The Deodorant Stone
The Deodorant Stone
11/29/05
It was around 1992 that I started using a deodorant stone.
I have to tell you that I am one of those people who has to use a deodorant unless I prefer to go European or something, where they apparently regard underarm odor as a sexual stimulant even in elevators, it seems, although generally everyone is too polite to act out in an elevator. But no, I am an American burdened by the social mandate that there will be no stink, period. Particularly from under the arms, period.
So in 1992, I was listening to Public Radio when the local station did a news story about a new environmental retail store a woman was opening because she believed that she could express her idealism best by selling items that would have the least impact on our air, water, and landfills. The store didn’t quite work out the way she planned, but at least two things came of it, anyway. One was that I immediately became a major investor in the store, because I identified thoroughly with what she was trying to do. The other was that I started using a lot of the store’s products. Soon, I tried a deodorant stone that she had for sale.
Now, how could rubbing (onto slightly moistened armpits) something that looks like a piece of quartz and must surely be as impervious as a chunk of marble---I say, how could doing that have any effect at all? I mean, it isn’t as if it produces white lather. Nothing’s scented. Nothing tingles. Nothing does anything. Except the dog knows. He tries to lick me in my armpits right after I’ve rubbed them with the stone. He prefers a nice, strong, salty area of flesh for a good licking session. I’m prime real estate for him, especially after I’ve used that stone. Too bad I have to spoil it for him by shooing him away. I’m not having him lick the whatever-it-is off, that’s for sure.
The first time I used the stone, in1992, I was mystified. I simply never had underarm odor any more. In fact, my work in later years was so demanding that I would go for two, three, or four days sometimes without ever taking a shower or washing off at all. Maybe after the third day, I’d catch a whiff of underarm odor, but usually it was after the fourth day.
Such a deal, too. I stopped buying the roll-on stuff I was using previously and was having to buy a bottle every three months or so. The deodorant stone lasts for years, literally.
Now, I’m only a moderate perspirer. I do not know if the stone has anti-perspirant powers (I suspect it doesn’t), but I never had a problem with excessive perspiration before or after using the stone. But I did have better deodorant results using the stone, like better by a day or three. That’s significant.
I wrote something up for my partner to display in her store, and here it is:
PSSST!--C'MERE A SECOND. THAT'S RIGHT--YOU! LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS DEODORANT STONE BUSINESS.
NOW, I BELIEVE IN THE PRINCIPAL OF "WALKING GENTLY ON THE EARTH". I BELIEVE IN USING AS MANY LOW-IMPACT PRODUCTS AS POSSIBLE. BUT A LUMP OF CRYSTAL THAT KEEPS YOUR UNDERARMS FROM SMELLING? "HO, HO, HARDLY!", I THOUGHT.
I MEAN, WHAT IF I WERE IN AN ELEVATOR, AND SUDDENLY EVERYTHING FAILED AND MY UNDERARMS BLOSSOMED WILDLY INTO THAT DREADED UN-AMERICAN SKUNKLY WE-ALL-KNOW-WHAT-IT-IS FRAGRANCE? WHAT A GHASTLY THOUGHT!
STILL, WHAT IS MORE UN-AMERICAN, TO SMELL ALL THE WAY TO THE SHOWER JUST ONCE---OR TO LITTER THE LANDFILL WITH EMPTY, USELESS ROLLER BOTTLES JUST BECAUSE I WAS UNADVENTUROUS AND WOULDN'T TRY SOMETHING NEW THAT MIGHT HELP THE ENVIRONMENT? I SPRANG THE FOUR BUCKS AND BOUGHT THE STONE.
THAT WAS IN THE FALL OF 1992. IT'S APRIL, 1994 NOW.
FOR ALL THIS TIME, I'VE USED THE STONE EVERY SINGLE DAY DURING EVERY SEASON UNDER JUST ABOUT EVERY ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCE SHORT OF DEATH. AND HAVE I EVER SMELLED LIKE---UMMMM---"B.O."? NOT ONCE! I ALLOWED MYSELF TO REMAIN SKEPTICAL FOR A WHOLE YEAR, BUT I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO GIVE THAT UP NOW, IT'S BEEN SO LONG. AND I'M NOT GOING BACK TO USE MY FORMER DEODORANT. I LIKE MY DEODORANT STONE. IT'S ALMOST LIKE A PET ROCK. I SUPPOSE IT'S GOTTEN SLIGHTLY SMALLER IN 1-1/4 YEARS, BUT NOT MUCH. I FIGURE I'VE GOT 2 TO 4 YEARS LEFT OF IT.
NOW, THIS STONE MAY NOT BE FOR YOU. IT'S A DEODORANT, NOT AN ANTI-PERSPIRANT. IF YOUR UNDERARMS GET YOUR CLOTHES NOTICEABLY WET A LOT OF THE TIME...WELL, BETTER STICK WITH ALUMINUM CHLORHYDRATE. OTHERWISE, KEEP IN MIND: THE FIRST BOTTLE OF DEODORANT I DIDN'T BUY PAID FOR THE STONE. AND IT'S BEEN LONG ENOUGH THAT I WOULD HAVE USED 3 OR 4 BOTTLES BY NOW. THAT'S 3 OR 4 FEWER LUMPS IN THE LANDFILL, TOO, HA!
NOW, AFTER A YEAR AND A QUARTER OF TRYING IT MYSELF, I FEEL AS IF IT'S O.K. TO INVITE YOU TO DO THE SAME.
SO...HERE IT IS: ADOPT A DEODORANT STONE---FOR MOTHER'S SAKE!
O.K., so then I went on to write another little essay for the store quite some time later, as a sort of an update, and this is what I wrote then:
PSSST AGAIN!--C'MERE A SECOND. THAT'S RIGHT--YOU! I REMEMBER YOU FROM APRIL, 1994, WHEN I TOLD YOU ABOUT MY FIRST DEODORANT STONE.
WELL, I BOUGHT MY STONE AT ABOUT THE LAST OF 1992. IN SEPTEMBER OF 1995, IT HAD BECOME ABOUT THE SIZE OF A BUTTER BEAN, AND IT WAS A BIT HARD TO HOLD. BUT I USED IT, ANYWAY. UNTIL ONE DAY, I DROPPED IT. IT LANDED IN A SCATTER RUG, NEVER TO BE FOUND AGAIN.
THE STONE LASTED TWO-AND-THREE-QUARTERS YEARS. DURING THAT TIME, MY UNDERARMS WERE ODOR-FREE EVEN TO MY SNIFFER, WHICH IS VERY SENSITIVE AND UNMERCIFULLY DISCRIMINATING. AND DURING THAT TIME, I AVOIDED BUYING SEVERAL OF THOSE ROLL-ON DISPOSABLE GIZMOS AND SO DIDN”T HAVE TO BEAR THE EXPENSE BOTH TO MYSELF AND THE ENVIRONMENT. DO I EVER FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT! YOU BET YOUR NOT-SO-SMELLY BOOTS I DO.
O.K., SO NOW MY FAVORITE PET ROCK IS HISTORY. AND WHAT DID I DO? I BOUGHT ANOTHER ONE, THIS TIME ABOUT 3 TIMES LARGER. IT WAS ABOUT FOUR BUCKS FIFTY, AND I FIGURE IT WILL LAST ABOUT 6 YEARS OR SO. HA, HA, HO!
SEE YA THEN!
And, indeed it did last 6 years. In fact, here it is 2005, and I’m still using the same one and still not smelling like “B.O.” despite exhausting yard work after not showering for 3 days. The stone has gotten smaller. I figure I have another year or two, as long as I can keep it between my fingers, and I probably can for that long. Over the years, I’ve become more skilled at using the thing.
I wrote one more essay to display in the store, but the store disappeared into cyberspace before I got the chance. Here it is, anyway:
PSSST A THIRD TIME!--C'MERE A SECOND. THAT'S RIGHT--YOU! I REMEMBER YOU FROM EARLY 1996, WHEN I TOLD YOU ABOUT MY SECOND DEODORANT STONE. YOU DON’T LOOK A DAY OLDER, EITHER. USING ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY STUFF ALL THE TIME MUST BE DOING YOU GOOD!
WELL, GUESS WHAT. WHEN I BOUGHT MY SECOND DEODORANT STONE, I FIGURED IT WOULD LAST SIX YEARS. HERE IT’S BEEN FIVE YEARS ALREADY, AND MY “PET ROCK” DOESN’T LOOK ANY DIFFERENT HARDLY AT ALL! I THOUGHT I’D BETTER REPORT THAT TO YOU. FUNNY THING, BUT MAYBE BIGGER IS BETTER WHEN IT COMES TO DEODORANT STONES. SOMETHING ABOUT SURFACE AREA, I THINK.
ANYWAY, HAS IT KEPT ON WORKING ALL THESE YEARS? YOU BET IT HAS! THROUGH HOT DAYS AND COLD, THROUGH GRUELING EXERCISE AND FORMAL PARTIES---NOT ONE WHIFF OF CLASSIC HUMAN UNDERARM FRAGRANCE HAS GONE WAFTING THROUGH THE AIR---NOT FROM ME, ANYWAY.
WELL…..O.K.. THERE WAS ONE INSTANCE WHEN MY WORK KEPT ME GOING FOR FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT IN THE SAME CLOTHES AND WITHOUT A SHOWER, SO I DIDN’T GET TO USE THE STONE FOR THAT LONG. THEN I’D STARTED TO SMELL A LITTLE. BUT THE STONE HAD KEPT ME UNOFFENSIVE FOR FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT! THAT’S HOW GOOD IT IS!
SO, HOW MANY DEODORANT BOTTLES HAVE I NOT BOUGHT AND HAVE NOT THROWN INTO THE LANDFILL BECAUSE OF THE STONE? I DON’T KNOW ANY MORE---I’VE LOST COUNT---BUT ALMOST A DECADE’S WORTH! DO I FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT? YOU BET YOUR PV [SOLAR ELECTRIC PANEL] I DO!
A DEODORANT STONE IS STILL A “BEST BUY” IN MY BOOK. BY THE WAY, I GET AROUND THE STORE MORE OFTEN, NOW THAT I’M RETIRED FROM MY FORMER JOB. IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING, I’M [XXXXXX]. YOU MAY SEE ME HERE (BUT BET’CHA WON’T SMELL ME!).
I think it’s the very juiciest thing, all the money I’ve saved all these years benefiting from an alternative product that is actually superior to the stuff that the big companies sell. It’s a lot more physiologic to use the stone, and it’s environmentally superior by a huge margin.
I wanted you to know about this, because I now have a long track record with the stone, and my experience might be very useful to you. My opinion is, the stone’s certainly worth a try! And after all, there’s no sense any more for me to keep it a “secret”.
© 2005, srman07
11/29/05
It was around 1992 that I started using a deodorant stone.
I have to tell you that I am one of those people who has to use a deodorant unless I prefer to go European or something, where they apparently regard underarm odor as a sexual stimulant even in elevators, it seems, although generally everyone is too polite to act out in an elevator. But no, I am an American burdened by the social mandate that there will be no stink, period. Particularly from under the arms, period.
So in 1992, I was listening to Public Radio when the local station did a news story about a new environmental retail store a woman was opening because she believed that she could express her idealism best by selling items that would have the least impact on our air, water, and landfills. The store didn’t quite work out the way she planned, but at least two things came of it, anyway. One was that I immediately became a major investor in the store, because I identified thoroughly with what she was trying to do. The other was that I started using a lot of the store’s products. Soon, I tried a deodorant stone that she had for sale.
Now, how could rubbing (onto slightly moistened armpits) something that looks like a piece of quartz and must surely be as impervious as a chunk of marble---I say, how could doing that have any effect at all? I mean, it isn’t as if it produces white lather. Nothing’s scented. Nothing tingles. Nothing does anything. Except the dog knows. He tries to lick me in my armpits right after I’ve rubbed them with the stone. He prefers a nice, strong, salty area of flesh for a good licking session. I’m prime real estate for him, especially after I’ve used that stone. Too bad I have to spoil it for him by shooing him away. I’m not having him lick the whatever-it-is off, that’s for sure.
The first time I used the stone, in1992, I was mystified. I simply never had underarm odor any more. In fact, my work in later years was so demanding that I would go for two, three, or four days sometimes without ever taking a shower or washing off at all. Maybe after the third day, I’d catch a whiff of underarm odor, but usually it was after the fourth day.
Such a deal, too. I stopped buying the roll-on stuff I was using previously and was having to buy a bottle every three months or so. The deodorant stone lasts for years, literally.
Now, I’m only a moderate perspirer. I do not know if the stone has anti-perspirant powers (I suspect it doesn’t), but I never had a problem with excessive perspiration before or after using the stone. But I did have better deodorant results using the stone, like better by a day or three. That’s significant.
I wrote something up for my partner to display in her store, and here it is:
PSSST!--C'MERE A SECOND. THAT'S RIGHT--YOU! LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THIS DEODORANT STONE BUSINESS.
NOW, I BELIEVE IN THE PRINCIPAL OF "WALKING GENTLY ON THE EARTH". I BELIEVE IN USING AS MANY LOW-IMPACT PRODUCTS AS POSSIBLE. BUT A LUMP OF CRYSTAL THAT KEEPS YOUR UNDERARMS FROM SMELLING? "HO, HO, HARDLY!", I THOUGHT.
I MEAN, WHAT IF I WERE IN AN ELEVATOR, AND SUDDENLY EVERYTHING FAILED AND MY UNDERARMS BLOSSOMED WILDLY INTO THAT DREADED UN-AMERICAN SKUNKLY WE-ALL-KNOW-WHAT-IT-IS FRAGRANCE? WHAT A GHASTLY THOUGHT!
STILL, WHAT IS MORE UN-AMERICAN, TO SMELL ALL THE WAY TO THE SHOWER JUST ONCE---OR TO LITTER THE LANDFILL WITH EMPTY, USELESS ROLLER BOTTLES JUST BECAUSE I WAS UNADVENTUROUS AND WOULDN'T TRY SOMETHING NEW THAT MIGHT HELP THE ENVIRONMENT? I SPRANG THE FOUR BUCKS AND BOUGHT THE STONE.
THAT WAS IN THE FALL OF 1992. IT'S APRIL, 1994 NOW.
FOR ALL THIS TIME, I'VE USED THE STONE EVERY SINGLE DAY DURING EVERY SEASON UNDER JUST ABOUT EVERY ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCE SHORT OF DEATH. AND HAVE I EVER SMELLED LIKE---UMMMM---"B.O."? NOT ONCE! I ALLOWED MYSELF TO REMAIN SKEPTICAL FOR A WHOLE YEAR, BUT I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO GIVE THAT UP NOW, IT'S BEEN SO LONG. AND I'M NOT GOING BACK TO USE MY FORMER DEODORANT. I LIKE MY DEODORANT STONE. IT'S ALMOST LIKE A PET ROCK. I SUPPOSE IT'S GOTTEN SLIGHTLY SMALLER IN 1-1/4 YEARS, BUT NOT MUCH. I FIGURE I'VE GOT 2 TO 4 YEARS LEFT OF IT.
NOW, THIS STONE MAY NOT BE FOR YOU. IT'S A DEODORANT, NOT AN ANTI-PERSPIRANT. IF YOUR UNDERARMS GET YOUR CLOTHES NOTICEABLY WET A LOT OF THE TIME...WELL, BETTER STICK WITH ALUMINUM CHLORHYDRATE. OTHERWISE, KEEP IN MIND: THE FIRST BOTTLE OF DEODORANT I DIDN'T BUY PAID FOR THE STONE. AND IT'S BEEN LONG ENOUGH THAT I WOULD HAVE USED 3 OR 4 BOTTLES BY NOW. THAT'S 3 OR 4 FEWER LUMPS IN THE LANDFILL, TOO, HA!
NOW, AFTER A YEAR AND A QUARTER OF TRYING IT MYSELF, I FEEL AS IF IT'S O.K. TO INVITE YOU TO DO THE SAME.
SO...HERE IT IS: ADOPT A DEODORANT STONE---FOR MOTHER'S SAKE!
O.K., so then I went on to write another little essay for the store quite some time later, as a sort of an update, and this is what I wrote then:
PSSST AGAIN!--C'MERE A SECOND. THAT'S RIGHT--YOU! I REMEMBER YOU FROM APRIL, 1994, WHEN I TOLD YOU ABOUT MY FIRST DEODORANT STONE.
WELL, I BOUGHT MY STONE AT ABOUT THE LAST OF 1992. IN SEPTEMBER OF 1995, IT HAD BECOME ABOUT THE SIZE OF A BUTTER BEAN, AND IT WAS A BIT HARD TO HOLD. BUT I USED IT, ANYWAY. UNTIL ONE DAY, I DROPPED IT. IT LANDED IN A SCATTER RUG, NEVER TO BE FOUND AGAIN.
THE STONE LASTED TWO-AND-THREE-QUARTERS YEARS. DURING THAT TIME, MY UNDERARMS WERE ODOR-FREE EVEN TO MY SNIFFER, WHICH IS VERY SENSITIVE AND UNMERCIFULLY DISCRIMINATING. AND DURING THAT TIME, I AVOIDED BUYING SEVERAL OF THOSE ROLL-ON DISPOSABLE GIZMOS AND SO DIDN”T HAVE TO BEAR THE EXPENSE BOTH TO MYSELF AND THE ENVIRONMENT. DO I EVER FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT! YOU BET YOUR NOT-SO-SMELLY BOOTS I DO.
O.K., SO NOW MY FAVORITE PET ROCK IS HISTORY. AND WHAT DID I DO? I BOUGHT ANOTHER ONE, THIS TIME ABOUT 3 TIMES LARGER. IT WAS ABOUT FOUR BUCKS FIFTY, AND I FIGURE IT WILL LAST ABOUT 6 YEARS OR SO. HA, HA, HO!
SEE YA THEN!
And, indeed it did last 6 years. In fact, here it is 2005, and I’m still using the same one and still not smelling like “B.O.” despite exhausting yard work after not showering for 3 days. The stone has gotten smaller. I figure I have another year or two, as long as I can keep it between my fingers, and I probably can for that long. Over the years, I’ve become more skilled at using the thing.
I wrote one more essay to display in the store, but the store disappeared into cyberspace before I got the chance. Here it is, anyway:
PSSST A THIRD TIME!--C'MERE A SECOND. THAT'S RIGHT--YOU! I REMEMBER YOU FROM EARLY 1996, WHEN I TOLD YOU ABOUT MY SECOND DEODORANT STONE. YOU DON’T LOOK A DAY OLDER, EITHER. USING ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY STUFF ALL THE TIME MUST BE DOING YOU GOOD!
WELL, GUESS WHAT. WHEN I BOUGHT MY SECOND DEODORANT STONE, I FIGURED IT WOULD LAST SIX YEARS. HERE IT’S BEEN FIVE YEARS ALREADY, AND MY “PET ROCK” DOESN’T LOOK ANY DIFFERENT HARDLY AT ALL! I THOUGHT I’D BETTER REPORT THAT TO YOU. FUNNY THING, BUT MAYBE BIGGER IS BETTER WHEN IT COMES TO DEODORANT STONES. SOMETHING ABOUT SURFACE AREA, I THINK.
ANYWAY, HAS IT KEPT ON WORKING ALL THESE YEARS? YOU BET IT HAS! THROUGH HOT DAYS AND COLD, THROUGH GRUELING EXERCISE AND FORMAL PARTIES---NOT ONE WHIFF OF CLASSIC HUMAN UNDERARM FRAGRANCE HAS GONE WAFTING THROUGH THE AIR---NOT FROM ME, ANYWAY.
WELL…..O.K.. THERE WAS ONE INSTANCE WHEN MY WORK KEPT ME GOING FOR FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT IN THE SAME CLOTHES AND WITHOUT A SHOWER, SO I DIDN’T GET TO USE THE STONE FOR THAT LONG. THEN I’D STARTED TO SMELL A LITTLE. BUT THE STONE HAD KEPT ME UNOFFENSIVE FOR FOUR DAYS STRAIGHT! THAT’S HOW GOOD IT IS!
SO, HOW MANY DEODORANT BOTTLES HAVE I NOT BOUGHT AND HAVE NOT THROWN INTO THE LANDFILL BECAUSE OF THE STONE? I DON’T KNOW ANY MORE---I’VE LOST COUNT---BUT ALMOST A DECADE’S WORTH! DO I FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT? YOU BET YOUR PV [SOLAR ELECTRIC PANEL] I DO!
A DEODORANT STONE IS STILL A “BEST BUY” IN MY BOOK. BY THE WAY, I GET AROUND THE STORE MORE OFTEN, NOW THAT I’M RETIRED FROM MY FORMER JOB. IN CASE YOU’RE WONDERING, I’M [XXXXXX]. YOU MAY SEE ME HERE (BUT BET’CHA WON’T SMELL ME!).
I think it’s the very juiciest thing, all the money I’ve saved all these years benefiting from an alternative product that is actually superior to the stuff that the big companies sell. It’s a lot more physiologic to use the stone, and it’s environmentally superior by a huge margin.
I wanted you to know about this, because I now have a long track record with the stone, and my experience might be very useful to you. My opinion is, the stone’s certainly worth a try! And after all, there’s no sense any more for me to keep it a “secret”.
© 2005, srman07
posted by srman07 at 7:39 AM
