Down in the pits?

Down in the pits?

Have no fear; we all have our moments. It’s natural!

Our bodies’ process is to sweat when overheated, as it’s natural cooling & detoxifying mechanism. Allowing your body to sweat can actually help improve any body odor you may experience, and something I really want to preach is “we have to start to respect that process!”. Sweating eliminates toxic buildup clogged inside our skins pores.

We grow up being force fed advertisements and media information that sweating is bad & smelly and how dare we have wetness under our arms! I recently stumbled across an article about how the negative connotation of “body odor” and “under-arm smell” came about in the early 1900’s when advertisers were brainwashing women... “women may be stinky and offensive, and they might not even know it. The take-home message was clear: If you want to keep a man, you’d better not smell.”*

This fear was something instilled in us at an early age, so we go buy the clinical strength antiperspirant and slather (chemicals) into our underarms. Don’t want to chase the guys away!

The underarm skin is extremely delicate, and after you shave you have wide-open pores, and possible cuts, ready to absorb anything. Our skin is our largest organ and a majority of what we put onto our skin has molecules that are small enough to get absorbed and go into our blood stream. Think about where your armpits are located. For women, this is EXTREMELY important, they are directly connected to our breast tissues and the lymphatic system goes from our neck, under our armpits and along side of our breasts.

Fortunately, we are getting wiser in the modern-age, but sometimes it takes personal situations to make us change our ways, and decide what is really important: having a stinky, wet moment…or saving our health?

Let's get personal...

I have extremely dense, cystic breasts and this can make lumps apparent but also hard to detect on exams. I noticed after getting off birth control (which at the time I did not correlate the two, and neither did any doctors) I had some lumps appear in my upper outer breast close to my armpit. I underwent two ultra sounds and a mammogram a week after turning 30. Welcome to my thirties, right?! I was told both times they were “lymph nodes” and to keep an eye on them. I was never given a reason as to why I had these swollen nodes to begin with, and why they didn’t seem to be going away. So, I did what I knew to do and discontinued all use of “commercial” skincare products, especially deodorant. I also incorporated a ton of quality essential oils into my daily wellness and beauty regimen.

A few of the ingredients I became very vigilant of removing in my beauty routine:

~ALUMINIUM: The main ingredient in antiperspirant. This is what keeps us from sweating, and the difference between antiperspirant and deodorant. As I said earlier, sweat is natural and we NEED to sweat to eliminate all the toxins we are exposed to daily. Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer’s and can interfere with estrogen, and if your body can’t process estrogen properly this raises our risk for cancers.

~PARABENS: These are easily absorbed into the bloodstream and in SO many products today. This is a very toxic chemical to avoid at all measures. It has been known to mimic estrogen in the body, and for women, too much estrogen can cause increases in breast and ovarian cancers.

Along the way, I have tried numerous natural deodorants and many left me not so fresh. Of course, it takes time to adjust to the fact you will still sweat; and that is okay, but this was my long-term health I was helping, not just a moment in time of a wet armpit. I have even attempted making my own deodorant but I’ll stick to my choices below!

Here are some tips on keeping fresh, naturally:

Witch Hazel – A natural astringent made from the witch hazel shrub. This has been used for years in numerous ways (I use this as a facial toner/cleanser most often), but here I simply add a squirt of witch hazel to an organic cotton ball and wipe my arm pits, or pour into a small spray bottle with essential oils. It helps deodorize and wipe away any bacteria but doesn’t dry out the skin. You can also add a dab of essential oil.

(Witch Hazel can be found at any drugstore, but there are more expensive versions, which are usually more concentrated, but I find TN Dickinson’s to work just fine!)

Essential Oils:

(Be sure you don’t put oils directly on freshly shaven arm pits, as some are more sensitive to undiluted oils, which are extremely concentrated!)

Lavender – extra soothing for redness, bites, or pimples.

Tea Tree – antimicrobial/bacterial oil, this helps kill bacteria that might cause odor

Orange – refreshing, citrus scent that is great if you need a little freshening up!

Favorite Deodorant Brands:

Schmidt’s Naturals- I found this brand while traveling in Portland and bought a trial size at a boutique, I fell in love. One of the first brands I found I could sweat through a workout and still smell fresh afterwards. The Charcoal + Magnesium is my favorite!

Alaffia – I use the Refreshing Coconut, with Charcoal & Reishi. This glides on smoothly and smells delightful. Note: this product does have some preservatives that may be mildly irritating if you have sensitive skin. Rated 4 on EWG website!

No-Tox Life – I stumbled upon this local vegan LA brand at a Farmer’s Market and fell in love with the fragrances. I was hooked after using it and realizing it kept me smelling delicious all day. It’s a bit pricier, but I love that it’s artisan made and you can order online, or if you’re local to LA they’re at markets & have a new brick-&-mortar shop too!

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*Footnotes: Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-advertisers-convinced-americans-they-smelled-bad-12552404/#VYaXxt8jzko003VK.99

#deoderant #natural #nontoxic #beauty #sweat #summer