Are you choosing a good scent over good health?
How a sinister personal care product that no one wanted became a Billion dollar industry in just a few years. Plus, a crazy simple 2 ingredient replacement to make your body smile.
Did you know that getting botox injections into your armpits to block underarm odor and sweat is a thing!?
I just found out about this over the past week and was mortified. When did underarm sweat become such a nuisance that people will spend thousands of dollars and go to such extreme measures to stop a natural bodily function? …perhaps some people sweat more than others. Either way, I recently was in a rush out of the house and decided to put on some “natural” deodorant. I almost gagged because of the intense chemical-like smell and had to wipe it off with paper towels. I couldn’t wait to shower. This product was an insult to my nose and body.
My experience prompted me to try to create my own deodorant out of stuff I already had at home. Since I LOVE using my bentonite clay toothpaste (find the recipe here) I figured it would be a good idea to use clay in a deodorant recipe since it is really good for skin.
I thought my idea was so original, but then I did some research and there is actually a lot of different examples of homemade deodorants using clay - for example this one - and this interesting bentonite clay armpit detox found here.
Antiperspirant vs. deodorant - What is the difference?
Antiperspirant suppresses the body’s natural sweat production by clogging the skin with aluminum (usually aluminum chlorohydrate) so that sweat cannot be produced.
Deodorant does not suppress sweat, instead it kills bacteria on the surface of the skin to prevent odor. Sweat does not smell much on its own, the odor is created when sweat interacts with bacteria on our skin.
Deodorant is classified as a cosmetic, while antiperspirant is classified as a drug.
Before we get to the recipe, let’s talk about why we wear deodorant in the first place.
The smelly start of the deodorant industry
The first American deodorant called Mum was trademarked in 1888, and it didn’t sell well at all. It was required to be rubbed into the armpits, left a sticky residue and smelled “peculiar”. At this time in history, people dealt with underarm sweat by simply bathing and drowning out any smells with perfume. Cloth pads were sometimes used under clothing to deal with excessive sweating which might seep through clothes.
In 1912, a young student named Edna Murphey began selling an antiperspirant product she called “Odorono”. Sales were simply non existent. People saw anti-sweat products as unnecessary and even dangerous to health. Plus odorono was a pungent red color due to the acid aluminum combination, it stained clothing and was reported to cause irritation & burns to the skin.
Despite the products unpopularity Murphey remained optimistic. She scrapped her pennies together and went to a New York advertising agency where she hired James Young, a former bible salesman, to help her figure out how to market Odorono.
How to convince a population to buy a product that is completely unnecessary and basically useless to them? At first Young focused on the “medical credibility” of the product, which boosted sales a little bit; but people still viewed the product as not necessary.
Young took a different approach, he began to prey on human insecurities and the need for acceptance. He made it his mission to convince people that underarm perspiration was a serious humiliation that would prevent you from mating, having friends, or getting a job.
The strategy of exploiting human insecurities worked and Odorono skyrocketted in sales. By 1927, Murphey sold her million dollar company to Northam Warren, the maker of Cutex.
Antiperspirant/ deodorant competitors began popping up everywhere with similar marketing strategies and buying deodorant has become synonymous with social acceptance and good hygiene.
Today, The global deodorant market size was valued at 22.54 billion USD in 2018 and is projected to reach 30.76 billion USD by 2026.
Dove for example, the worlds largest antiperspirant/ deodorant manufacturer, holds a revenue of 503 Billion as of 2021 and sold 134 million units of deodorant in the US alone in 2022.
All these massive deodorant/ antiperspirant brands have some unfavorable ingredients. Here’s a few examples…
TEA/DEA or MEA
-- (aka ethanolamine compounds). These are one of many additives banned in the EU yet still used in the US. Used as emulsifiers, stabilizers and pH adjusters in many personal care products, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, household cleaners, etc. These compounds have been linked with endocrine (hormone) disruption, cancer, and liver & kidney tumors.
BHA & BHT
—butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) are used as synthetic preservatives in many personal care products and processed foods. These are known carcinogens and are linked to organ toxicity, endocrine disruption and cancer.
Aluminum
—the active ingredient in antiperspirants and it can be absorbed through the skin especially through broken or damaged skin from shaving. Aluminum has been linked with Alzheimer’s disease, prostate cancer and breast cancer. The underarms offer direct access to breast and lymphatic tissue and aluminum accumulates in tissues and is linked to breast cysts and cancer.
Propylene glycol
—(aka PEG’s) A clear odorless substance usually petroleum derived, which gives many personal care products, especially lotions and moisturizers, their shape and smooth consistency. When PEG is combined with sodium stearate, it forms the solid yet spreadable shape you would expect from a deodorant stick. PEG also makes your skin more permeable, allowing any beneficial (as well as toxic ingredients) in the product to penetrate deeply into your skin.
Fragrance
—”Fragrance” is not a single ingredient, it is an unknowable number of mysterious mostly synthetic compounds combined together. Companies do not disclose fragrance ingredients apparently due to trademark regulations. Fragrances have an extremely powerful effect on our brains, memories, likes and dislikes. More about fragrance here.
What is the Axe Effect?
High School student Brandon Silk of Pennsylvania had a life threatening allergy to Axe body spray which kept him from attending school or other activities. Ingredients in body sprays such as Axe, are not disclosed to the public and we can only speculate what’s in them.
In 2022, over 1/4 of deodorants tested on the US market were contaminated with life-threatening levels of benzene. In 2017, a 12 year old girl was found dead after spraying herself with a lot of deodorant, the cause of death was said to be possibly benzene or “inhalation of volatile substances which may have been in the deodorant”. Exposure to benzene can occur thru the skin or inhalation and it can cause cancers including blood cancer of the bone marrow and blood disorders.
The importance of sweat and lymphatic system.
According to Stefan Burns of Wild Free Organic, unpleasant body odor will cease to exist and the lymphatic system will be healthy with a good diet, lifestyle, and the avoidance of chemical applications to the underarm.
Sweat is produced to cool the body down and prevent overheating in a long workout, or otherwise. Sweating is also one of the ways that the body rids itself of toxins. In other words, it’s important and should not be thwarted.
The lymphatic system is responsible for clearing up the toxic debris released by body by drawing out toxicity through the lymph fluid and cleaning it. The lymph nodes of the armpits help clear out toxicity from our neck, chest and arms. If the lymph nodes are not functioning properly, toxicity can get recirculated into our bloodstream causing further complications. The armpit has a large number of lymph nodes, so keeping this area as free and clear as possible would be ideal.
You’ll smell worse
Since deodorant kill bacteria on the skin, they function much like an antibiotic in the digestive system - they kill the good with the bad and damage the microbiome of the skin. This is why eventually you need to apply more and more to get the desired effect and end up smelling even worse in the end.
A 2014 Belgian study showed that use of underarm products altered microbial activity & diversity of the skin and stimulated odor-producing bacteria. Antipersperants especially caused increases in actinobacteria, which cause a bad stink!
Why make your own?
The questionable ingredients in mainstream personal care products has spurred the demand for cleaner products with simpler ingredients, but many of those “natural” products still contain mysterious ingredients like “fragrance” plus they are usually expensive!
Quick Deodorant Recipe
There are more involved DIY deodorant recipes out there: such as this one I would love to try! But my goal was to make a really fast deodorant that you can make even if you are running late and only have 2 minutes, it uses just two ingredients, bentonite clay and Shea butter.
Bentonite clay gently absorbs toxins from the skin, it can help balance the microbiome of the skin and naturally discourage odor causing bacteria. It can also help soothe skin irritated from shaving.
Shea butter contains beneficial fatty acids that can moisturize and soothe skin. It’s high in skin nourishing vitamins and offers a great base for the deodorant since it is a spreadable consistency and absorbs into the skin.
you will need…
1/2 cup bentonite clay
2 Tbs Shea butter
Simply place the clay in a jar of your choosing, add Shea butter 1 Tbs at a time and mix well with a wooden spoon (a metal spoon can diminish the effectiveness of the clay).
To use, rub a small dab of the mixture on the underarms as often as desired. It’s not exactly going to make your smell like a fruity fruitcake, but it does eliminate odors! Adding essential oils such as Tea Tree oil would be a great idea if you want more of a scent.
Thanks for reading!
~Julia Cloud