The heat is officially on in Florida. Temperatures are starting to reach the 90's and it's not even June yet. Warmer days call for shorter sleeves or no sleeves at all. Meaning our underarms are going to need some maintenance. Rapid hair growth, dark areas, sweat, odor. No, thank you! If your underarms cause you a little stress, keep reading. You can have what you need to avoid all those unpleasantries before summer officially hits.
Trust me when I say that I know the struggles of underarm cleanliness and freshness. Like many people, I used to use the deodorants that we all know and use from the convenience store. Are they effective? Yes! Are they the cleanest? Not all of them. Some deodorant brands use harsh ingredients to keep your pits odor and sweat free for hours. After using these toxic deodorants for years, your body has absorbed some of these harsh chemicals that can lead to underlying health issues. When I finally changed my lifestyle in 2017 to support a cruelty free and healthier life, I embarked on a journey to search for cruelty free, vegan, and clean deodorants.
After searching for a deodorant online that checked all the boxes, I finally made the switch. However, I didn't know that my body was going to react a little ungratefully the first few days towards cleaner ingredients. By the third day of me using my new deodorant, my pits were strangely sweaty and had some odor. By the fifth day, I was still having the same symptoms but with additional irritation and swelling. My thoughts at the time where "what the heck is wrong here". As it turned out, I was experiencing a detoxification. Now that I was not overloading my underarms with harsh ingredients, my body was purging all those unwanted toxins from my body through my pits. Furthermore, I discovered that my sensitive underarms cannot tolerate baking soda as an ingredient. The new deodorant that I was using did happen to have baking soda, which was making my detox phase that much worse.
I know what you would ask me; "Ody, was all that worth it" and the answer is 100% yes. The knowledge that I gained from that episode is priceless and useful for teaching others about changing their deodorant. The deodorants I use now are still clean, cruelty free, vegan, and baking soda free. There are so many deodorants that check these boxes now. My underarms were very happy and healthy for a while. Until they weren't again, but for 1 very different reason.
May of 2021, I got the Covid Vaccine. I woke up the next morning with more than just a sore arm. There was an unpleasant and abnormal odor in my pits. Though I was embarrassed because even my husband noticed, I was sure that it was just temporary. Unfortunately, it persisted months after my vaccination and my deodorants were not working as well as they used to when fighting this new odor. My armpits have never been the same ever again. The vaccine appears to have altered my hormones (permanently it seems) and now my pits continuously smell like a teenage boy after gym class. Due to this, I have done more research than probably anyone you'll ever know about underarm care and products.
One of the most common questions I get when I tell people this story is "why don't I go back to using the drugstore brands". Firstly, because the solution is not to go backwards. Though the drugstore deodorants may work against my new companion (odor), they are not in compliance with my standards. If a product has been cruelly tested on an animal, contains animal biproducts, or has toxic ingredients, then I will not use them. And in case you are wondering if I just walk around now smelling like onions, the obvious answer is absolutely not. Thanks to my constant research, I have found the perfect combination of products to keep my odor at bay. More so, I also found ways to make my armpits look and feel their best.
In my next post, I will share with you the top 10 products I love and recommend for everything related to underarm care. Trust me, if I can eliminate my underarm issues, so can you. Let me know in the comments if you have ever tried a clean deodorant before and what your experience was. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.
Until next time!
Ody
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