Okay, I know, this is random…really random. But I’ve written several serious posts so I decided to take a break and share something a bit less talked about. (Warning: It might be TMI for you men…but women will totally get what I’m going to say.)
Women stink!
(Thankfully, only on occasion.)
Hormones, especially once-a-month ones, can wreak havoc and cause body odor.
I can remember as far back as my college dorm days having discussions with friends about this subject. It was something you never heard talked about public, but you were definitely aware of. (Thankfully, it does get better as you age.)
Years ago, in the middle of our Great Depression (read more about it here), I realized that every time my physician gave me a magnesium IV my monthly odor issue completely disappeared.
The IV was to calm my chronic cough, and it worked beautifully for that, but the side benefits were super smooth skin, great sleep and no smells.
In fact, the magnesium helped my body heal so well that I became a huge advocate of magnesium and began to follow Dr. Carolyn Dean’s research. Recently, on a Facebook page with other maggies (the nickname for those who study the benefits of magnesium supplementation), I read a curious thing.
Someone shared that she had been using Milk of Magnesia as deodorant. “It does two things,” she said, “it completely stops odor and gives your body a bit of absorbable magnesium.”
I was intrigued.
I remembered the success of those Magnesium IVs (plus, I hate all the chemicals in the ones you buy at the grocer), so it seemed like a welcome experiment to me.
That was nearly a year ago. I’ve been using it as my deodorant ever since and can’t imagine using anything else.
In the beginning, I just poured out a small amount in my hand, rubbed my hands together, and then I rubbed it under my arms. Eventually I tried a spray bottle. (If the spray isn’t wide this works just fine.) Recently, I purchased some roll-on bottles from Amazon to try and actually like them best, mainly because they remind me of the feel of the blue-bottled deodorant I used in high school. (You know…the one that was strong enough for a man but made for a woman.) Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I like the feel of the roll-on best.
A staple in medicine cabinets for years, Milk of Magnesia is inexpensive and found at your local drugstore. If you decide to try it, make sure you read the label and get one that contains only magnesium hydroxide and no added flavors or fillers. (I found mine at CVS.)
At only $5.40 a bottle it lasts five times longer than that blue bottle of roll-on.
It works great and is high on the list of things I wish I had known about when I was younger.
