Natural Deodorant- why is this such a hot topic?

Deodorant- it is everywhere and likely flooding the aisle of every Marshalls near you. You might be familiar with brands such as Native, Schmidts, Megababe, Primally Pure- those are the ones that come to my mind first. I haven't tried them all, but I can tell you I just threw away 4 hardly used deodorant sticks that just "didn't work". 

This post has been months in the making and included a lot of trial and error, smelly pits and underarm rashes and irritation. I took one for the team with this little experiment and happy to report back some things that have really worked for me. 

To start let's talk traditional deodorant- you know that clean lavender or shower fresh smell we all know and love! Well this stuff works so well because it is made up of chemicals and ingredients that block your body from doing what it does naturally- sweating! The aluminum is the main ingredient in traditional deodorants that actually stops sweat glands and is a major concern when looking at the health risks associated. Another reason to make the switch is because of fragrance! This is a trade secret label in the beauty industry and hiding under the word fragrance can be a wide variety of harmful ingredients including phthalate. I can almost guarantee you fragrance it is listed on your traditional deodorant you have sitting in your bathroom. 

Hopefully this info will help you on your journey to making the switch to a safer deodorant!

Here are my rules when switching to natural deodorant:

1) DO NOT GO BACK-Once you decide you are going to make the switch don't confuse your body by giving up after the 3rd usage and then go back to lathering on your traditional deodorant. This takes some time!

2) GIVE YOUR PITS A BREAK- this is hard, but your armpits need to detox. I went a full a week with no deodorant. If I can do it in sunny hot (hot hot hot hot) Arizona you can do it!

3) DETOX- this is huge. Your body needs to rid itself of all the built up toxins and find it's natural pH levels. This was my detox (it's all over Pinterest!). I mixed a few spoonfuls of Bentonite Clay with water and made a mask under my armpits every-night for 10-20 min then showered. After my shower I rubbed either a cotton ball of apple cider vinegar or witch hazel under my pits and that was it. Do this daily for at least a week. 

4) SHAVING- shave at night and apply deodorant in the morning.

5) EXTRA: things to consider. If you have super sensitive skin the baking soda in a lot of natural deodorants may be giving you the issue- take a look at the ingredient list and see if you can find one with less baking soda.

GOOD LUCK!!!!