It's been 10 years since I learnt about cancer-causing deodorants... here's what you should know:

Hello and happy days- whatever day it is in your part of the world ☺️

I'm throwing it back today. It came to my attention last week that I've really only shared one very small part of my journey and story with you guys- it's been mostly focussed on the mindset shifts that I made in the last few years which were pivotal in getting me to where I am today. But it's only part of my story and adventure into this 'alternative' lifestyle that I'm living.

To understand how all of this started, we actually need to go back a good decade, and maybe even slightly further than that in the family history.

Most of you aren't aware that I have a really strong history of familial breast cancer. My paternal grandmother whom I'm named after, Susan, passed away from aggressive breast cancer at only 23 years old. Many of her sisters, cousins and aunts also experienced breast cancers in some form or other.

When I was growing up, I can't tell you how many ultrasounds and doctor's check ups I had to endure. It was mortifying. But every lump was a cause for concern and my parents took this threat really seriously. I knew how to do a self-breast examination at only 12 years old. At twenty years old, my Dad drove me up to Sydney to see a leading geneticist to undergo genetic testing and determine if we had the BRCA gene, or any other hereditary genes that would determine the risk. I tested negative to the gene, but was also told I had an almost 85% higher risk than other females my age of developing breast cancer by the age of 50. She suggested that I keep alert for the next 10 years, revisit her for further testing at 30, and to strongly consider having a double masectomy and oophorectomy by the age of 40.

I was devastated by the news, but also it was something I had known all along. That our hereditary gene for breast cancer, whatever it was, ran really deep.

A few months later, I still remember sitting in the car on the Tathra wharf on summer holidays, when I Googled what causes breast cancer. I was 21 years old.

I started reading and researching voraciously. I had Googled, without really expecting much of an answer because the narrative that I had been fed by multiple doctors and Australia's leading specialists, was that there was nothing I could do. It would either choose me, or it wouldn't. All I could do was be alert and keep watch for it, and then act quickly if it appeared and maybe that would be enough to save my life.

I remember thinking even then, there has to be another answer. Another way. This can't be all there is to know about it.

The results suggested there was a multitude of lifestyle factors, which could actually, contrary to popular conventional medicine, contribute to the cause of breast cancer. Some of them felt more easily attainable than others. Some of them felt a little more 'science-and-research-based' than others. But at the top of the list there was one I knew I could definitely control.

Deodorant.

Like every other Australian woman, I was using an antiperspirant Rexona spray deodorant from the supermarket. I read that antiperspirant deodorant contains aluminium which clogs your pores (thus stopping your from sweating). But that since the armpits are home to our lymphatic system, the aluminium is absorbed by our skin, leaching into our lymph nodes and our blood stream. Aluminium is poisonous to the body. I wasn't 100% certain I believed the information... why would the deodorant companies be able to sell something that is harmful in the supermarkets? Why were people still using it and buying it? Why hadn't I ever heard about it before? When I got back to our accommodation, I checked my can of Rexona. It had aluminium in it.

That right there, is one of my classic f*ck-it moments.

A full-scale WTF moment. I was vain enough that I wouldn't consider just throwing my can of deodorant away. I started researching natural deodorants. I tried several. I didn't like the feeling at first... I could feel myself sweating. But the more I researched, the more I found out about the body's natural detoxification process which includes sweating and is actually essential for our bodies to function properly and healthily!

I've tried almost every Australian brand of deodorant on the markets over the years, with varying degrees of success until I found one I liked. I moved into skincare next. Did you know that the average woman puts over 168 different toxic chemicals onto her skin every single day? These chemicals are in our shampoo and conditioner, our soap, our moisturisers, our make-up, deodorants, toothpaste... These harmful substances can take YEARS to break down in our bodies.

I didn't change everything at once. It was overwhelming. I started with deodorant. A few years later I started with my face wash and moisturiser, then toothpaste and toothbrush, then body wash and body moisturiser. I've been trying to use clean make-up for about 7 years, but now I hardly ever wear it anyway. I steer clear of anything that has an artificial fragrance (which is sadly just about everything on the market).

What's the point I'm trying to make here?

It's not to scare you. It's actually just to give you a different perspective than the one being offered by the beauty industry and the media today. It's to alert you to a few things that I have been steadily researching and finding out for myself over the last few years and that I wish everyone had access to the knowledge of.

It's not about convincing you that you need to throw out your entire bathroom cabinet, but I do think it's important that we hear different sides of the story so that we can make up our own opinions and do our own research.

I started 10 years ago with the idea that I was going to make my body as healthy as I possibly could to try and ward off this terrible cancer that has plagued my family for generations. I've rarely spoken about it outside of my family before, and even then I've only really revealed a really small extent of the research that I've actually done.

A decade worth of knowledge that I've accumulated and put into practice, and I'm still not perfect.

I still have a moment where a new serum or a new conditioner will catch my eye and I'll try it out... but I always return to the clean stuff because I know that it's all about the compound effect- I can't always control every single thing that has gone onto or into my body, but I can control what I'm using going forward and I know that small, incremental changes add up over time.

I started prioritising myself and what I needed. I started researching instead of just listening to the fads and the popular notions of society. I realised that working out is about so much more than just the physical strength and flexibility we need to build up before old age sets in, or the mood boost that sets me up for the day every morning. It actually gets our bodily systems and detox pathways moving and flowing so we can process our food and toxins and operate healthily. I haven't even touched on food yet, but I might save that for another newsletter (holla at me and let me know if you want to read my take on it!).

It's funny because I HATED science when I was at school. Even as a teacher, the students used to make fun of me for my lack of general scientific knowledge. But I've been reading scientific studies on this stuff for literal years now and disseminating that information into something that I could apply in my own life. I had family members make fun of me and call me a hippy... and now I'm living in a van so I guess they weren't wrong 😅 But at the end of the day, my appearance and how I presented myself to the world was still important to me. I never wanted to be the teacher who smelt by recess every day, or the bare-faced gal at a wedding. I love dressing up, I love looking nice, I love smelling nice too. But there are other alternatives out there that are healthier for you, for the environment, and still let you feel good about yourself.

It's worth considering next time you need to buy some deodorant in any case 😉

My ultimate take-away for you here is that you can't believe everything you hear, that you should do your own research, and you should always consider different perspectives when you're making up your own mind. If you hear an alternate opinion and it makes you question yours... that's a GOOD thing!! It will either give you some new information to consider, or strengthen your resolve in your previous stance.

The balance of life is achieved in the body + mind + soul connection.

I started with getting my body on board and learning how to understand it from both the internal feeling and the scientific side of things. This journey started with knowledge. Consider this newsletter your call to action and the first nudge towards more knowledge in this area 😉

Thankfully, I had some more genetic testing done recently. I was cleared of the BRIP gene, and they ran my stats again for the risk of breast and ovarian cancer which were CONSIDERABLY lower this time around. There's definitely a place for Western medicine and science, and this is one of them. The ongoing research of these small facilities provides literally life-changing information for families who are battling these cancers and diseases. A lot of new information, research and technology has occurred in the last decade and I'm hopeful about the future for breast cancer, but at the same time, I'm not going to sit back and let somebody else control the narrative of my life. It's my responsibility and in my power to reduce the risk and make myself as healthy as possible.

Today, this balancing looks like taking the time to be super intentional about the products that I use on my skin. I usually use the free YUKA app when I'm at the grocery store to scan personal and beauty products and see how they rate in terms of toxicity before I buy anything new. It's been a god-send for these small outback supermarkets that don't carry my usual brands. But above all of this, I really try and use small businesses to buy most of my skincare from. It's easier to know exactly where all of the ingredients have been sourced from and I'm supporting somebody's small business instead of the corporations of the beauty world which makes me feel good on the inside too!

If you want to know exactly what brands I'm personally using right now and loving, then let me know. It's not to influence you to buy them in any way, but just to give you some options 😘

All my love and all the heat from the sunny and f*cking hot NT (40 degrees🥵),

Haley 🤍