Photo: Clean Wal-Mart / Flickr

We all, hopefully, use some form of deodorant in our daily morning routine. Most people don’t think twice before spraying or applying that roll on. But are we aware of what we’re regularly putting on this very sensitive organ that is our skin? Most modern deodorants are advertised as anti-perspirant, which contain such ingredients as aluminium chlorohydrate, parabens, triclosan, talc, propylene glycol, silica and steareth-n. Together with cheap perfumes, these are not good for our skin and our health in general.

Smelly Nelly

The subject of Shane Ward’s humorous poem clearly has overactive sweat glands. And this can be a debilitating condition for those affected by it. For the majority us, the use of anti-perspirant deodorants is based on a misconception as well as a personal choice.

Body odour, or BO as it is commonly known, is not in fact caused by perspiration. When we sweat, a bacterial breakdown occurs and that is where the smell comes from. What deodorants do is to mask this odour. Antiperspirants take this even further and actually block our sweat ducts, usually with the use of heavy metal such as aluminium. These metal compounds enter the ducts and swell, forming a gel that stops the glands from producing sweat.

This is not healthy for us as these bacteria are an important part of our skin flora. In addition, these heavy metals tend to build up in our bodies as we are unable to process them. They have also been found in breast cancer sufferers.

Back to nature

There is no need to go to the opposite extreme and eschew deodorants altogether. There are countless blogs and websites offering natural alternatives such as bathing and rubbing ourselves exclusively with herbs such as coriander, liquorice, cinnamon, rosemary, cumin and fennel. Sage is apparently an excellent antiperspirant, when drunk as a tea or added to one’s bath.

If you need a little more guarantee, then natural and organic deodorants are the way to go. They contain none of the ingredients mentioned above and naturally control body odour – the breakdown of the bacteria – without suppressing perspiration.

Look out for labels that state 100% organic, 95% organic or just simply organic. They should ideally not contain any salt or mineral ingredient. You’ll soon come up smelling of roses.

Tags: organic