View Full Version : Not that we didn't already know this.........
loosechickens
4-15-11, 2:34am
but here's a neat article about how advertisers almost "invent" a problem, create anxiety about it, and then "offer the cure" (their product)......
some interesting history here of the invention of "halitosis", the dread of smelly underarms, and other landmark advertising triumphs......
you'd think that we'd quit biting at this particular apple, but these tactics work, and work and work some more........
http://www.slate.com/id/2291205/
Ewww, Lysol as a douche? I would think that's a much worse smell than anything it is supposed to be masking. YUCK.
Well, I'm not sure that anyone "invented" halitosis or smelly underarms, to use your examples, but even if they did it's still up to you to succumb.
Of course, those closest to you would probably appreciate it.
I know I sound like a broken record, but alot of what we do seems like an attempt to distance ourselves from the animals. Animals really use these odors to understand each other......to be aware of what's going on in their bodies, to know each other, etc. I was thinking about this the other day..........is there any other species in the animal kingdom, where its the female who dresses up, looks flashy, draws attention with colorful things? (I'm referring to bright colors in the animals, dancing, bringing attention to themselves) .........I believe its always the male. Think of all the things we do to be the opposite of what we naturally (probably) should be doing.
I know I'm getting off track here...............But its true........people invent all sorts of funky needs and then convince us we need to do something about it.
As far as halitosis or underarm odor............I think it wouldn't bother us in the least, if we hadn't been taught to go "eeeewwwwww" when we smelled it. In fact...... the underarm oder might even be attractive.
After reading this, I wonder why there are no products for men's "downunda" odors? We humans are so silly.
I know I sound like a broken record, but alot of what we do seems like an attempt to distance ourselves from the animals. Animals really use these odors to understand each other......to be aware of what's going on in their bodies, to know each other, etc. I was thinking about this the other day..........is there any other species in the animal kingdom, where its the female who dresses up, looks flashy, draws attention with colorful things? (I'm referring to bright colors in the animals, dancing, bringing attention to themselves) .........I believe its always the male. Think of all the things we do to be the opposite of what we naturally (probably) should be doing.
I know I'm getting off track here...............But its true........people invent all sorts of funky needs and then convince us we need to do something about it.
As far as halitosis or underarm odor............I think it wouldn't bother us in the least, if we hadn't been taught to go "eeeewwwwww" when we smelled it. In fact...... the underarm oder might even be attractive.
Humans use the smell of other humans for mating purposes as well. To understand some of the science, go here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/6/l_016_08.html
That's what I mean cdttmm..........I wonder if our covering up all our natural smells with artificial smells causes alot of the divorces! I'm sort of kidding..........but maybe we would be more in tune with others of the opposite sex, if we could "read" their real smells more!?
Well.....as far as the divorces.......I'm not sure we're even "naturally" monogamous. We just do everything possible to deny our roots.
After reading this, I wonder why there are no products for men's "downunda" odors?
It's called "soap".
loosechickens
4-15-11, 11:48am
one does wonder why "soap" seems sufficient for men, yet legions of products seem "necessary" for women.
yes, Alan, breath that smelled unpleasant, I'm sure, was always with us, but the advertiser's use of the term halitosis was not. "Ad copy adopted the term halitosis "as a sober, medical-sounding way of referring to the unmentionable" as the article says.
And one of life's many misperceptions is that if we don't use those products, you will actually suffer such things as bad breath or smelly underarms. Which is just not true.
just one more reminder for all of us just how much advertising creates perception, and then triggers "need". always good to keep that in our minds, as simple livers.
Soap is going to have to be sufficient for this woman. I'm sick of pouring carcinogens all over my body just to thoroughly sanitize every corner of me for public acceptance at every moment of every day. I went into a Bed Bath and Beyond store the other day to purchase something, and was almost sick from the horrible chemical perfume of the place. Yet this is what we've now been conditioned to think "smells good." Good clean sweat "smells bad." When someone passes me wearing a strong chemical cologne, or multiple smells of a dozen lotions, powders, makeup, listerine, hair products, smellgood dryer sheets, nail lacquer, etc., I just feel so sorry for them for endangering their health for decades by drinking that marketing koolaid.
And anyway, there are few things in the world as sexy as a man who's worked up a sweat doing something useful. Rowr.
Oh....but think of all the people we would put out of work, because they couldn't make hundreds of kinds of hair gels, shampoos, body washes, deodorants, Summer's Eve crap, etc., etc., etc. Our economy would collapse! :0!
We have also been convinced that we need perfumed dryer sheets. Living in the city, nothing aggravates me more than having the lovely night air polluted by the smell of dryer sheets when I go for a stroll.
I'm also baffled by the "need" to have the air in one's home "freshened". Maybe my nose isn't sensitive enough, but as long as we clean occasionally I don't really notice that our house smells bad. It doesn't smell good either. It just doesn't really smell at all. Adding some chemicals to the air to give it a smell wouldn't be an improvement in my opinion. We went to bed bath and beyond a few months ago and they had soooooo overdone it with the air freshener that after ten minutes I felt like I was getting a headache and sore throat. They probably would've gotten more money out of SO's wallet without the smell because almost as soon as we'd walked in the door I started pestering him to hurry up so we could get out into the fresh air.
I agree with this, we are being played. One embarrassing issue that has come into play for me, is that once you reach a certain age, the underarm area can produce odors which defy all past remedies. I've had to go to the exspensive clinical type deodorant and sometimes that does not work.........you also have to become knowledgeable in hair removal in unexpected territory. Ah, the joys of life over 50!
loosechickens
4-16-11, 11:15pm
Of course, every person is different, and if there is a lot of hair in the underarm area, I'm sure that would trap more odors, etc., but I'm not sure it has anything to do with age. I think it has more to do with diet, whether or not a person wears clothes with synthetic fibers and whether or not by the use of deodorants, mouthwashes, antibacterial soaps, etc., they have upset the natural balance of their body flora and fauna.
As with mouthwash, deodorants "don't know when to stop killing" insofar as bacteria goes, and they indiscriminately kill, not only the odor causing bacteria, but many helpful ones that help keep the flora and fauna in those moist places in balance.
I'm 69 and my sweetie is 61. Neither of us has worn commercial deodorant for more than thirty years, yet we never smell. We bathe daily, obviously, and in hot weather, may even wash underarms, etc., several times a day, and if we are perspiring a lot, and concerned, we use a powder puff, dipped in baking soda, and pat that on under the arms.
although when we are at a place where we spend quite a bit of time, and I'm in the pool several times a day, meaning several showers a day, we never use anything at all. We also eat a very healthy diet with little meat or dairy products, and virtually no processed foods, wear only natural fiber clothing and use no products that might upset the natural balance of the colonies of critters and plants that make our bodies their home.
I remember when we lived in Mexico and Central America, and would ride on busses crammed with Indians going to market, none of whom had ever probably HEARD of deodorant, and if they had would never have been able to afford such a thing. Yet even in the heat, and on crowded buses, they never had body odor. They washed daily, worn cotton clothing and ate a diet very heavy in corn, beans, chiles, tomatoes and onions, and not a lot else.
So.....certainly individual cases differ, but I'm definitely in that "older" category, with no such problems. I also wonder sometimes if the development of a new, especially if offensive odor, occurs, if it isn't a signal of some health problem.
In the sense that bad breath is far more likely to be caused by gum disease, than lack of mouthwash, and in fact, mouthwash just kills off the helpful bacteria, masks the odor, but really just causes resistant bacteria to grow in the unhealthy gum tissue.......
It is very hard to "get off" deodorant if your body is accustomed to it, because since you have no helpful bacteria left, and the colonies of flora and fauna that help to keep those areas healthy have been decimated, if you stop using deodorant, there WILL be a lot of odor. But if you can tough it out, wash half a dozen times a day, if necessary, using regular soap, nothing with antibacterial agents added, and if necessary, change the PH of your underarm area with baking soda, wear natural fiber clothing and watch your diet for heavy meat and dairy use, and in a matter of weeks, some have found the odor gone for good, as the body's natural bacteria manages to make a comeback.
Don't know if that would help you, Tenngal, because I don't know what the cause of the odor might be, and sometimes different people have very different "smells", but I don't really think it's age.
rosarugosa
4-17-11, 11:16am
I recently noticed ads in magazines about the "disease" of sparse eyelashes with a prescription drug remedy. Hmmm, and here I just thought I didn't have particularly thick eyelashes, and it turns out I'm diseased. Hahaha Madison Ave, you can't fool me!
Here's a quote from website eDrugSearch.com:
Some people have very sparse eyelashes, and this can cause functional problems with the eye as well as anxiety about one’s appearance. Fortunately for people suffering from ” eyelash hypotrichosis,” a brand-new treatment was approved by the FDA in December 2008. The product is called Latisse, it has sultry-eyed Brooke Shields as a spokesmodel, and it is a 0.03% solution of bimatoprost marketed with an applicator brush.
I recently noticed ads in magazines about the "disease" of sparse eyelashes with a prescription drug remedy.
Meanwhile, our drug companies spend very little developing badly needed new antibiotics because drugs taken for a couple of weeks that cure the condition are less profitable than those that are taken every day forever.
http://smellslikescience.com/a-need-for-new-antibiotics/
I agree with the created 'issue' of sparse eyelashes and things like that, I would rather see treatments for disease like cancer which affects too many people I know.
However I have had to handle the difficult body odor issue with employees. Oh dear, it was really a bad situation and the young lady was very nice but it was such a problem that she did not make any friends at work and even guests knew her as the 'stinky one'. If she came up behind you where you could not see her you still knew she was there, very overpowering. I do not know if she had a medical condition that affected this but after several talks over months she was able to do something so that the personal smell was no longer an issue. She left for another job but I kept in touch and invited her over a couple times which was fun, when I mentioned it at work all the people remembered was how extreme she smelled. This is not the only time I have had this happen, I have had a few friends in the more hippy groups that were just really smelly and a customer at a bank who was a regular but appeared to have an odor from his teeth rotting out of his mouth. A real extreme odor (not a good sweaty, I have been working odor) can be a sign that something is wrong too. My daughter had that and her gums needed treatment, not just a mouth wash.
Okay sorry to present the other side here, I am sure I know many people who just bath often and I would never know if they used deoderant, but having been in situations where my eyes are watering for an entire shift at work I have to say some of our products are nice to have.
loosechickens
4-17-11, 12:39pm
" but having been in situations where my eyes are watering for an entire shift at work I have to say some of our products are nice to have. " (Zoe Girl).....
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too true.......because in some people, no matter what, their bodies just produce bad odors, even if they, themselves are clean. Unfortunately, most offensive body odor is poor hygiene, synthetic clothing that once sweated in seems to grow smell exponentially from then on, heavy meat diets, and having killed off all the helpful bacteria, etc., but even if that is the cause, the rest of us have to live with the smell, so for those folks, I say, "slather it on", hahahahahahaha
I like this product:
http://www.thecrystal.com/
what is your opinion, LooseChickens, on that product as it relates to what you said about good flora on our bodies?
loosechickens
4-17-11, 6:05pm
I think that what the active thing is in the Crystal, Tammy, is alum. It's a drying agent, so acts as an antiperspirant perhaps, but the likelihood is also that it changes the PH of the underarm area, to make it inhospitable to the bacteria that cause odor.
The "good" bacteria seems to have a bit of an edge in tolerating various PHs, which may be why using baking soda, which makes the PH more alkaline, or vinegar, which makes it more acid, both work as well.
We used baking soda, patted on with a little powder puff for years, but over time realized that whether we used it or not, there was no odor. Obviously there WOULd be if we went without bathing, did hot and sweaty work without washing and changing clothes, wore synthetic fibers, etc. but at this point, especially when we eat little meat or dairy, there is no odor no matter what, so we seldom even bother with the baking soda.
I'd certainly prefer something like The Crystal as opposed to chemical deodorants, but I'd work to eliminate the causes of odor in the beginning which would allow using little or nothing, which is the best way to allow the body's natural symbiotic organisms to flourish.
Check and see, but I think the Crystal is alum......you may find that over time it makes the underarm area a bit dry and puckery because alum has that effect sometimes.
Hope this helps. Although, unless I had some medical condition that caused me to have a bad body odor, I'd go for frequent washing with regular, not special anti-bacterial ingredient added soap, natural fiber clothing changed daily, a diet much lighter in meat and dairy, no synthetic clothing, etc., and let my body fix itself, personally. The most I'd do would be use baking soda....cheap, multipurpose and it works well.
edited to add: I think part of the reason that people find it very difficult to do without deodorant, is a certain "rebound" effect, just the same as when you use those nasal sprays when you have a cold, soon, if you stop using them, your nose stuffs up worse, so you start a vicious cycle of having to use it. I think that when people use deodorant and stop, since they have not got a healthy mix of flora and fauna on their skin, because of using the deodorant, as soon as they stop using it, they have odor, which makes them think they MUST use deodorant or smell offensively, and go back to using it, and keeping the cycle going.
If you want to get off deodorant, anyone, I'd say, stop using it, wash your underarms, if necessary half a dozen times a day and pat dry, wear only natural fiber clothing, cut way back on meat and dairy, use only ordinary soap without added antibacterial chemicals, and tough it out, perhaps with the help of baking soda. In just a matter of weeks, they'll probably find that using baking soda only, works fine (does not do anything to reduce moisture, however, so if you are used to an anti-perspirant, you may notice more wetness), and eventually over time, their body flora and fauna will adjust and they will never need deodorant again.
I remember reading somewhere that when the white men first came to this continent, many Indians called them words that meant "the smelly ones", because they seldom bathed, were big meat eaters, etc.
I know that living as we did for varying periods of time in small villages in Indian areas of Mexico, and in Central America, they never HEARD of deodorant, but no one had body odor, even in a crowded bus on a hot day. But, they washed regularly, ate a mostly vegetarian diet, had little body hair (hair does trap odors) and wore natural cotton clothing.
It's just that most people think it's either deodorant or stink, and there are lots of other possibilities, including NO deodorant AND no stink. But if you've been accustomed to something like Irish Spring soap plus deodorant, it will take awhile to get your body back to normal healthy colonies of bacteria.
after a little research:
"Crystal deodorants are made of natural mineral salts (alum)."
they go on to say that this not the same as the aluminum based products. Which I believe, because I never feel the dry or puckering feeling that you mentioned, as I have noticed with any antiperspirant that I have used. In fact, I sweat normally with this product, but I don't have an odor. At least that I have noticed. ;)
something else I found:
"Sweat glands (apocrine glands) under the arms and in the groin secrete a substance that is the major non-food/drink related cause of body odor. This substance, which contains protein, carbohydrates and lipids, is often secreted by a surge in sex hormones caused by tense moments or emotional stress. It is then quickly attacked by bacteria, causing odor."
interesting, as the only times I've noticed an underarm odor at the end of a day is when I'm menstruating.
Then I found some things that suggest that mineral salt can contain a few types of alum, one of which is aluminum-something or other .... so it makes me wonder ... although they say this is different than the manufactured aluminum additives that we find in antiperspirants.
I may give that baking soda a try.
I've been brushing my teeth with it, and I can't tolerate any toothpaste anymore. Too strong tasting and harsh.
loosechickens
4-17-11, 11:20pm
I've pretty much gotten where I can't stand the toothpaste anymore myself......I tried switching to one like Tom's, the natural foods store one, but I just hate the "sudsy" feeling and the foaming, and the taste is just too strong. It's like people want the inside of their mouth to taste like toothpaste for a period of time afterward, in order to feel that their mouth is clean. My teeth just feel much cleaner if I just dip my wet toothbrush in a little dish of baking soda and brush with that. Then I rinse my mouth, and I'm good to go.
I wonder if the very strong flavors of toothpaste are like the very strong perfumed smell of laundry detergents and fabric softeners. First they train us to forget what clean clothes actually smell like, OR what our mouth tastes like when our teeth are clean, by introducing the heavy chemical perfumes and flavors, then we get so used to them that we don't realize that our whole idea of "clean" has come to be conveyed by perfumes and artificial flavors.
At that point, clothes washed in plain soap and dried outside on a nice day no longer smell "clean", because unless they have that strong perfume smell, people don't think they are "clean". Same with toothpaste.....once you're used to walking around with the inside of your mouth feeling "minty" and having the aftertaste of the toothpaste, if you don't have that taste in your mouth, you don't feel like your mouth is clean.
It's just not for me. I hate perfume smells, especially the strong, cheap smell of laundry detergents and cleaning products, and the almost perfum-ey taste of toothpaste (peppermint perfume?) is about as bad. Then on top of that, gagging on a mouthful of foamy, evil tasting, artificially sweet chemical taste......ugh.....
Plus, I kind of figure that one good sized box of baking soda every few years, and maybe a gallon of vinegar, and I've taken care of most of my personal AND cleaning needs, easily and cheaply.
I recently noticed ads in magazines about the "disease" of sparse eyelashes with a prescription drug remedy. Hmmm, and here I just thought I didn't have particularly thick eyelashes, and it turns out I'm diseased. Hahaha Madison Ave, you can't fool me!
.
Aw, don't you know, small breasts are also a medical issue known as micromastia. Very important to see a surgeon and pay big bucks if one suffers from that terrible medical condition.:0!
I love when things start being called a "syndrome." Like the health problems brought on by working in an office building, or being a dentist, or whatever....now it all has its own syndrome. My husband and I have a bet that every person we know (including ourselves) has some kind of "syndrome" if we just look hard enough. And hey, there's probably a drug for it.
Plus, I kind of figure that one good sized box of baking soda every few years, and maybe a gallon of vinegar, and I've taken care of most of my personal AND cleaning needs, easily and cheaply.
There's a wonderful book called "Salt, Lemons, Vinegar and Baking Soda" about natural cleaning. I love it and reference it constantly.
loosechickens
4-18-11, 2:11pm
and the wonderful thing about "syndromes" (for the pharmaceutical companies), is that they usually require some long term fix, as opposed to some drug that you take for a week and are then healed. The Holy Grail to pharmaceutical companies is both developing drugs that people will have to take for a long period, AND drugs that's use can be widened to the largest possible percentage of the population.
It's no accident that pharmaceutical company stocks have been great investments, and continue to be. And the sad thing is, if you have some condition that doesn't affect a huge number of people, or doesn't require long term drug use, the chances are that the drug companies are not even doing research or trying to bring drugs to market for it. Just not enough profit for them.
I was leafing though a magazine and saw an ad for Cymbalta for arthritis pain. I thought it was initially marketed as an antidepressant. So which is it?
treehugger
4-18-11, 5:23pm
I have an extreme example of this. My husband has to take anti-rejection medication for as long as his transplanted kidney lasts. Being on this medication makes him susceptible to lymphoma. And whaddya know, the manufacturer of the anti-rejection meds also makes a drug to treat lymphoma. Isn't that convenient! ;)
Kara
mercurygirl
4-20-11, 9:06pm
About a year ago, I thought I'd take a crack at making my own deodorant from simple ingredients. I mixed together one part baking soda, two parts cornstarch and enough coconut oil to make it into a paste, and applied a little under each arm. To my amazement, it not only left me completely odor-free (and, being in the run-up to menopause, that was starting to become an issue), thanks to the baking soda, but also quite dry, thanks to the absorbency of the cornstarch. At this stage of my life, this works so much better for me than any commercial product!
loosechickens
4-20-11, 10:39pm
to me, it isn't even about saving money....although that's certainly nice, when I contemplate maybe 35 years of no deodorant or dryer sheet purchases and what that might add up to.....it's just both hating the chemical "perfume" smell and not being comfortable with all the chemicals, most of which have not really be researched, especially as to how they might interact with other substances, etc. and I just think that the lower your "chemical load" in general, the better.....
I agree, LC. As the naturopathic folks say, it all adds up. Little drops of water, little grains of sand, little molecules of things your liver & kidneys have to detoxify day in and day out, taking them away from the important job of keeping me healthy.
I was leafing though a magazine and saw an ad for Cymbalta for arthritis pain. I thought it was initially marketed as an antidepressant. So which is it?
I do know that very low doses of antidepressants have been effective for chronic pain like fibromyalgia. I hadn;t heard about them being used for other chronic pain but i could see where chronic pain can be affected and made worse by depression, and depression can cause physical symptoms. Cymbalta is pretty new on the scene for anti-depressants and i don't know much about it but we just started my dd on it and I will be doing some checking on it. I am hoping it will do well, so many patients with depression go through trial and failure over and over.
On the NPR podcast Radio Lab a while back they did a show that talked about a majorly old-fashioned (and in today's world EXTREMELY controversial) method of dealing with all sorts of disorders from allergies and asthma to lupus and even MS. Hookworms. Yes, hookworms. Intestinal parasites. What someone noticed was that people in undeveloped countries don't have many of the common maladies that we all have and somehow made the leap of logic that poor sanitation and the prevalence of intestinal parasties in those populations must be the cause. The person being interviewed on the show had such bad asthma that he actually was desperate enough for help that he went to Africa and got himself infected with hookworm. And is now no longer suffering. The basic research seems to show that the hookworms somehow help mute our immune systems just enough (so that the worm can survive) that the immune system isn't overreacting to allergens and causing us other problems like asthma. Even if this is as good of a way of dealing with all sorts of medical issues I somehow doubt it'll ever become a common treatment in the western world. First off I'm sure the idea that something as natural as a parasite could help will never be tolerated, and equally important, how could pharmaceutical companies make a profit. Even if they started selling hookworms, it'd just be a one-time treatment, not an ongoing lifelong treatment, as other posters have mentioned. And they couldn't patent them...
After reading this, I wonder why there are no products for men's "downunda" odors? We humans are so silly.
Actually, pinkytoe, there is: http://www.sofreshsodry.com/products/fresh-balls/.
Is that a joke? I can't decide.
one does wonder why "soap" seems sufficient for men, yet legions of products seem "necessary" for women.
Most commercial soaps are too harsh for women's hoo-has and can give rise to infections. Also, there is this idea that the vagina/vulva area is unclean, even though what it's doing is self-cleaning! I'd give a big piss off to feminine wash products and all that other crud.
My favourite type of create-a-problem-offer-a-solution marketing is for anti-ageing products. FIGHT THE SEVEN SIGNS OF AGEING! ARE YOU READY TO START LOOKING YOUNGER? OH NO! We must all look like we're perpetually 25-years-old or else we will be a disgrace to ourselves and society! Don't let yourself down now! But don't worry! Here's our miracle cream that contains pentapeptides and youthenol! Nevermind that the rest of your body will wrinkle and sag! Slap this stuff on your face now before you turn into a hag!
Is that a joke? I can't decide.
It's a real product. I hear it advertised on SIRIUS satellite radio regularly. That's how I knew about it. They make a product for women called "Fresh Breasts", too.
On the NPR podcast Radio Lab a while back they did a show that talked about a majorly old-fashioned (and in today's world EXTREMELY controversial) method of dealing with all sorts of disorders from allergies and asthma to lupus and even MS. Hookworms. Yes, hookworms. Intestinal parasites. What someone noticed was that people in undeveloped countries don't have many of the common maladies that we all have and somehow made the leap of logic that poor sanitation and the prevalence of intestinal parasties in those populations must be the cause. The person being interviewed on the show had such bad asthma that he actually was desperate enough for help that he went to Africa and got himself infected with hookworm. And is now no longer suffering. The basic research seems to show that the hookworms somehow help mute our immune systems just enough (so that the worm can survive) that the immune system isn't overreacting to allergens and causing us other problems like asthma. Even if this is as good of a way of dealing with all sorts of medical issues I somehow doubt it'll ever become a common treatment in the western world. First off I'm sure the idea that something as natural as a parasite could help will never be tolerated, and equally important, how could pharmaceutical companies make a profit. Even if they started selling hookworms, it'd just be a one-time treatment, not an ongoing lifelong treatment, as other posters have mentioned. And they couldn't patent them...
I heard that Radiolab, too! And looked up scientific papers on the subject, which are inconclusive/inconsistent. There's definitely some Drs and scientists who subscribe to the "hygienic theory" that too much cleanliness, esp for small children, is a bad thing. Your immune system has evolved over 1000s of years to fight all kinds of stuff so if you give it nothing it will find something to fight against, and that likely will be itself. Like the Fight Club of organ systems, ha ha.
As far as deodorant, though, there are large differences among individuals. On a recent 4 day camping & backpacking trip (me and 4 men) it became obvious on about day 2 that one man had major BO while everyone else was OK. Nobody took showers/baths (we were in the Grand Canyon where there were no large enough bodies of water to submerge in anyway, except the dangerous CO River), everyone was exposed to the same temps and work of backpacking, yet only J was eye-wateringly stinky while everyone else was a little less than fresh but tolerable. Another friend commented that J is always like this, and that his wife doesn't like when "stinky J" crashes on the couch. DH knew one guy in the Navy who took about 4 showers a day and still stunk; was a medical condition but he hadn't solved it yet. The marketing has it wrong, though. If anything, men need deoderant more than women since testosterone tends to increase the pungency of body odor. This may be why women can have more issues as they age or during menstruation: the proportion of testosterone in their blood goes up.
For the past two weeks I've been having a go at the 'homemade deodorant' thing. At the moment I'm using only baking soda and cornstarch but will be adding coconut oil when I finally buy some. So far....I hope I'm detoxing 'cuz it's just OK. As a massage therapist I get pretty close to my clients and I'm totally paranoid that I'll be smelly so I carry some with me to puff on during the day. I tried this a few years ago but gave up after a few weeks. Unfortunately it seems that regular antiperspirant/deodorant builds up and makes me worse. After all, it is somewhat waterproof and is difficult to wash off.
After using a more natural toothpaste (Trader Joe's) for a few years, the regular national brands taste so artificially sweet to me (and I LOVE sweets!) The minty taste doesn't last too long and it's not too foamy because it doesn't have SLS but you get used to it.
Anyone here use the oil cleansing method to wash their face?? I like it--gentle enough for my rosacea, clean without drying and doesn't make me oily.
I use hand sanitizer as a deodorizer. It has alcohol in it - kills bacteria. I only use it at work when it's a difficult day... otherwise, I just try to relax!
I've also heard that our teenagers get such bad cases of mono because we are too clean. In many less "clean" countries, everyone gets it when they are younger, and the symptoms are negligible.
I've also read of some people with M.S. intentionally getting stung by bees (or was it wasps??) as treatment. I think it revs up the immune system and helps with the symptoms that come with M.S.
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