie Baron

Founder & Cheif Shvitz Strategist