Natural Deodorants to Avoid Contact Dermatitis

Natural Deodorants to Avoid Contact Dermatitis
Page content

Some skin-irritating ingredients can include parabens, alcohol and aluminum, which is capable of causing rash, skin irritation and contact dermatitis. Traditional deodorants contain ingredients that actually prevent perspiration from leaving your skin’s pores. These ingredients react with the protein molecules in your perspiration in such a way that they swell and form a gel on your skin. The molecules in this gel must be tiny enough that they physically enter your skin’s pores so they block them and keep the sweat from leaving your body.

Natural Deodorants Vs. Traditional Deodorants

Natural deodorants should be free of ingredients that can cause you to develop skin irritation. An effective organic deodorant will prevent odors, but will not stop you from sweating as traditional deodorants would do.

Your body functions by allowing you to perspire so you maintain good health and a normal body temperature. Sweating also allows you to eliminate toxins and balance the salt levels in your body.

Until your sweat mixes with the bacteria present on your skin, it is odorless. Because people have tried to eliminate odor, deodorant and antiperspirant manufacturers have responded to this desire by creating ever stronger products. These deodorants and antiperspirants have been linked to contact dermatitis and skin irritation resulting from the triclosan and alcohol. Zirconium salts present in deodorant sprays have been linked to reports of lung damage. Instead of using these harsh products, move to natural deodorants to avoid contact dermatitis.

What Ingredients do Natural Deodorants Contain?

Aside from the parabens, aluminum and alcohol, organic deodorants do not contain phthalates or any other synthetic ingredients.

Organic deodorants contain alunite or ammonium alum, or an earth mineral. This mineral is present in small amounts in some of the foods you eat and is thought to be a safe alternative to traditional deodorants.

This mineral is bonded into a molecule that is physically too large to penetrate your skin pores, so it doesn’t block them or cause contact dermatitis, according to Green People.

How Do Natural Deodorants Prevent Contact Dermatitis?

As alum is added to your skin, it behaves like a coagulant and constricts the proteins present on your skin, meaning bacteria already on your skin won’t live. While it does not stop you from sweating, when it is put onto freshly cleaned skin, it is highly effective.

Zinc ricinoleate (zinc salt extracted from seeds of the castor oil plant) fixes the odors that are produced by bacterial decomposition present in sweat so they don’t develop the characteristic smell of sweat. This ingredient also does not prevent you from sweating; nor will it interfere with the natural flora on your skin. Using natural deodorants to avoid contact dermatitis is possible, if you have developed an allergic reaction to traditional deodorants and antiperspirants.

References

[1] https://www.greenpeople.co.uk/organicdeodorants.aspx Green People: Stay Fresh with Green People’s Organic, Natural Deodorants

[2] https://www.greenpeople.co.uk/info_features_deodorants.aspx Green People: Deodorants