Aren't breasts wonderful? I mean really. Boobies. Babylons. Bazongas. Breasticles. Baps. They, and all the ridiculously creative words used to describe them, simply are the best. Curvy, round, splendid parts of our bodies that symbolise womanhood, motherhood and sexuality. I salute you.

I felt the time was right to discuss our wondrous mammary hillocks (I discovered that phrase in an erotic fiction once and never forgot it) thanks to an interesting piece of research I saw today. Also a blog post that has the words boobies in it apparently gets more readers, I wonder if that's true...

Anyway the researchers at the University of Reading have been studying breasts and in particular breast cancer and have found traces of parabens in the tissue of tumours. Parabens are chemical preservatives used by the cosmetic and toiletry industry in all of our favourite products from face creams, make-up, perfumes to shampoos and deodorants.

So why would parabens be found in breast tumours? Apparently parabens mimic the action of the female hormone oestrogen which can drive the growth of human breast tumours. Dr Darbre from Reading University said "Many of the concentrations of the parabens measured in these breast tissues would be sufficient to drive the growth of oestrogen-dependent human breast cancer cells in the laboratory." Crumbs.

For a few years now I have stayed away from chemical deodorants, not because of parabens but because of the aluminium salts they use as an antiperspirant. Aluminium is linked with all sorts of nasty diseases including alzheimer's, kidney and liver problems, memory loss, osteoporosis and cancer. And I really didn't like the sound of that. So I found natural alternatives instead. Now I know about the paraben issue I am definitely staying away from chemical deodorants.

I'm unsure why we have become a society that is so worried about bodily functions. We must shave our hair, we must not sweat, we must not smell. I agree that nobody is a fan of stale body odour however a clean woman without deodorant or perfume can smell incredible. Both men and women have these natural chemical responses - pheromones - which are designed by Mother Nature to attract a mate. What a marvellous thing to know that we have inbuilt fragrances that smell delicious and are not full of horrid chemicals which could potentially kill us in years to come. Sod the Lynx effect, we have our own power magnets already within us.

So this is my call to all women. Throw away your nasty chemical deodorants and smell like YOU for a change for the sake of having happy, healthy breasts which let's be honest are so much sexier than smelling like a toxic perfume factory. Hello boys...

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