Why should you change your antiperspirant for a natural deodorant?

Although many people use the terms deodorant and antiperspirant interchangeably, they are not the same. Natural deodorants are all the rage, mostly because of claims that aluminum, the active ingredient in most antiperspirants, can increase the risk of cancer or has links to Alzheimer’s disease. But first we’ll talk a bit about why it’s better to use natural deodorants than antiperspirants. For that we need to understand what we sweat for….

What is sweat?

El sudor es un fluido corporal secretado por las glándulas sudoríparas y que se expulsa a través de la piel. Está compuesto por agua, sal, minerales, sustancias orgánicas, lactato y urea. La transpiración es el mecanismo natural del organismo para regular la temperatura corporal además de que se eliminan toxinas.

What does sweat smell like?

The odor of sweat is not unpleasant at first, it is composed mainly of water, the bad odor occurs after a few hours when normal skin bacteria break down the organic components of sweat and dead skin cells into small molecules of unpleasant smelling fatty acids.

Is soap a natural deodorant?

Yes. With soap and water, you keep the area clean, but when you sweat again the process repeats itself and it would be necessary to wash every two hours to avoid bad odor.

So how do natural deodorants work?

As the name «des» «odor» indicates, it means odorless. So we might think that with a fragrance that covers the smell of sweat after the bacteria do their work would be enough. The truth is that NO, since in that way we would only be covering a bad odor with another odor that smells better, thus producing a mixture of odors. On the other hand, synthetic fragrances may contain substances that can affect our health in different ways, such as phthalates (not all synthetic fragrances have them, so it is important to read labels carefully), which are related to hormonal alterations and can affect the development of the embryo during pregnancy. For this reason our natural deodorants are made with essential oils that in addition to providing good aroma, have antibacterial effects, thus acting on the bacteria that cause odor. Such as tea tree, lavender and eucalyptus essential oils to name a few.

What makes a natural deodorant effective?

«If a natural deodorant does not have antibacterial properties, it can be ineffective». As mentioned before, an effective natural deodorant must have compounds that, in addition to providing good odor, act against the bacteria that produce bad odor. Essential oils are not the only components that fulfill this function. In our deodorants we add ingredients such as mango butter, coconut oil, citric acid ester, zinc ricinoleate and we also incorporate other ingredients that absorb sweat such as zinc oxide and white clay or kaolin.

Are antiperspirants good?

No. If we assume that sweating is good, it is natural, physiological. As the word indicates, the «anti» «perspirants» prevent perspiration by clogging. The aluminum salts (aluminum chloride, aluminum and zirconium trichlorohydrex glycine, aluminum hydrochloride or aluminum hydroxybromide) used block the sweat glands, thus preventing the natural perspiration process. «Antiperspirants» override a natural function of our body and that is definitely not good.» A separate debate is the harmful effects aluminum may have on our health. As we mentioned at the beginning of the post, it is related to the development of breast cancer and also to Alzheimer’s disease. But the truth is that there are studies that support these theories and many others that disprove them. We mainly focus on the principle that blocking a normal body process is not good, so we decided not to use antiperspirants and replaced them with natural deodorants. Did you know that… «in the United States the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) considers deodorants to be a cosmetic: a product intended to cleanse or beautify, and antiperspirants to be a drug: a product intended to treat or prevent disease, or affect the structure or function of the body.»

Is a natural deodorant equally effective for everyone?

The truth is NO, since we all have a different way of perspiring, some of us perspire more and others less. However, in no way can natural deodorant replace hygiene. Never forget that they should be applied on a clean body and that you should not eliminate showering or daily hygiene before using natural deodorant. In fact, there are those who need to sanitize and apply deodorant more than once a day.

Why don’t we use baking soda in our deodorants? Because baking soda can be irritating for many people, besides it can cause an alteration in the normal PH of our skin and also produce a change in the color of our armpits. To finish this post we will mention some benefits of using solid natural deodorant.

They act by eliminating the bacteria that cause bad odor.
They do not clog the sweat ducts, allowing the sweat to reach the top layer of the skin so that the body’s glands can breathe and the underarms sweat.
Neutralizes odors instead of masking them by acting in harmony with the body
Avoids the use of environmentally harmful plastic bottles or aerosols
Compostable Kraft packaging
Aluminum-free, paraben-free, irritant-free, synthetic fragrance-free

So our conclusion would be that it is worth covering a need, to smell good, with a natural alternative, so you avoid accumulating toxins in your body and also reduce the use of unnecessary packaging that cause so much damage to our planet and all the beings that inhabit it. We hope you liked the information we share in this post of our natural cosmetics blog. If you wish you can leave us a comment below. Have a nice day.