Lately I am all about natural and safe products. The personal care industry is not regulated (virtually at all) and there are so many harmful ingredients with really devastating impacts. I am making an effort to switch out all of my products for safe and natural alternatives. I have replaced nail polish and skincare, and I am now looking at deodorant. There are many reasons to be wearing a natural deodorant, here are five.
5 Reasons You Should Wear a Natural Deodorant
It won’t clog your pores
Antiperspirants essentially plug up your sweat glands to stop you from sweating. But, you are supposed to sweat! When you sweat, your body is regulating its temperature and releasing toxins (which we want!) I used to use an antiperspirant because I wanted to sweat less! But I realized that sweating is good! Why wouldn’t I want to sweat out of all the bad stuff? If you are not sold on switching from an antiperspirant to a natural deodorant, at least switch to a deodorant. Embrace the sweat!
It won’t cause irritation
A lot of people get red bumps, rashes, or some sort of underarm irritation from their deodorant/antiperspirant. To revisit point #1, antiperspirants are clogging your pores, causing sweat and toxins to be trapped underneath your skin. This is what is usually causing the irritation. Shaving your armpits (hello ladies out there) makes this even worse. Deodorants do not clog your pores! Further, a natural deodorant will only have natural ingredients (obviously) so you will not get irritation from chemicals or harmful fragrances found in other deodorants.
It can make you more fertile
A lot of health and beauty products contain parabens and aluminum. This is a huge problem because parabens and aluminum mimic estrogen which can mess with your hormones and impact both your monthly cycle and your fertility. Look for a deodorant that is paraben-free and aluminum-free (natural deodorants!) This does not just apply to those of you trying to conceive. Hormones affect your weight, skin, mood, and so many other things.
It can lower your chances of getting cancer
As I mentioned above, parabens and aluminum both mimic estrogen in your body. Estrogen-like hormonal effects may play a major part in breast cancer formation. And we’re putting these chemicals literally so close to our breasts! Similarly, talc is another chemical used in a lot of products. If it contains asbestiform fibers it is a carcinogen (and the quantity of these fibers is unregulated in the US of course!) If there is talc in your deodorant, there is no way of knowing if it contains these fibers or how much.
You won’t stain your shirts
On a lighter note, the aluminum that I mentioned earlier causes the sweat stains on your shirts. When aluminum reacts with the fabric you are wearing, it makes those sweat stains on your shirts. Natural deodorant will not do this! If you are tired of throwing away white tops, there is an easy way to solve this! Tony is not as passionate about safe products as I am, but when I told him about this, he was sold!
Is there a natural antiperspirant?
The short answer is no. Aluminum is really the only ingredient that will stop you from sweating. If you have learned nothing else by reading this, it’s hopefully that aluminum is bad. Also, I want to emphasize again that sweating is good. Don’t worry so much about how much you sweat and just embrace it and switch to a natural deodorant.
What should I buy?
There are many natural and safe brands of deodorant (this is the brand that I recommend). I got the coconut vanilla (it’s their best seller). It smells really good and seems to mask odor all day. If you have not used a natural deodorant before, you will notice that you do sweat more. Something interesting that I learned recently is that natural ingredients work differently on different bodies. If this brand that I recommend does not work for you, it doesn’t mean that natural deodorants do not work for you. You just need a different special sauce to get there. Sound good?
love this so much! crazy how the products we put on on our bodies are full of chemicals and i never gave it a second thought until recently! Tom’s is a good natural brand that is available at CVS/Walgreens. i want to try native next!