I’ve told y’all before that, although we live pretty crunch-ily, there are some things that I haven’t been able to dive into. Well, I bit the bullet with the placenta capsules and loved it, so I figured I may need to expand my horizons again and try something that I’ve been avoiding for a loooooong time.
Getting rid of my beloved deodorant.
I’m a loyal fan of Secret Gel deodorant. But for years now I’ve been reading all about the aluminum contained in store-bought deodorants and how it may be linked to breast cancer. And in the (loosely summarized) words of my fave Patrick Madrid, if there is a risk of something causing long-term damage, then why mess around with it in the first place?
But here’s the thing: I’m really nervous about ditching the toxic deodorant, which is why it has taken me so long to commit. About a year ago, I tried a “natural” deodorant I picked up from the store for 2 days, sweat and smelled like no other, and gave up on that real quick.
Now that I’m a year older and wiser (ha), I realize that it takes about 21 days to get into a routine. It takes 21 days for our body to make adjustments. So really, I need to give a natural deodorant more than two days to flex its muscles. I have to give my body time to detox, reset, and start responding to the new deodorant.
August, then, is gong to be my month of no mo’ toxic deo. Not only will I give natural deodorant 21 days to prove itself, but I’ll go the whole 31 days. And if you know anything about the temperatures of August in the South, then you will understand how great of a litmus test this will be.
Which deodorant did I choose to test?
There are many wonderful DIY deodorant recipes out there that are super cost-efficient, easy to make, and apparently, effective.
I’m just not there yet. I need baby steps, people.
When I discovered that Young Living has its own natural deodorant made with the essential oils that I love, I knew that this would be my greatest chance of loving and continually using natural deodorant. In fact, I ended up getting two tubes of the deodorant; once Dave saw that I was ordering it, he recalled how much he loved using it in his youth (remember, he’s basically been using oils since he was born, and his story made a believer out of me) and wanted to start using it again. I admit, dear readers, that the deodorant smells pretty great when he wears it. So I have tippy-top high hopes.
Because I am certain that you are concerned about my progress, I’ve decided to tweet my daily musings about this new territory. Yes, I will be keeping the Twitterverse informed about the state of my underarms and whether or not I’m going to be sold on this whole shindig. I’ll be using the hashtag #nomodeo, so make sure you’re following along for all the juicy (well, hopefully dry) details.
It would be rude of me to not extend the invitation to you. If you’v ever thought about trying a more natural or homemade deodorant, come along for the ride! We can hold each other accountable because I tend to whimp out on things like this.
Just to add to the anti-climactic drama – we are going to the lake this weekend with Dave’s siblings and their families to celebrate his birthday which means lots of time spent in the sun. So there’s that.
Wish me luck. And pray for the souls who have to hang around me.
Grazie.
Good for you! I made the switch last summer and had a similar problem. The good news was that it only took my body about a week to readjust to the natural stuff. Just stick with it 🙂 Oh and sometimes, it’s just the deodorant. I use the Jason Apricot stuff and that one seems to work great. I’m curious to see how your stuff goes!
Can’t wait to see how this goes! I’m sure it will be great 🙂 I’ve been wanting to bite the bullet and try a homemade version so I might have to join you!
I did this about 3 months ago and love it! I am using the Radiently You brand so let us know how you like the young living brand. I might have to switch over! Also I am trying to convince my hubby to do essential oils so I will have him read the post about Dave’s experience. 🙂
Oh! I’m definitely going to join you in this! I bought some Primal Pit Paste awhile back and hated it. But like you I only gave it 3 or 4 days. So I am hauling it out and giving it the month of August! I look forward to hearing how it goes for you!
I’m rashy! Ah! How’s it going for you?
Good for you! I made the switch a few months ago, and after a few days of adjustment/ grieving over the clean-linen scent of my old deodorant, I was just fine! I really like it now. Best of luck! I still have not made the hubby switch yet, because, man, I love me some Old Spice….
Good luck girl! I’ve been working on making the switch for awhile. I’ve given it the 21 days a couple of times but am still on the search for the right one.
Good luck! I’ve been using Trader Joe’s deoderant for a long while now and I think my body got use to it because I definitely don’t feel wet and stinky like I did the first little bit there! Sometimes I don’t actually like the feel of it though and would much prefer a good ole powdery white stick but if you were already using a gel version, you probably won’t notice much of a difference with that.
I love Aubrey Organics E Plus High C roll on deodorant! I always sweated through traditional deodorants anyway so I don’t mind that I still sweat. It goes on nice and I think I have only gotten smelly a couple times in extreme situations.
I’m so interested in this! I switched just this summer to Primal Pit Paste and I love the patchouli scent. I haven’t caught a whiff of BO all summer 🙂 but I never thought to check out YL! Excellent! Thanks for sharing!
Also: I have read that if you’ve been using an antiperspirant, and even a “regular” deodorant, your pits will go through a detox phase, and you might find your skin feeling irritated.
I’m looking at the (two) options on the site … and what made you chose Mountain Mint over Meadow Mist??? Or, in other words, what would Meadow Mist smell like?
Awesome! I’ve been using Tom’s deodorant for a few years now, and I love it. There is a little adjustment period, but once you get used to it you’ll never go back. Good luck girl!
I went deo-free about, oh, the minute after Jonas was born. He was all snuggly and tiny and nursing and I suddenly realized how CLOSE he was to my armpit while he was latched on and what if the smell of perfumey deo made him sick or made it hard for him to root around and find the milk and {and and and. insert newly postpartum freakout here}.
Over the past 8 and 3/4 years, I’ve kept one stick of traditional deo in a drawer for special stinky occasions, and I only JUST used it up. Weddings in a strapless dress where I knew I’d kick my heels up and SHOUT! or work days at church where I’d be working up a lather around people from the pews…. things like that.
Now that my Dove Original Scent is gone, I’m kind of torn on whether to replace it at all, honestly. I’ll be interested to read about your experiment with your new YL one – maybe your next step can be to go comman-deo 😉
For a while, Adidas (of all things) made a deodorant w/o antiperspirant, and it was LOVELY, and was like $2.50 at Walmart. But that lasted for maybe a year or so, and ever since then, I’ve been limping along with whatever natural one I can find that doesn’t cost $5 a stick. Thanks for writing this and I’m looking forward to seeing the results!