Summer 2020 has introduced us to a new vacay vibe: viruses, masks, and Zooming out. You know what remains a constant? Odor. It’s boggling that Earth has reached its gajillionth hot season and the invention of deodorant needs to be promulgated. On a lovely, slightly breezy Pre-Quarantine day, our afternoon stroll in Tribeca was viciously jolted by a waft from a preppy group that had never visited a CVS personal care isle. the reek of that memory persists years later. As re-opening efforts begin, two things need to become government mandates: wearing masks and deodorant.

Walk down any beauty aisle in any store and countless deodorants are found. Some of them even come with antiperspirants to stop the sweat from ruining that stimulus check-funded silk blouse. They even make ones that are for sensitive skin conditions, lavender scent, and whatever they use in that Old Spice type. If that isn’t enough, aluminum has been removed from many of them to address any significant probability that it may be linked to cancer.

Deodorants come in every type imaginable that there is no excuse not to wear it. Sprays, wipes, roll-ons, sticks, men’s, women’s, genderless, scented, unscented, natural, organic, etc. Whatever your flavor, there is a deodorant for you and Summer 20… — Deodorants come in every type imaginable that there is no excuse not to wear it. Sprays, wipes, roll-ons, sticks, men’s, women’s, genderless, scented, unscented, natural, organic, etc. Whatever your flavor, there is a deodorant for you and Summer 2020 needs you to use at least one. (Image: JAM)

Au Natural?

Still not into it because you’re that natural type of person who likes camping in City Hall park? There are several organic, natural products made by smaller, environment friendly brands. A lot of these “natural” deodorants are made from basic key ingredients that anyone can find in an Ayurvedic textbook. Coconut, lavender, sandalwood, and arrowroot are the basic components that make natural deodorant and antiperspirant. So, deodorizer can also be made at home if your’e a DIY type.

$cientific Tidbit: The olfactory system is linked to memories. Odors can trigger good and bad memories.

dove deodorant.jpg — Dove deodorant advertises that it contains “0% aluminum”. It claims to last 24 hours so that re-application is not necessary.

The science on the possibility of aluminum in deodorant causing breast cancer overall seems to be inconclusive. A study from 2017 is one of the few to find a risk of breast cancer with use of deodorant or antiperspirant products. From information collected from over 400 women across Austria and the UK, they found that using deodorant products more than once per day could lead to the accumulation of aluminum in their breast tissue. They compared women who did not have breast cancer to ones who did, so the breast tissue under cancerous physiology might be less likely to remove elements like aluminum. This leads to accumulation that can turn benign product components into toxins due to the large amounts in sensitive tissue.

Bottom Line

Wake up, brush teeth, deodorize. It is literally that simple. We all just want to eat our popsicles in peace. Society has been going through a lot since COVID-19 hit and Summer 2020 can really do without your personal scent.