When rewilding why should the artificial representations only be expected?
But isn’t being thick-skinned and having defiant eyes truly pure?
that’s an interesting thought… guess i’m not sure about the word “pure” at all really.
they used ‘pure’ at the end there in the ‘sugar and spice and everything nice’ sense. not in a natural sense.
it’ll be a long road to reclaim the meaning of ‘pure’ from the beauty industry.
i’d just like to add… that i have an awesome musk. deodorant doesn’t do shit for me, it wears out so fast, even when i’ve just bathed that morning. i have a lovely, earthy musk & i wish i never had to mask it.
hi Joan! yes, I’ve come to appreciate my natural scent as well. the only time it seems funky to me is when i’m stressed, or ill, or I’ve eaten something unhealthy, then I can smell my body trying to purge those things. I’ve found that for my own comfort, when i’m around ppl. who may not appreciate being up close and personal with it, that applying lavender essential oil works really well. my skin handles it happily, I love the scent, and everywhere I go, people say “wow you smell nice, what is that?”. kinda funny really, since I bet if it was a synthetic lavender scent, it would be easy for them to recognize. it also makes me feel more comfortable just because i’m not worrying about them thinking I smell bad. 
I’d love to try out some other essential oils that would be suitable for delicate skin, like underarms. Do you have any thoughts? thanks for joining this conversation, it’s important!
ditto on my scent changing when ill/stressed/etc. there’s also a terrible ‘travel funk’ that happens (not just to me!) when i’ve been in a car/plane/whatever for a long time.
for a while i made a mix of baking soda & cornstarch, patted that on with a cloth, & dabbed a bit of lavender or peppermint ‘around’ (since peppermint is too strong for direct use there, for me). i’ve also gone a long time just using some of my homemade salves that only have herb-infused oil & beeswax, though that’s not amazingly effective, only mildly so.
i don’t mind using essential oils, but since i don’t make them myself, my mind is always stretching for something i can produce on my own. maybe a peppermint or lavender or lemon balm triple-tincture, where multiple batches of the herb get infused back into the same alcohol.
i’d also just like to get back to a living situation where my natural smell is fine again. i don’t like worrying about being treated poorly Or upsetting people because i smell like a human animal.
Joan,
thanks for your thoughts!!! I would love to explore home made alternatives to essential oils, wild crafted / home grown ingredients would feel ideal. Also agree with the goal of getting to a place where other people’s opinions of my hygiene are less and less relevant to me. I’ve made good progress with this in recent years, but am still not as “free” as I would like to feel. Maybe for some of us it takes longer than others to ditch the baggage we’ve been saddled with over time.