It comes the time in life for every person when they have to start wearing deodorant, and my mom refused to let me use commercial antiperspirant deodorants when she learned about the tons of harmful ingredients that are put into them. So, as the great mom she is, she needed to find a solution and googled to find natural deodorant ways. Let me tell you that throughout the years I've tried many natural deodorants, some worked for a few months or years, but with time I kept feeling like it wasn't the best. When that happened my mom would go ahead and research more and more just to find solutions, and would find a new one to try. 

Research

There are certain reasons why antiperspirant deodorants are harmful to your body. 

• Antiperspirants use aluminum-based ingredients to block sweat and close your pores, however natural deodorants don't really close your pores they just reduce your sweat and sometimes use scents to enhance smell. 

• Studies have also shown that sweat is odorless, but the bacteria in our skin creates the smell, and antiperspirant deodorants tend to create build up in your armpits which will most likely lead to higher amounts of bacteria, because you are not letting your body expel sweat as it naturally should by blocking your pores. 

• Some scientific research has been found that women with breast cancer have high aluminum lelvels, however this has not been connected to antiperspirants but it is something to take into consideration.

• There is no scientific research that fully proves that the aluminum components of antiperspirants are harmful to the body, however it is proven that these components are used to block your pores by limiting perspiration which is achieved by plugging the glands that secret sweat. Typical ignorant logic "if you don't sweat, you don't smell". However, people wear deodorant daily apporximately blocking the glands 12-24 hours daily. After many years of this constant process, it can even block our body's natural sweat cycle, which obstructs the glands function and your body's ability to regulate body temperature through sweating.

KEEP IN MIND

If you have used commercial antiperspirant deodorants throughout your life, it will take time for your body to adjust when you change to using a natural deodorant. This does mean that for a few weeks or even months, this honestly depends on the person, you will suffer with certain bad smell or having to apply deodorant many times a day. However, this happens because commercial antiperspirant deodorants have aluminium-based components that close your pores to stop sweat. On the other hand, natural deodorants don't close pores, but instead control your sweat. If after a lot of time of trying to change to natural deodorant doesn't work try other brands or forms, remember every body adjusts differently.

TIPS (from antiperspirants to natural)

1. Keep a good hygiene, constantly take showers, use perfume, and wear lotion.

2. Stay Hydrated, water is your best friend, not only is it a need for your body but it helps when detoxing, the more water you drink the more you'll go to the bathroom and this is your body's natural way of getting rid of waste and toxins.

3. Have patience, remember your body is not used to this and it's a whole process inside your body for it to get used to. Also, the more time you've used antiperspirants the more build up of toxins and bacteria that your body will have to get rid off.

Trial & Error

So when I first started using deodorant my pediatrist provided the solution of mixing cornstarch and baking soda. This made applying it a bit hard because it was a powder, and you have to add water to the area you are applying the deodorant in order for the powder to adhere. However, it was a real good natural deodorant it never failed. I could do my day to day kid activites, go to school, do sports, etc. and I never suffered from bad OD.

However, my mom came across this other method, so we also tried Philipps Milk of Magnesia. This has a very weird consistency since sometimes it gets settled at the bottom, so make sure to shake eat before each use. Or sometimes it works to leave the bottle open or in a cup, with time you learn to deal with the consistency until it works for you best. Overall, since it is a liquid you shake the bottle and you just apply it with two fingers to the area, and let it dry before putting on any clothing. I also had great results with this, and didn't suffer from bad OD. Honestly at the time I preferred this over the cornstarch and baking soda because it was more practical to carry around and to apply.