Alum - A Traditional Natural Deodorant
By Thomas Laird
Alum is an ingredient that features highly in all of our current range of natural deodorants. Alum has been used for many years, in the Far and Middle East, as a deodorant, astringent and basic antiperspirant. It is also used on cuts after shaving because of its styptic properties (stops bleeding and closes pores).
Alum is used in our deodorants for its antibacterial properties, which helps to inhibit the growth of bacteria on the skin. It is the bacteria which causes the bad smell. Some people find it also performs a basic antiperspirant function, but others don’t and so we class it purely as a deodorant.
The truth about alum and aluminium
Many people get confused about Alum because the press talk about Aluminium being bad for us. Aluminium is the third most abundant element on the planet and we ingest it in large proportions every day in water and food. In fact, in some parts, its presence in water is the only thing that allows it to be drunk without harm. It is not particularly good for living organisms in the body so over eons we have evolved a particularly efficient and effective system for allowing naturally occurring Aluminium and its salt derivatives to pass through the body without effect.
However it is specific types of manmade Aluminium that have the health scares associated with them. Aluminium Chlorohydrate is a synthetic ingredient of antiperspirants/deodorants, designed to be absorbed into and to block the pores under the arms, to prevent perspiration. There have been some claims that there may be a connection between breast cancer and Aluminium Chlorohydrate but no real concrete evidence. For reference to some studies on deodorants and breast cancer see end of article.
The safe and effective natural deodorant
Alum has a long history of safe use as a deodorant ingredient and is a traditional alternative to many modern deodorants. Our natural crystal deodorant stones are made from just a solid moulded lump of crystallised alum, which is a naturally mined mineral salt.
