I Think I Stink

**Update: Skin Deep is actually the same website as www.cosmeticdatabase.com.
Sorry for the confusion.**

Ever since puberty I have this perpetual fear of being the stinky kid. I don't ever remember being told I stick, but I distinctly remember other kids smelling and fearing of smelling like them.

I would layer it on until it was a white, gooey, wedding cake of deodorant under my arms. "I will not be the smelly kid," I told myself. But what I have come to learn is that no matter how much you put on doesn't matter. It is what you put on.

While reading books, like Gorgeously Green, I have come to discover some of the real problems with conventional deodorants. Most deodorants contain aluminum and parabens.

Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's disease, and that is reason enough for me to not want it anywhere near my skin. Parabens on the other hand are linked to other problems.

Here is what the author of Gorgeously Green has to say about them. "Parabens are chemical preservatives that have been identified as estrogenic and disruptive of normal hormone function. Estrogenic chemicals mimic the function of the naturally occurring hormone estrogen, and exposure to external estrogens has been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer." So I am going to go with a big "No Thank You" to parabens as well. Parabens are also something you have to watch out for in lotions and many other body products.

So when I originally decided to switch to safer deodorant I started out with the Arm & Hammer stuff you see on the right. It worked well at first but I was less than impressed as time went on because of the way it smelled and made me smell. Currently I am using the Tom's of Maine on the left. So far, so good.

The big thing to get used to is that you will sweat. There is no way around that. It is very unhealthy not to sweat, but yet we have been doing it for years with our conventional deodorants. I am on the every other day bathing routine, and while I don't smell on Day 2, I definitely know it is time for a shower the morning after. When I wore my old stuff I could go 3 days or so before I noticed anything (besides my prickly legs and greasy hair) because of all the fragrances and the non-sweating that occurred.

While it takes some getting used to for me the benefits of limiting myself to harmful chemicals outweighs the sweat factor. But just in case you aren't ready to make the switch just yet or need something that will stop the sweat check out www.skindeep.com. They carry commercial brands and you can see which ones carry the lowest risk factors.

What kind of deodorant do you use? Anyone using the plain ol' baking soda method?