Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Homemade Deodorant Update!

So as promised, here's my review on my homemade deodorant. It's been about a full week since I've used traditional deodorant, relying solely on my homemade deodorant. Instead of posting daily I decided to give you one full week review of my experience using Coco-Almond (The name I gave my deodorant). During the past week I've gotten a lot of support and even some ideas on adjusting this deodorant recipe ("Add some Vitamin E"). Then of course I got the "Girl are you crazy! What black person you know makes their own deodorant?". Either way, before you judge, read my experience and decide for yourself if this is for you.



Day 1 (January 15, 2014)
I applied my Coco-Almond deodorant and went to work at 8:30am. My office is usually hot (my desk is located right next to the heater). At around 12pm I began to feel a damp feeling under my arms (hmmm, this never happens when I use Dove). This feeling continued throughout the day. I finally decided to go to the bathroom, got some paper towel and lightly patted my pits dry. Surprisingly the deodorant was still visible and I didn't stink. Clearly Coco-Almond isn't an antiperspirant (not necessarily a bad thing). Of course I did my research on antiperspirants and here is just some of my findings...
  

"DISADVANTAGES OF ANTIPERSPIRANTS:

As we know that antiperspirants are used for controlling sweat however, there are some side effects which we must be aware of like:
  • Allergic Reactions: Some of the antiperspirants have a tendency of causing skin allergies like itchiness and red skin rashes.
  • Lumps: Some antiperspirants block the pore of the skin and cause bacterial infections for eg. Armpits lumps.
  • Other side effects: There are other similar side effects as deodorants such as: Clothes stains and Breast cancer." - Thanks Google.
With all of that being said, using a deodorant that doesn't contain antiperspirants didn't seem all that bad anymore. The sweating was the only negative, now on to the positives: No staining and no odors (I did the "yawn and smell your pits" test - No funky smell). I did however reapply the deodorant at around 5:30pm which really wasn't necessary but because I was so paranoid about the sweating (which really wasn't that bad) I generously reapplied.

Day 2 (January 16, 2014)
My vacation from work starts today! Yayyyy! I didn't go anywhere so it was more like a Stay-cation. Again I woke up odor free. So to test my Coco-Almond out I did an intense top-to-bottom house cleaning. I scrubbed, mopped, swept, wiped and dusted every inch of my apartment. I even hand  washed some of my clothing (using a homemade stain pre-treatment I'll share in my next blog). After all of that still no odor. Later that night I went out to a lounge with a friend (I didn't reapply). Got home at about 4am and before showering I did the smell test and no odor (although my pits were a little damp).

Day 3 (January 17, 2014)
Laid around the house most of the day then headed to the city. I took my son to see the bubble show (excellent show for kids by the way) and then out to dinner. We purposely parked a couple blocks away from the restaurant and walked. By the end of the night I was not only odor free but sweat free too (I think my body is starting to adjust to the deodorant as well as adjusting the amount of sweat I produce - not too sure how true the last part is).

Day 4 (January 18, 2014)
Laid around my house again (oh the joys of being on vacation). When I finally decided not to be a couch potato anymore I showered, shaved my pits and applied the deodorant. I almost expected to feel a burning or tingling sensation but felt nothing (BIG PLUS!). I got dressed and took my son to Laser Bounce (a place in Long Island, NY that in my opinion is better than Chuck E Cheese. Plus they let adults in the bouncy houses : - ) ). Of course I sweated up a storm chasing after my son, bouncing in the house and again chasing after my son. Although my face sweated, my pits stayed dry! Later that night I went out to a lounge (didn't reapply), came home and was still odor-free and dry. Also, no irritation, red bumps or itchy pits.

Day 5 (January 19, 2014)
Didn't really do much. Laid around then stopped by my mom's house. No odor, no sweat.

Day 6 (January 20, 2014)
Took the train downtown and saw a movie (Frozen - surprisingly I enjoyed it more than my son). The theater was cold and the train was blazing hot. In both placed I remained odor-free although I did sweat a little on the train (I had on a thick North Face jacket, scarf and hat- my whole body was sweating).

Day 7 (January 21, 2014)
Back to work : - (  Confidently applied my Coco-Almond and headed out the door excited (I'm lying) about the work week ahead.... and then I saw the snow. I'm still dry (with the exception of my face and hair that's covered in snow).

Overall Conclusion:
This is something I can see myself using on a regular basis. It's cheaper and safer than store brought deodorants and will last wayyyy longer. It smells nice, went on smooth, lasted practically all day, and didn't stain my clothing like Dove tends to do. It has the same texture as other deodorants and didn't cause any irritation even post shaving. What more can I say, I'm sold! 

Please feel free to email me questions, comments or recipe adjustments: Sociallyarkward@yahoo.com

Until next time......
  

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