I don't know how many years I have been in search of a natural non-toxic deodorant that actually works. My husband just laughs at me now when I ask him if he can smell my armpits and tell me truthfully if they smell like the freshmen he teaches after P.E.. I think I have finally found something that works as long as I don't wear a polyester shirt. Here is the record of my odyssey with stink.
I used to use Secret Prescription Strength until I got pregnant with Cal. At that point Secret made me break out in a horrible armpit rash (this is not the last time this type of rash would rear it's ugly head). So I used a teenage deodorant/antiperspirant that made me smell like some sort of fruit. Then I started looking at the Skin Deep/Cosmetics Safety Database. Yikes! That thing will make you want to live submerged in mud on an organic farm for the rest of your life to avoid anything that might be cancer causing or cause reproductive harm. I started to think about the chemicals in beauty products including deodorant.
I started with a yellow "natural" "herbal" deodorant available in the regular deodorant section of the grocery store. Then I realized it still had fragrance, propylene glycol, and other stuff I didn't like. And it didn't really work. I just smelled like herbed B.O..
Then, the Crystal Rock deodorant which Scott refers to as my "magic rock" as in, "Look at me, I'm rubbing my magic rock on my arm pit and hoping the magic will take away the evil spirits there." I also tried Laffe's Deodorant stone too. These did work O.K.. Probably for about 12 hours unless I was really nervous (which is the exact moment I would really want my deodorant to work). The good thing about them is that you just add water and rub, so they were easy to take along in the deodorant-melting-110-degree-heat around here. When it failed, I would just wipe the area with a wet cloth or tissue and reapply. They have barley any chemicals and supposedly no bad stuff. Speaking of bad stuff, the bad part about them was (besides the occasional fail) was that I dropped mine and it shattered into a million splintery shards, one of which got lodged painfully in my foot.
I tried the spray version of this which is basically the same thing with some very expensive water added and it did nothing.
I tried other various things like witch hazel, coconut oil, and cornstarch. These were fails also.
Then I heard of baking soda (NOT Baking powder). Just plain old baking soda applied to wet armpits. I had plenty of this lying around (oh, Costco), so I gave it a try. It was amazing. It always worked no matter how hot it got and how sweaty I was. My pits were stink free, chemical free, and totally cheap! I used it for a whole year and told people excitedly about the miracle cure I had found. Then slowly, that rash I was referring to earlier started coming back. It got to the point that I was dreading putting on deodorant every morning because it would sting the rash so badly. I looked online and it said I should have been combining the one part baking soda with up to 6 (!) parts cornstarch so that it wouldn't give me a rash. I tried but it was too late. Now my body reacted to any baking soda like an armpit invader.
So, on to the next thing- Milk Of Magnesia. My only experience with this stuff was when I was 16. My driving instructor kept a bottle in the passenger's side of the car and sipped it as I practiced driving. So I gave it a big try. It did work almost as well as the baking soda. It was a bit wet, white and more difficult to apply (with a tissue). But then the rash came back. Hmmm...
I tried Hugo's extraordinarily expensive lime deodorant for a birthday present from the health food store. It didn't work all the time, but most of the time I smelled A LOT like lime. I like lime, but I was ready for something new and cheaper at the end of the bar.
I was cruising down the regular deodorant section at our local Raley's and noticed that Tom's of Maine had finally stopped putting in propylene glycol as it's first ingredient. It is something that sounds a lot like the same thing in Latin, but they swear it is different and guess what? It actually works! Only the very new one that says it lasts 24 hours and has no P.G.. They are still stocking the old kind hoping people will buy more of it before it heads to the Grocery Outlet. It's not too expensive, about $3 or so and I don't have to drive to Chico or Redding to get it.
I hope the rash and skunk are finally dead. We will see when the 110 degree summer comes in Red Bluff.
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