WINE CHATS: Do you wear antiperspirants or are you worried about the potential side effects?

Do you wear antiperspirants or are you worried about the potential side effects?

This week on The Nightly, we’re chatting all about how we smell - considering neither of us wears antiperspirant. But as we settle into our couch with an expensive bottle of Penfolds Shiraz, we ask ourselves if antiperspirant is really as bad as they say.

Let’s go, stinky pits

Lyndsey: Come on, stinky pit girl.

Billi: Hey, smelly girl.

Lyndsey: I don’t smell.

Billi: You actually don’t, which is very frustrating.

Lyndsey: We’re going to talk about deodorant today. You just never know what we’re going to talk about on The Nightly. So welcome!

Billi: I wanted to talk about this because Lyndsey introduced me to not wearing antiperspirant deodorant, to all of our detriments, because to be honest, I’m like the sweatiest sweaty Betty. Probably a bit of perimenopause coming in for me, just rearing its ugly head. So I’m extra sweaty these days.

But I haven’t used antiperspirant deodorant for probably about a year. Has my life improved? I don’t know.

Lyndsey: Uh, has life improved for the people around you?

Billi: In all honesty, I’ve had days where I’m like, I can smell myself and it’s not pleasant.

And I’ve been here and Lindsay keeps saying that she has a really bad nose. So it hasn’t been too much of a problem between the two of us. You (Lyndsey) don’t smell at all.

Lyndsey: That’s what I want to ask you too, because I have such a bad nose. Do I smell? Because I don’t wear deodorant, or antiperspirant, and I haven’t for… I couldn’t even tell you how many years.

Billi: I don’t even know how it came up. I feel like I was at your house one day and I was like, Hey, do you have any deodorant? Because obviously I smell.

And you didn’t. And then we had this big moment where I was asking why don’t you wear deodorant? And what did you say?

Lyndsey: Because I’m a paranoid freak and everybody knows the antiperspirants block your sweat holes and that’s not good for you because I’ve got breast cancer in my family. Whether it’s been proven or not, whether you believe in that or not, whatever.

To me, it’s one thing that I can choose. Not to put it on my body that could possibly prevent me from getting breast cancer. So I just don’t. And I haven’t been a super sweaty person, I’m normal. I sweat obviously in summer. We live in freaking Queensland. If you don’t sweat in Queensland, you’re like not a human.

Billi: But are you not sweating during winter? Do you not have giant sweat patches during winter?

Lyndsey: No, except a few weeks ago. Yes, I had tiny little sweat patches.

That was definitely perimenopause kicking in that day. But no, I’m not a sweaty person and I guess I don’t smell. I don’t know.

Billi: And that’s the thing. I actually found when I stopped using antiperspirant, the smell of me changed. With antiperspirant, I smelled worse. It was like a really, really bad smell. I can’t even describe it, like a sour smell almost. It’s a totally different smell because I’ve used antiperspirant my whole life so I didn’t know the difference.

I didn’t know that there was a different way to smell when you smell.

Lyndsey: Maybe it’s because your sweat was trying so hard to get out but it couldn’t.

Billi: Or it was mixing with the deodorant. It produced a really weird smell. So I remember when I stopped wearing antiperspirant for ages, I just didn’t smell at all. Those days are gone now.

And now it’s come back with some sort of vengeance and I smell different, muskier.

But is antiperspirant that bad?

Lyndsey: Do you know what? I think so many people are not wearing deodorant these days or antiperspirants, at least the aerosol one. There are so many people using natural deodorant.

So that tells you that a lot of people are steering away from them because cancer is everywhere and whatever we can do to prevent or better our lives….

Billi: I tried the No Pong deodorant.

Lyndsey: I don’t like that. I don’t mind them. I’ve tried a few and they’re all in my drawer because what’s the point? Why am I wearing them?

Billi: I would hate to be that person when you hug somebody, you smell.

So I hope I’m not that guy. I could be that guy. I don’t know - if you hug me, let me know. I have an excellent nose. Because I have bad eyes, all my other senses are really up there.

Now I had to Google for the episode today. Lyndsey basically told me this a year ago. This is how impressionable I am. I was just like, yeah, I’m going to stop wearing deodorant and it’s fine. So I very quickly Googled what the dangers of antiperspirant deodorant are?

This is from the Cancer Council Australia:

There’s no evidence to support the claim that deodorants and antiperspirants cause cancer.

Lyndsey: This is why I said whether you believe in it or not because it’s proven but not proven. Depends on what you read, where you read it, blah, blah, blah.

Billi: Well, apparently there was some sort of scare story hoax email that went around and circulated, saying that antiperspirants prevent us from getting rid of toxins through sweat, which could clog up our lymph nodes and lead to breast cancer.

But this is wrong. First, sweating does help your body get rid of toxins. Second breast cancer starts in the breast and spreads to lymph nodes. Not the other way around. And there’s no evidence that aluminium leads to cancer.

So look, I mean, make your own decisions for sure.

Lyndsey: This is the thing. There are so many conspiracy theories out there. There are so many things like deli ham will make you get cancer. And then there are reports saying it won’t.

For me, I feel like whether it’s cancer-related or not, I don’t feel like I need it. It’s been so many years. It’s fine, people. It’s fine.

Smelly or not

Each week, we get to know each other a little better, no?

Thank you so much for joining us for another fun episode of Wine Chats and we wish you a wonderful weekend full of lovely smelling pits! Join us again next Friday for more good times here on The Nightly!