I was looking into magnesium supplementation and I remembered I had read about spray-on magnesium oil. At one point there existed a spray-on deodorant from the same company that would double as a magnesium supplement, and although I’ve never used it, and the science of magnesium skin-absorption isn’t yet proven, I thought I’d make my own version of magnesium deodorant.
I purchased a hand-pump sprayer (Misto Gourmet Olive Oil Sprayer) and filled it with hot water and some Epsom salts. Epsom salts are believed to supplement a particular type of magnesium that is unfortunately not very bioavailable to the body as a whole, but is “said” to be absorbed quickly by muscles. The application of Epsom salts is meant to be a foot soaking to “aid in sore muscles and joints” (a dubious claim), but there are also anecdotal accounts of it aiding with sleep and other magnesium-related applications (more dubious claims). My thoughts on the matter: If it will indeed function as a deodorant, that’s good enough for me.
The aerosolization of this hand-pump model isn’t great, so the application is a bit moist. This is great if you want to cool off with evaporation, but not so great if you want to immediately put a shirt on. I had to spray and then rub the moisture across my skin to get an even coating and also to dry it quickly. The first thing I did was to spray my arms and hands with a fully saturated solution and rub it in. It was wet. I felt chilly as the water evaporated from my arms over the course of 10 minutes, leaving behind a mostly unnoticeable white powdery coating that also covered my hands. It is similar to the dryness of baby powder, but at 1/100th the strength. My hands still felt dry an hour later after a lot of typing. I should also note that my skin tastes suspiciously metallic–pretty much what Epsom salt taste like. It seems to be full strength.
I’m not doing any blood tests to determine if magnesium absorption is occurring; that will just remain a theory. However, I found Epsom salts to function OK as a mild deodorant. It isn’t aggressive or long lasting, but it seems to kill bad odor immediately. It doesn’t wipe out standard human odor, though. Usually good and bad smells go hand and hand, and you wipe them both out when you put on deodorant or take a shower. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced what it is like to just eliminate the bad odor, yet totally smell like a person. I describe it as baking cakes your entire life and then one day you finally try milk on its own.
Anecdotally, I did try the Epsom salt feet soak and it did not help with muscle aches from working out; that might require a full body soak. I do think it may have made me tired. Magnesium is known for causing a relaxing effect when you take it orally, and 500mg of the appropriate magnesium is very recommended before sleep for that reason. So maybe the foot soak was successful as a sleep aid, but it is merely an n=1 experiment and not much to go on. For ~$4.00, picking up a bag of Epsom salt makes for an inexpensive experiment though, especially if you are having trouble sleeping.
If you decide to take magnesium orally, don’t ingest the Epsom salts. First, that type of magnesium is not believed to be absorbable via the digestive tract, and secondly, Epsom salts is wickedly effective as a laxative. (I.e. It summons great amounts of water into your intestines.) Instead, take 400-600 mg/daily of magnesium glycinate, magnesium citrate, or magnesium malate.