Ahhhh... the smell of parole boards and gang showers.
I just read that 1 of 3 personal hygiene products contain carcinogens and that antiperspirant contains aluminum salts that are linked to the development of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Most people don’t realize that antiperspirant is classified as a drug by the FDA, and it appears fighting nasty BO is now slowly killing us.
Deodorants were first marketed in the 1940′s to solve a problem humans have had for about 2 million years — we stink when we sweat. Of course, we didn’t realize we stunk until “they” convinced us, thereby solving a problem that really didn’t need solving. I don’t need to explain the industry standard because you already know it — palm sized sticks of something-or-rather encased in plastic that shoot up when you twist the bottom thingy.
Humans have been religiously applying carcinogenic dust and trace-element-laced salts to our bodies to the tune of $11 billion per year for a generation now with sales of cosmetics experiencing another growth period. As the American population ages, the demand for anti-aging gels and lotions correspondingly rises along with the average price per product. These are powerful products with bold promises that, from what I can tell, don’t do shit.
I like wrinkly faces and weather-worn hands. I like gray hair. While I’m not a huge fan of pit smell, it’s not so bad as to warrant trashing a whole bunch of resources. I mean, just wash up every now and again, and we’re cool.
Which reminds me of an old joke… “How do you hide money from a hippie?”
“Put it under the soap.”
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey, I resemble that remark! No, actually on most summer days I shower using Ivory Soap, no anti-microbials or perfumes. In winter it’s hairy parts only to prevent dry skin. I can get away with using deodorant not antiperspirant, and I wouldn’t even use that if my wife didn’t make me. Sweat is a natural healthy process, why try to clog that up? Maybe some people feel they need to hide the fact that they are sweating due to the stress of living a lie of some sort!
Every few weeks I get the clippers and buzz the grey whiskers down to nubs. I had a full beard for a few years, up til last Daylight Shavings Time. I’ll shave for special occaisions, such as taking my wife to be evaluated for disability benefits or my mom coming in town for a visit. On the hair I use Mane & Tail, same as the dog. A little spoot of buck-a-bottle VO5 conditioner to detangle (I also use it as shaving cream) and I’m good to go. No dryers, no sprays, no scents (my Dad always said I ain’t got no scents). Also no brushes, no combs (just fingers) and I just trim the ends myself every few months. I cut my wife’s hair too, following her direction. Like Tommy said, we don’t need to blow our resources.
Teeth are different, that’s a health issue. Gotta have my daily floss. Not picky about toothpaste but I use a Braun electric toothbrush I bought back when I was employed. It’s also shared by my wife & son, each with our own brush head. Kroger brand brush heads are a better bargain than Braun/OralB.
Good topic, Tommy! Everybody unplug from that marketing matrix!
I just know that people who just shower, but never put deodorant on stink later in the day. They think they don’t, but they do. You’d have to shower two to three times a day not to. It’s disgusting being around people like that. If your average deodorant is really bad for you (gee, what isn’t?) I’m sure there are healthier alternatives out there. This is the first time I’ve ever heard this. I’ve heard sunscreen is bad too. Sunburns and sun-related skin cancers are worse. I’ll take my chances. Just being alive is unhealthy. We are all dying.
Part of the problem with odor is the change in food. Too much meat makes you stink. Mineral imbalances can also encourage the bacteria to grow that make the smells. A little research will find some alternatives that don’t work as well as the chemical cocktails, but are better for you. Another thing to notice is that the new antiperspirants are different formulas: what they use now used to be prescription-only for excessive sweating. Search “anti-perspirant herbal”. Nothing wrong with a tool that improves society, just that it should be safe and locally mfg so the money circulates in the community. Making it legally a drug takes it out of the local. That’s one of the problems with the current economy: the money is always ‘going away’ and accumulating in some sink hole, rather than working locally for some time before leaving town. Your labors should benefit people you know, and that doesn’t happen when you buy what’s on cable TV (“nationally advertised brands”).
Oh, and most people probably have an imbalanced thyroid gland (again, due to diet and mineral imbalances), which will also interfere with proper functions such as metabolism and perspiration. Modern wheat varieties are much higher in gluten content, also, causing digestion and even allergic reactions (in some)which wreak havoc on the body that we just accept as part of ‘getting older’, or having ‘sensitive stomach’.
…just food for thought.
Oh, and don’t forget the individual aspect of these chemicals. Some genetics don’t play well with various metals and compounds. Meanwhile, the perfume experts spend a lot of money creating new chemical reactions with the different body types, yet the FDA only treats us as one ‘human’.
Dan
You can make your own deodorant out of baking soda and coconut oil. I haven’t tried it, but supposedly it works and doesn’t sound too complicated. Recipe here (in the comments section):
http://www.grist.org/article/scents-and-sensibility/
Dan is correct: eating lots of red meat and dairy make us smell bad. The Chinese even have a word for it, something along the lines of “dirty pig smell”. (You have to know a Chinese person very well to get this kind of thing revealed to a Big Nose). Asians report that when they start eating beef and cheese, they start smelling bad, too.
Stress makes us smell more too, and we live in a very stressful society. Now wonder we smell bad.
Imagine the extra chemical impact on women who apply these chemicals to freshly shaved armpits (and bikini lines)! Don’t get me started on this shaving, chemical hair removal, and waxing business (a natural alternative if you must be hair free). We’ll know for sure that the Great Transition is well underway when we see more women being their Natural sleves again.
I admit that I shave. We have a boat and I wakeboard, so we have friends on-board frequently (don’t want to offend anyone ya know). Yet I could hide my Natural self under my rashguard(by the way, a rashguard has a high SPF and is the best sunscreen protection you can get) – thanks to this post I now have a new secret quest! Years ago I gave up on the bikini area removel as it was painful (waxing) and nasty (chemical removal) – just switched to board shorts and slightly more modest bottoms.
I stopped the chemical infusion across several fronts – deodorants, haircare producrts, cosmetics, mouthwash, toothpaste, and sunscreens. There are natural alternatives in each of these categories that work far better without the risk. Prices on these products have come down in recent years. READ THE LABELS. Tommy we need to add this to the 50 list as most folks could unplug from the chemical matrix with awareness.
Dan and Charles are correct – what we eat matters. What we drink matters. Fresh filtered tap water is fine, so drink up. It helps purify the body.
In addition, hormones also impact how we smell. A woman’s body changes with her cycle and with menopause (men have menopause too, and their body odor indicates this change). Sadly, we’ve lost our tolerance for our Natural selves.
Yeah, stress. Thanks, Charles. Nothin’ like the smell of a couple of dozen marines on a high protein diet going into battle while half are probably going through a divorce.
“We’re on the express elevator to HELL! goin’ DOWN!!” -Pvt Hudson, “Aliens”
“Is it just me, or is it getting warm in here?” -Jack Burton, “Big Trouble in Little China
Murray,
My guess is that you’ve been trained to think it smells disgusting just like the rest of us. There are certain smells that are very useful to avoid, but BO at the end of the day poses no real threat.
It’s true we’re all dying but why exactly would you want to coat your body with a substance that speeds up the process — and pay a premium to do it? This makes no sense to me.
Tommy, I linked to your post on dumpster diving A/C units today–hopefully you get a spike in traffic.
“Nutritional value of fruits, veggies is dwindling
Chemicals that speed growth may impair ability to absorb soil’s nutrients”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37396355/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/
When the plants are impaired, so are the down-line animals that eat those plants, and the animals that eat those animals…etc.
Susan,
I just moved “50 item checklist” over to its own page as a wiki editable page. Try it out and tell me if it’s working right… then — let it rip or spread it around. There’s got to be way more than 50 items.
Charles,
Thanks! I dropped some comments on Dailyjava, and I especially liked today’s post on Homeland Security.
I ask the people at work all the time (they’re all younger than me and I’m not old) “How did the human race ever manage to get along without all these things?”
Blank stares is all I ever get.
The Story of Cosmetics (from Annie Leonard):
at Huffington Post:
http://tinyurl.com/36vgzhn
at Youtube directly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfq000AF1i8&feature=player_embedded
Tommy,
Stink stinks. Sure, it’s not really hurting anything, but why endure it if you don’t have to? Why did humans ever try to cover up their b.o. in the first place? Because it stinks, and they have the ability to control it. I’m not conditioned. I’ve never liked things that stink. The very first times I visited an outhouse, drove by a stock yard, walked by a lawn fertilized with manure, drove by a rendering plant, walked into a bathroom someone just shit in, had cigarette smoke blown into my face, it made me cringe. Anyway, like I said, there probably are healthier alternatives to deodorant that still involve putting something on your pits. My point about dying is that I’m tired of hearing about new things every day that are bad for me. It gets tiring and expensive to keep changing my lifestyle to accommodate this constant stream of negative publicity.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to know, but there comes a point when you have to spend more time living than adjusting. No one is going to convince me that a more enlightened society has to be a smellier one. I’m sure we’re smart enough to control our b.o. without depleting our health.
I’ve said for years that if you ate nothing but corn you would have a shortened life.
Murray,
As a man who has smelled like lilacs since Styx recorded, “Pieces of Eight” I’m not sure what you mean.
I’m going to go eat a steer, drink a beer, and stress about dying.
This shall forever be known as “The Great BO Debate of 2010.”
Not all stink is equal either. I’ve met some men & woman that have pretty awesome ‘stink’ – and some that make my eyes water, gasp for air, and seek lower ground downwind.
I have sensitive skin… and I stink. Here’s what I do…
-Shave my arm pits. Yup, not very masculine, but then again I’m uber fat so it’s not like I’m lounging around in a wife beater anyway.
-I use all natural, 100% biodegradable, free trade forever, not ever animal tested Castile Soap (thank you Dr.Bronner).
-I use Tom’s of Maine (ya, I know, Proctor & Gamble bought them out a while ago) Lemon Grass deodorant. At the end of the day, if I’ve been sweating and I lift my arm and stick my nose there – ya I smell me, but other than that I have no problems.
An amazing story about the crap chemicals & metals we pump into our body. My Aunt was having serious nervous system issues in early 1998. She went to the doctor, several tests, etc. and she was diagnosed with MS. Before taking the meds they were suggesting, she thought she would try this wholistic place that did “blood dark fielding” (or something like that) that basically does blood analysis.
They found huge amounts of metals in her blood. The woman told my Aunt, “You’re going to have to change your life, permanently, but if you do you won’t have to take those MS meds and watch your condition worsen.”
My Aunt followed her directions and changed her diet, and got rid of all of her household chemicals and hygiene products – cleaners, detergents, toothpaste, mouth wash, anti-persperants, shampoos, etc. She switched to all natural products.
That was 12 years ago, and when I see her (about twice a year) I always wonder how F’d up she’d be if she had taken the MS meds and continued to pump those metals/chemicals in her body.
My friend has MS. I know it can show up and vanish at any time, so maybe my Aunt just got lucky, temporarily… but I still wonder how healthy/happy she’d be if she had taken the meds.