Ever wanted to know what’s involved in making the switch from a commercial deodorant to one made entirely from natural products?

You might be surprised to know it’s a little more complex than just choosing a natural deodorant and making the switch.  Often our bodies can react suddenly to the change and “freak out”, leaving painful red bumps under our arms, which can then result in people giving up on natural deodorants and returning to the tried and tested commercial brand.

In today’s podcast / blog I’m chatting all things natural deodorant with Erica Brooke from ‘Erica Brooke 100% Natural Skin Care

 

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Erica has a huge passion for natural skincare and green chemistry and is on a mission to help with nasty chemicals from skin care and deodorants.

 

Erica’s natural deodorant creams in particular are gaining a solid reputation in the natural body care space and today we’re chatting about all things deodorant, including:

  • Why more people are making the change to a natural deodorant
  • What causes body odour and why sweating isn’t a bad thing!
  • What nasties you should look out for in commercial deodorants and their impact
  • The key ingredients of natural deodorants
  • Why crystal deodorants won’t always work
  • Why you should consider a pit detox when transitioning from a commercial to natural deodorant, plus how to actually do this!

 

You can follow Erica and view her entire range of natural body products at www.ericabrooke.com.au. Enter discount code HOMEDETOX15 to save 15% off your first order!

 

You can read Erica’s blog on performing a pit detox here.

 

Erica is also a guest expert in my Home Detox Boot camp. Normally interviews like these are just part of the exclusivity of the Home Detox Boot Camp, but I really wanted to share this one today because deodorants are something that all of us are applying to our bodies day in and day out which is why it’s so important to switch to a natural one! I wanted to share Erica’s story and her tips for doing the pit detoxes and also why you should switch to a natural deodorant with everyone! But of course, if you are keen to hear from a lot more of my guest experts on the topic of removing toxins from your home and your life, be it personal body care, cleaning, household, kitchen…everything, head on over to www.homedetoxbootcamp.com  and pop your name on the waiting list so that you’re notified when I open it for next round which is hopefully going to be later in 2016.

 

Interview Transcript: 

LAURA:

Firstly, I’m going to throw it over to you because I know how much all these amazing people in health and wellness and eco businesses love talking about themselves! NOT!!! I’m joking, everyone is always so modest, but I’m going to get you to do the hardest thing first because I’d love to hear just a little bit about you, your business and what started this natural skin care journey for you because there is always a great story behind these amazing businesses!

 

ERICA:

Yes, you’re right! We don’t really like talking about ourselves do we?

 

I’m a Mum; I’ve got two lovely little girls. I grew up in Byron Bay NSW and my Mum was a Massage Therapist so I was exposed to lots of alternative therapies and watching Mum blend essential oils for her massage blends. I’ve got lovely memories of her grinding up oats and almonds for face scrubs so it would have stemmed from there.

 

You know, I did move down to Adelaide and I was living with a girlfriend who is a Beauty Therapist. I was about 21 and we just started learning and reading and figuring out what these ingredients were and without knowing what they were, that they just weren’t necessary and quite scary. Especially her, as a Beauty Therapist, being exposed to that all day long and every day. So we just said, why don’t we start our own? Which didn’t happen then and there, but it sparked that interest. There was so much reading, learning and experimenting and also learning that there weren’t many people doing it and that there were even less people willing to talk about it.

 

Then I moved to Brisbane and I was working in a coffee roast house. My hands just started to become so dry and cracked as I was grinding and making coffee all day long. I made just a humble little hand scrub and it worked really well and my work mates wanted some. It just sort of snow balled.

I also didn’t want to get a real job when I had to go back to work after having my girls. I said, “I’ve got to do this. I’ve got to make it happen!”

 

LAURA:

So I guess Erica Brooke’s Skin Care is just relatively new? Maybe 4 years old?

 

ERICA:

I had launched. I had a different business name years ago and had given it a go, but the timing obviously wasn’t right. So I was making it and doing small trade for close to 10 years. But Erica Brooke’s Skin Care has really only been for the past 3 years!

 

LAURA:

Wow!

So, let’s talk about the big picture. I know that we are on the same page here and obviously with all my Home Detoxer’s as well, everyone is really wanting to get a lot more into natural everything, but especially natural beauty and body products.

 

So why do you believe more people should be heading this way and in particular using a natural deodorant?

 

ERICA:

I just want fewer toxins out there in the world! People need to know that natural works better and natural deodorant does actually work better than the commercial ones!

 

LAURA:

Yes it does! Especially yours!

 

ERICA:

We are supposed to sweat. Sweating is natural. Sweat itself doesn’t smell, so people can get a bit freaked out about that! But that’s just a normal bodily function. If we can teach that to our kids and teens and start teaching them from a really young age, that the younger the better if you start natural! That’s a healthier life from the beginning.

 

So lots of education about nasties in our deodorants. If you are going to stop using any chemical product in your life, a really important one is one that you are putting so close to your lymph nodes. That’s a really great place to start cutting them out!

 

LAURA:

I guess our underarms and obviously our genital area have the most sensitive skin on our body. It absorbs pretty much everything that we out on it.

 

ERICA:

Yes absolutely! If you’re going to start somewhere let it be there!

 

LAURA:

Just on the comment that you made about sweat not smelling, what is it that does smell?

 

ERICA:

It’s the bacteria. Body odour is caused from two things, from sweat and from bacteria. So regular deodorants use aluminum to stop the sweat, but they don’t stop the bacteria. Whereas a natural deodorant stops the bacteria not the sweat and I know what I’d prefer to stop, the bad bacteria.

 

LAURA:

We need to sweat to cool down our bodies.

 

ERICA:

Yes, we’re never going to stop sweating. The difference is that a natural deodorant will stop the bad bacteria but not the good bacteria.

 

LAURA:

That’s interesting because I have noticed, as I’ve been wearing natural deodorants… I was thinking how many have I tried, and it would be well over 10 – 15 different ones in the last few years and making my own ones as well. I have noticed that I do sweat but I don’t smell and I’m a gym goer and quite an active person! It’s interesting, I’ll be wet but I don’t smell… or maybe I just can’t smell myself, you know what I mean.

 

ERICA:

Just as long as you’re not offending anyone. If you are living a healthy lifestyle you’ve got less toxins and you’re eating quite a healthy diet you’re probably not offending anyone.

 

LAURA:

That’s true!

So let’s just talk about some of the nasties in commercial deodorants, we’ve spoken a little bit about aluminum but there are a few others as well. Most of the home de-toxer’s listening are familiar with The Chemical Maze App so they have a habit now of looking up things there or in the Environmental Working Group ‘Skin Deep’ data base too!

 

So just in a nutshell, what are some of these nasties that we should be aware of in commercial deodorants?

 

ERICA:

I spoke about teenagers and kids. So when we think about teenagers using deodorant we think of cans/aerosol cans. Aerosols are just unnecessary for deodorant.

 

Aluminum and all the different aluminum compounds which have different names. You also see one that says Potassium Allumina and that’s typically on the crystal stick deodorant that’s sold in supermarkets and chemists. It’s natural but sometimes these are man made. They can be blended with other types of aluminum so I would just steer clear of supermarket bought crystal sticks and get them from a health food store.

 

Parabens is another one. Parabens aren’t used very often in deodorants anymore and they are really easy to read so your Home De-toxer’s will know that a paraben is a paraben they are clear on ingredient lists.

 

Talc is a really yucky one that gets put into the sprays, like the Dove and Nivea ones. So when people are spraying an armpit full of Dove you are getting a lung full of talc at the same time. So that’s a bit yucky.

 

LAURA:

Is that the white stuff that can be visible after spraying on some of those deodorants?

  

ERICA:

Yes, that would be a combination of different ingredients in there but that can create the white marks. I think talc is just unnecessary so I use organic arrowroot. You know there’s corn starch and clays. Talc is unnecessary.

 

Fragrances. Synthetic fragrances are really yucky and they have the pthalates and the endocrine disrupters and are in all commercial deodorants. So whenever you read the words fragrance or parfum that is a synthetic fragrance. In skin care you have a synthetic fragrance and a natural fragrance. Say if a brand like myself had fragrance on the ingredient list you can pretty much guarantee that it’s a natural fragrance and it is completely different to the synthetic fragrances in deodorants or your plug in air fresheners or your Glen 20’etc…

 

LAURA:

Or back on to those teenager’s and their cans of Impulse. That’s what was in the locker room at school when I was growing up. It stank of it!!! People just sprayed it all over their school uniforms too.

 

ERICA:

And they’d go through a can in a week or something! Yes, totally gross. If you read the word fragrance on a Rexona can, that is a synthetic fragrance. But if you were to read the word fragrance on an organic skin care label 9 times out of 10 it would be a natural fragrance, but worth checking if you wanted to ask them.  I suppose that mineral oil is a petroleum derived product so your mineral oil or your propylene glycol. It’s a natural product too, it comes from the earth but it is completely unsustainable and we are pumping it out faster than the earth is making it. It’s also know to clog your pores so if you are putting that under your arm pits with the aluminum that is just double clogging.

 

LAURA:

I think propylene glycol is known to be quite irritating to the skin too.

 

ERICA:

Yes, probably glycol is a known skin irritant they are yucky, you know!

 

So you are going to get your P.E.G’s and dimetheocone is another one! Which just makes it feel smooth. So they are probably the least that you’d worry about, those last two. Compared to the synthetic fragrances and the parabens. So they are the ones that I’d keep an eye out for.

 

LAURA:

Yeah, just a few you know, just the 1 or 2 J

 

ERICA:

Just the whole ingredient list. Don’t use it J

 

LAURA:

So on the other side of the camp then! Natural deodorants, as I mentioned I’ve tried a few including some of those crystal sticks, which I just found didn’t work for me at all. I live in quite a warm environment and I do go to the gym and things like that and they didn’t hold up. There are some other goods ones out there, but yours has a good reputation and I back that up too, because I found it to be very good. That is what I’ve used all summer here and no other natural deodorant has ever really performed well in the summer on a 46 degree day. So why do you think that yours is performing better than others?

 

ERICA:

It’s the magic!

 

LAURA:

What’s the secret ingredient? You don’t obviously have to give it away. Obviously there are ones that are clay based, there’s some that are crystal sticks… and there’s obviously other bi-carb ones. But yours seems to have a really good mix of the bi-carb and the oil so it’s not gritty when you apply it. But, it’s performing well. So what do you think the secret is?

 

ERICA:

Natural deodorants that contain salt, whether that’s sodium bicarbonate, baking soda or whether that’s Himalayan salt or magnesium. Like I said, they are going to kill the bacteria that is creating the smell. I think mine was just a lovely balance of the shea, coconut, arrow root and baking soda. Mine sort of goes through a long process, so it does take a little time to make it so it’s definitely not rushed. Mine smells beautiful too and I do lots of beautiful scents. Lot’s of people find that any baking soda deodorant will work to kill that odour, but mine has a silky smooth feel to it.

 

 

LAURA:

Yes, yours isn’t gritty at all, so it’s easy to apply.

 

ERICA:

Yes, and that helps.

With the crystal deodorants, I find that they work if you get straight out of the shower and put them on immediately. But if you don’t, or get up late or forget and then you go and put it on, you’ve missed the boat. You’re going to have to wash your armpits and start again. The sodium bicarbonate is the difference between Himalayan or crystal salts.  Sodium Bicarbonate actually destroys odors.

So that’s a nice difference. You can be a bit smelly and then put your deodorant on. It will kill all the odour, so it is very handy.

 

LAURA:

Yes, you can touch up during the day if you need to.

 

ERICA:

Yes, and that’s the thing, there’s nothing wrong with re-applying. I think we try to find products that work all day long but I don’t think that there is anything to worry about if you need to re-apply.

 

LAURA:

Yes, I don’t think that’s realistic to expect a deodorant to last all day where I live! I guess we have listeners all over the world listening to this, but it’s particularly not realistic in a really harsh, hot, climate in Australia. You know in the drier climates too where you are evaporating to keep cooler. Sometimes it’s a bit harder in the humid environments where you just sweat all over.

 

ERICA:

Yes it’s true, well I’m in Brisbane and we are sweating in our sleep during summer and your sweat will sweat off if you are in a really humid environment or if you have gone to the gym. So reapplying isn’t such a big thing.

 

LAURA:

So for those people who are listening who are yet to transition from a commercial deodorant to a natural deodorant, especially a bi-carb deodorant, I realise and appreciate that there’s quite a transitional process or things that we can do to make it a bit smoother. Some people do tend to break out in red bumps under their arms when they have made that switch and I guess get a little bit disheartened and think, “I’m having a reaction to this “ and go back to what they have always known.

 

Are you able to explain why this occurs or do you have some words of wisdom to help people get through this process? Because obviously we want more people using natural deodorant so we just have to get through that little detox period I guess.

 

ERICA:

Yes, it occurs because sodium bicarbonate is a PH level of 9 and our skin is 5.5 so it is vastly different. So if you have been using a regular deodorant for 25 years it’s understandable that some people’s skin might have a little freak out because you are backing up those sweat glands and leaving those toxins inside. So when you allow them to open and flow fully and then you put on the sodium bicarbonate, it’s understandable that some skin might have a little bit of a freak out. So not everyone and that’s the other thing, it doesn’t happen to everyone. Some people can just change over and be totally fine and other people find they do have an issue. I would recommend when you do start using it to drink a lot of water and make sure that you are flushing your system out, the same as with any form of detox.

 

Start off slow, so don’t use loads and never use it before or after shaving because you will expose that really soft, baby fresh skin and that may cause irritations. But give it a go because not everybody is going to react to it. I did write my blog the other day so there are some really good facts and points. If you’re putting these types of deodorant on and you find that you are starting to get a bit of irritation or you are getting a little bit itchy I would say stop and do the detox. Don’t keep applying and see what will happen. I would say stop and do your pit detox. If you are only reacting under one arm then it’s really common to have a fungal infection under your arm. I would go and talk to a Doctor and see if that’s the case and sort that out because you might not be reacting to the sodium bicarbonate, it might be a fungal infection.

 

LAURA:

Well that’s good to know.

 

ERICA:

Yes, and they are really common, far more common than we think. Both myself and my partner both had one and I have spoken to so many people.  It’s not just fungal infections either, staff infections are also really common too. It might not be the sodium bicarbonate it could be an essential oil that doesn’t agree with you. So there are lots of factors worth figuring out.

 

LAURA:

So, talking about the pit detox. I’ll pop the link in below this interview so people can have a read about the pit detox. But just to some it up quickly, would you mind just sharing what is involved in a pit detox?

 

ERICA:

So, it’s really about getting some bentonite clay, which is a really detoxing clay. Adding a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar and some water and making that into a paste and applying that twice a day for 7 – 10 days. After the clay is dry and you wash it off I like to suggest applying hemp seed, black seed or coconut oil. It’s best if you don’t use deodorant during your detox period but, that’s not always possible.

 

LAURA:

So make your switch in winter?

 

ERICA:

Winter is ideal! Use a crystal deodorant, don’t use a sodium bicarbonate deodorant during your detox time and certainly don’t use aluminum deodorant. So that sort of chopping and changing between aluminum and sodium bicarbonate deodorant is just going to slow the process down. So 7 – 10 days, and make sure that you are drinking enough water during the pit detox and try not to shave whilst you are doing it too! Be really gentle.

 

LAURA:

Does that include waxing as well?

 

ERICA:

Well try and time it right. You could wax prior to starting and then you should be fine for 7 – 10 days afterwards. So try and time it right! Be nice and gentle on your pits whilst you’re doing it. Then when you go to reintroduce these deodorants go really slow with them and maybe use them every other day and a really tiny amount. Just see how you go.

In the end, if you find it’s not working for you just know that not everything is for everyone and that’s why there are so many great deodorants out there. I’m working on a sodium bicarbonate free deodorant so that’ll be handy for those people that can’t use it.

 

LAURA:

Wow. That’s great to add to your mix too.

 

ERICA:

Yes, well there are lots of people who can’t use them and have tried. Not everything works for everyone. Most of the time people come out of these pit detoxes totally fine and are able to use them.

 

LAURA:

Yes, some great words of advice there!

 

I actually have another question because you’ve also got your double strength one, your super one.  Is that more for males do you find? (sorry for the male listeners)

 

ERICA:

Well my partner doesn’t use it, he actually uses the Neroli and vanilla and he loves that. So some people are smellier than others, whether they are leading a healthy lifestyle or not! It’s just how it goes. I don’t recommend starting off on the double strength because people can react to it even when they are totally fine on a regular strength one, it can be a little too strong for them. It is double strength on the sodium bicarbonate not on the essential oils.

If you are going to be out all day and you want to use that one, it does have a bit more staying power than the other one!

 

LAURA:

Yes, I gave that one to my husband to try. I just popped it into his little bag and said, “try this love!”

 

ERICA:

I use it when I go to my weekend job.

 

LAURA:

Wow, I don’t know how you fit it all in Erica.

 

ERICA:

Neither do I!!

LAURA:

Fantastic. You’ve given us some really valuable advice and information today and for anyone that is listening that would love to find out more about you and try some of your amazing products, not just deodorants but obviously some items from your other range as well. Where can they best find you.

 

ERICA:

So my website is www.ericabrooke.com.au and I’ve got loads of products on there to try. There’s even a trial pack to purchase, which is very popular.

 

LAURA:

Do you ship Internationally, or is it just within Australia?

 

ERICA:

To some countries. So UK, USA Hong Kong, NZ at the moment.

 

LAURA:

I believe that you have a special offer for listeners today too?

 

ERICA:

Yes, you can use your discount code: HOMEDETOX15 at the checkout and you’ll achieve 15% off the whole range for your 1st order.

 

LAURA:

Thanks so much Erica, that’s really generous! I wish you all the very best in getting all of your amazing range of body products and deodorant creams out to the world. Thanks again!

 

ERICA:

Thank you, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

Laura