Oct 08, 2008 07:14 PM
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A big concern for most people when they leave their house in the morning to go about their day is the issue of body odor and how to control it. This can be especially daunting and worrisome before a date. Ideally, you want to find a trustworthy product you can use without having to worry about whether it will stop working in the middle of the day, let alone whether the product will be harmful to you in the long run.
Body odor happens as a result of the bacteria residing in the moist areas of your skin interacting with your sweat. These bacteria eat substances contained within your sweat, particularly fatty acids, and then excrete a substance that smells like "body odor". This may sound gross but everyone is home to these bacteria as they are part of the human body's natural ecosystem. So getting rid of this bacteria is not the answer.
Most antiperspirants tend to be very effective in blocking body odor. This is because of the way they are designed to work. The majority of antiperspirants contain aluminum salts as their active ingredient. When applied, the aluminum salts expand and block the sweat ducts. This prevents sweat from coming up to the surface where the bacteria will naturally feed on it. Aluminum based antiperspirants don't stop you from sweating, they only act as "plugs" to your sweat glands.
There are other prescription based antiperspirants out there that contain toxic ingredients, such as diphemanil methylsulfate, which work by blocking the parasympathetic nerves themselves from producing sweat.
As you can see, this is not a very healthy route to take. First of all, antiperspirants contain aluminum. Long term exposure to aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. Most of the areas that people tend to apply antiperspirants to contain lots of blood vessels located near the skin's surface. When you apply it, the aluminum tends to get absorbed into the blood stream and goes directly to the brain where it accumulates. So the answer is to avoid common antiperspirants. Even the ones that don't contain aluminum contain other harmful, toxic chemicals that are best avoided as well.
Another type of odor controlling product is deodorant. These are different from antiperspirants in that they don't block sweat output, they work by masking the odor caused by the bacteria using scent. Many conventional deodorants achieve this by containing toxic chemicals that combine to make a fragrance.
Many companies use this term to mask a number of highly toxic, synthetic ingredients mixed in a laboratory to create a scent that smells like something natural (like flowers, strawberries, etc.) or something man-made, like fake perfume.
Many synthetic chemicals are a skin irritant. So along with hiding body odor, you may be prone to rashes, eczema, razor burn, and allergy on skin contact. These are not side-effects you want to be dealing with before your big date.
The best option is to find a deodorant that contains natural oils and plant extracts that does a good job of masking body odor. There are a lot of natural products out there, that won't make you feel bad health-wise for using them on your skin, but they just don't work well. Meaning, you start to smell after sweating a little.
This deodorant uses such natural ingredients as:
Algae extract
Aloe vera gel
Deionized Water
Witch Hazel
Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)
Herbal Extracts of (Fennel, Hops, Chamomile, Balm Mint, Mistletoe, and Yarrow)
Grapefruit Seed Extract
This deodorant is safe for those with sensitive skin and does a good job of eliminating odor while helping to reduce wetness (as mentioned on the label).
Helpful Tips on smelling your freshest:
Always apply deodorant to clean, dry skin
Apply just before a date or event
After excessive sweating, reapply
If you've had a big work out and you've sweat a lot, then just the deodorant may not be enough. You can follow this up with a deodorant powder called Fresh Foot to keep down the moisture and hold body odor at bay.
When choosing any deodorant product, it is best to avoid ones containing aluminum, artificial preservatives and colors, or synthetic fragrances.
Look beautiful naturally!
