I sweat a lot.
Puberty did a real doozy on me and in the seventh grade I became a champion sweater (no, not the cute threads you find at Goodwill, either).
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Needless to say, I experimented with countless teen and women's deodorants. I dabbled in antiperspirants. I thought I'd tried every brand when suddenly it occurred to me: I'd never tried men's deodorant.
What I found out subsequently shocked me: not only was men's deodorant and antiperspirant more effective in keeping my underarms tamed, but it was cheaper! Maybe you've heard of the pink tax? Well, yeah, it's a thing.
All this to say I used Old Spice for the remainder of my teenage years and even a few years into college, and it served me well (or so I thought). As it turns out, aluminum is used in antiperspirants to keep the sweat at bay, and these commercial deodorants contained parabens and a host of other toxic ingredients I didn't care to subject my body to any longer.
But what to do? Sweat it out to the oldies and go au naturale?
I experimented with a few natural brands, free of aluminum and all the junk in the other brands I used to buy. The first natural brand I used smelled fantastic, but it didn't really work. Plus, it irritated my pits. Then, I decided to use plain coconut oil (it works for everything, right?). Not quite. The oil stained some of my clothes.
Finally, I found another natural brand that actually worked. The ingredient label didn't give me anxiety and it smelled lovely and only had to be reapplied minimally. The only problem was that the price was not right.
I was paying nearly double what I used to pay for deodorant, and while I typically don't mind paying a little extra for a healthier product, the expense didn't really seem sustainable.
By the Grace of God though, a couple weeks ago I came across a post on Facebook that claimed Milk of Magnesia could successfully serve as a deodorant and keep your pits dry and stink-free.
Milk of Magnesia is that blue bottle you'll find in the over-the-counter section in any pharmacy -- it's typically used as a laxative and taken internally.
I've never used it for its expressed purpose (although surely it works for that, too), but what I discovered was that random Facebook was right -- it makes an awesome deodorant and it's a fraction of what I was paying for before.
A bottle of Milk of Magnesia is $1-something. You pour about a quarter-sized amount into your hand and rub it on your underarms. So the bottle will really last you awhile.
It'll be cold and wet, just give it a minute to dry before you put a shirt on. I haven't noticed any stains on my clothing or chalkiness either.
Every body is different, but I have not had to reapply once during the entire day. I've even been checking myself for odor and miraculously have not smelled a thing.
When I was at the local health food store, an employee told me she struggled with oily skin on her face, and using Milk of Magnesia as a primer has kept her face from getting shiny throughout the day, as well.
With so many uses, I'm a little upset it took me this long to discover this ridiculously affordable product.
The price tag isn't the only thing to pay attention to when picking out a bottle though: make sure you're buying a brand that does not contain an inactive ingredient called sodium hypochlorite (which is actually bleach).
The active ingredient should only be magnesium hydroxide, and the kind I bought has purified water as its only inactive ingredient.
Once you find a clean brand, have at it and get your natural remedy on. Slather that stuff on your pits and don't spend another dime on deodorant sticks again.
You're welcome.
