What’s All the Stink About?
There’s a lot of information about the dangers of deodorants/anti-perspirants around. The question is – are they harmful to your health? Well, I’ve read a lot of scary stories about the safety of deodorants and anti-perspirants but, like so much in life, there doesn’t seem to be any firm evidence one way or the other.
However, I tend to err on the side of caution and one look at the ingredients in my deodorant has made me want to try a more natural alternative.
As with the ingredients in my investigation of soap, deodorants normally contain phthalates, propylene glycol and parabens.
They also normally contain aluminum in various formats such as aluminium chloride or chlorohydrate.
Make Your Own Deodorant
I’ve looked up how to make your own natural deodorant and this seems to be the recipe of choice:
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp of coconut oil
- 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 5 drops of essential oil (such as lavender)
Basically mix these ingredients together, pour into a glass jar and apply to your armpits after washing or whenever you feel the need.
I don’t know if this will work effectively but now we have the two metre social distancing rule (or the one metre or the one metre plus – if you are in the UK your guess is as good as mine as to what the rules currently are) but I digress … while we are social distancing this may be an ideal time to test out your home made deodorant!
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Personally I haven’t a clue what cornstarch is and, despite my best intentions, I will probably never get around to trying this recipe, so I am going to try the crystal rock deodorant. I tried this once before but it was a long hot summer and I don’t think I stayed the course.
What is Crystal Rock Deodorant?
Crystal rock deodorant is made from potassium alum which is a natural mineral salt. Now this is where things get complicated because alum IS aluminium but some sources say potassium alum is preferred to the other forms of aluminium. It’s normally sold as a stone but you can also get roll ons and sprays if you prefer. However if you are concerned about plastic packaging, you may prefer to look out for the stone variety.
Although crystal rock stones may appear more expensive than a typical deodorant they do last a long time. So if you find that they work, they may be more cost effective in the long run.
If you don’t think they work that well, you may want to limit your use to the winter months and keep a traditional deodorant for those lazy hazy days of summer.
Here are a few examples:
Crystal Deodorant Stick 120 g
Plastic Free Natural Deodorant Crystal Stick by Salt of the Earth, Unscented, Fragrance Free – Vegan, Long Lasting Protection, Leaping Bunny Approved – 75g
Crystal Body Deodorant, Rock, 5 Ounce
Biork™ The Real Ecological Deodorant | Zero Waste | Recyclable | Plastic-Free
Thai Deodorant Stone Crystal Stone in Basket
And Also
I once read that the best thing to do is to NOT overuse deodorant. Just do one stroke under each arm – don’t plaster it on. And hopefully we can all stay healthy and sweetly scented!
Out Of The Office 