Last week, an article titled Armpit Cleanse caught my attention on Mamavation. I have given up traditional deodorant for “natural deodorant” on more than one occasion but the struggle with armpit odor was insurmountable.

I’m a professional. I work in an open space office environment and I don’t want to be labeled the chick with B.O. That really happens to folks. Corporate professionals can be vicious with their jokes.

I’ve read tons of articles on the harmful possibilities of traditional deodorant and I have witnessed it first hand. Both my sister and girl friend developed vicious repugnant cysts beneath their pits that would only go away with surgery or the discontinuance of main stream deodorant. But my well intentioned goal of freeing myself from the allergens, endocrine  disruptors and various carcinogens that are linked to many of the traditional deodorant ingredients has been met with little personal success because of my fear of B.O.



Mamavation’s article inspired me to give it another try with her armpit cleanse instructions, and a modified version WORKED!

DAY 5, DEODORANT FREE & ZERO B.O.

Here is the secret, aluminum free baking soda. Sodium Bicarbonate, baby! I am not even wearing natural deodorant, because most have Propylene Glycol, however this one by Nature’s Gate did not:



Even my husband, who usually has the stinkiest pits because of his major sweat issues, joined me with success. By the end of the day, his manly perfumed deodorant smelled of rancid perfume, especially after a round of basketball. He smelled my pits literally everyday at the end of the work day or a round of playing the the kids outdoors in awe and tried it himself! (Please Note: The husband uses a mix of baking soda and the deodorant pictured above)

My pits are scent neutral because of $1.50 baking soda!

I’m freee! It’s awesome, if you want to join me here is what I do daily:

1.Pick a random day to stop using your current deodorant, use a loofah or wash cloth in the shower of over your sink to remove dead skin and toxins from under your armpit. I used an all natural minty Alaffia Liquid Black Soap for this.

2. Apply aluminum free baking soda to your wet armpits.

3. IF for some reason (I did not) you smell funk emitting from your armpits during the day, wipe them with a wash cloth or paper towel and then re-apply aluminum free baking soda.

Note that Mamavation’s instructions use the baking soda as a cleanse to help natural deodorant work as you transition from traditional deodorant. I use the baking soda as my deodorant replacement. There is also a great homemade deodorant recipe that has baking soda as a base, see here.

My husband uses a mix of baking soda and the only Propylene Glycol free deodorant I could find at the natural food store.

* Update we found out that we are sensitive to pure baking soda and our armpits could not handle the change in pH, we are playing around with a few homemade deodorants!