It’s true.
Not all the time, but when I wear certain colours or get too warm or feel nervous, it happens.
You know why?
I don’t wear antiperspirant. I haven’t in over eight years. Why would I want to use the stuff that blocks our natural sweating mechanism and leaves toxins in our body when they should be exiting? And adds toxins of its own. Oh, and delivers those toxins right to a very sensitive area of our body, especially for women. (After all, toxins are stored in our fat cells, and I’m sure you know what our chest region is made of.)
So what do I wear instead, you ask? And how is it even possible to avoid it?
Well, I wear natural deodorant, which is literally defined as a substance that removes or conceals unpleasant smells, such as body odour. Bingo. That should be our only focus when it comes to a substance that we apply to our armpits on a daily basis; we shouldn’t be blocking a natural mechanism of our body while openly inviting chemicals inside.
Those chemicals include, but are not limited to:
- Aluminum
- Parabens
- Phthalates
- Fragrance
- BHT
- Dimethicone
- Propylene Glycol
- Petrolatum
- Talc
- Triclosan
Yuck. Count me out. According to the Environmental Working Group, these chemicals can be linked to the following: allergies, immunotoxicity, organ system toxicity, skin irritation, and cancer. Plus, we should be avoiding chemicals wherever we can; our body is already overloaded with toxins, and where we can reduce them, we should. And we can.
Now, I will say that over the past eight years, I have tried my fair share of natural deodorants to find the one that works best for me. Many of them didn’t work as well as I had hoped, so I had to keep experimenting until I found one that did. I highly encourage you to do the same; antiperspirant is such a huge contributor to toxins in your body since it delivers chemicals in while blocking any from coming out. Plus, we have lymph nodes located in our underarms that work to keep our bodies clean and healthy; we need to let them do their job. You may have some stinky days ahead of you while you find the best deodorant for your bod, but believe you me, it is well worth it in the end.
After years of experimenting with different ones and refusing to give in to the draw of using antiperspirant (smelling clean and not having sweat stains can be tempting, after all), I’m happy to report that I have found my absolute favourite deodorant: Purelygreat. It’s a cream deodorant that consists of only three ingredients: baking soda, corn starch, and glycerin. And, the scented options include different essential oils, and that’s it. Not only do the essential oils provide a delicious natural fragrance, but they each have their own health benefits, too. You stir it up and apply the smallest amount to each underarm, and it seriously works all day. I’m talking during client consultations in the day through the Zumba class at night. There’s not one person that I’ve recommended it to thus far who has not loved it, and for whom it has not worked well.
As I aptly described in the title of this blog post, I definitely can get sweaty… but so what? It’s a small price to pay for a healthier bod.
I encourage you to ditch the chemical-filled, sweat-blocking antiperspirant and try a natural deodorant as soon as you can!
Last year, I talked about Purelygreat deodorant in a video at Goodness Me! natural food market (you can buy it there)… check it out. If you try one, let me know what you think in a comment below. Happy deodorizing!