Source: Kopari Beauty / Kopari Beauty
Somewhere around my thirtieth birthday, a light switch went off and I suddenly became much more aware of what I was putting on and into my body. As my preoccupation with labels grew, I began to gradually swap out many of my favorite beauty and household cleaning products for natural, non-toxic alternatives. Among the items that were phased out was my antiperspirant deodorant.
Since high school, I’ve been hearing about antiperspirants, their inclusion of aluminum, and the potential link to breast cancer. However, as someone who during puberty acquired an underarm odor that was so strong I could compete with grown men after a long day of manual labor, I never thought that I was a candidate for a natural deodorant. I was highly upset that I couldn’t wear Teen Spirit and the other cute little starter deodorants designed for preteens. Instead, I was swiftly escorted to the stuff that was strong enough for a man but made for a woman.
Putting the trauma of my teen pits in the past, I decided to test out Coco Deo by Kopari. This brand uses coconut oil as the base for its deo because it’s naturally anti-bacterial and can therefore protect against odor-causing bacteria. I’m finding that I can pretty much apply the product once a day without worrying about it wearing off or leaving me smelling musty. Nighttime, however, is a bit of a different story. It’s likely that I sweat a lot while sleeping because when I wake up, my armpits give off a slight odor. It’s nothing like that strong must that I experienced in my preteens, but it’s definitely noticeable if I sniff my underarms. However, once I shower and reapply Kopari, the smell is gone.
So far, I’ve been using Kopari for close to a month and I haven’t felt the need to go back to antiperspirants or traditional deodorants. I typically experience some pretty painful underarm boils during and around menstruation and I was really impressed that I didn’t have that problem this month. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that my new natural deodorant has something to do with it. One downside that I have noticed, however, is that somewhere around week three, I began to experience some slight irritation and very mild peeling of the skin under my arms. According to my research, this is a fairly common occurrence for people who transition from an antiperspirant to natural deodorant. Dermatologists say that there is a transition period during which your body detoxes itself of all of the chemicals that you’ve been putting into it over the years by way of antiperspirants or traditional deodorants. The irritation hasn’t been particularly bothersome and I’ve been able to soothe it with rose water spray at night. Since the transition period is typically three-four months, I should be out of the woods soon and close to being a full natural deodorant convert.
Have you transitioned to natural deodorant?
