Much like going vegan and doing yoga, you’ve heard by now that you should be using aluminum-free deodorant—While we often get annoyed with these people for making us feel bad about our sometimes slovenly lifestyles and bacon-based diets, we know that deep-down, despite their many poor choices (see: jam bands), they are probably on to something. One of those things is aluminum-free deodorant.
Here’s the deal. Your armpits have two types of sweat glands. One of them, the apocrine kind, helps get rid of proteins and fats and tend to smell. And because your underarms are a kind of bacterial utopia with little light and warm temperatures, they host bacterial colonies that then ferment and decay the proteins and fats excreted, resulting in what we know today as “body odor.”
So what’s the difference between deodorant and antiperspirant?
Deodorants handle underarm sweat with alcohol bases in their formulas to sterilize the bacteria and or use perfumes to make your pits smell like the fragrance section of Macy’s. It’s because of these sweet-smelling formulas that deodorants are classified as cosmetics.
Antiperspirants on the other hand, self-evidently, are anti-perspiration. They stop sweating altogether. While many makers use perfumes in their formulas as well, antiperspirants also use compounds like aluminum-chloride to plug up your sweat-glands.
Sounds great, right? Wrong.
Like your phone or “the cloud,” deodorants and antiperspirants fall into the category of “things we don’t completely understand but are willing to ignore any negative repercussions because they solve a problem for us.” While deodorants and antiperspirants may in fact prevent us from uncomfortable moments like smelling a bit ripe in front of an office crush, medical research has suggested that there may be links between these convenient products and cancer.
According to the website of the National Cancer Institute, a strong correlation exists between these formulas and cancer and in a study in 2009 on the effects of antiperspirants and deodorants to breast cancer, the conclusion stated that, “Although individual chemicals will have been tested by current safety guidelines, the effects of long-term usage of mixtures of these chemicals over an entire lifetime by people of all ages across the whole world warrants retrospective investigation.”
Thankfully, there is a way to avoid body odor embarrassment while also looking after the best interest of your health: aluminum-free deodorant.
Here’s how it helps
It cuts out the crap: By ridding yourself of Aluminum you reduce the chance of any long-term damage that could be caused through the absorption into the skin and tissues beneath.
It works: As stated above, deodorant is designed to prevent body odor and while it won’t give you the type of fragrant punch you’d find walking into a New Jersey prom, the ingredients that help remove the bacteria will prevent you from developing an off-putting musk. Note: it takes a couple weeks after switching for your body to detox so stick with it for best results.
No residue or yellowing: The underarms of your shirts will no longer live in fear of white caking or yellowing Aluminum causes with it mixes with sweat.. Aluminum-free deodorant goes on clear and leaves your pits cleaner than when it arrived.
Your body will do what it’s supposed to: Any time you stop a body function from doing it’s going to cause a problem. By using aluminum-free deodorant, your glands will readjust and get back to firing the way they should resulting in a healthier overall body.
Take to the oars,
Sean
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