What Are You Putting Under Your Arms?

Do you know what goes into the making of commercial deodorant? I thought the brand that I used was the best. It kept me smelling fresh and it kept me from sweating. Now that I am transitioning to using all natural ingredients, I decided to read the label on the commercial deodorant in my home. I was shock when I realized what I have been putting under my arms since I was old enough to use deodorant. I decided to check my husband deodorant ingredients, and yes pretty much the same thing.
"Deodorant" is actually a cosmetic substance applied to your body to help prevent odor. People commonly brand any substance placed under the arms, deodorant. However, if you use antiperspirants your not just using deodorant, you are using a FDA approved over-the-counter drug under your arms. If you are wondering how an antiperspirant deodorant can be classified as an over-the-counter drug, here is why. According to Wikipedia, an over-the-counter drug is a substance use to treat a specific condition, in this case sweating, without the supervision of a physician. This substance also has to be proven to be "reasonably safe and tolerated". What makes antiperspirant deodorants an over-the-counter drug is that it contains aluminum. Aluminum can cause contact dermatitis in those that are allergic. Different brands of antiperspirant deodorants uses different compounds of aluminium, there are aluminium cholorhydrate, aluminium zirconium tetracholohydrate, aluminium salts, etc. It all varies on the commercial brand.

a famous anti-antiperspirant deodorant brand

The aluminium reacts with the oils produces by your sweat glands to create a plug. The more you use antiperspirant deodorant to less you will sweat because your sweat glands are being blocked. This could result in several side effects, such as darken armpits. Also with frequent use, your body will began to product an organically, Synthetic Musk Galaxolide. This is a musky, flowery, wood scent. Galaxolide is a fragrance sometimes used in commercial soaps, cosmetics and detergents. Just imaging the damaged your doing to your armpits.
Also, it is thought that the aluminium in antiperspirants causes breast cancer, dementia and Alzheimer's disease. There is even a warning on the label that states to consult with your doctor if you have kidney disease. Patients with high levels of aluminium and kidney disease are more likely to develop dementia. Thus, the FDA requires this warning on the labels. A study completed in the European Journal of Cancer finds between 1945 - 2000 antiperspirant sales increased 14,000%. With this increase many of the women who uses antiperspirants and shaved under their arms has been diagnosed with breast cancer 19 years earlier than women who did neither. This study is accepted, because the lymph nodes in your armpits are connected to the lymph nodes in your breast. Thus, linking what you put under your arms to the changes in your breast tissue.

How antiperspirants work. 

Other studies have been conducted to refute the study done by the European Journal of Cancer. According to Ted S. Gansler, MD, MBA, and director of medical content  for the  American Cancer Society, "There is no convincing evidence that antiperspirant ... use increases cancer risk". This is thought so because the aluminium is not absorbed into the body but forms a plug in the sweat duct as a chemical reaction. Although there has been a few chemicals produced from antiperspirants found in breast tissue, there is not enough evidence to show these chemicals are the cause of breast cancer. Right now scientist are still in the research phase. Studies are contradicting themselves on whether using antiperspirant is good or bad for your health. Since there is no confirmation of whether commercial deodorants can cause health problems or not, an alternative to using commercial deodorants/antiperspirants is make your own homemade deodorant. Therefore, knowing what you are putting under your arm.

Did you know you can easily make your own deodorant at home with kitchen ingredients familiar to you? Making your own deodorant will mask the odor, however, you will sweat. Sweating is your body's natural way of cooling down and removing waste. The perspiration from your body is really odorless. The odor comes from bacteria feeding on the oils from the sweat glands, dead skin and hair cells. When making homemade deodorant, if you use essential oils it will inhibit the growth of microbes, like bacteria. Thus, preventing odor. There are a wide range of deodorant recipes available on the internet. The one that caught my attention was the information offered by Wellness Mama. All the ingredients she used to make her natural deodorants were similar to the ingredients +Bloomfield Bath uses to make all of their Natural Body Care products.

Ingredients Needed:

1. Corn Starch/Arrowroot 
2. Baking Soda
3. Coconut Oil
4. Essential Oil 
1. this is the fragrance
5. Vitamin E
1. to keep the armpit area soft
6. An empty container

Directions: Quick and Easy

     Mix baking soda and corn starch together.(1/4 of cup of each) Mash in the coconut oil (6 tablespoons) with fork until well blended. Add oils (about 1 tablespoon) and store in container. 

I adjust this recipe based on what I had available in my cabinets. I did not have coconut oil, so I used Bloomfield Bath's Premium Body Butter~Unscented. As for Essential Oils, I used +Bloomfield Bath's Miracle Oil Hair and Body. When I placed my finished product under my arms, it had the same consistency of the antiperspirant I used before. If you have sensitive skin you may want to replace the baking soda with bentonite clay or using less baking soda. As I read some of the responses to this recipe, some of the makers added other ingredients like bees wax, unrefined, or a little lemon juice. The bees wax works like a hardener and the lemon juice is great with preventing your armpits from getting darkened. It's great to experiment to find the perfect product for you.

all the ingredients mixed

Applying homemade deodorant under your arms has other benefits, besides preventing clogged sweat glands. Homemade deodorants moisturize your armpits, allows your body to rid itself of toxins, keeps you from have under arm odor, and its budget friendly. When creating your own homemade deodorant, play around with the essential oils and ingredients until you find the consistency the works best for you. When I make my next batch, I am going to try with the Honey Almond Premium Body Butter. I like that signature scent from Bloomfield Bath. Although there are 11 other Signature Scents options, I want to start with my favorites until I find the right scent for me. There are more and more options available now for taking care of your skin and keeping it healthy and beautiful.  Using natural ingredients is the best way to preserve your skin's radiance.

after sanitizing my container, added the mixture.

The finished product

It's your Face...be Gentle.

The face is the first body part seen. We do so much to our face without noticing the effects of what we do. Always consult your dermatologist if your skin problems are serious. There are 4 different skin types of the face, normal, oily, dry, and combination. Most people with normal skin believe they have combination, but this is a misconception. Normal skin will be dry on the cheeks and oily in the "T zone" and nose. Also, normal skin changes with the seasons. For example, it will be dry in the winter and oily in the summer. Someone that has combination skin will have extreme skin differences on the face, like acne or oil in one area of the face while the other areas are generally dry. Treatment for normal skin is washing with a cleanser designed for the area type you have and applying a  moisturizer. Use moisturizer more frequently on the dry areas of the skin. Treatment for combination skin will vary by the degree of condition on your skin. Always consult your dermatologist regarding serious skin conditions.  

Early Morning after washing with water & lip butter.

When you have dry skin, your skin lacks elasticity and maybe sensitive to the elements. The plus side is you will have fewer break outs :o) Taking care of dry skin is a little bit easier. You want to avoid alcohol on your skin. It will only take away what little moisture your skin has making your skin flaky. Wash your face once a day with a creamy cleanser and warm water. Than pat your skin dry. Try using +Bloomfield Bath's Floral Water Skin Toner. It's alcohol free! The two main ingredients in our toner is floral water and witch hazel. If you wondering if these ingredients are natural, I will tell you yes and they are both made from flowers. Witch Hazel is made from the bark and leaves of  "a shrub with fragrant yellow flowers..." and the floral water is produce after plants are steamed in the process of making essential oils. Floral Water have similar properties of essential oils but are less concentrated. 

 Our toner comes with 30 pads, one side soft the other side for exfoliation. Don't scrub to hard. :o)

Someone with oily skin are more prone to break outs. The pores on their skin are slightly enlarge and the texture of the skin is coarse. Oily skin has a lot of shine after cleansing. Even though the skin is oily, it still needs to be moisturized daily. When doing so, you would want to use a lotion that has little oil in it. You would want to use a gentle non-foaming cleanser to clean your face. Bloomfield Bath has a face cleanser that does not have any harsh chemicals. The main ingredients in our Premium Face Cleanser is purified water and aloe vera. 

A person with sensitive skin can have any of the four previous stated skin types in addition to the sensitive skin. According to Dermatologist Leslie Baumann, MD, there are four different types of sensitive skin all causing inflammation of some type, acne, rosecea, burning/stinging, and contact dermatitis (allergies/irritants). You will want to understand the type of sensitive skin you have when buying anything labeled, "for sensitive skin". Anyone with Sensitive Skin should be very selective about the product use on their face. When using Bloomfield Bath's facial products,or any product made by us, remember we do not use "...artificial coloring, fragrances, parabens, urea, paba, phthalates, paraffin, propylene glycol, mineral oil, petrolatum, animal ingredients or sulfates." And an added bonus, we do not test on animals. When it comes to your face you want to take it easy and not use to much at one time. 

 The Beautiful Face Set comes with our face cleanser, toner & facial cream.

Bloomfield Bath has additional natural facial care products to gently clean, exfoliate and moisturize your face:

• Vitamin A Serum - use once a week, helps reduce wrinkles, use at night. 
• Vitamin C Serum - use 1-3 times a week (depends on skin sensitivity), helps reduce the unstable molecules that cause aging, use at night
• Butter My Lips - Lip Butter - once daily, helps moisturize & soften dry lips, main ingredient is shea butter 
• Facial Mask - use weekly, helps draws out impurities & exfoliate the skin, keep refrigerated, use at night. 
• the facial mask is made of Kaolin Clay, brown sugar & fruit exact acids.
• it is suggested, when using the facial mask use the face cream to moisturize and nothing else but water.  

Routine Skin Care