Little Update: Deodorants

Many moons ago I decided to go antiperspirant free, and blogged about how terrible many of the deodorants that I tried were. (I did finally find one that seemed to work for me.) In the months between then and now, I have come to a conclusion. I believe that when you are switching from using an antiperspirant to not using one, any deodorant you use is going to suck. The reason for my thinking is this: When I was trying out deodorants I purchased several types, and being the frugal person that I am, I did not throw any of them away when they didn't seem to work. Since that time, I have had occasion to use several of them (grabbed the wrong stick, wanted a different scent, whatever) and they now seem to work at least as well as the one I hailed as the winner all those months ago. They didn't work then, but they work fine now. I found this curious. I believe that those first several weeks, even months, after quitting antiperspirants, your pits are going to be overly stinky because your body is finally able to excrete toxins and waste products that it has been forced to hold in for years. I imagine this is bound to be a chemically volatile process because, after all, we have been suppressing a natural bodily function in the name of vanity for most of our lives. It just can't be good. After a few months of allowing the body to sweat at will, though, eventually the buildup is gone and we begin to sweat just plain old regular sweat. At that point, the choice of deodorant becomes easier to make and we can better see what products will work best for us. So although I still stand by my first product recommendation, I freely admit that there are likely many others that will work equally well. You just gotta give them a fair chance by not passing judgment for a few months at least.