Chemicals and the Pits

Warning - this post might be a little TMI for some. Read on only if you're comfortable with talking about sweating and deodorant.

I've talked before about my pseudo-crunchiness. I think I just got a little crunchier. I'm making (and using!) my own deodorant.

Background: A couple of blogs I read (like Simple Organic and Sorta Crunchy) wrote about it and got me thinking. In general I think it's better to avoid regularly putting chemicals into your body if possible. I sweat a lot (I warned you about the TMI...) and antiperspirants don't really help. So I figured why not give it a shot.

The Plan: I decided to give it a try for a month. I had a couple of faithful, honest friends to give me feedback if I stunk or not. There are a lot of "recipes" out there (like here and here). I chose this one using baking soda, cornstarch mixed with coconut oil. In the future, I might add essential oils in the future for a nice smell. The coconut oil smells pleasantly tropical though.

Execution: Of course, I chose the hottest month of the year to try this. (Just like I chose the coldest winter on record to shave my head.) Adventuresome? Yes. Good sense of timing? No.

I made my mixture and put it into an empty store-bought deodorant container. That way I could apply it just like "normal" deodorant. I wore it everyday for a month, excluding a handful of days (i.e. all day canoe trip, delicate shirt).

Results: Overall, I'm pleased. For normal daily activity with regular showers I didn't smell. The exceptions were days I played sports, but I probably would have stunk anyway. Also, going for more than a day without showering (not unreasonable in an air-conditioned world) didn't work so well.

So I think I'm going to stick with it. I still have my store-bought stuff if it's going to be a particularly stinky, long day. But I'm excited to eliminate one more chemical from my daily routine.