Summer is here and I couldn’t be happier!
The air smells like orange blossoms, the trees & flowers are lush and vibrant and the skies appear bluer with their cotton candy clouds- overall, the world is a more beautiful place; with the exception of that age old threat of the heat bringing on the ‘Funk’!
I think that Hygiene is number one on most people’s list, as I’m assuming that the majority of us agree that bathing is paramount-and that’s a great thing! However, hygiene for most folks also consists of the addition of harmful & toxic toiletries to ‘enhance’ the odor-protection and overall scent-sation of the individual. After emerging from a warm and usually detoxifying shower/bath (especially if you bathe with warm, filtered water)- many of us immediately reach for chemical laden moisturizers, artificially fragranced colognes and (the main topic of this post) potentially carcinogenic deodorant/antiperspirants!
What’s wrong with deodorants/Antiperspirants? We do need to stay fresh and avoid being labeled as a ‘funky person' right? So what’s the big deal? Well.. I’m glad you asked.
The average, store brought deodorant/Antiperspirant gives you a layer of protection from both sweating and odor (some even guarantee to cover you for up to 12-24 hrs)! Now, that sounds like a product that you’d like to invest in, doesn’t it!? Well, allow me to share with you why it shouldn’t be:
Most of these odor busters & sweat stoppers all have the same first ingredient-- some form of Aluminum.
Aluminum is a strongly reactive metal that, when found in personal care products (such as deodorants), is combined with other elements to form an Aluminum compound so that it may be more effective at carrying out its duty as an odor fighter / sweat reducer ; and this is where the problem lies. Not only should aluminum itself not be used on the body (particularly in sensitive & susceptible places like under the arms) but when combined with other harmful products (i.e.: Laboratory created fragrances & preservatives) it is allowed to break down into smaller particles that can easily be absorbed into the pores, clogs up the sweat glands (which is how antiperspirants stop you from sweating in the first place) and can eventually cause one’s body to be backed up with toxins that would have otherwise been released via sweat- as perspiration is our bodies mechanism for ridding us of contaminants that are within our system. When one stops sweat from occurring, the toxins have nowhere else to go and therefore they are now trapped in the body to wreck havoc and manifest themselves as disease.
It is this knowledge which should lead us all to avoid using aluminum based products at all cost! But if we don’t use deodorants/antiperspirants, then how will we stay fresh? I had this same concern at one point, I wasn’t even worried about not sweating- my main concern was odor.
I tried everything from rubbing baby powder, corn starch and baking soda on my pits-none of them worked for the long haul. I eventually started using semi-natural deodorants which actually did the trick for me, but after taking a deeper look into them I wasn’t completely satisfied with the quality of their ingredients either. So what is a girl to do to stay fresh? Well, recently I was having a “natural conversation” with one of my very wise co-workers and she told me about the secret to underarm odor elimination (even on the hottest of days): It’s MILK of MAGNESIA (or MoM- for short)!
Although our grandmas used this substance to remedy such problems as: constipation and diaper rash- when applied topically to the underarms it can also be used as a very effective deodorant; one may still sweat (depending on the activity and that person’s individual reaction with MoM) but odor protection is guaranteed with this product! And sans any nasty chemicals that could cause an adverse reaction.
So it is possible! We can have the summer heat and stay fresh too! And by keeping it natural we have avoided the use of unnecessary & harmful chemicals, therefore setting ourselves up for better health. We've also saved money (as a 26 oz bottle of generic MoM costs about $4, but you only need apply a nickel sized amount to each arm pit- which means this bottle will last a long time)!
Give Milk of Magnesia (MoM) a try and see how it works for you. If you get the same results that I did, do yourself a favor and toss your old deodorants- Your lymphatic system will thank you!
I can’t wait to try MoM! I can only imagine the savings. Thank you!