Aluminium In Deodorant & Antiperspirant

While deodorants and antiperspirants both help manage sweat they work differently. Here’s how:

• Deodorants usually do not contain aluminium, and they don’t stop you from sweating. 

• Deodorants help curb body odour and make sweat smell better by using fragrance or antibacterial compounds to reduce BO while antiperspirants make work to inhibit how much you sweat. 

• Antiperspirants usually contain aluminium, as do many deodorant-antiperspirants (which do the job of both an antiperspirant i.e. limiting how much you sweat plus the effects of a deodorant - making you smell fresh).

Antiperspirants work by blocking the sweat ducts which limits how much you sweat.

Aluminium salts, such as aluminium chloride, aluminium zirconium, and aluminium chlorohydrate are the most common ingredients in antiperspirants. These compounds form a temporary “plug” within the sweat duct that stops the flow of sweat to the skin's surface. These salts melt into your pores, creating a barrier and limiting the amount of sweat that comes out of them.

The aluminium in antiperspirants not only reduces wetness by blocking your underarm sweat ducts, they also help to reduce body odour by inhibiting the bacteria that feed on your sweat that produce the smell we know as BO.

If you want to know whether there is aluminium in deodorant or antiperspirant, check the ingredient list. The active ingredient at the top to look out for are:

• aluminium chlorohydrate or 
• aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly

Contrary to detox mythology, we don’t release many toxins through sweat. Sweating is our body’s way of cooling down and regulating our body temperature, not filtering out toxins. That’s the job of the liver and kidneys, and you get rid of the toxins filtered through your body’s major detoxing organs when you release urine. 

If you apply deodorant after shaving your armpits or if you have a rash or any nicks in that area, then applying anything to your skin may irritate it. 

If your skin is particularly sensitive, opt for a deodorant designed to protect. The NIVEA Beauty Elixir Sensitive Anti-Perspirant Spray 200ml not only moisturises and soothes, the deomilk helps to recover your skin from irritations.

Alum has been used for many years, as a deodorant, astringent and basic antiperspirant. Alum is found in crystal deodorants, a type of alternative deodorant in the form of potassium alum.

Crystal deodorant is usually available as a stone, roll-on, or spray. Often built as the alternative to conventional deodorant, alum still contains aluminium, often hydrated potassium aluminium sulfate, (otherwise known as potassium alum). There is no scientific evidence that suggests alum is not safe.