I decided to start this thread because it's really rude to hijack someone else's thread. I'm sorry Marie. However, I must also thank you. You got a great thread started and that in turn got my wheels spinning. So, if you're just joining in, please read mzimm's thread here:
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=59818
I have discovered that babassu oil works much better than coconut oil at deodorizing the pits. On Monday, (7/25) I concocted a "pit detox" (something I had never heard of until I read the thread) made with bentonite clay and water. Since I added too much water, I had to add some kaolin clay to thicken it up a bit. I put that on my armpits for about 30 minutes. It was too long. I didn't mean to leave it that long, but I was doing laundry and watching Netflix. Oh, well. I rinsed it off with a warm wash cloth, dried well and put a little powder on there to make sure any residual moisture was absorbed.
I haven't used deodorant since then. I just shower, dry off really well, and put a little powder on to make sure any residual moisture gets absorbed. This has actually worked well for me. And I am shocked because (if you read mzimm's thread) I stink. Seriously. Bad. Thursday night when I went to bed (I think it was Thursday, they're all a blur) I didn't have the a/c set to 72, it was on 80 and I was sweating all night. I woke up stinking. After my shower, I was fine. And I was good all day: however, I did notice that my shirt smelled bad. The armpits of the t-shirt I was wearing absorbed the sweat (and therefore the funk); but when I smelled my skin, there was no funky odor. Just the shirt was funky. So, basically, the detox worked. As long as the sweat (and therefore the bacteria) are not on my body, I don't stink (badly).
I don't want to use an antiperspirant again. I don't mind sweating. It's the stinking that I mind. Besides, my antiperspirant wasn't doing that great of a job in the first place, ya dig? The antiperspirant is made to plug up the stink glands (uh, sweat glands) under your arms so you don't sweat and feed the bacteria. It's the bacteria that make you stink, their waste products, actually (I think). So, kill the bacteria and you kill the stink. Which leads me to today's experiment.
I was hoping to stink, so I left the a/c on 86 last night and sweated my butt off. I also had Max in bed with me as well as Chase and Ivy. Max usually sleeps in his crate, so Friday & Saturday nights he gets a break and I get no sleep. I have 67 pounds of Max on one side of me and 52 pounds of Ivy on the other side of me. Sweat city. PERFECT!! Boy did my pits make my eyes water today. I didn't even have to lift my arms high to catch a whiff. Can you say, "Gag a maggot."
I grabbed a sliver of babassu oil out of the fridge and melted it in my palm. That was taking too long so I just rubbed it onto my left armpit. The oil absorbed quickly and the stench disappeared within a minute or two of application of the oil. Impressive!!
I grabbed the jar of (melted) coconut oil and dipped a clean (very important!) finger into it and rubbed it onto my right armpit, trying not to gag. The oil did not absorb well and my finger stunk. (TMI?) The thing is, 5 minutes later, I grabbed the jar and dipped four (clean!!) fingers into it and tried again. This time I rubbed the oil into my skin for a longer amount of time. The oil did not absorb well into the skin and 15 minutes later I got the babassu oil and rubbed it onto my right armpit.
My left armpit is not greasy or oily and does not have a strong odor. There is a slight odor, but it is not detectable unless I really stick my nose in there. I would definitely go out in public and not be bothered at all. I'm confident not one could smell me but me. (And I've got to stick my face in my pit.)
My right armpit still stinks. It's not quite as bad as it was before; but it is bad enough that I would not be comfortable going out in public. It's probably not so bad that people would confuse me for being a hippie or homeless, but I'd be self-conscience about it. Mind you, this is even though I used significantly more coconut oil on it compared to the babassu on the left AND actually used babassu as well. I think the babassu was not able to penetrate through the coconut oil to get to the bacteria causing the odor. I'm going to go wipe all of the oil off of my armpit with a dry paper towel and try the babassu again.
So, although it is in no way scientific, I believe babassu oil is definitely the best oil to use for a deodorant. It certainly proved this morning it has antimicrobial activity. It absorbs well into my skin and is not at all greasy. I don't even think that I'll need to add arrowroot or cornstarch to this if I made it into a stick deodorant.
What I am going to do is use plain babassu oil as a deodorant on one armpit for the coming week and just powder the other (as I've done since Tuesday morning). I'll see how the babassu compares to the powder. The powder I've been using is the Dollar General version of Shower to Shower deodorant powder. I've been using that for years after my shower, especially in the summer when it's so humid.
