I might never go back

to using deodorant.  Now, before you step away holding your nose, let me explain.  Years ago, I think I was a teenager, I'd heard that the aluminium in antiperspirant was bad for you, so I started using just plain old deodorant that didn't have antiperspirant in it.  Seeing as I was a teen, I didn't research to see if that was true or not, but figured I'd rather be safe than sorry.  I got used to doing that, and in fact it's still rather ingrained in me to do that.

So over the years I've used deodorant, but have never been all that pleased with the results, since it sometimes irritated my skin and of course I still had to deal with the wetness from perspiring.  Nevertheless, I continued with that until recently, since I figured I needed to use something.  Unhappy with this, though, I started seeing if I could find something else that would work.  To that end, I searched online for a natural deodorant, and came across a site that suggested using 1 part bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to 6 parts cornstarch.  I mixed that up and put some on using some cotton wool, and it works great.  In all honesty, it works better than the store-bought deodorant I was using, and the cornstarch acts as an antiperspirant.  Even better, it doesn't irritate my skin at all.  I'm sold.

On a related note, I also might never go back to using shampoo and conditioner.  I stopped regularly using shampoo a while ago, actually, and started just using conditioner.  Shampoo isn't the best for curly hair.  Once my bottle of conditioner ran out, I decided to try something else, and started using bicarbonate of soda instead of shampoo, and then rinsing with diluted cider vinegar.  So far it's working great, without making my hair feel bad or causing any build-up.  Who knew baking soda was so handy?