3 Things You Should Know BEFORE You Switch To A Natural Deodorant

When I first decided to start “going natural” I truly didn’t know where to start. Yes, I started with my hair by quitting any and all chemical processing, but taking it lower than the neck was something entirely different.

So, I started with what I now call “the gateway drug of natural products” more commonly known as NATURAL DEODORANTS.

Natural Deodorants are one of those polarizing products that many either love or hate. When I first attempted to use them, I absolutely hated them and swore they didn’t work. I even did a video on my Youtube channel about it.

Fast forward a couple of years later, and I am completely converted.

It’s been almost 3 years since I’ve used my last stick of conventional deodorant and I promise you I will never go back.

BUT, there are a couple of tips that I’ve picked up over the years that I wish I knew that might have made the switch easier and less stressful.

3 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU SWITCH TO A NATURAL DEODORANT

1. Your Body May Fight You

Well not literally.

When I decided to switch to natural deodorants the first time, my body was completely NOT ON BOARD.

Each time I applied the deodorant, I felt like I sweat more than I every did in my life. I had to re-apply multiple times in the day and even that wasn’t enough.

I got so frustrated I decided to switch back to my old, toxic filled deodorant and never thought about it again.

However, when I started having hormonal issues and began my research on toxins in a lot of our products, I had to revisit that decision.

I briefly wrote about it in my post titled 5 Natural & Inexpensive Things I Did To Get My Period Back, but I decided to commit to significantly reducing or eliminating as many environmental and personal toxins that I am exposed to.

So, I broke down and dedicated to finding a natural deodorant that would work.

But this time, I did my research and found out that the negative reactions that I experienced when trying this new product was NOT uncommon. According to sites like this one, when switching to natural deodorants, some people go through a bit of a detox.

As it mentions:

During this time, you may notice a temporary increase in the following:

Sweat: the theory goes that once your glands are unclogged, they may release fluids previously blocked by aluminum in antiperspirants, causing an increase in moisture.
Odor: the idea here is that the flushing of the system and increased apocrine sweat gland activity results in increased moisture and sweat which interacts with odor-causing bacteria.
Sensitivity: with a hypothetical increase in bacteria and backup being released via the lymphatic system, it may be that some individuals experience increased sensitivity or tenderness as the body filters out undesired materials.

That may was fact for me. My body started fighting me.

I started sweating more than I can ever remember, had increased odor bacteria, and YES, had tenderness under my armpit. It was far from pretty.

However, it did go away within about 8 weeks for me, though I’ve heard it could be shorter for other people.

So, be sure to give yourself time to adjust.

2. Understand Why You Are Making The Switch THEN Commit

I truly believe that the reason why my switch to a natural deodorant went so well the second time vs the first was because of the knowledge I gained during the in-between time.

While a casual google search on “risks of using aluminum deodorants” or “cancer and deodorants” bring up surface level results that will tell you there are very little studies known to link the two, a deeper search will unveil a different story.

(As a side note, being a blogger has afforded me many opportunities to learn how internet search engines work. Just because a search result pops up at the top of your screen doesn’t make it the most true or reputable source of information. It just means that enough people clicked on it to make it worth deeming as popular.)

My research led me to studies such as this one from 2016 titled Aluminum and The Human Breast, that states:

“The human population is exposed to aluminium (Al) from diet, antacids and vaccine adjuvants, but frequent application of Al-based salts to the underarm as antiperspirant adds a high additional exposure directly to the local area of the human breast. Coincidentally the upper outer quadrant of the breast is where there is also a disproportionately high incidence of breast cysts and breast cancer.”

It goes on to explain:

“Gross cystic breast disease is the most common benign disorder of the breast and evidence is presented that Al may be a causative factor in formation of breast cysts. Evidence is also reviewed that Al can enable the development of multiple hallmarks associated with cancer in breast cells, in particular that it can cause genomic instability and inappropriate proliferation in human breast epithelial cells, and can increase migration and invasion of human breast cancer cells. In addition, Al is a metalloestrogen and oestrogen is a risk factor for breast cancer known to influence multiple hallmarks.”

This basically says that AI or Aluminum has been found to be a potential catalyst for a number of cell and hormonal changes that can put someone at risk for breast cancer.

It ends by saying:

“If current usage patterns of Al-based antiperspirant salts contribute to causation of breast cysts and breast cancer, then reduction in exposure would offer a strategy for prevention, and regulatory review is now justified.”

This is just one study that made me commit to the switch.

Not convinced? Here’s another study titled If exposure to aluminium in antiperspirants presents health risks, its content should be reduced, and this one titled Deodorants and antiperspirants affect the axillary bacterial community where they mention how the use of anti-perspirants led to an increase of odor-causing bacteria.

And just to play devil’s advocate, the few reports found on the same government medical studies website that state the opposite of no link between the two like this one titled The use of deodorants/antiperspirants does not constitute a risk factor for breast cancer. included parameters where studies on said website were reviewed to answer questions specified as part of their own study’s objective.

Once the potential studies about aluminum, antiperspirants, and cancer were gathered, some of them were then discarded if they did not seem to fit with what the researchers were looking for to get to their objective. A final conclusion was made based on the pool of medical finding that were selected.

I add this to point out this report was created based on a review of other studies within certain parameters instead of it being an actual study with it’s own findings.

Long story short, do your research to come to your own conclusion. And make sure you dig deeper than what your search engine gives you as a top search result.

3. You Will Learn MORE About Your Sweat AND Your Triggers

After my “detox” period, many if not all of the symptoms that I was experiencing subsided. In addition, I noticed I actually sweat LESS than I did when I was using conventional deodorants.

As an added bonus, (and this may seem pretty off the wall), but I started learning more about my sweat.

What I mean about that is I started becoming WAY more aware of what made me sweat and also how what I ate/drank affected my sweat.

When I was nervous, I started to sweat quite easily and noticed that it really did smell differently than just regular old sweat. I always heard about it, but it never truly experienced it before making the switch.

PLUS, I noticed how what I ate or drank either changed the way my sweat smelled or if they made me sweat more.

For instance, I’ve noticed how drinking alcohol made me sweat more (for whatever reason), especially certain wines. Because of that, I often reserve that glass of wine for when I am in a well air conditioned area.

WHY DOES KNOWING WHAT MAKES ME SWEAT MATTER?

As much as I will blame it on vanity because nobody likes sweaty pits, knowing my triggers was kind of life changing.

When I started noticed what triggered my nervous or stress sweat, I was able to start truly examining these occurrences and working on myself internally to reduce the negative feelings that I had associated with the experience. By doing this, I actually reduced my stress levels without the need for medications.

As far as foods that may cause malodor, I just learned to avoid eating certain things altogether or at least in certain circumstances or times of the month.

So, would I recommend switching to natural deodorants? ABSOLUTELY!!

I have no plans to EVER go back to conventional deodorants. When my son gets to the age where he starts using these products, he will definitely be using a natural deodorant right from the start.

Over the next couple of months, I will be sharing some of my favorites so be sure to stay tuned.

Have you switched to natural deodorants yet? Leave a comment below.

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