Mineral salt deodorants – green and frugal
About nine months ago, I started using a mineral deodorant. You know, the ones you find at the health food store that look like a piece of quartz crystal. Some of them are roll-up in a little plastic bottle, some are just a piece of mineral in a pouch, and some are a spray-on version (which I have not tried).
The advantages of using a deodorant like this – if it works – is that it’s cheaper than store brands of deodorant and anti-perspirant (in that the one roll-up I purchased has lasted nine months and has quite a while yet to go), it’s greener* (just one ingredient – no weird toxic crap to get showered off you and into the sewage system), and it’s less likely to pose health problems for you (again with the lack of toxic weirdness, and I assume you know about the connection between antiperspirants and Alzheimer’s).
(*In the future, I’ll be even more green because I’ll be buying the loose crystals instead of the ones in a neat little plastic bottle. I ended up using the roll-up without its bottle anyway, because after a while the bottle got stagnant water stuck in the bottom (stinky!) but the crystal was still fine.)
But does it work?I tried them years ago, and wasn’t impressed. But last year, I bought a mineral roll-up that had more detailed instructions than those I tried years ago, and that made all the difference. For nine months, the mineral deodorant has done everything I always wished an antiperspirant would do (more on this in a minute). I’m totally satisfied. I’ve done just fine in 90+ degree weather and I feel quite confident with this stuff.
Since everyone sweats differently, I’ll tell you a bit about my history with antiperspirants and deodorants. I’m not a big sweater, but for some reason whenever I sweated at all, it would have a mild odor, and leave the odor on my sleeves, and make me feel stinky. Also, any antiperspirant I tried would just stop being effective after anywhere from 6 to 18 months.
The antiperspirant fallacy
I did some research and learned: it’s not actually sweat that stinks, it’s bacteria that forms in your armpits. Stopping sweat won’t stop bacteria forming. Stopping sweat is also not good for you. You only need to stop the bacteria from forming, and the mineral deodorants do just that as long as you apply them immediately after your shower/bath. Don’t give the bacteria any time to form before applying the stuff! Just wet the mineral block (thoroughly) and rub it all over your armpit (or whatever part you’re deodorizing), liberally.
- This type of deodorant has never left anything visible on my skin or clothes.
- I never, ever stink, not even a little.
- I can re-wear shirts/tops more often before laundering them because this doesn’t leave a trace of scent or gunk on my clothes.
- You will still sweat with this. If you are concerned about wet spots on your sleeves, this may not work for you. However…
- I have less wetness with this stuff than with antiperspirants. I haven’t found an explanation for that, but I wonder if by blocking the sweat glands, antiperspirants actually encourage the sweat glands to fight back and produce more? I’m totally making this up, but whatever the reason, I rarely have any wetness at all.
There are plenty of other natural deoderants to try if you find mineral deodorants don’t work for you. If you prefer to continue using antiperspirants, experts advise just using a thin layer rather than slathering on tons of the stuff – it’s actually more effective in small doses (and, of course, that reduces any potential health risks and makes the product last longer).
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Posted in Frugal, Going Green, Health and Beauty on June 17, 2009
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I enjoyed your article. Your style of writing reminds me of me.
How often do you have to apply the mineral deoderant? I just bought my first stick about 3 days ago. I know of some people who have red rashes from the salts…. so I don’t know how often it needs to be applied. Thanks!
I’ve just applied it right after my daily shower, and that’s been fine for me. I’ve never had a rash myself.
Hear, hear! I’ve been using the roll-on version shown in the illustration for years now, and love it. I put it on after I’ve dried my body and before I towel-dry my hair (primitive belief that the arms-above your head activity helps it dry before robes or clothes come into play). Another nice aspect to this stuff is that there’s no slime to it — it dries quickly, and then there’s no weird residue on your skin.
Unlike Jen, I do sweat a lot, and this stuff has changed my life. I agree with you, Jen, that for whatever reason, it seems like there’s less sweat overall when you take this approach. I’d be happy to write it off to some odd side effect of antiperspirants, but I can dimly recall some horribly unsuccessful experiments with “normal” (i.e., slimy) deodorants, too. So I don’t try to look this gift horse in the mouth, I just enjoy the win-win-win — cheap, green, and makes the whole issue of sweat go away. What could be better?