Well. Here I am, standing on the subway with my nose right at armpit level, and I think (for no reason whatsoever, sir), “I should write about deodorant!” I’m beginning to scrutinize my personal care products, but haven’t gotten around to writing about any of it until right this minute; when it seems very appropriate… sir. Here goes.
As I hope you are aware, there are two types of anti-stink: anti-persperant/deodorant, and just plain deodorant. From there, the plain deodorant category branches out into varying degrees of naturalness and effectiveness. Why not go straight for the industrial strength sweat stopper? Well, here’s the thing (warning: buzz-kill to follow): like so many awesome things, I'm not convinced that it doesn't have a downside - that many chemicals slathered on daily make me nervous. When push comes to shove (or nose comes to pit), a natural mineral salt based deodorant is likely your best bet in the health category. I have used the Kiss My Face Liquid Rock Unscented for several years and absolutely love it, but at $5-$6 a pop and only lasting about six weeks, it’s not even a remotely thrifty option. Enter the hippie crystal armpit rock! I just ordered one today, and I can almost not contain my groans as I swore I would never own one of these. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a… well, a rock, which you moisten with a bit of water & rub under your pits. It’s purported to last at least a year, and impresses me for several reasons: less packaging = less waste, no chemicals = fewer toxins or iffy chemicals for my body to deal with and discard, and less processing = fewer manufacturing byproducts and pollutants. It’s cheap, green, and (hopefully!) effective. I’ll let you know how it works out; because I’m sure my adventures in deodorant are foremost in your mind.
Now, for those of you who have thrown caution to the wind and tossed your anti-stink completely, I salute you. From a distance. Kidding – love you lots! While I can’t say that I’ll be following suit, I admire your conviction (again, from a distance). I mean, let’s face it – it’s not really a professional option for most of us in the US to “go rogue” (go commando?) in the deodorant department, and I know many of you may have tried to go a bit more natural only to find yourself sneaking off to the bathroom to coat your pits in Purell after a few hours. If at first you don’t succeed, try try again! I tried several brands before I found one that worked with my uniquely fabulous chemistry, and I find that I actually tend to get whiffier with the traditional anti-persperants – go figure! So, who’s with me? Raise your hand! On second thought, just give me a thumbs-up. From a distance.
I've tried the natural deodorant (I dont remember the brand right off but it was essentially the typical big salt crystal of sorts in a plastic tube) and it worked great for my pits, however I ended up having to toss it because of the weirdest problem... IT started to stink like BO! I tried everything including allowing it to air dry between uses before putting the top on, scrubbing the rock crystal part down with soap and water, etc. But nothing. In the end it rivaled even the sweatest, smelliest, grossest pits my husband himself could conjure up after a bike race (and he uses commercial deodorant). I eventually figured that if it made my eyes water just by opening it that I needed to rethink the idea. So eventually it got tossed.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever heard of this problem? I'd love to try using the same type again because it did work for me but they are a bit pricey to do too much trial and error with.