DIY Natural Deodorant Cream

Homemade Coconut Oil-Based Deodorant Cream

This Thanksgiving, in addition to making a little feast, I made my own deodorant with just four totally natural ingredients. I followed the recipe from a photo posted by Food Heaven Made Easy with Wendy & Jess on Facebook (via ALifeBalanced.com). So far, the only natural deodorant that has ever consistently worked for me has been 80 proof vodka (which I use faithfully). Still, I couldn't resist trying this, given how simple it is to make.

 ingredients

To make this deodorant cream, I used: corn starch, baking soda, coconut oil, and essential oils. I made a very small quantity; it's a strategy I highly recommend for the maiden voyage of most DIY products. This way you can avoid the possibility of getting stuck with a ton of something you completely hate.

Note: I didn't use vitamin E because I don't have any on hand. I figure I'll be OK without a (natural) preservative since I'm only making about a month's supply. (Update: This batch was enough to last over 3 months!)

Shout out to tuesday bassen, who made the girl face magnet. I still love it!

I quartered the recipe. Math generally makes my brain hurt but creating charts helps.

Am I the only person drooling?

I sifted the baking soda and corn starch into a cup. I added coconut oil and essential oils: an aromatherapy blend of lavender, bergamot, patchouli, and geranium called Stress Less and tea tree oil. I got a little carried away and actually added a lot more EOs than the recipe called for- about 1/8t tea tree oil and 5 drops Stress Less. This stuff is going to be super mighty, which is perfect since my pits can get really funky!

I blended everything together with a fork until it was the consistency of cupcake icing. I resisted the (very strong) urge to eat it by constantly reminding myself it wasn't cupcake icing. This was the hardest part!

Always label DIY products with ingredients and date. (Date label is on the side of this tin.)

I scooped it into a clean, dry empty tin savaged from another natural product. I made handwritten labels and was sure to include: what the product is, ingredients, and the date made. This is so important for three reasons: I'll have the info hand if I wanna make adjustments to future batches; I won't accidentally use this as hair or body balm; and I won't accidentally keep this into the next presidential election year.

The original recipe suggests storing the cream in the fridge, but since I don't get dressed in the kitchen that's not my first choice as a storage area. So far, it's staying pretty solid in my woman-cave/closet. It's not that hot in there.

After three days of field research, including working retail on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, I can attest that this deodorant works well. It didn't keep me as dry as powder-based natural deodorants. (I was almost instantly sweaty on Friday.) However, body odor never became an issue, even thought I totally skipped my shower on Sunday in favor of getting to brunch early! Also, it absorbs into the skin pretty well, so armpit coke lines aren't an issue. LOL!

Olivia Lane is a Blogger, Green Living Educator, and Health Coach trained at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She's also author of Baking Soda & Bliss: The Healthy & Happy Guide to Green Cleaning.   

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