REDACTED: A couple weeks after writing this post my all natural DIY deodorant started causing a lot of irritation. It turns out such high levels of baking soda are not good for applying regularly to the skin. There are other deodorant recipes out there that do not use baking soda, but they’re all a bit more work than I am willing to put in, so I’m back to the conventional stuff. So much for being an all-natural hippy!

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Sometimes I’m a lot less “all-natural” than I may lead people to believe on this blog. For example, I just ate a copious amount of PuffCorn Delites with my lunch.

But sometimes I surprise even the people who know me and my crunchy granola tendencies well with some of my “all-natural” experiments.  Take my deodorant, for example. I haven’t worn regular store-bought deodorant for several months, opting instead for a homemade variety. After reading several alarming articles concerning toxic chemicals and aluminum in deodorant, I figured it couldn’t hurt. It also happened to work, which was a relief. Here’s how to do it!

You need some baking soda, coconut oil, and a small container to store your deodorant in. An empty deodorant container from your seedy toxin-ridden past works best.

Pour about a 1/4 cup of baking soda in a bowl. The baking soda is the real workhorse here. It controls oder and absorbs moisture. In fact, you could just throw some baking soda on your armpits and call it day, but that might be a rather dusty situation. So to keep from making a huge mess every day we add in some…

Coconut Oil! Also about a 1/4 cup. It makes your deodorant take on a more normal hard paste-like form with the added benefit of moisturizing your skin.  Mix these things together until all the powder is blended with the oil. You may find you need a little more oil or a little more powder for it all to blend well. It’s not an exact science.

Once it’s all blended together, put it in your container. I like to throw my deodorant in the freezer for a while so the coconut oil has a chance to harden back up (it will often get softer when you are stirring it around). Now you can just apply your deodorant like a normal person and no one but you will know that it’s just ingredients from your pantry. Unless of course your write a blog post about it to the whole world.

 

Of Note: While this deodorant does a great job of keeping you from stinking, it is not an antiperspirant. Meaning, you will still sweat. This isn’t a big problem for me because I do not frequently engage in strenuous physical activity. But if you do, this might not be a great solution for you.