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.
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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.
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| 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.
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| 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:
- Corn Starch/Arrowroot
- Baking Soda
- Coconut Oil
- Essential Oil
- this is the fragrance
- Vitamin E
- to keep the armpit area soft
- 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.
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| 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.
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| after sanitizing my container, added the mixture. |
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| The finished product |
The beautiful thing about cooking during the holidays is, it's a family event. In my family, there's music playing in the background and we are dancing, taking and reminiscing in the kitchen. Everyone has a job. One person is chopping all the ingredients, another is mixing and another cleaning the dishes to be reused. No one notices all the work that goes into making a delicious meal because the work isn't really that hard when you have family together. Even though things have changes since the very first Thanksgiving meal, I would imagine this is what the Pilgrims and the Indians did to prepare the food they then shared on that very last Thursday in November 1621. 
For some, the Christmas decor goes up before Thanksgiving. But for me, I wait until the day after, that Friday, to hang my Christmas decorations, place my tree and turn on my lights. I am not thinking much about what to cook for dinner, I am thinking about what gifts to give those I love and respect. As long as I can remember, my family has celebrated Christmas. It is a long tradition dating back to ancient times. Before being named Christmas, this holiday was named Saturnalia by the ancient Romans. In the 1800's, Santa Claus came into the story to excite the children. As a child, I enjoyed getting new toys and games to show how well behaved I was for the year. Now, I enjoy shopping and purchasing the gifts to be given. I look around for hours and days until the right gift comes to sight. 
