Enter: Tomato Juice

My Deodorant Method – At a Glance

• Tomato Juice: Drink one glass every day for a week, then switch to an every-other-day maintenance dose
• Lemon Juice: Apply to underarms nightly
• Baking Soda/Corn Starch: Create a powder deodorant using one part baking soda (alteration: two parts) to three parts corn starch; apply as needed
• Fragrance: Put a sweet-smelling tea bag in your powder deodorant container

Let’s get real for a minute, folks: I sweat.  Now, I’m only in my twenties, but I’ve always been a hearty sweater.  I’ve learned there is nothing worthwhile in the deodorant aisle unless it says “prescription strength.”  Fortunately, I’ve never suffered, along with the sweating, any odor issues that couldn’t be trounced by a few enthusiastic swipes of a delightfully scented deodorant (one issue at a time – clearly, He is a merciful God). 

When it comes to controlling sweat, I’ve tried almost everything: sprays, solids, roll-ons, antiperspirants, prescription strength, doctor recommended, invisible, ultimate, fresh, energizing – you name it, I probably have it in a sorry pile of “don’t buy this again.”

Then I finally discovered doctor recommended, prescription strength, 72-hour protection, stops even excessive perspiration Certain Dri .  For $4.96, you can buy a bottle of this stuff at WalMart and go home to rejoice in dryness.  With 12% aluminum chloride, it will dry out your pits like the Sahara.  Also in my store of sweat fighters is ban.  Packed with 19% aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly, it’s a heavyweight – it works like a champ and smells like a peach.  And when my underarms beg for mercy, I rehydrate and refresh with the 14.8% aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly of Dove.

But – and you knew there was a “but” coming – I recently found out from my good friend Dr. Mercola, how harmful  these aluminum byproducts might be, perhaps contributing to cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Enter tomato juice.  Tomato juice is the first home remedy I found that eventually kicked off all of this natural craziness.  Determined to find a remedy for sweating (that wouldn’t compromise my health), I turned to the internet and found that tomato juice is an often recommended perspiration fighter (and then I thought: “Why don’t I make all of my own beauty products?”  A natural progression, I find).  The catch – it’s an oral remedy.  Most instructions I’ve seen advise the user to drink one glass every day for a week and then switch to an every-other-day maintenance dose.

To get a head start on this, I began my first week on Saturday March 3, and I’ve just downshifted to every-other-day.  I did have some difficulty administering the tomato juice at first, but after a week I must say that it has pleasantly improved.  Here’s a tip I learned the hard way: DILUTE IT!  (And add some ice, pepper and Old Bay, and it tastes something like cold Maryland crab soup meets a non-alcoholic Bloody Mary).  All-in-all, it’s an acquired taste, but it is definitely possible to acquire it!!  So far, I’m happy with the results, but keep in mind that I had not yet given up traditional deodorants until today, so I will save further evaluation until my underarms have been all-natural for a few days.

As another maintenance product, I’m using lemon juice, applied to the underarms each night (or as-needed).  I started this yesterday – before bed, I applied a small amount of lemon juice to my underarms.  I allowed it to dry and did not wash it off in the hopes that it could contribute to a fresh scent!  I am, however, avoiding this application after shaving, because lemon juice will sting skin abrasions.

For my daily deodorant/antiperspirant, I’m using a baking soda and corn starch powder.  For my own recipe, I’m mixing one part baking soda with three parts corn starch and adding a bag of my favorite tea as a potential fragrance.  If all goes according to plan, baking soda will act as the natural deodorizer, and corn starch will act as an absorbent.

I’ve heard that it can take some time (after years of chemicals) for your armpits to decide that nature agrees with them.  So for now, stand back: my pits are thinking.