Thursday 5 May 2011

Deodorant vs. Antiperspirant

I'm really doing it. I'm taking the "natural" plunge when it comes to body care.

Soap was the easiest. A friend of mine started making and selling homemade soap. It is pretty and smells scrumptious and is so smooth on your body. Is it strange that I actually love the process of soaping up in the shower now? Seriously, every time I pull out that little bar of homemade love, it puts a smile on my face. PLus the fact that I'm not scrubbing toxins all over me - that's a big bonus also.

My next jump has been deodorant. Last year I bought a stick from our local natural stuff store. I used it for three days and then tossed it. It totally didn't work at all.

But, knowing that anti-perspirant is one of the WORST body care products I could be using, I decided had I to try again. I thought perhaps there might be another brand that worked better for me. A friend recommended one to me, and even dropped off an extra stick she had so I could give it a try.

The result? Well, before I get to that, let me make a couple aside comments. I had a chance last week to talk with a woman who sells natural products. I asked her, very frankly, about the deodorant. She passed along the following:

1. Deodorant is not anti-perspirant. Anti-perspirant actually blocks up the pores under your arm so that sweat (and smell) cannot escape. This is actually the worst part of the product (along with the aluminum). Our body needs to sweat out the toxins, and by blocking it up, you block in all those nasty, evil things. Deodorant instead inhibits the growth of odour-causing bacteria.

2. You may still sweat (and smell) with deodorant. It will not work the same as anti-perspirant, so don't expect it to. You may need to reapply again mid-day.

3. Your body takes time to adjust to using deodorant. The first couple of weeks will be the worst, but after (at most) a month it will be much better.

4. Don't feel bad about keep an anti-perspirant on hand for a wedding or a super hot summer's day. Try to avoid it for working out, because you do want to sweat in that instance. But even if you move from using anti-perspirant 100% of the time to 10% of the time, it will still be much better for your body.

5. Even on a hot summer's day, unless you're having company, you may use the deodorant anyway. Did you know sweating actually cools you down? I have noticed myself many times shivering on a hot summer's day, as the cool dampness of sweat relieves the rising temperature of my body.

Anyway, I would say I have switched to about 75% days deodorant now, which I think is pretty good. I have ordered a few other products, and when they arrive I'll write more about them. So far, so good, though!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice article!

I am also using deodorant most of the time and it's way better than anti-perspirant. I do get sweat stains from time to time, but it's worth it.

Have you ever tried Lavilin? It's a good natural deodorant that I started using a couple months ago. I like it so far, lasts several days and I'm odorless!

Anonymous said...

Much agreed!! Lavilin is a fantastic deodorant!

Lasts 7 fuuuuulll days for me! Doesn't matter how much I run around! Try Lavilin!!