Lately I’ve been pursuing a healthier and more eco-friendly lifestyle. I’ve changed a lot about the way I eat, the products I use, and the purchases I make. But the hardest thing for me to let go of has been conventional deodorant. Buying organic food is one thing, but quitting deodorant? It seemed a bit extreme. So certain was I that deodorant needed to remain part of my life, I would stubbornly scroll past articles informing me of deodorants’ harmful ingredients. I knew if I became informed, I’d probably get freaked out, stop using it, and, well, stink. Ignorance is bliss, right?
But I’ve slowly been changing my thinking. Despite the fact that I’ve always considered myself to be an observant person, I was married to my husband for several years before I realized that he doesn’t wear deodorant. At all. And I was shocked; I’d honestly never heard of anyone skipping that particular hygiene routine. But hubby doesn’t use it, and hubby doesn’t stink.
Could the ingredients in deodorant actually be making us stinkier? Is it just clever marketing to sell us something we don’t need?
The more I learn, the more it seems our biology was designed to help us to connect to other people. Scent seems to be an important part of that, even on a subconscious level. We produce our own pheromones that are thought to aid in attraction, bonding, and communication. I was fascinated to learn what an important part they play in forming the relationship between a mother and her newborn, for example. But if most of us are bathed in scented products (perfume, hair products, lotions, etc.), are we cutting ourselves off from an important relational tool? What are we missing out on?
I don’t really have an answer. I don’t know the full extent of the role pheromones play in our daily lives and ordinary relationships. But I did realize that I felt some kind of unspoken societal pressure to smell like summer rain/cocoa butter/vanilla spice/anything other than human. When I came to this conclusion, I got annoyed (and a bit rebellious), and took the plunge. I quit deodorant cold turkey. I half expected to be awkwardly shunned, but you know what? I hardly noticed. No one else seemed to either. I guess I don’t need the stuff, and I have a feeling most people don’t.
This whole experience has made me think. We seem all too eager to turn our backs on our God-given biology. We turn to birth control pills to shut down our periods and fertility, as if our very womanhood is too inconvenient to bother with. We use cosmetic surgery to mold ourselves to impossible beauty standards, and turn to wrinkle creams and hair dye in a desperate attempt to deny that we age. We’re forgetting how to appreciate our stretch marks, scars and curves, our stories, ourselves, and each other.
Now, I’m not saying you should immediately jump on my hippie bandwagon and change your entire hygiene routine. But I’ve been challenging myself to question my habits, and I urge you to join me. I’m beginning to ask myself; am I engaging in a particular lifestyle choice because it’s truly healthy, authentic, wholesome and life-affirming? Or am I caving into pressure to be more like a magazine cover and less like a living, breathing person? Are my actions inviting others into relationship?
Quitting deodorant might not be a grand, life-changing statement, but for me it feels like a good start. What’s yours?