Stink free natural deodorant

A while back, I gave up deodorant.  I don’t remember why — because I was concerned about the plastic packaging?  Or the chemicals in deodorant/antiperspirant?  I know over two years I tried a few natural brands like Schmom’s of Schmaine and then gave up on them too because they did not help me even begin to be stink free.  I toyed with making my own powdery deodorant out of baking soda and cornstarch — said to be the most powerful combination of homemade stench-resisting combinations — and that didn’t work either.

It got bad.  Some people don’t need to use deodorant because they don’t stink.  I am not one of them.  I had to reapply my powder multiple times per day, and when I gave up on it, I grossed myself out with the way I smelled.  It made me want to avoid everyone, even giving hugs at the end of normal, non-strenuous events like polite gatherings of friends.

I’m all about forgoing fragrance and realizing that some things are not going to smell good, and that’s okay.  When you have a dog who likes to play in muddy creeks and has had multiple episodes of gastrointestinal distress, you realize that there are far worse things than stench (like cleaning up the piles of poop from your carpet that make the stench).  But I stunk, and I couldn’t stand being around myself.  That’s when I knew it was time to do something.

I read a few recipes for homemade deodorant online, and then came up with one that works for me.  And not only does it work for me, it works for the other three people I conned into testing it for the last two months.  It will probably work for you, provided you’re not expecting it to help you stop sweating.  Let this be a disclaimer: this is not antiperspirant.  You will sweat when using this deodorant, but you won’t stink.  Probably.

As an added bonus, since using this deodorant my underarms have become very smooth. I can put this on right after I shave with no ill effects, which is more than I can say for the store-bought stuff I wore for years.  I attribute that to the vitamin E.

Stink free natural deodorant bar

Time estimate: 10 minutes of work, 1 hour of refrigeration. You will need:

• 3 spoonfuls of coconut oil
• 2 spoonfuls or approximately 0.5oz (12g) beeswax
• 2 spoonfuls of baking soda
• 2 vitamin E capsules (a natural preservative and a skin soother)
• tea tree oil
• microwaveable mixing bowl
• muffin tin
• microwave

1.  Put the coconut oil and beeswax into the microwaveable bowl.  It doesn’t matter whether or not you use teaspoons or tablespoons, so long as the ratio is approximately correct.  I used a regular spoon and eyeballed it because that’s how I roll.  If you’re curious, the coconut oil allows you to spread the final product smoothly, while the beeswax keeps it solid even in hot weather.

2.  Melt the beeswax and coconut oil in the microwave by putting the bowl in the microwave for 15 or 20 second intervals and stirring.  In fact, you don’t even need to stir, just swirl the mixture around in the bowl.  The coconut oil will melt very quickly; the beeswax will take longer, especially if you have larger chunks.  Keep at it.

3.  When the oil/beeswax mixture is fully melted, add the spoonfuls of baking soda.  Then pierce the vitamin E capsules and squeeze the contents into the bowl.  Add 2-5 drops of tea tree oil, and stir everything together.  Try not to get the tea tree oil on your skin because it’s very strong when it’s undiluted.  Tea tree oil has mild anti-bacterial and anti-mold properties, and as such, it irritates the airways too.

4.  Pour the contents into the muffin tin and refrigerate until hard, about one hour.

5.  The deodorant should pop right out of the tin after it’s hard.  It softens at body temperature, so to apply, all you have to do is hold the bar to your underarm for about three seconds, and then rub it on the way you would with other deodorant.  In fact, I’d hazard a guess that you need less of this than conventional deodorant to stop whatever stench you’ve got going on under your arms.  This bar should last you about six months.

Final comments

I’ve never had this bar turn into liquid for me, even when I left it in the car this fall on some really hot, sunny days.  That being said, I store the bar in a small mason jar with a lid to be on the safe side.  A plastic bag would also work.

With a little extra prep this could be a plastic-free method of making deodorant.  The box of baking soda has no plastic.  However, the coconut oil and the tea tree oil both had plastic wrappers around their caps, and the top of the tea tree oil bottle I picked has a plastic top.   Still, I won’t be using the tea tree oil for anything else, so as long as it doesn’t go bad, I’ve got enough tea tree oil to last me years.  I blanked when picking up the vitamin E and bought capsules in a plastic bottle.  I think I had a migraine that day.  Could you find vitamin E that is plastic free?  This is one of those things that I’d need to do more research on.  As for beeswax, I bought a single pure beeswax votive from Whole Foods, and removed the wick and the little aluminum piece from the bottom of the candle.

And really and truly for the last comment, I debated putting the deodorant into a deodorant tube recycled from SavvyRoomie, but the tube wasn’t water tight and I didn’t want the hassle of washing it out and trying to smush semi-solid deodorant into shape.  I’m content with the bar.

__________________________________________________________

©2012 at Simple Savvy, the simple living blog where I haven’t experimented with essential oils, nor did I keep a price chart of the materials I used.  But I’m thinking this is a cost effective natural deodorant since I can get multiple batches of deodorant out of all the things I bought.  It’s a tri-fecta!  Stink free, plastic-lite, cost-effective deodorant. 

Advertisement