While visiting the Himba people in Namibia, a female member revealed all their beauty rituals, including deodorizing. Himba women are known not to wash because they live in one of the harshest climates - desert and a lack of drinking water. This does not mean, however, that they do not take care of their personal hygiene. They apply red ochre on their skin (which also protects them from the sun), take herbal smoke baths and use a mixture of cow lard and essential oils from plants they collect in the nearby hills, mostly myrrh, as a deodorant. Such deodorant is certainly very effective, as they have no unpleasant odor.
Visiting the Himba reminded me that the history of deodorizing is very long and universal. For thousands of years, people have used different methods to cover body odor. But how did we go from using spices and herbs to modern deodorants?
The first humans probably didn't worry about how they smelled because they had more important things to worry about - survival. Anthropologists believe that body odor even helped them by repulsing potential predators. As nomadic life was abandoned, villages and then towns were formed. As people evolved into more complex social beings, they began to take care of their personal hygiene, and used some surprising tactics to eliminate unpleasant body odor.
The earliest known records of deodorizing come from the ancient Egyptians, who masked body odor with perfumed baths and aromatic oils. Crushed carob pods, frankincense and even porridge were also used as deodorants. Women would place a dollop of scented wax on their heads, which would slowly melt during the day, spreading the pleasant smell and masking the less pleasant one.
The ancient Greeks and Romans were also known to bathe and anoint themselves constantly with perfume oils. In the Middle Ages, however, nudity was labelled bad by the Church - even while bathing! Since most of the commoners used bathhouses, people stopped bathing regularly. Although the rich also stopped washing regularly, they did not stop covering their smell with perfume. The mixture of perfume and body odor was probably not very pleasant!
The situation remained unchanged until the invention of deodorant at the end of the 19th century. Women fought body odor by washing regularly, and some placed a half-moon-shaped cotton or rubber dress shields between their clothes and their sweaty armpits. But the surest way for a woman to deal with body odor was to wear perfume - lots of it. At that time, however, body odor was not considered such a problem for men, as it was considered manly.
The first commercial deodorant, Mum, was patented in 1888 in Philadelphia and contained a zinc compound as its active ingredient. Deodorant was in the form of a paste and was applied to the armpits, but it was not that effective in absorbing moisture and the smell was not very pleasant either. The development of deodorants continued, however, leading to the invention of the first antiperspirant, Everdry, in 1903. This antiperspirant contained aluminum chloride in liquid form, which was applied to a cotton ball and wiped on the skin. However, the acidity of the aluminum chloride caused a burning sensation and irritation under the armpits.
Mum was acquired by Bristol-Myers in 1931. Inventor Helen Barnett Diserens developed the first roll-on deodorant applicator for the company. Bristol-Myers launched the product in 1952 under the name Ban Roll-On. Gillette's first aerosol deodorant, Right Guard, came on the market in the early 1960s and quickly became a popular alternative to creams and sticks. But in the late 1970s, the FDA banned the main ingredient in aerosols, aluminum zirconium, because of the long-term health risks of inhaling the chemicals. This, together with damage to the ozone layer, led to a rapid decline in the popularity of aerosol deodorants.
As we can see, people have always been trying out more or less successful methods of eliminating body odor that would give them confidence both in their own skin and in interactions with others, which is even more important nowadays with our fast-paced and active lifestyles. Deodorant is used by almost everyone, from teenagers to the elderly. Due to many concerns about the safety of the ingredients in traditional deodorants and antiperspirants, we expect the solution to be kind to our health, the environment and the senses of those around us.
The demand for all-natural solutions has increased significantly in recent years, as I have already written in my previous blog. With this in mind, Miri has developed a premium natural deodorant that offers you everything you need - effectiveness, amazing smell and easy application (roll-on), while being kind to your skin.
Why Miri natural roll-on deodorant?
🍀 all-day protection
🍀 smells amazing
🍀 no baking soda or other irritating ingredients
🍀 vegan and cruelty-free
🍀 aluminum-free and free of synthetic fragrances
🍀 dermatologically tested
🍀 does not clog pores or leave stains
🍀 no microplastics
Miri, best for your skin and the environment.
