We have designed this deodorant recipe specially to treat the hyperhidrosis problems of some people because we have known that the alum stone, together with some essential oils that we will detail below, is a treatment for body odour problems (which have not been able to solve with commercial antiperspirants) and in situations of hyperhidrosis or excessive sweating.
The knowledge of the medicinal properties of the natural stone of alum dates back to ancient times: The great ancient civilizations such as the Chinese, Egyptian, Roman, Indian, Greek and Arab, recognized the benefits of the stone of alum and its use for different purposes it was common and popular.
The Romans, for example, used it for its healing, antibacterial, and deodorant properties. The popular use that confirmed the effectiveness of these benefits, even led them to introduce their use in practices with medical effects. Between 77 and 79 BC, the Roman author, naturalist and philosopher Gaius Plinii Secundi (Gaius Pliny Segundo) recorded the characteristics and properties of alum in a rigorous study of various areas of nature, written like an encyclopaedia, called Historia Naturalis.
In ancient Greece, around 50 or 70 BC. C., also produced documentation on this mineral, in the encyclopaedic work De Materia Medica, of the physicist, pharmacologist and botanist Pedanius Dioscorides.
In India and China, it has been used since ancient times to respond to organic needs externally and internally. These two cultures have commonly used Alum in solution for gargling and vaginal baths for antiseptic purposes.
In the Middle East, alum has been widely known and used, as numerous deposits of this mineral have been found in Syria. Alum stone has been an active part of ancient beauty rituals in Arab culture for its firming and astringent properties.
NATURAL ALUMBER (potassium alum) not only has deodorizing properties, it is also an effective bactericide that controls the growth and proliferation of bacteria, both in our body and in our environment, in spaces such as water and on surfaces of all kinds such as floors. , fabrics, etc. And that is why the Egyptians used these stones to purify water.
–It is also a good healing agent, which helps to rapidly regenerate skin tissue that has been affected by some type of wound or skin irritation. In the case of wounds, it produces a thin crust that comes off in less time and without the risk of leaving marks on the skin. This is the reason why in the past this stone was known as a barber’s stone or shaving stone because it was used to heal minor irritations on the beard of its clients.
–Haemostatic: Its composition makes it effective in stopping bleeding from external wounds, since it acts directly on the skin pore to close it. This haemostatic action is what helps prevent the appearance of red rashes on the skin after depilatory processes.
–Firming: It has the ability to firm the skin and tone it with continuous use.
–Antifungal: Like bacteria, alum also helps fight fungi that appear on the skin or on other types of surfaces. Of course, it is only effective in the initial phase of appearance of these microorganisms.
This is what they say about on the page “Better with Health” (https://mejorconsalud.as.com/acabando-con-el-sudor-excesivo/): “The stone of alum is a very effective mineral considered the best natural deodorant. It does not leave any residue and it works even in the most difficult cases. To use it, you must wet the stone and apply it as a roll-on deodorant”.
The possibility of wetting the natural stone with water exists, without a doubt, but we wanted to facilitate its application by preparing this convenient roll-on deodorant recipe that also has the added effectiveness of essential oils that regulate sweat.
Basically, you will need 4 ingredients to prepare this recipe:
Distilled water or a hydrolat of your choice. It is also possible to use an herbal infusion, but with an infusion there are more chances that your product will be more easily corrupted and you would have to add some other stronger preservative, which we do not think is appropriate.
Therefore, distilled water
Glycerine,
Transparent xanthan gum
And alum powder, along with the essential oils.
WHAT DOES HYPERHIDROSIS CONSIST OF?
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Hyperhidrosis is abnormal and excessive sweating that is not necessarily related to heat or exercise. You can sweat so much that your clothes get soaked or dripping from your hands. In addition to disrupting normal daily activities, this type of heavy sweating can lead to social anxiety and embarrassment. “
The conventional treatment of hyperhidrosis involves using strong prescription antiperspirants. However, some people find antiperspirants not working for them. In severe cases, the doctor may recommend surgery to remove the sweat glands or disconnect the nerves responsible for the overproduction of sweat.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “The most common type of hyperhidrosis is called ‘primary focal hyperhidrosis’ (essential). In this type of hyperhidrosis, the nerves responsible for sending signals to the sweat glands become hyperactive, despite not having been triggered by physical activity or increased temperature. Being stressed or nervous makes the problem even worse. This type generally affects the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, and sometimes the face. There is no medical cause for this type of hyperhidrosis. It is possible that it has a hereditary component, since, sometimes, it runs in several members of the family.
Secondary hyperhidrosis occurs when excessive sweating is due to illness. It is the least frequent type. It is more likely to cause sweating all over the body. Disorders that can cause severe sweating include the following: diabetes, hot flashes in menopause, thyroid problems, nervous system disorders” …
https://www.mayoclinic.org/es-es/diseases-conditions/hyperhidrosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20367152
This recipe has worked for some well-known people to improve their situation and that is why we propose it. If you don’t want to prepare the roll-on deodorant recipe, be aware that rubbing the wet alum stone under your armpits also works. Likewise, the deodorant, as well as the stone, also work in other areas of the body where the problem may exist.
And not only that, this deodorant is formulated with a luxurious base that we have thickened with transparent cosmetic-grade xanthan gum * so that no stains are produced when using this deodorant.
Take a good look at acquiring xanthan gum that is transparent and cosmetic grade. And I tell you this from my own experience, because that is how I learned that there was a difference between the xanthan gum that we can use, for example, to thicken our homemade recipes for bread or cakes, and the transparent xanthan that is used in natural cosmetics.
I leave you some links where you can find the xanthan gum:
Tallernatural: https://www.tutallernatural.com/varios/484-goma-xantana.html
Jojoli.nl (Nederland): https://www.jojoli.nl/xanthaan-transparant.html
Cremascaseras.es:https://www.cremas-caseras.es/gelificantes-y-espesantes-naturales/144-xantana-transparente.html#
Naturallythinking: https://naturallythinking.com/xanthan-gum-clear#
Another reason why we especially like this recipe is because of its stability. Once prepared, you can forget about its expiration since it is always kept in the same conditions. Something not always easy to achieve when we talk about cosmetics and we also want to use the minimum preservatives as is our case and the “slow” philosophy that we share with you from this blog.
A very important question when dealing with the issue of the regulation of excess body sweat, or hyperhidrosis, is that we see what EO we can use as regulators and, in this case, adjuvants of the action of powdered alum salts. We are not going to use synthetic preservatives such as Cosgard, Geogard, Sharomix, etc., therefore, it is important that we carefully choose the essential oils that will act as preservatives in this recipe.
The essential oils known for their ability to control excess sweating are, above all, those of sage, cypress and palmarosa. Also, rosemary, tea tree and rockrose are a good help. If you do not have Palma Rosa EO you can, perhaps, use some of the above combined essential oils. If you have a Palma Rosa EO, it will be enough by itself to solve the problem. In addition, this oil is suitable to combat body odour in all skin types.
Sweat-regulating essential oils:
Sage: Sage Sclarea fights stress, often a trigger for excessive sweating, and also limits sweating.
Cypress: Like Palma Rosa, it is very effective against excessive perspiration.
Rockrose: This oil is strongly astringent and has the ability to close the sweat pores of the eccrine glands, mainly present on the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet and the forehead. Thanks to this, the amount of sweat secreted will decrease, since the eccrine glands are connected to these pores by an excretory channel.
Palma Rosa: This essential oil is effective against excessive perspiration and fights bacteria and bad odours, leaving us a pleasant and floral aroma that reminds us of the rose.
LET’S GO WITH THE RECIPE
Ingredients for about 50 ml:
50 ml of hydrolat or distilled water
4 grs alum powder
10 ml of vegetable glycerine or glycerinated extract
0.4 g of clear xanthan gum.
And a few drops (a maximum of 20 drops) of essential oil of sage, palmarosa, cypress, rockrose or rosemary (a combination of all of them is also possible) since we want the deodorant to regulate hyper-perspiration.
* As you know from other posts, we are not very fond of using essential oils in daily use products such as deodorants. In this case, the EOs that we have used would rather fulfil a “treatment” function given their effectiveness in regulating the problem of hyper-sweating that we want to treat.
In the event that you do not suffer from hyper-perspiration, and you want to prepare this deodorant recipe, it would also be possible to use less amount of softer EO such as ylang ylang, lavender, palmarosa, or bergamot, without furocoumarins, to avoid the effect of photosensitization …
Or, better yet, substituting the 10 ml of vegetable glycerine for 10 ml of glycerinated rosemary extract, for example.
The glycerinated extract of rosemary is also a good way to add aroma to your deodorant and preservative and deodorizing qualities.
In a future article we will explain better how to prepare the hydro glycerol extracts.
PROCEDURE:
The base of our deodorant will be the mixture of water, xanthan and glycerine that will make up a kind of gel. In this gel base that will facilitate the application of our deodorant in roll-on format, we will introduce the salts of alum that will be our main active principle.
Previously, we will undo the xanthan gum in the glycerine and the alum salts in the distilled water until they are perfectly dissolved.
Now we will gradually incorporate the mixture of alum salts and water to the mixture of glycerine and xanthan gum.
This is necessary to do so because xanthan gum does not dissolve well directly in water and lumps will form.
Finally, we will add our essential oil, or a combination of them with a maximum of 15 drops of oil.
We have our deodorant ready!
We hope you liked this post, if so, leave us your comments 🙂
