Personal Hygiene 101: Deodorant

A popular line of enquiry this month has centred around the issue of personal hygiene.  I think some friends may be concerned that going without the supermarket will also mean going without soap, deodorant and toothpaste for a month.  Thankfully, I can confirm that my commitment to personal hygiene remains fully intact!

 

One thing that I have found interesting is that I am paying more attention to what is in the products that I buy. Personal hygiene products in particular seem to have an incredible list of ingredients, none of which I have ever heard of, except perhaps "water".

   

Deodorant is one of these products that contains lots of different chemical ingredients.  I have discovered recently that some people think that antiperspirant deodorants are bad for you, because of their high aluminium content.  Antiperspirants  work by clogging pores with aluminium chlorohydrate, stopping the pores from releasing sweat.  These aluminium particles are small enough to enter the bloodstream, and heavy use can apparently increase the level of aluminium present in your body.  This worries some people, because very high levels of aluminium in the brain have been linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.  However there seems to be a lot of debate around this issue, and there doesn't seem to be much scientific evidence to confirm a link between antiperspirant use and Alzheimer's (you'll note the lack of any references - look at the Wikipedia page for my dodgy sources of information).  Science has never been my strong point, so I'm sitting on the fence on this one!

   

Although I'm not really sure what I think about the aluminium issue, my research into deodorant alternatives did spark my interest in trying some different options.  A few friends had recommended using crystal deoderants which are a block of natural mineral salts that you use like roll-on deodorant.  They work by stopping the growth of bacteria, which is what causes smelliness.  I was pretty sceptical of the whole idea - but fortunately Ed was keen to give it a go.  Ed bought a stick of Grant's Aloe Vera Crystal Deodorant a couple of weeks ago, and I have been really surprised at how well it works!  It actually seems to work better than normal deodorants, and seems to be a more natural option.  I got myself a 'Lafes' brand one, which has worked pretty well too.  

  

I haven't had any issues with it so far, but I've heard through the grapevine that one of my friends discovered that after a few months of use her deodorant stick got quite smelly, which was a terrible shock to her flatmate who (I cannot imagine why) decided to give it a sniff one morning.  The ensuing public humiliation meant that she went back to mainstream deodorant for good.....  Apparently the solution to that particular problem is to clean the top layer off the crystal with a bit of pumice.