Question about deodorants...

W

Woodsman

The Living Force
Here's one I thought I'd throw out to the forum:

So, body stink, especially once one starts with the iodine...

I've found that regular, "Right Guard" type products have a kind of addictive quality, (if you can call it that), they go on and they do as promised, but after a half day or so, the perfumes and various chemistries in them 'turn' and create their own rank stench which, after a sniff under the arm pits gets me to thinking, "Whoa! -Time for another dose".

So I got off those things and started looking for alternatives. I eyed one of those deodorant crystals in the health food store, and figured, "Probably won't work, but why not give it a shot?"

Well, I can confidently report that, they DO work! They don't have any of their own smell, and I find the salts remain effective at odor-killing for the whole day. Plus, the crystal lasts for months! I'm still using the first one I bought last year, and it's still about half its original size.

However.., I learned early on after doing my due diligence, that they are based on a type of aluminum crystal.

Aluminum, as I learned through the vaccine research threads, is not a health food. -The skin absorbs all kinds of stuff.., but is aluminum toxic in this particular salt form? I don't know. My due diligence ran out at that point and I just figured, "I stink now. I'll look into possible toxic effects later."

Well, later got a LOT later. Until now.

So... does anybody know anything about this subject?

What do other forum members do to stay socially non-repulsive (in the chemical sense)?
 
Hi Woodsman, I've tried out alot of "natural" products to no avail! Something that I've found that works reasonably well and is pretty cheap is bicarb of soda, specifically Bob's best Sodium Bicarbonate. It can be a little harsh if too much is applied so I dilute it with water to make a paste and then apply it.
 
Jenn said:
Hi Woodsman, I've tried out alot of "natural" products to no avail! Something that I've found that works reasonably well and is pretty cheap is bicarb of soda, specifically Bob's best Sodium Bicarbonate. It can be a little harsh if too much is applied so I dilute it with water to make a paste and then apply it.
Click to expand...

Supposedly, using a mix of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and lemon works well, but I haven't tried it myself. You can put it in a spray bottle and use like a spray deodorant, I think.

_http://www.stepin2mygreenworld.com/healthyliving/beautytips/diy-lemon-and-baking-soda-deodorant/
 
Woodsman said:
What do other forum members do to stay socially non-repulsive (in the chemical sense)?
Click to expand...

Right now, I'm using the Alverde brand. No aluminium, parabens, and other bad stuff.

_https://www.dm.de/alverde-naturkosmetik-deo-roll-on-fresh-nature-p4010355218698.html
 
Maybe just forget about deodorant?

In my experience, the problem of 'bad' odor is a combination of: washing/rinsing and soap residues, the material fibers of your clothing, habit...

Habit: it took me some time to get used to my own brand, but it is definitely the best.

Fibers: natural fibers like silk, cotton, linen, and wool hold less stink (among these, higher quality fibers even less so) ... non-wrinkle button downs (the other thing you use to hide your beautiful stinky personality when you go into work!) hold smell like a hound dog.

Washing/rinsing: use a scrub or brush after rinsing away soapy water, then rinse again with COLD water... drying really well while my pits are cold seems to help.
The best soaps for my armpits are usually salt based. Perhaps there are some good sea salt scrub recipes on the internet, but I get one locally. Maybe the best I've used is just plain borax, also a salt . When I'm in a rush, I use a bar of high concentration Aleppo soap... In the end, it's probably a matter of what 'rubs off' best with your natural aroma.

Now that I think about it, a homemade scrub with some essential oils, salt, and borax is worth following up on.

Anyways, may the force be with you, and strongest in your armpits!

Robert
 
My local health store carries the Thai brand crystal and it works very well. I've been using it for years now. As advertised it contains no Aluminum Chlorohydrate. This one here.. _https://www.amazon.com/Thai-Deodorant-Stone-Crystal-Deodorant-Ounce/dp/B000AN1JEI?th=1
 
Hey Woodsman, I can't help you with the aluminum salts in crystal deodorants but I found a natural deodorant that really works for me. I do tend to sweat quite a bit and most natural options don't work as they either don't last or give me a rash.

Sodium bicarbonate on its own never worked for me because it didn't last long enough. But I accidentally came across this brand and it does the job very well. The list of ingredients has lots of different oils and fats but the deodorant isn't greasy at all. The active ingredient is bicarbonate of soda and arrowroot powder removes the greasiness.

This brand s very pricey so I make my own version of it where I mix bicarbonate of soda, arrowroot powder, fat or oil (I use beef dripping but I guess coconut oil would do the job too) and lemon essential oil and blend it into a paste. It seems to work even better than the 'original'!

You could make a bit more of it and put it into a deodorant stick as it feels almost the same if you leave it for a couple of hours.

Chu suggested trying soda bicarbonate with lemon juice - maybe that's why my combo with lemon oil drops works so well actually.

Those crystal deodorants worked for me too but I didn't want to risk the science behind their safety being as good as the science that proves fluoride is good for our teeth so I discontinued them. As different things work for different people, since we both were successful with crystal deodorants maybe the above mixture will work for you too?
 
I use Naturally Fresh Deoderant Crystal Aloe Vera Deodorant. You can buy them from Walmart, in the Pharmacy section in Canada. Also from amazon.

It works well, but I’m mainly desk laden.

On days where I’m running cables or hustling around from work station to other floors at the office, I tend to ‘leak through’ the treatment and develop odour. So I would t recommend it if you’re active all day long. But, for days where your mainly station, this stuff works well.

I use other deodorants very rarely for days where I know I’ll be doing grunt work to spare people my smells.
 
Thanks, everybody!

I did some digging; I find the customer reviews on Amazon to be a good place for a wide number of people to sound off about their discoveries and various bits of knowledge. Networking in the wild.

This quote from the review page for Thai Deodorant Crystal...

According to Wikipedia, "Alum's antiperspirant and antibacterial properties[6][7] contribute to its traditional use as an underarm deodorant.[8] It has been used for this purpose in Europe; Alum's antiperspirant and antibacterial properties[6][7] contribute to its traditional use as an underarm deodorant.[Mexico; Thailand, where it is called Sarn-Som; throughout Asia; and in the Philippines, where it is called Tawas. Today, potassium or ammonium alum is sold commercially for this purpose as a "deodorant crystal", often in a protective plastic case.[9]" From what I have read, the deodorant stones are a crystalline form of alum - hydrated potassium aluminum sulfate. Evidently, I am not the only one to discover this. I wish I had read this very peeved customer response before I ordered. ""If you want early-onset Alzheimer's and a lowered immune system, then by all means spread 61% Alum on your body every day. Note the label doesn't tell you exactly what is in the product. That is a huge red flag! The company faxed me their ingredients and lo and behold it contains 61% 'potassium alum' which is aluminum, which is toxic to the body. They claim the crystals are too large to be absorbed but they provide ZERO scientific evidence that this is the case. (I had to get them to fax ingredients because they sneakily omit the ingredients from their label! Google the following words 'Mercola aluminum lurks deodorant' and see what Dr Mercola, MD has to say about these products. The label on the product is so misleading! Another red flag! It says 'contains no aluminum chlorhydrate', as if that is the only form of aluminum to worry about. Aluminum is extremely toxic and is absorbed by the skin. They say it isn't absorbed but then how do they think it blocks the pores on your skin? By magic? Use this product at your own risk." (It is my understanding that all anti-perspirants prevent body odor by initiating an allergic response - pores swell shut.) I also read this customer response (too late), "This product worked for me as a deodorant, without a shadow of a doubt. My only problem with it is that the whole crystal is made up of aluminum. No big deal if you don't mind that but some people are trying to reduce their exposure to aluminum and with potential good reason. This crystal is solid hydrated potassium aluminum sulfate. I'm very disappointed in the advertising of this product. Who cares that it does not contain aluminum chlorohydrate or aluminum zirconium? It probably has even more aluminum content than typical antiperspirant products! On top of this the product maker claims, on their own website, that crystal is safe and they go so far as to say it is healthy! Worse yet, they have a letter of testimony on their website from a Dr. Daniel Kaliti from St. Mary's Radiation Oncology thanking the product maker for offering something that "does not contain aluminum". Wow. Safe?! Where are the peer-reviewed research publications regarding daily topical exposure to KAl(SO4)2·12H2O? What if this form of aluminum is even more easily absorbed through skin? What if its not? It's a mad world out there, anything goes, and you'd better look out! As for me, I'll stink until I find something that works and has NO aluminum! I have 4 degrees, all science-based, and I feel duped because I assumed this product was aluminum-free when I ordered it." There is only one stone that turns out to be salt as we think of it - So Essential Himalayan Crystal Salt Deodorant and Body Treatment Stone. It says it, "Contains 84 mineral rich unrefined and unprocessed pure himalayan salt from primordial ocean waters," and all the customer reviews agree that if you try to use it after shaving it stings like salt on an open wound. The customers don't particularly like it..........it doesn't feel good on the skin even without shaving."
Click to expand...

From Mercola:

Regarding purportedly safe “alum” based antiperspirants found in most health food stores, the companies that produce these claim that the mineral salts are too large to be absorbed and thus provide no danger. However, we have been unable to uncover any solid evidence that supports this claim so it would seem prudent to avoid using them.
Click to expand...
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/16/aluminum-lurks-in-crystal-deodorants.aspx

I'm going to check out some other brands.

I might just end up mixing some of the sodium and salt batches suggested by others...
 
A side note on Himalayan Pink Rock Salts...

I've always wondered about the actual mineral content of Pink Rock Salt. It's surprisingly difficult to get a straight answer from the internet, but I came across this:

Himalayan salt contains some minerals that are toxic in large quantities, including lead and plutonium, but which are safe in trace amounts. In addition to sodium and chloride the following elements are found in Himalayan Salts:

actinium, aluminum, antimony, arsenic, astatine, barium, beryllium, bismuth, boron, bromine, cadmium, calcium, carbon, cerium, cesium, chlorine, chromium, cobalt, copper, dysprosium, erbium, europium, fluorine, francium, gadolinium, gallium, germanium, gold, hafnium, holmium, hydrogen, indium, iodine, iridium, iron, lanthanum, lead, lithium, lutetium, magnesium, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, neodymium, neptunium, nickel, niobium, nitrogen, osmium, oxygen, palladium, phosphorus, platinum, plutonium, polonium, potassium, praseodymium, protactinium, radium, rhenium, rhodium, rubidium, ruthenium, samarium, scandium, selenium, silicon, silver, sodium, strontium, sulfur, tantalum, tellurium, terbium, thallium, thorium, thulium, tin, titanium, uranium, vanadium, wolfram, yttrium, ytterbium, zinc and zirconium.
Click to expand...
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_elements_are_found_in_Himalayan_salt

I don't know how accurate some random answer found on the web is, but it was the only long comprehensive list of actual minerals I came across. Other claims say that pink rock salt is 98% or higher simple sodium chloride. Here's one from the same public Q/A site:

Method used /Specs:
1. Vogel's Text Book of Quantitative Chemical Analysis 6th Ed (2003)
2. Colorimetric Determination of Elements by G.R. Charlet (1964)

RESULTS
The provided sample of Rock Salt was analyzed as follows:


Chloride Contents as NaCI (%) 98.80
Magnesium as Mg2+ (mg/Kg) 450
Sulphate as SO 4/2- (small 4 is low down and 2 is up above) 6000
Iron as Fe2+ " 1.9
Copper as Cu2+ " < 0.5
Chromium as Cr3+ " <0.05
Hydrogen Carbonate as HCO 3/1+ " 300
Carbonate as CO 3/2- " <100
Bromide as Br1- " 25
Potassium as K1+ " 3200
Manganese as Mn2+ " 0.15
Click to expand...
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_chemical_composition_of_Himalayan_salt


It makes sense, I suppose, that a mineral dug raw out of the ground is going to have the possibility of containing the fruits of the Earth in all its many varieties.

I've been using pink rock salt in food for a few years now. I'd hope that the human body is good at its job of generally filtering out that which it doesn't need.
 
Woodsman said:
What do other forum members do to stay socially non-repulsive (in the chemical sense)?
Click to expand...

I use a natural deodorant with the least chemicals possible and I always felt smelly with those. So, some months back, I added baking soda directly into the armpits after applying the natural deodorant and it worked like a charm. The only setback is that it stains white clothes, but it always goes away in the washing.
 
Chu said:
Jenn said:
Hi Woodsman, I've tried out alot of "natural" products to no avail! Something that I've found that works reasonably well and is pretty cheap is bicarb of soda, specifically Bob's best Sodium Bicarbonate. It can be a little harsh if too much is applied so I dilute it with water to make a paste and then apply it.
Click to expand...

Supposedly, using a mix of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and lemon works well, but I haven't tried it myself. You can put it in a spray bottle and use like a spray deodorant, I think.

_http://www.stepin2mygreenworld.com/healthyliving/beautytips/diy-lemon-and-baking-soda-deodorant/
Click to expand...

I´m using it myself, and it works like a charm for bad odors.

Another even better option is magnesium flakes instead of baking soda, which is cheap and offers so many healthy benefits aside from erasing unwelcome odor, as explained here:

https://empoweredsustenance.com/magnesium-oil-uses/

There you will also find how to prepare it yourself, it´s very easy.
 
Hmm. I remember some years ago on the forum the alum sticks were being discussed. It looks like I had started one of those threads that Palinurus posted. :P The consensus seemed to be that it wasn't a form of aluminum that would be toxic. So I was using the roll on alum stick as a deodorant for a few years. It says it's made of Potassium Alum (Natural Mineral Salts). I still have one I haven't used.

But today I'm using a Green Tidings baking soda roll on deodorant. You can get it on Amazon. But I still have some of the alum liquid spray that I'll use on a cut when I get a hang nail or when I cut myself shaving.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom