Sweatshirt of all people. This is nature. Sweat cools our body and keeps its temperature in balance. However, the embarrassment and the need to mask the smell are so strong that we rarely pay attention to how and which ingredients stop the unpleasant smell. Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a deodorant and an antiperspirant? How does each work? What is its effect on our body? Why are natural deodorants the best option?
This is what – first things first.
Why do we sweat?
We have two types of underarm pads that produce sweat: eccrine pads and apocrine pads.
The eccrine glands are the most numerous and are responsible for producing most of the sweat in our body. Your sweat contains water and sodium chloride. The latter gives it the salty taste of sweat. Eccrine glands are activated by heat, fever, emotional stress, and exercise.
The apocrine glands begin to secrete at puberty. Once sweat reaches the surface of the body, it is broken down by the bacteria that are abundant in the underarm area and… this is how the smell of perspiration is produced.
How to get rid of sweat?
Actually, we don’t have to get rid of sweat. It is the main cooling system of our body. When we sweat, our body and clothes get covered in water. When it’s hot or we exercise, our body heats up. This heat helps the water evaporate, which cools our bodies. For the same reason, when we are hot and splash water on ourselves, we feel good. So, we need to sweat to stay healthy. We can only get rid of the smell of perspiration.
How to get rid of the smell of sweat?
This can be done with deodorants and antiperspirants. Deodorants neutralize the smell of sweat by fighting bacteria in the armpits. On the other hand, antiperspirants block the pores in the underarm area because of their active ingredient, aluminum salts. Therefore, antiperspirants interfere with sweating, our body’s natural cooling system.
Aluminum salts penetrate the skin and accumulate in our body. This process is facilitated by regular shaving of the armpits. Once there, the aluminum in antiperspirants can cause cancerous tumors to form. It is also associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Other ingredients to avoid are parabens, formaldehyde, propylene glycol, tricolsan.
What to do with the heat then? Use natural deodorants
Here are some ideas:
– before buying, always check product safety in EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database, a directory of reviews on more than 65,000 products;
– to stay safe, use natural deodorants;
Tip: You may have heard that natural deodorants don’t work. Or you may know this from your own experience. Actually, I was almost convinced of this too, but then I started applying mine more than once during the day. The result was odourless!
– if you still don’t like natural deodorants, you can experiment and make your own. Here is one tested homemade deodorant recipe:
Baking soda (anti-odor), cornstarch (for dryness), coconut oil (antibacterial), a few drops of essential oil (for additional fragrance).
Mix the baking soda with the same amount of cornstarch. Add the coconut oil and mash it with a fork into the baking soda and cornstarch mixture. Keep in mind that coconut oil becomes liquid during the summer and is best kept in the fridge. You can add a few drops of an essential oil. You can store your natural deodorant in an empty deodorant container.