everywhere you turn these days, there’s another article about how whatever generic beauty product you’re using is basically killing you (softly). your shampoo has sulfates, your makeup has parabens, and in this case, your deodorant has aluminum. which, in some cases, can lead to a greater risk of getting cancer. so in an effort of being more mindful of what i put into, or onto my body, i ditched my stick of dove deodorant and began employing crystal essence. which, at only $3.99, was an economic way of venturing into the hippie dippie world where “strong enough for a man, but made for a woman” is no longer a way of life.
i first tried the roll-on (in a lovely “pomegranate” scent) on saturday morning, before heading off to the studio for four hours (i take the 8 a.m. class, then teach the 9:35 and 10:45 classes). perhaps that was my issue right there -i was already asking a lot of it to keep me dry through all of my workouts. about halfway through my second class, as i lifted my arm to demonstrate a piece of choreography, i got a whiff of my own stank. oh em gee. i shut my arms to my sides immediately, praying i had trapped my odor before it had the chance to tickle the nose my fellow tuckers. perhaps the whole natural deodorant route wasn’t made for yours truly. while i could be lessening my risks of getting cancer, it might be at the expense of my clients, family, and friends. because let’s be honest, no one likes a stinky friend.
but never one to give up that easily, after returning from the studio in the afternoon, i showered and decided to give crystal essence another shot. clearly my body hadn’t quite acclimated itself to the new formula, so if i gave it another opportunity to adapt, fingers crossed it would do its job this time. for good measure, i actually ended up rolling on not one but two coats of the clear-coated gel. i held my arms out like a scarecrow to allow it to properly dry as i finished up getting ready for S and my dinner out with friends.
about halfway through our meal, i snuck a sniff of my underarm beneath my navy cotton sweater. to my pleasant surprise, i was still fresh as a daisy (or as a pomergranate). so that was the trick, two coats. because apparently my body is an overachiever.
anyway, this post is both a means of sharing a funny/slightly embarrassing story from the weekend as well as tell you that if you’d like to jump aboard the non-aluminum deodorant train, i endorse crystal essence, which i found at my local sprouts store. a bit of research around the interwebs also turned out a few other suggestions for natural deodorants, some i might eventually test for myself.
image via: free people blog
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