One of the things people ask us most is what's actually in the tube. Fair question — most deodorant labels read like a chemistry exam. Here's the honest, ingredient-by-ingredient version.
The whole list, out loud
Si:zen Santal is formulated with nine ingredients: Sunflower Oil, Magnesium Hydroxide, Isoamyl Laurate, Beeswax, Cetearyl Alcohol, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Triethyl Citrate, Vitamin E (Tocopherol) and Fragrance (Parfum). That's it. No bicarbonate soda, no aluminium, no filler ingredients added just because a formula "needs" more.
We built Si:zen around fewer, better products — and that starts with fewer, better ingredients. Every one of the nine is there to do a specific job. If it wasn't earning its place, it didn't make the final formula, and it took five years and eight rounds of testing with our focus group to land on this exact combination.
Magnesium hydroxide — the one doing the actual work
This is the ingredient that replaces both aluminium and bicarb in our formula. Aluminium salts work by physically plugging your sweat glands. Bicarb works by being highly alkaline, which is also why it's the most common cause of a rash on sensitive underarm skin. Magnesium hydroxide does neither — it neutralises odour-causing bacteria on the skin's surface without blocking sweat or throwing off your skin's natural pH. Your body keeps doing what it's meant to do; the odour just doesn't get a chance to build up.
Vitamin E — for the skin, not the label
Vitamin E (Tocopherol) is in there to support the skin itself, not to make an ingredient list look nicer. Underarm skin is thin, gets shaved or waxed regularly, and is exactly the kind of area that shows irritation first when a formula isn't gentle enough. Vitamin E is a well-established skin-conditioning ingredient, and paired with Sunflower Oil, it's part of why people switching from aluminium-based antiperspirants tend to find the transition period more comfortable.
Beeswax — texture, glide, and a bit of a barrier
Beeswax is what gives Si:zen its glide. Without something like it, a magnesium-based deodorant can feel chalky or drag on application — which is a big part of why some natural deodorants get abandoned after a week. Beeswax also sits on the skin as a light protective layer, which helps the rest of the formula stay put through a real day rather than a lab test.
Santal — a skin-safe fragrance, not an essential oil blend
Our scent is listed simply as Fragrance (Parfum), and that's a deliberate choice. We use a skin-safe sandalwood fragrance rather than pure essential oils. Essential oils are natural, but they're also concentrated plant extracts, and some of the most common ones are known to be irritating on skin that's already sensitive — which runs directly against what we're trying to do. A skin-safe fragrance gave us a warm, clean, unisex sandalwood scent that's stable and consistent, without asking sensitive skin to deal with anything extra.
What ties it together
The remaining ingredients — Isoamyl Laurate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil and Triethyl Citrate — aren't headline ingredients, but they're not filler either. They're what keep a natural formula stable and workable in an Australian climate: holding everything together, keeping the texture consistent from the first swipe to the last, and stopping the formula from separating or sweating in the tube through a hot summer.
That's the whole list. Nothing hidden behind a "fragrance blend" or a vague "natural extracts" line. If you want to see how it comes together, you can find it on the Si:zen Santal product page, and if you've got questions we haven't answered here, our FAQs cover irritation, transition time and how long a stick actually lasts.
Fewer, better ingredients was never a slogan for us — it's the actual brief we gave ourselves every time we tested a new version. Nine ingredients, each one explained, is what five years of getting that brief right looks like.
Stay bold,
Amy
Founder, Si:zen