Streamlined Balm Deodorant

I did a heap of leaf raking this afternoon, with the kids compacting them. My skin was crawling when I woke up this morning, so I was unfortunately clean from a shower before all that sweating. Actually, I don't care anymore. I've gotten so good at targeted skin care, the bath schedule doesn't matter much to me.

It gave me a good opportunity to try altering my underarm antiperspirant formula, anyway. Since I've switched to balm instead of splash, I thought I would try giving the pits a pleasant smell. After balming my face with a pea-sized dab of Dollar Tree Men's 3-in-1 Lubricating moisturizer mixed with a splash of Dollar Tree blue aftershave, which I also wiped off and soaked with a wet cloth, to save my thin skin from dehydration, I reloaded with the same for my pits, wiping again. Then ammonium alum, with a spray of water to keep it sliding/dissolving on the skin, and fan drying with the cloth.

I've tried incorporating splash in other ways, and it's generally proven counterproductive, not a viable substitute for the witch hazel toner in the "odorless" method. It seems as though alcohol primes the skin and hair for bacterial colonization, and additionally opens up the floodgates for nutrient-rich sweat. But for little more time investment than smearing oneself with a commercial product, this formula gives about the same smelly result. The benefit is, you can make it out of any splash or cologne, and "reduce" ecologically.

Don't take my word for it, though. During a family pig pile on the master bed, my wife prompted my six-year-old son to smell my armpit, thinking I was still committed to the odorless antiperspirant. To her surprise, he reported: "Smells nice!"

Racer and "Stella"

Baili razor BD177 got a name today, after pairing up with my cheapest, smoothest blade. I was like, "duh," shoulda thought of this a long time ago. I forgot to tighten the blade down, having planned to play with the TTO's version of angle adjustment, and still didn't get burnt. It was like having a three-week old blade in the Super Speed. ME LIKEY! It's fast and cheap, and I don't expect the blade to last more than a week, but that could easily be my daily shave.

I did play with loosening the blade slightly, and found it very effective, flicking the edge up and down like in the BD191, and very secure, though controlled by a much smaller turn of the knob. So now I consider Stella's metallic odor in the same light as I look upon the chrome rubbing off the BD191 baseplate -- if that's what makes it work so well, from bare metal-metal contact inside, I'm all for it. I still hold some hope that the copper odor is just a misplaced layer of cosmetic finish.