My Journey into the Land of Natural... Part I.

Part I: Deodorant.

Yeah, this might sound like a very strange place to start. But it happened. The switch from a popular good-smelling antiperspirant was an easy one, once I learned about the process by which typical antiperspirants go about making you 'unsmelly.'

Maybe this isn't news to you, but in general what it does is clog your pores, which keeps them from sweating. Simple enough. But sweating is actually a very natural and necessary part of life. Before the days of sweet-smelling underarm concoctions, this is the process that cooled our ancestors down and regulated body temperature. "But" - you may be thinking - "we don't put it all over our bodies. We simply put it under our arms. Let the rest of the body sweat things out." Well, that's all fine and good til your sweat glands get clogged up to the point that they start forming little lumps... Clogged pores and sweat glands don't stop producing sweat, remember... they just don't have any way to get rid of it now, because we've plugged ourselves up.

Keep in mind that no matter how strong the antiperspirant is, it probably can't control the sweat completely. Eventually it wears off, and sweating happens. Odor happens. We try to cover it up, and at times, are successful. Sometimes not so successful. Anyone remember the 'sure... unsure...' commercials?

There are also groups out there raising questions about the use and consequences of the active ingredient, which are usually either aluminium chloride or aluminium chlorohydrate. Some link it with Alzheimer's, others say there is no evidence for that at all. I don't know. All I know is that the purpose of antiperspirants is to stop a natural body function - which usually I am grateful for - but it did make me stop and wonder.

It would be a lie to tell you that I continued using my normal deodorant/antiperspirant after I started looking into its ingredients. And despite my consequential smell for the next week or so, I put it away and did some digging. I found a more natural solution. And though I may stink a little quicker in my day, I am at peace about the whole thing. The clogged areas are no longer there. I sweat, but I'm ok with that. I can handle it. I just hope the people around me can, too. ;-D