Is Your Deodorant Toxic?

Well, I usually put recipes up - but these are recipes with a difference!
Some of my friends do make their own soaps and deodorants ... most I suspect just purchase from the shop shelves, and we each have our favourite brands.

But Suz at The Paleo Network could have a valid point - see what you think

"Deodorant and antiperspirant are something most people use – and apply directly onto their skin every day, but is commercial deodorant safe?

Shop brought deodorants often contain parabens – a chemical that has been associated with cancers. Deodorants often also contain aluminium, which is used to stop perspiration – but has been linked to dementia, brain disorders and breast cancer.

It is also common for deodorants to contain alcohol, which can be drying for some skin types.
While aluminium free and paraben free deodorants are available, these can still come with added alcohols or other chemicals that could build up in the body. There are many natural deodorants available, for example made from crystal stones. However – you could make your own natural alternative!

Deodorant For Women
Ingredients:
Five teaspoons of distilled witch hazel
5mls (0.17 fluid ounces) of vitamin E oil
10 – 20 drops of geranium essential oil
10 – 20 drops of ylang ylang essential oil
5 drops of clary sage
One small spritzer bottle

Directions:
Add the witch hazel into a small mixing bowl and then add in the vitamin E oil and blend it together using the end of a pipette, a teaspoon, or a small wooden spatula.
Next add the essential oils and remember to build them gradually until you have the desired scent. Once ready, pour into the spritzer body and use when need. This can be stored in the fridge for a cooling effect.

Deodorant for Men
Ingredients:
5 teaspoons of distilled witch hazel
10 – 20 drops of sandalwood essential oil
10 – 20 drops of pine essential oil
5mls (0.17 fluid ounces) of vitamin E oil
One small spritzer bottle

Follow the directions for the deodorant for women.

If preferred, just use the sandalwood essential oil on its own.

Solid Deodorant
Warning: Take care when heating and pouring the cocoa butter to ensure it doesn’t get on your hands as it will be extremely hot.
Ingredients:
30g (1.05 ounce) of cocoa butter or shea butter
Essential oils as listed in the above recipes
5mls of vitamin E oil
Square soap mould or massage bar mould

Directions:
Melt the butter in a saucepan by lightly heating it on a hob or in a microwave oven until melted.
Stir in the vitamin E oil and then added in the essential oils.
Pour the mix into soap or massage bar mould. For a smooth bar, use a soap mould.
Leave the bar to cool overnight and it will be ready to use the next morning.
Bicarbonate of soda can also be used for a simple, effective deodorant.

Note: Pregnant women should take advice before using essential oils.

The above article from here
http://paleo.com.au/is-your-deodorant-toxic/

All the best Jan

Hello, I'd like a deodorant please.

Certainly sir, ball or aerosol?

No, just for under my arms!

(works better with a Scandinavian accent)

Yeah I wonder about the ingredients in things like makeup and shampoo too. And as for room odorisers and sexual lubricants, oh and sunscreen of course . . . there are sooo many new things in the modern world that contain ingredients of unknown toxicity - well each ingredient may have been tested on its own, but in combination with all the other stuff . . . add in pesticides and stuff that just pretends to be food. No wonder there aren't many well people left.

Following on with deodorants ... reminded me of this article and post from March 2015

Are We Too Clean?



"Out shopping recently I stopped to buy some shower gel. A simple task you would have thought, but perhaps not. I had to decide, did I want to feel energised, relaxed, nourished, full of vitality etc after my shower, the different creations on offer was amazing - all this plus of course the amount of choice for perfume - and the difference in prices.

Looking back to my childhood, it seemed my mother had much simpler choices. I can remember these, although of course there were more, Pears Soap / Lux Beauty Soap / Wrights Coal Tar Soap / Fairy Soap. I often wonder how many of us today actually use a bar of soap, we are so used to the dispenser containing our handwash and shower gel.

Looking back, I'm talking 50's and 60's here, there was another thing. We never used to bath or shower every day - did you - I suspect not. Sunday Nights were traditionally bath night, hair wash etc so we were clean and fresh for the coming week at school. The other six days of the week we just used to have a wash using soap and a flannel. Even flannels these days seem to be not so popular.

Reading an article recently it went on to state:  
"If you love nothing more than having a shower - or five - on a daily basis then you could be putting your health at risk.

Dermatologists from New York have suggested that showering regularly - especially in hot water - could dry out skin. They added that it can also cause irritation and wash away any good bacteria that naturally exists on the skin resulting in a higher risk of infection.

While the act of showering is as etched into our daily routines as, say, brushing your teeth, specialists have said that we're "overbathing" due to "societal norms". In essence, everyone else is showering too much - and because of that you are too.

After all, nobody wants to be known as the "riffy one".

Dr. Joshua Zeichner, assistant professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, told BuzzFeed that what we perceive as body odor is “really more of a cultural phenomenon.”

John Oxford, Professor of Virology at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry told The Times: "A vigorous daily shower would disturb the natural bug flora of the skin as well as skin oils."

"As long as people wash their hands often enough and pay attention to the area of the body below the belt, showering or bathing every other day would do no harm," said Oxford.

"Even twice a week would not be a problem if people used a bidet daily as most infectious bugs hang around our lower halves. We pay too much attention to the body beautiful and smelling good - we should wash to stop cross-infection, not for grooming reasons."

And this theory applies to children too. Dermatologists suggest not to bathe babies and toddlers every day as early exposure to dirt and bacteria might help prevent allergies and eczema as they age."

Link to the article here
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/01/14/showering-daily-bad-for-health_n_6468444.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cukt2%7Cdl19%7Csec3_lnk4%26pLid%3D322250

So there you have it. Modern living has changed our outlook, our patterns of life. Has it changed it for the better? Not too sure of that one, but we all have to live in the here and now.

But we can make our own decisions about our health and other related matters.

Mmmmm definitely think I'll take a relaxing shower before bed time.......

Link to my original post here
http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/are-we-too-clean.html

All the best Jan

Yes I tend to alternate between Coal Tar and Cidal, but the shampoo and conditioner have a bunch of ingredients completely unknown in the days of Vosene or Palmolive.

... I think I read somewhere that it is not a good idea to keep using the same brand, (not quite sure of the reasoning behind it), and I must admit I tend to alternate between favourites.

This was probably first mentioned by a company who thought if we changed them around our pennies and pounds would end up in their profits too?

When you think about the added ingredients in our many toiletries, washing powders etc ... are we wise to use them?

And when things like baby wipes can remove stains from carpets and walls - the mind boggles  

However in my shopping bag today was some Radox Shower Gel ... the green one, it's refreshing (apparently) LOL!

All the best Jan

Oh I remember soaking in a Radox bath! For the last few decades though I shower rather than bath. It's a bit hard to fit the Radox into the shower head.

Radox seems to have been around a long time ...

I can remember using bath crystals and bath cubes in my younger years, and invariably getting a good supply as Christmas Gifts. I think they have since gone out of fashion ...

The grand-kids for a time used wash crayons ... you could doodle or draw on the side of the bath ... I think they were very short lived, as the marks were not always so easy to get rid of as the manufacturers would have you believe!

Anyway from shower gels to deodorants there is so much to choose from these days, and quite a wide variety in pricing too  

All the best Jan

Word of warning - from what I remember, Witch Hazel and private parts are NOT a good combination

I must keep an eye out, there's one in a garden round the corner which may be flowering soon

http://www.almanac.com/sites/default/files/styles/primary_image_in_article/public/images/witch_hazel.jpg?itok=Csena7Yt

We used to have one but it didn't survive the move. Gorgeous scent but expensive and very slow growing

chris c wrote:Word of warning - from what I remember, Witch Hazel and private parts are NOT a good combination

Are you speaking from a personal experience Chris 

Yup!

And quite what effect microbeads have is yet to be determined.

graham64 wrote:

chris c wrote:Word of warning - from what I remember, Witch Hazel and private parts are NOT a good combination

Are you speaking from a personal experience Chris 

Kinky devil

What can I say, sometimes you spill stuff and it goes where you REALLY wish it hadn't.