I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that deodorant is one of the top products on your “Never-go-a-day-without” list. It’s probably one whose brand you’re pretty loyal to as well, right? So I’m guessing it’s one of the last products you’d be willing to try in the natural department – who wants to risk smelling?!? I know! I’m overly-paranoid when it comes to smelling, I want to be the least obtrusive and noticeable as possible, so I totally get it! However, when I started looking into the ingredients in conventional deodorant and the possible harmful effects they cause, it was enough to push me to give natural deodorant a go.

Before getting to the ingredients, let me cover the basics. Sweating is a NATURAL body response. It’s intended to protect the body and skin from overheating. When sweat evaporates off the skin it produces a cooling sensation to bring relief. Fun history/science side note: sweating gave us an endurance advantage over other species – all other animals after running from prey would eventually have to stop and pant to cool down, we could keep going! Another benefit of sweating is that it appears to also help release toxins from the body. It can also help purge pores of gunk and in turn alleviate skin conditions such as acne. If it’s natural, why try to interrupt its flow??

Many ingredients in conventional deodorants have been found to be possible endocrine disrupters, aka chemicals that mimic hormones in the body and interrupt or offset your body’s natural hormone functions. This may lead to a host of problems, including my main concern – infertility. Here are the main offenders:

• Aluminum: This is the main component of antiperspirants. Aluminum temporarily blocks sweat glands inhibiting them from perspiring. It is absorbed by the body and can linger without being expelled. Think about it, if sweat is a natural process of your body removing toxins and aluminum prevents that it seems logical that absorbed aluminum might hang around that area and have trouble being removed. Without getting into too many speculation claims, some research studies have shown excess aluminum in breast cancer tissue and the brains of those with Alzheimer’s.  It’s interesting when you think about it because according to the American Cancer Society, most breast cancers develop in the breast quadrant that is closest to the armpit – interesting coincidence.
• Parabens: Also shown to be a possible endocrine disrupter. It may mimic estrogen and has been linked to breast cancer and other hormone issues. This chemical is banned in several other countries but is widely used in personal products in the USA.
• Triclosan: This is a known skin irritant that can cause dermatitis. Your skin has good and bad bacteria on it and this kills both (you want to keep the good bacteria BTW).  This chemical was recently banned from conventional hand soaps but that ban didn’t seem to span as far as personal products such as deodorant. Don’t you think if it’s banned in one thing you should probably avoid other products it’s used in? Especially when hand soap is only in contact with the skin for a few moments while deodorant is in contact with the skin for entire days.
• Fragrance: Fragrance is not a regulated substance so it’s a mystery to what it is and can really be any chemical compound a company chooses. They can cause skin irritation, allergies, organ toxicity and can damage the environment among other things. Mystery substances entering my body? No thanks.

A few others –

• Silica: Skin irritant and possible carcinogen.
• Talc: Possible carcinogen
• Steareths: Possible carcinogen
• Propylene Glycol: Skin irritant
• TEA and DEA: Affect kidney and liver function, possible carcinogen

As you can see there are a ton of possible chemicals in conventional deodorants that can really add up to leave behind a toxic mess.  If there is a chance something might affect my fertility I’m up for leaving it behind so that’s why I switched over.  It’s no sweat (ha) off my back and only occasionally adds an inconvenience (ie, more sweat than I’d like).  I’ve been happy with the results, although it’s been a learning curve. Since natural deodorants don’t block sweat like conventionals you’re likely going to notice that sweat feeling a bit more when switching over. Don’t get me wrong, that irritates me because I automatically associate it with smelling, but many natural deodorants are formulated with ingredients to help neutralize any smells that could arise. Also, your body will assimilate to the switch a bit more over time. Be sure to note that all natural deods are the same and they won’t all work for you so it’s a lot of trial and error too. In my trials I’ve found that while I like lavender smells a lot, it seems that any varieties containing citrus work the best. That’s because the citric acid in citrus is a mild astringent and kills odor-causing bacteria so it will neutralize those smells for longer.  Stay tuned for a post in the near future on my favorite finds so far!

Have you made the switch to natural deodorant yet?? Let me know your faves!