When my mom got breast cancer I started to take chemical exposure more seriously and the more I researched it the more it began to concern me. One big red flag that popped up in my life came in the form of deodorant. It was really scary learning what I was putting on and therefor in my body.

I shave under my arms every day. It is part of my beauty program. Most of you can relate to this, at least if you are a woman. Though some of you guys might have this in your routine as well.

If so, good for you.

The hair acts as a sponge for the bacteria that in turn makes the area stink. By shaving you are reducing the surface area that provides the bacteria a home.

Still you are then probably placing harmful chemicals onto the surface which might be further susceptible to harm from small aberrations on the skin's surface when you were shaving. This leaves a lot of room to let contaminates into the surface.

So how do you stay groomed and at the same time, healthy?

I asked myself the same question, and what became clear is that I need to pay more attention to what I am playing on and in that respect in my body. When I started to look around it became apparent that there are plenty of alternatives, some of them commercial, others are natural.

The first one I tried worked great, still it wasn't for me: Baking soda. Yup. Just the normal stuff you have in your kitchen. That would be the straight baking soda, the kind that you mixed with vinegar when you were a kid to make a fountain. The one that is activated when it comes into contact with liquid won't work. The Egyptian's used this thousands of years ago. They hated stinking, too. And it works great in my environment, ancient Egypt was certainly hotter and if it worked for them, then it will certainly work for you.

I would continue to use it but it dries my skin out a little too much. I am a sensitive girl like that so I had to look elsewhere.

Before I went to a commercial solution I decided to try some other options and began mixing my own deo. And while it might sound daunting making my own deodorant has been a lot easier than I thought.

The mixture is simple with just a couple of ingredients:

• Coconut oil or Shea butter to protect those sensitive pits
• Beeswax to produce a smooth consistency that makes more of a roll on texture
• Zinc oxide as a baking soda alternative. Before you get anxious Zinc oxide is added to many food products, including breakfast cereals, as a source of zinc, a necessary nutrient. Zinc sulfate is also used for the same purpose. Some prepackaged foods also include trace amounts of ZnO even if it is not intended as a nutrient.
• Vaseline and silicone to further smooth out the deodorant

I can't claim the recipe for myself. Some nice woman shared it with me when I inquired about deo alternatives and once I got over the mindset of making it myself it got easy.

After all of the information we exchanged I decided to share it here in my traditional chaotic fashion.

Simply Unruly

For simple unruly eyebrows you can get by with just about any product on the market. Products like the eyebrow shaper from NYX will work fine. Or you can use one of the many different gel options. I have used the Anastasia dipbrow with some success on my normal eyebrow.

Solutions

• Benefit Gimme Brow (for normal hair)
• Benefit Speed Brow (for thick hair)
• ABH Brow Wiz

Mildly Unruly

It isn't my place to say that this does not exist, I just think that it is really a minority.

While the following example will be anecdotal in nature and therefore negligible in value it does prove my point. Thus I am going to use it. See, that is what anecdotal. I have four siblings, all of them have some oddities in their eyebrows.

Only my sister and I have the biggest problems. We inherited my father's eyebrows. And on a man they are at most mildly unruly. My brothers are all more or less fine with that. Only my younger brother grooms his in any fashion, though once he is married I imagine him letting them go.

So with this anecdotal evidence you can see that if I was a guy my brows would fall into the simply unruly, and I wouldn't have this problem.

For women I think we only fall into two categories. Either we just have to wax them over and we're ready to go. Pluck her and there maybe, trim them into shape but life is easy. Or you have …

Majorly Unruly

Or as I like to call it the unholy terror. Mine are sort of in a category by themselves. It wouldn't be so bad but a number of different factors play in to the brow problem.

1. Thin hair
2. Bends that start at the roots
3. Stubborn disposition

This leaves relatively few options for getting thing in order.

Solutions

As I have mentioned before the options are few and far between. Some work, but are less than satisfactory. Others sort of work and sort of done and are also unsatisfactory. The one that I use saves me time and gives me the best results, but also leaves me unhappy.

For better or worse I have been shaving them down somewhat. I don't like this because it gives me this even look that leaves what I can only call stubble. It by itself looks absolutely terrible. And without any makeup is embarrassing.

Once I have airbrushed them they look normal and equal, but airbrushing every morning and cleaning the brush every day is something I could live without. Don't go without cleaning your airbrush!

As it stands the brushed brow has given me the best result thus far, note that I said best. Not the most satisfying.

If only there was a eyebrow straightener on the market.

Here is the thing I have naturally curly hair which means that all of my hair tends to curl. Not just my head hair, though I would actually like it to be even curlier than it is now. But my eyebrows are the real source of my anxiety. I'm not sure if you can imagine this so I will describe my personal situation. Maybe you will be able to relate, or you will treat me like a reprobate.

Regardless, all of my eyebrow hairs on my left eyebrow grow straight, they look normal and I can manage them without much fuss. However, when you look at the other side, what you see is an unruly mess. The hair here loves to drive me mad because it will curl up and the results is that my eyebrow takes on the character of a mad professor.

I am neither mad, nor a professor if that is what you are thinking. Though my right eyebrow has driven me nutty for more years than I would like to count.

This isn't to say that you cannot fix them. You can shape them, though it is very hard and it does not tend to last a whole eight hour period without touch ups. Unruly brows tend to fall in the category of; thick, bushy, coarse, and un-kept. I've tried using all kinds of products and have actually run out of options since most of them fall into the aforementioned categories.

They are pretty thin which means my options are even more limited than others. What I have tried in the past is to trim them shorter, however, the problem arises at the root and get rid of the majority of curling what needs to come off and what is left looks more like stubble!

Right now I am airbrushing them on.

While this saves time though it isn't the most convenient method. I kinda wondered if you can get them chemically straightened but I have never looked into that.

Has anyone successfully dealt with this type of problem? I am open to any ideas.