There have been many times in my life where I’ve considered giving up aluminum deodorant. From rumors that it causes cancer, to the overall feeling that it’s bad for my health, nothing has fully gotten me to the place where I’d stop using it for good. That is, until recently, when I saw that it was locked behind one of those glass cases at CVS.
The idea of having to press that little button to call for an attendant just to grab a deodorant for me was too much for me to handle, so I put my aluminum deodorant usage to a stop right then and there. Having to interact with an employee at CVS did what the looming threat of cancer never could: get me to change my ways.
Not using aluminum deodorant has been such an amazing change for me. I know what most of you must be wondering: How has your aluminum-free deodorant been treating you? And to that I say: I haven’t been using aluminum-free deodorant either, as that is also in the glass case at CVS right next to the aluminum deodorant.
But have no fear – I haven’t been running around with raw armpits since making my “no aluminum deodorant” resolution. At least, not for longer than two months. No, I have recently taken to slathering my armpits in a very pungent, very sticky homemade salve that I managed to whip up while in the throes of my deodorant crisis.
It is – in a word – intense.
I would say its main benefit is that it’s not locked behind a glass case at CVS. It is accessible to me without the facilitation of a CVS-employee middleman and, for better or worse, that’s all that really matters to me.
While for now, my armpits are inflamed and have developed what can only be described as “poppables” – I have no plans to return to regular deodorant – aluminum or non-aluminum – anytime soon.
Have friends and family alike approached me because they “smell something burning”? Yes! Does that mean I should give up my homemade combination of grass, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and a special secret ingredient that has only ever been approved for household cleaning purposes? No! I’m still too scared of having an in-person conversation with somebody in the personal hygiene aisle of a CVS. Not smelling like burning flesh could never be worth that type of agony.
