"Ooooh that smell, that smell that surrounds you!" -Lynyrd Skynyrd
I've never heard this song before this morning, but when I told @goatgarden what I was writing about, he started singing. I had to look it up. Ok, ok, the song is about drugs, but this one line suits my topic.
When you think of B.O., is it in a negative light or a positive one? No one likes a whiff of B.O.! So to keep yourself from making others gag, what do you do? Apply deodorant!!
The Smithsonian site tells the story of "How Advertisers Convinced Americans They Smelled Bad". Find it here. In 1910 a high school girl named Edna Murphy started promoting an antiperspirant. It was a product her surgeon father "had invented to keep his hands sweat free in the operating room". Edna had tried it in her pits and found it thwarted wetness and smell. She knew there was something to this product and began selling and promoting it. Edna had a slow start.
In 1919, and advertisement was published in the Ladies Home Journal that was pretty much summed up by "If you want to keep a man, you'd better not smell.". In the Victorian society of that time, bodily fluids were not spoken of! (But one was gossiped about if her perfume did not cover her stank.) Many women were insulted by the article and cancelled their subscription, but by 1920, the sales of Edna Murphy's "Odorono" (Odor? Oh No!) rose 112%. Women, over the next decade, were scared into buying antiperspirants. Its all in the advertising! The advertisements put out at that time are quite amusing. In the Smithsonian article, there is a paragraph about "Mary". Find out why Mary is alone every evening.
Seriously, though, its true! Its a topic that still needs attention today. (I speak from my own nose being offended!)
Deodorant campaigns towards men did not start until 1935. Up until that point, deodorant was a sissy product. The smell of sweat was a trophy of masculinity. Gag!
As times have changed and new formulas have been made for deodorants and antiperspirants, one can find a whole isle of shelves at the store, stocked with men's, women's, no scent, through any scent one could imagine. There are so many, how is one to choose?
As I have aged, my nose has become very sensitive to odors of almost any kind. And I have sensitivities or allergies to many deodorants. I have tried many that break me out in a rash. In trying to find a deodorant that I can tolerate, someone turned me on to the Crystal deodorant.
It is made from alum, a natural mineral salt. It costs less than $7.00 USD, and lasts about a year. To use, wet fingertips with water and wet the top of the crystal, then apply to armpits. I never have had a reaction to it, and haven't smelled funky. However, it is not an antiperspirant.
Now being the one who is the primary shopper in our household, I'm continuously looking for ways to save money. I listen when people give frugal tips. Last fall, @goatgarden and I were watching one of our go-to YouTube channels, Off grid With Doug and Stacy, and the topic was deodorant. They use baking soda mixed with essential oils (they use lavender)as deodorant. WHAT?? So easy and so inexpensive! They use a pile about the size of a quarter in their palms, and rub it in. I decided to try it.
I got a pretty bottle with a flip-top lid from Hobby Lobby (I am not being paid to advertise), funneled in baking soda, added a few drops of Tea Tree Oil (because its what I had on hand- you may use what you like), shook it up, and have been using it since. No B.O. Baking soda absorbs odors from the refrigerator, a cat litter box, why not from a human? I solely use this six days a week. I stay home most of the time and don't mind sweat. Sundays, however, are a different story. I sometimes sing on the praise and worship team at church and I am a greeter. I don't care to have sweat rings on my clothes when I lift my hands or give out hugs. So I choose to wear antiperspirant on Sundays. But after I apply it, I put the baking soda on, and that blocks the heavy perfumed smell of the antiperspirant from my sensitive nose. Win-win.
Average cost of a stick of antiperspirant/deodorant $4.00 USD. When used every day, a stick of deodorant lasts about a month.
Average cost of a small box of baking soda from the store (off brand) less than $0.50. I've bought one new box of baking soda
since October.
Average cost of a bottle of essential oil $5.00-8.00. I only use about five drops of essential oil when I refill my bottle of baking soda. I have most of a bottle left.
Yearly cost: antiperspirant/deodorant from the store: $48.00 USD
Yearly cost: baking soda and essential oil: $7.50 (3 boxes of baking soda and a $6.00 bottle of essential oil)
Frugal solution to a funky problem, indeed.