A few years ago I had a friend that was interested in wearing natural deodorant.  She made the statement that she has tried many natural deodorants in the past but none of them worked.  I too had that experience so I made a suggestion that she should try our deodorant as it has had many great reviews and it is the only deodorant I’ve used since I created it.

In discussing this issues she was having, I let her know that when switching from unnatural, chemical laden deodorants your body needs to go through a process of detoxing.  What happens when you use most deodorant or antiperspirants that are on the store shelves is that they prevent your body from performing its natural process.  To sweat is natural, it’s your bodies way of releasing toxins and regulating your temperature.  The odor that sometimes accompanies the sweat is definitely unwanted and is your bodies way of telling you that something is off. That odor is bacteria and while it is normally associated with underarms, it can come from other places on your body as well.

The key to allowing your body to function naturally without having “smelly pits” is to prevent the bacteria from growing, not prevent your body from sweating.  In the case of my friend who attempted to wear natural deodorant but didn’t have a good experience, she likely had an overgrowth of bacteria and instead of her body releasing it, it was staying inside her body.  Once she attempted to depart from her normal deodorant her body started detoxing, releasing and purging, the overgrowth of bacteria and unfortunately she wasn’t aware and just assumed the natural deodorant wasn’t working.  Now, just to make a quick disclaimer, all natural deodorants are NOT created equally, meaning they don’t all work even if you have detoxed hence the reason I set out to create my own.

This leads me to another important point.  Our skin regenerates itself about once a month.  What that means is dead skin cells are  accumulating every single month and if you do not remove it, it causes you to have many layers of dead skin.  Not only does dead skin look unhealthy, it is unhealthy. It creates an environment for bacteria to hide and grow as well as build up from any products that you put on your skin.

With that being said, here are a few tips to help keep your skin happy and healthy.

1. Drink lots of water to maintain hydration as well as to help release some toxins when urinating.
2. Detox by using clay masks.  Natural clay has drawing properties which means it draws impurities out of your skin.
   1. My favorite clay for this purpose is bentonite.  I could do a whole post on that alone!  Let’s just say it’s very beneficial!  If you are starting your natural deodorant journey it would be a good idea to do an underarm clay mask to help draw out those toxins prior to using your natural deodorant.
3. Drink chlorella and cilantro as they work wonders to detox and deodorize your body from the inside, in addition to all the other amazing benefits that they offer.
4. Exfoliate to remove the dead layer of skin.  Exfoliation not only allows your healthy new layer of skin to shine through it also increases circulation and improves your blood flow.
   1. Many people use salt or sugar scrubs for this process, just make sure the grains are small or you’ll be removing more than the top layer. 🙂
   2. Use a dry brush to brush your entire body prior to showering.
   3. For feet use a natural pumice stone and enjoy a good old foot soak.
   4. I really like using a little bit of aluminum free baking soda mixed with a bit of soap to gently exfoliate my face.
   5. Luffa sponges are really great to assist in exfoliation while showering.
   6. A number of people like going to the ocean/sea and using the sand and salt water to obtain a combination detox and exfoliation (sea salt draws out impurities and promotes healing).
   7. Papaya contains natural enzymes that are excellent for your skin, mix it with a little coconut milk or mashed avocado which will leave you with a very soft, glowing and extremely happy face
   8. Turmeric and coconut milk are another favorite face mask of mine, if you know me then you know I’m addicted to coconut in any form lol and the turmeric is great for inflammations, acne, blemishes and rashes

Those are just a few goodies from my goodie bag.  Please let me know what other wonderful ways you detox and exfoliate your skin.  Remember your skin is alive and wants to thrive so help it out by paying attention.  When you see changes occurring whether it is an unwanted odor, acne, rash or other your body is trying to communicate that something is going on inside and you need to pay a little more attention to what you are feeding it.