And I still have friends!
It is hard for me to explain why I do things sometimes. There are times when I just have the urge to do something, for no other reason than an urge. Learning to trust my urges as impulses and nudges from the divine, I walk an interesting path of ‘what the hell is going on’.
Well, the deodorant thing has been a while coming, something new for me to try. I handed back the old Rexona aerosols about 2 years ago. I won’t lie, I may have used it once or twice last year in a mad panic of ‘get out the door’ but I have moved away from mainstream pit spray for a while. Why? Well firstly- the aluminum containing deodorants restrict the body’s ability to excrete toxins, also right near your underarms are our wonderful lymph nodes and they don’t’ exactly appreciate the chemical spray down. Some deodorants consisting of parabens, aluminum, triclosan (which is currently being studied for how it interferes with your hormones and gene activity, yep, no shit) and Phthalates which can mess around with testosterone creation- seriously WHY WOULD YOU WEAR THE STUFF, no babies for you Glen Co-Co. All these magical things stocked on supermarket shelves for your daily use of health risk. Yes, they may stop you from sweating (which is a natural human function) yes, they may stop the smell, but are they also doing damage? Possibly.
This brings me to the next phase of my smelly liberation, natural deodorants. When people ask me ‘do natural deodorants work as well as the regular ones?’ I bring you back to the term ‘deodorant’, which is to do-odor your smelly self; ideally, this is what a natural deodorant will do! Most of them contain essential oils that have antibacterial properties like tea tree or peppermint, so its like slapping a nice cooling tea bag under there.
Natural deodorants aren’t perfect either. I found a natural deodorant that made me smell worse, yep, it was horrible. Then I found an amazing natural deodorant when I was in the USA earlier this year and it run out, about 2 months ago and I haven’t replaced it. I decided to stop wearing the stuff all together (and maybe out of sheer laziness) and it’s been pretty interesting for me (and potentially those around me). So, here’s what I have found;
I didn’t smell horrible.
In my day to day activities, my job, my life, I never got too smelly. At the end of the day if I lifted my arm up and intended to smell under my arm, I do experience a slight smell of something, but it isn’t even slightly bad enough for me to worry.
I only experienced 2 weeks of smelly exercise smell.
So, the first two weeks of sweat was interesting, I am a runner and do so pretty much every day. I did experience a little bit more smell and sweat in my first two weeks, it was like my body was stoked with the freedom. It wasn’t overwhelming but I would finish a training session and put my gear in the dirty clothes basket Annand then probably wash it in the very near future.
My smell changed over time.
When you go out for a big night on the town and attempt to sweat out the alcohol the next day (which actually is impossible as its not fat soluble) but our sweat can sometimes smell like the night before, that old alcohol stale smell. I was becoming more attune to what I was eating that would excrete different smells from my body. Different spices, garlic, onions and diverse foods were identifiable if I was to work up a sweat. By not adding deodorant my body was free to just do what it needed and after 2 months of not using, it’s felt like a nice detox.
I became aware of my bodies cooling system.
So, our bodies sweat to cool down and using deodorants I have found that I never feel wet under the arms at any point throughout the day. Not wearing anything under there, I started to experience my body cooling itself down at times with just a cooling sweat layer. Nothing to wet under the arm part of your t-shirt, but enough for me to notice.
I still have friends.
Yep, no smells to scare anyone away!
To be honest, it is probably not that much to report on. No one would know if I didn’t tell them, only that I hope that we slowly move away from purchasing items that are not only toxic, they contribute disposable waste in the environment. Natural deodorants can be made from home or purchased from wonderful humans making them! They are now accessible in loads of pharmacies, but try and make one for yourself, tailor your own scent! Step by Step below!
Love and other things xo