Journeymen: What Your Eco-Friendly Conscious Man Could Smell Like

I get rashy pits occasionally. It sucks. It could be an allergic reaction to certain deodorants, but lately I’ve been realizing that maybe it’s what’s actually in them. Take any antiperspirant brand from the nearest drugstore and you’re likely to find all sorts of ingredients you know nothing about. Consider also their confusing smells; what’s ‘Ocean Sport’ or ‘Tiger Claw’ supposed to smell like, anyway? Enter Journeymen, a relatively new brand with a fresh perspective.“Our aim is to create products that are better for humans and better for the earth,” Sean Donovan, the CEO and founder of Journeymen tells me. His company offers naturally made men’s care products that don’t test on animals or use harmful chemicals like parabens and aluminum that are known to cause damage to our bodies. For Donovan, the idea sparked while at a company party, when a coworker was accused of smelling like a cheap body spray brand. Though the insult was laughable, a thought came to the entrepreneur: launch a deodorant brand creating premium products that don’t contain shit chemicals, and distribute them through the fashion and lifestyle retailers he respected. Thus, Journeymen was born. 

A natural deodorant with a subtle-yet-masculine cypress/smoke scent, it’s made with such wellness-approved ingredients as leaf oil, aloe vera, witch hazel, and rosehip oil -- making it so you can deodorize without overpowering the olfactory senses of everyone in the same room.

More than a great premium product company, Journeymen was created to embody specific values centered on self and world care. The brand has a philosophy around ‘waking up’ -- something Donovan suggests is “personal care as a concept.”“‘Wake up’ is a call to action,” he explains, “to get up, expand your mind, push your body, and aim to improve yourself in every way -- emotionally, physically, creatively. We want our brand and products to be a launching point for your day and a reminder to live in the present, using clean products that promote and inspire a healthy lifestyle.”Yet another way Journeymen works to be better for humans and the earth is by partnering with 1% for the Planet, a non-profit that takes 1% of Journeyman’s net sales and reinvests it into other environmental non-profits that work to protect the ecosystem. In addition, Journeymen works expressly with local suppliers with identical values regarding sustainability. “For example,” Donovan offers, “Journeymen’s face wash -- made with dirt-busting citrus extract, exfoliating willow bark, and ultra-hydrating aloe -- is packaged in recycled PET bottles and created in the US, which shortens the supply chain and supports our local economy.”Journeymen’s priorities are as clear and clean as their products and ingredients. Using their line daily is a practice in waking up, consciously investing in one’s personal health with smarter goods while paying out dividends in the health of the planet. Covering multiple bases, they also offer body wash with new products in development.Innovative, sustainable, and natural, Journeymen is good for the planet and good for you -- and I’m on board. No more itchy pits.Jeremiah French spends most of his time dissecting and consuming human-built worlds in multimedia, from written fiction to simulated spaces. When he isn't doing that, he's making his own in podcast and print. Occasionally he remembers he's a musician, so he'll do that too. Check out his musings on interactive entertainment at drunkenmarmoset.com, and his primary action-fantasy podcast Gafgarn: The Eternally Unfurnished, anywhere podcasts are available.