I remember when I first realized I needed to “go natural” a number of years ago.

Since deodorant is known to cause cancer (this isn’t speculation folks, this is fact), I just couldn’t keep putting it on my body–but going without deodorant altogether just wasn’t an option. (Fine for anyone who wants to, but for me personally, ew! I don’t wanna smell myself!!)

So, like any budding natural deodorant wearer (haha), I went through countless brands trying to find one that worked. To be perfectly honest, none of them did!

Finally, I found a winner, i.e. one that ACTUALLY WORKED!, and it wasn’t what I would have expected. It was simply a hunk of mineral salt. It came in a little velvet bag and all you did was wet it with water to apply.

Now the thing is, it wasn’t an antiperspirant, it just combated the odor, so yes– I did sweat, sometimes a lot.

Did this bother me? Yeah, of course. I didn’t stink, so that was good, but who wants wet underarms? I decided to just deal with it and think of the whole process as a major detox.

Because how unnatural is it for us to put materials like heavy metals and chemicals on our skin to keep us from sweating? Literally clogging us up, not allowing the body to expel what it needs to. And keeping yourself clogged up for many years? It seems only natural the flood gates would be open once you stop the antiperspirant. Your body can finally breathe!

And I can say, now after many years of wearing only the salt stick, I sweat waay less, as I believe over the months and eventually years that passed my body was able to re-regulate itself, swing back to normal, after so many years of me messing with its natural rhythm.

It may sound dramatic, but I believe that switching from commercial deodorant/antiperspirant to the salt stick was one of the best things I could do for my health & appearance. Because if our body isn’t allowed to expel what it needs to and regulate itself accordingly, in a natural way, all those trapped toxins will end up somewhere else where we really don’t want them, like a pimple on your face or (god-forbid) a tumor on your insides.

Another little perk of the salt stick is that it last years (unless you drop it! which I have many times and end up using just little shards!), so it’s nice to be able to cross deodorant off your grocery list for what feels like indefinitely!

Other perks: -no white marks on your clothes! -easy to travel with –no strong/artificial fragrance –fun velvet bag! -minimal packaging (more environmentally friendly, because less plastic)

(Note: There are many brands, but in case you’re wondering, I personally use Lafe’s Natural & Organic Deodorant Crystal Stone. You can most likely find various brands of salt stone deodorants at your local co-op or natural foods store, but if that doesn’t exist in your area you can order one online.)

I’m curious: what are your thoughts on antiperspirant? Do you use natural deodorant too? Why or why not? Leave a comment below!