How To Do a DIY Armpit Detox Mask

Hi beauties!

Sitting here at 40 weeks pregnant plus 4 freakin' long days. They say watching a microwave minute is the longest minute of your life, try the 24 hours in every day wondering if your little mini is making their entrance into the world.

I spent so many months gearing up to the March 6th expected date and was beyond excited to actually feel "ready" as you all know - but then realizing he wasn't ready haha. That little guy has a schedule of his own, so in the meantime I've decided to do random things, like detox my armpits! LOL

Switching over...

Back to the beginning of my pregnancy I started switching out the toxins and chemicals in my life, starting with the supplements I put into my body then moving on to the products I put onto my skin... but I was so hesitant to make the leap into the natural deodorant world. I've heard the craziest of stories about making the switch from the fragranced chemical sticks from the effects of detoxing, the smells, the endless drips of sweat, etc.

Switching is something the natural world preaches about, it's technically ranked the highest of important switches to make as the chemicals in regular deodorants can disrupt hormones, cause cancers, and lead to a host of health challenges - but most of all prevents you from sweating (a natural process).

But I mean, nobody can get mad at a pregnant gal who's a little stinky, so now is probably the best freakin' time (sorry everyone haha).

Pinterest got me like...

So I did my own research, aka I went on Pinterest and read a bunch of blogs on detoxing your pits and why this is such an essential step. Basically to sum up what I learnt - detoxing pulls out the toxins that have been clogging your armpit pores for YEARS! The detoxing process is what helps to aid in relieving you from the smells of switching to a natural deodorant. I also read that it can take how many times you need to do this mask if dependent on your body and your built up toxin levels.

Most of the DIY masks were pretty similar and contained Bentonite Clay and Apple Cider Vinegar. Both of these items are easily purchasable on Amazon but I was on a mission to get it done that day so I went to Roots (a natural store in town) and picked up these two products. Some recipes did call for essential oils for smells etc, but I opted to stick to the basics.

The recipe was super simple and straight forward.

The Recipe

2 tbsp bentonite clay

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp filtered water

Directions

When mixing these ingredients it was advised to use non metal utensils as this can disrupt the properties of the mask.

Before mixing them up I cleaned my armpits just using warm water and a face cloth. I opted out of shaving to avoid opening up my pores and causing irritation.

I applied a thick layer to both armpits and let it sit for about 20 minutes. I chose to to sit my preggo butt in the bath and let them soak in, then showered them off.

I applied my new natural deodorant immediately afterwards and experienced no burning, stinging or irritations. I did have slight reddening where my mask was applied outside of my pit area but that's it.

Arbonne...

Of course, I naturally gravitated to the Arbonne plant based natural line. My friend's husband actually raved about it and asked for a second one, that kind of sold me on it haha.. You can find out more about this one here.

The deodorant went on super smooth and felt more like a moisturizer for my pits than a sticky pit stick. Perks of using shea butter opposed to chemicals I suppose haha.

The sweat test...

So, that day I went to the gym and climbed 100 flights of stairs and continued about my day getting my best friend and boyfriend to do smells tests on me (all of which I put on my Instagram stories). They both agreed that I smelt BETTER haha. I'm a sweater and I find that regular deodorant always leaves this weird after smell to my pits but I don't have wet stains. With the natural route I did sweat (which is NORMAL) after my workout and had sweat marks but I smelt better.

It's been almost a week now since I made the switch over and I haven't experienced any negative side effects. I could probably opt out of doing another cleanse but I'm kinda intrigued so I'm going to apply a second one today as doing a chemical detox is never bad thing ;).

Detox details...

FYI if you are experiencing smells when making the switch many of the sites recommended doing the detox a few times per week until symptoms improved, and or trying alternative brands.

Many warned using brands with baking soda, however the one I opted for contained baking soda after all, and yet I experienced no described effects.

So that about sums up my hot and exciting pregnant after 40 weeks life haha...hope this helps all of you who had questions about this brand and the process I went about in my switch over to the natural side.

ps. to shop any of the vegan, cruelty free plant based products I've been using click here.

With love,

Jess and the mini hot tamale...xo