Deodorant: A Stinky Situation

For the past few months, I have been on a quest to find a natural deodorant that works. The key word here is “works.” Why buy a natural deodorant? Because what you put on your skin is absorbed directly into your bloodstream. Now we don’t want to put any harmful ingredients in our bodies now do we? Especially when we are doing all that we can to only eat good and natural foods. Why mess it up by putting harmful things on our skin. Some ingredients that you want to avoid when choosing a deodorant are any aluminums and parabens which also go by the aliases methyl, ethyl, propyl, benzyl and butyl. You also want to avoid triclosan, talc, and propylene glycol.

Here is a brief heads up as to why these ingredients are harmful.

Aluminum- it accumulates in the body. There is also a possible link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s Disease.

Parabens- are toxic. They may also cause reproductive harm. Notice all of the problems with women having fertility problems? Umm yeah.

Triclosan- this can irritate your skin. It kills harmful bacteria but here is the catch, it also kills healthy bacteria. Triclosan may contain carcinogenic contaminants. FDA classifies it as a pesticide. What?!

Talc- may contain asbestiform fibers.

Propylene Glycol- is a neurotoxin and may cause kidney or liver damage. The EPA says it's not fully investigated for carcinogenic potential. I have found this ingredient is many products from sunscreen to margarita mix. Crazy, I know….

So what do we do? Well, I tried a natural deodorant from Nature’s Gate. It did NOT work. I notice when my diet is higher in raw foods, I don’t even need a deodorant. However, grains tend to make me stinky so going without help is not on option. I am a frequent reader of Healthy Bitch Daily and finally found the answer. It is La Vanila Laboratories Healthy Deodorant. I kept going on and on about how I wanted to buy and try this product (sold at Sephora) so a friend of mine surprised me with the product as a gift. She wanted to me try it out and give the feedback. She had been on a quest for a good deodorant as well. Well, it worked! I decided to really put it to the test when I ran four miles and then taught a 60 minute yoga class outside on a warm day. It allows you to sweat and you do want to sweat to get rid of toxins in the body. The good thing is there is no nasty smell- not even a hint. I have the vanilla grapefruit and am sold on being a regular customer to this product. It is really expensive ($18) but I think that it will last. I’ve had deodorant last me six months or more.

Here are the ingredients:

Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice (Aloe Juice, Water), Propanediol (Corn Derived), Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Sodium Stearate (Coconut Derived), Silica, Carrageenan (Seaweed Derived), Stearyl Behenate (Coconut Derived), Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon Peel Oil), Inulin (Artichoke Derived), Saccharomyces Ferment, Alpha-Glucan Oligosaccharide (Sugar Derived), Yeast Beta Glucan, Lonicera Caprifolium (Honeysuckle) Flower Extract, Usnea Barbata (Lichen) Extract, Valeriana Officinalis Root Extract (Valerian), Hydrastis Canadensis (Goldenseal) Extract, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Flower/Leaf/Stem Extract, Lycium Barbarum Fruit Extract (Goji Berry), Botanical Fragrance Blend.