This is a scent story for those new moms or just the moms looking to dump chemicals in their life! Its an up close and personal scent story, that will surely help some and possibly bore others!
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Is it B.O. or is it hormones?
My little middle Grady, has had a soothing technique of digging into your soft armpit area and rolling the sensitive skin there. It can be painful and annoying at best. But its his thing to self soothe…..as he has gotten older, I’ve noticed he likes to sniff his fingers.
GROSS! RIGHT?!? It literally makes me cringe…
I told you this was a scent story, didn’t I? One day I asked him, “What do I smell like?” I was waiting for his response of lotion, coffee…..or the most embarrassing answer of…. YOU STINK!
“You smell like mommy!” Whew! It had taken me quite the journey to arrive at this answer. Do you have a scent that makes you cringe?
Scent is something that can conjure smells of the past in an instant. I can smell the perfume my mom wears and instantly have the feel good memory of laying my head on her shoulder on Sunday mornings in church.
Have you ever been able to conjure memories just by a smell?
You smell beautifully toxic
Scents while beautiful and reflective, aren’t always whats best thing for us. Many perfumes are linked to things like breast cancer. As a healthcare professional, the scents I wore could literally make people more ill. I’ve had patients vomiting worsen just from the smell of my perfume. So, I began experimenting with perfume free deodorants or very softly scented lotions. Not chemical free products, just perfume free.
BUT-Then I had a baby!
And my hormones raged! And with those new hormone came a new scent…one that made me aware of the fact that…….I was stinky and then I was EMBARRASSED!
I also became aware of the chemicals in the products I was using, as I had a baby that sometimes would have reactions to what I put on him. But the more I tried to keep him and my patients safe from perfumes, the MORE I became self conscious of my stinky scent.
I felt like I had legit body odor. I could shower a few times, but if I became hot or stressed….I would get stinky! I was never a stinky person before babies. These are the things that nothing and no one, can prepare you for!
Have you noticed a change in your scent since having a baby? Or maybe your close to ‘THE’ change, and your hormones are raging too.
Search for truth
I spent the next few years searching for the right perfume free scent to correct my smell. I kept thinking I was just choosing wrong. So I continued to spend hundred’s of dollars on deodorants . I even tried mens,
Nothing and I mean NOTHING worked. My pregnancy had changed my bodies chemical balance and I didn’t know how to fix it, or change it. And neither did ANY of my medical friends.
So THEN, I decided to study body odor.
Why, Do we stink?
Because there are bacteria that live on our skin and they multiply as the day goes on. As we sweat, the more they feast, the more they grow in number! Our pits are dark and moist and warm. Bacteria are quite happy in this environment!!
This is why most deodorant companies add metals to their product, to eliminate the secretions that particular body glands create that smell/wetness. But these chemicals are known to be linked to breast cancer and were exactly what I didn’t want to expose my babies too.
I had a decision to make, I could continue to search for a deodorant that worked with chemicals that was perfume free, or I could strip my pits and see if that was the final answer to my scent story.
Going Natural
I did cleanses apple cider vinegar that were painful, I drank more water, I took antibiotics, and I made the decision to swap to a natural deodorants. A deodorant that was both perfume AND chemical free.
I still was spending tons of money on natural deodorants that were costly, and most did NOT work AT ALL. SOME required reapplication a few times/day. And worst, most were made with baking soda and it was literally turning my armpits BROWN. Talk about another thing to be embarassed about!
THIS natural deodorant smells great & works for many women! It is not my daily use deodorant, but it is a good add on for me!
NOTE: that if you do switch from an antiperspirant to a natural deodarant, you may feel extra wet at first; it can take your body a while to adjust to the moisture levels that come with unplugged pores and a natural/normal sweat flow.
I had 2 more pregnancies and was pleasantly surprised that as long as I was pregnant my scent was back to my “normal.” Then I would deliver and the hormonal imbalance would wreak havoc on me again!!
The Truth revealed!
But then I discovered, LUME. (click here to buy!)
Remember my search for what causes you to stink? THE BACTERIA!!
LUME, blocks the bacteria growth that causes the pits to smell!!
So I am happy to report that Grady can roll my armpit skin and sniff his fingers knowing that mommy just smells “like mommy” now!!
I know this is one of those personal stories that some will laugh out loud as they read, or wonder why anyone would write this down, but I know that somewhere a new momma is having some female smell problems and NEEDS to read this!!
Here is to YOUR fresh days ahead!!
LUME was life changing for me, it is chemical free and perfume free and I no longer smell bad when I use it regularly! Try it out and let me know what you think about LUME or if you were experiencing a similar scent story!
Are you a new momma who experienced this hormone craze? I’d love to hear about YOUR scent story!