Natural Body Care Series: Homemade Deodorant

Hi!

 It's been a while since I did a Natural Body Care post, mostly because we needed to use up the rest of our store-bought deodorant before I delved into the world of making my own AND because I kept forgetting to buy coconut oil.

I know you can get this way cheaper on Amazon, but I just wanted to try it
 with a little bit to begin with, so I didn't have a huge jug of coconut oil sitting around.

I know. Excuses, excuses.

If you're interested in any other Natural alternatives to store-bought hygiene products, check out the
Natural Home and Body Care tab at the top of my blog; all the other posts I've done on this subject are up there.

So.
Homemade deodorant.
I have to confess that I was kinda scared to try this one, mostly because when I was a kid, my mom and dad made a switch from regular deodorant with aluminum in it (which can cause cancer) to the natural "crystal" deodorant and it did NOT work for them.

At all.

I still remember the B.O. and it wasn't pleasant. (Sorry mom and dad. Love you! ) :)
They switched back to regular eventually and I was left with the distinct impression to NEVER use natural deodorant, unless I wanted to smell like I didn't use it at all.
Which, for a high school girl would pretty much be the worst thing ever.

Thankfully, I'm not in high school anymore -it's been 10 years...wow.
I've overcome that fear of natural deodorant and tried making my own and- it works!

So would you like to know how to make your own yummy-smelling, natural aluminum-free deodorant??

It's pretty simple.

I used about 1/2 cup baking soda
4 or 5 Tbsp virgin organic unrefined coconut oil
1 tsp or so of cornstarch


Take these ingredients and mix them around until you get the consistency you want, then put it into the container of your choice. It looked like frosting when I was done mixing it and smelled so good, I may have tasted it.
(It didn't taste like frosting.Unfortunately.)

I was using an old deodorant container that I'd rinsed, so I wanted the deodorant to be pretty thick so it'd stay in the container and not ooze out.

Take that, lady speed stick! I made my own, better version of you!!

The old deodorant was REALLY hard to wash out!

Keep in mind that coconut oil will liquefy when it gets warm, so keep your deodorant in the fridge if you don't want it to melt.
To use, just take out of the fridge and apply as usual. The coconut oil will soak into your skin so it doesn't stain your shirts or anything, and you'll smell amazing.
Every time I put it on, I want to eat an Almond Joy. Thankfully, I never have any around the house. ;)

This isn't an antiperspirant (which really you shouldn't use anyway since sweating is your body's way of getting rid of toxins and cooling itself- why trap toxins in your body on purpose?)
so you'll still sweat, but it shouldn't smell.
The baking soda neutralizes the odor and the coconut oil moisturizes your underarms and provides that amazing aroma of tropical paradise. :)

I love it, and its so easy to make!
Don't think I'll ever go back to using store-bought deodorant, that's for sure.

Have you made homemade deodorant before?
Did you use different ingredients? I'd love to get some more recipes and try them!

This post is shared at Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways.