Natural Deoderant: GUEST POST from Jenn Daniel

Hello to all of Amy’s lovely readers! One of my favorite subjects to talk about while working at LUSH and a subject not many want to talk about is our armpits. Ok, maybe not armpits but rather what we slap on them. There has been an interesting misconception about us that deodorant brands and commercials would like us to believe: that we shouldn’t sweat. So they give us antiperspirant that will apparently give us the armpits of runners and nervous speakers that are dryer than the sands of a desert. I hate to break it to you all but we are meant to sweat!! Our bodies have an amazing ability to keep what we need to survive and get rid of all the bad we don’t need. One of these amazing ways is by sweating out through our pores, which include the pores in our armpits. One of the worst parts about antiperspirants is that when we stop our sweat the pores start to clog and when the pores are clogged our bodies think something is wrong. The reaction is our bodies begin to overproduce and then the very common body odor begins to also overproduce.

Bit of a side trail here but it is another misconception about us that I would love to see stop…call me a hippy but our natural body odor is not some sort of terrible stench that will cause everyone to run from us! Body odor (the untainted-by-perfumes body odor) has been linked to knowing each other, recognizing mothers and fathers as babies, and attracting the opposite sex! In our culture we get so obsessed with changing and covering our smell that we end up doing the very opposite. Granted diet and exercise has a lot to do with our body odor but starting with deodorant (or adding it on to a life style change) will add to making us more naturally healthy.

Switching from antiperspirant to a more natural alternative may seem tricky but it really is not hard at all. What I always suggest is first find the deodorant that best fits you and your lifestyle. Then give yourself around a week to allow your body to make the switch. I don’t mean take a week off work, lock yourself in a room where no one can smell you, and eventually you can merge as a good smelling person…I mean your body can take around a week to detoxify and get all those antiperspirants out of your armpits. The way I helped this smelly time was by keeping my deodorant with me and, half way through the day, threw some more on my armpits! Some of the days I went to the bathroom and straight up washed my armpits after washing my hands. (I also had the opportunity to tell people what I was doing. Interesting conversations can start by washing your armpits!) It took about 5 days when I noticed I didn’t smell but every person and situation is different so it can take more or less time. Oh! And yes you did read that last part correctly…I didn’t smell! Once again every person is different but you will notice a huge change in your armpits! Wearing deodorant once or twice a week is amazing so I really urge you to try this out!

Now that we have that part done the smelly part begins! The good smelling part! Picking your natural deodorant is also not hard (Sorry I’m about to name drop) and LUSH it a great option for figuring out which one is best. (I want to add a little disclaimer at this point. I have been using LUSH deodorant for a very long time, long before I worked there so no, this is not me selling hahahaha) Many people see LUSH as the soap shop, which we have, but among so much else there is an amazing selection of more natural deodorants. LUSH deodorants have no antiperspirants, no aluminum (which is linked to Alzheimer’s and brain disorders), a few are packaging free, all are either vegetarian or vegan, and all animal testing free!

There are five different types of deodorants:

“Aromaco” came from the idea of a roll on deodorant, which you can definitely feel with how soft and gentle it is! With witch hazel to naturally cleanse of bacteria and chamomile oil for soothing you won’t miss your old deodorant. They also threw in patchouli oil for a great smell and even more soothing properties!



“T’eo” is a strong working deodorant for any and all strong jobs. Full of antibacterial oil’s like tea tree and juniper berry and with a kick of lemongrass for a natural deodorizer you can see why it kicks butt!


“Coconut” gives away its greatness with the name alone. Coconut is in four different forms in here and lots of cornstarch to absorb sweaty moments. You wont be afraid to lift your arms and show off your music video armpits!


“The Greeench” (yes it does have three E’s in it) has every smell-busting herb in it! The use of thyme and rosemary to power through any bad smell and tea tree that will kill any bad bacteria lingering in your pits. Using baking soda to suck anything up this deodorant makes you smell like a forest Nymph in from the garden…. yes please!


“The Guv’ner” to combat any smelly guys worst, well, smell! LUSH filled it up with sweat absorbing charcoal, sage to clear out bad odor, and the earthiest scent to make freshness top priority! The idea behind The Guv’ner was for the gents but ladies if you love earthy scents (like myself) make sure you give this one a try!

Go out, ask questions, and find the deodorant that is awesome for you! Any LUSH shop employee will be happy to help you in your search and answer questions you have. Don’t be afraid to branch out from chain stores and see what can work for you. If you are anything like myself and other converts, you will be the better for it! Swing by the LUSH shop in London’s White Oaks Mall and tell me how your deodorant journey is going!   


Jenn Daniel is a sweet smelling natural beauty, guitar genius, and photographer extraordinaire.

New Things to Try

I've been trying so many new and wonderful things lately I just had to write a post updating you on each and every one of them! Keep in mind I am doing this under the supervision of a highly active, almost Mogli-style 8-month old that gets annoyed if I so much as glance at something other than him, so I am going to much effort to tell you about these things! (And he just smirked as he pulled a shredded hardcover Douglas Coupland novel from his mouth... cute.)

Wild Sweets Sesame-Wakame Chocolate  



The first is my Easter chocolate! My mom popped down to the health food store and had a staff member, Andy, point out whatever he thought I'd like. He hit the nail on the head: a natural chocolate bar with added sesame seeds, sea salt and wakame seaweed. So delicious! I have been savouring every square of it, attempting to combat the temptation of eating the whole bar at once, and I still have about 10% of it left so I'd say I've succeeded. Nothing beats chocolate and salt together! Good job Andy! You can find this at Quarter Master Natural Foods if you live in London, Ontario.




Boscia BB Cream
So I said that there isn't really a natural form of BB cream? I was wrong! A helpful Sephora employee kindly pointed out that Boscia mades an SPF 27 BB Cream but that I might not know about it because it is constantly sold out! She was able to slip me a sample and I'm absolutely in love with what I've tried. I can't wait to get my hands on a full size.

I will be writing more on this product in the future. For now, ask a Sephora employee if it's available in your store.

See the original post here.
See the UPDATE here.


Camino Hot Chocolate

Camino has quickly become everyone's favourite Canadian, Fair Trade, organic chocolate purveyor, fervently producing chocolate products with the highest quality ingredients and supporting family farming in South America along the way. (Okay, I can't say all that without mentioning my friend Dave's new business - Habitual Chocolate. This stuff goes beyond what you can find in a grocery store. It is artisan quality products made with ingredients that aren't just sourced ethically but personally, by Dave's many trips to producing countries. A real treat!) Camino's dark hot chocolate powder is rich and full of flavour. I like to warm milk to the perfect temperature then pseudo-froth it using a French press, for those days when starting up the espresso machine just seems like a lot for one mug of hot chocolate.

Lush BB Seaweed Fresh Face Mask

Lush never ceases to amaze me with their willingness to give out samples. Recently while killing time in a mall while other people had shopping to do (I hate shopping) I spoke with an employee long enough that she wanted me to take home some seaweed face mask. The stuff is fresh enough that you actually need to get it in the fridge within 4 hours. It smells like a basement (love it) and feels great on the skin. I can't speak for the ethics of this company, as they've come into question within the past few months, but I do know they use some nice ingredients and are hand-crafted.

Sircuit Skin Savant Vitamin-A Alternative Serum 

I've always known how great vitamin A, or retinol, can be for your skin but it's not always an option for everyone. Particularly pregnant women really need to watch how much vitamin A they are taking in, even if its not through food or internal supplements - facial products are very readily absorbed in the blood stream. Sircuit Skin Cosmeuticals has come out with an alternative serum that is formulated with botancials that act like retinol called Vita-a-like. It hydrates and smoothes but doesn't cause irritation like retinols can. It is an amazing anti-aging serum because it treats fine lines, wrinkles, photo-damage and hyper pigmentation, and it can be used for any skin type.