One of the best life hacks I have found was from a friend a few years ago recommending the use of bicarbonate of soda as a substitute for modern cosmetic deodorants. I have been using it now for five years and it’s just fab, so let me share with you this simple way to save some money, create less waste and stop harming your skin with cosmetics.

That unpleasant smell we all try so very hard to exclude from our lives is produced by bacteria on the skin that breaks down the acids in your sweat. After puberty, the apocrine sweat glands develop which produce sweat that bacteria can quickly break down, creating a sudden adolescent outgassing that is the worry of many teenagers. Many cosmetic deodorants are scented to mask this smell, and whilst many of us have chosen a deodorant from its smell, its interaction with our personal sweat ‘signature’ can be unpredictable or sometimes ineffective. There is also quite a toxic mix that we insist on putting under our arms that we are blissfully unaware of, with many deos containing aluminium which acts to block our pores and prevent us from sweating. Aluminium exposure has been linked with the development of Alzheimer’s disease and interferes with oestrogen levels, the latter being connected to a higher risk of breast and prostate cancer. Amongst other noxious ingredients are a pesticide (seriously) called triclosan and propylene glycol, these being readily absorbed by the body and known to damage the central nervous system, heart and liver. With some ‘eco-look’ packaging and nice comforting touches like ‘clean’ or ‘fresh’, one can easily ignore the possibility of exposing yourself to harmful chemicals over a long period, particularly if you are brand faithful as many people are with deodorants. The skin is our largest organ and, whilst it protects us well from our everyday external environment, it has the capacity to readily absorb or accumulate contact chemicals – one of my home rules I try to live by is, “If you can’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin!”

So shock tactics out of the way, we come to the wonders of bicarbonate of soda (NaHCO₃) or natron as we know it in German. Bicarb is extracted from the mineral natron to produce a fine white powder that is totally inert to the human body, unless consumed in large amounts. As a deodorant it is able to neutralise acids in sweat limiting the growth of odour producing bacteria, as well as absorbing moisture. It is also quite commonly used in other personal hygiene products such as toothpastes and soaps, and there is a long list of many medical uses. We also put it in the cat toilets, in shoes, and mix it with vinegar to produce an eco-cleaning product for the house. Its use for all these things and more was quite well known until the end of the 1970s, but we have become increasingly susceptible to endless advertisements whispering in our ears of things that are better for us – not.