Homemade Deodorant Recipe (DIY Natural Deodorant)

Is Your Antiperspirant or Deodorant Dangerous?

There are a lot of opinions out there on this topic. The main ingredient that is in question is aluminum. While there are other ingredients in antiperspirants and deodorants that can be suspicious, I will be focusing on this particular ingredient.

Some people will tell you that aluminum causes breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease, and others will tell you that it's completely harmless.

I know that a lot of people have strong opinions on both sides, so I'm just going to throw in my two cents for what it's worth.

I'm not a doctor, and I've never personally done a long term research study to see if there is a real connection between aluminum and the dreaded diseases of breast cancer and Alzheimer's, but I have watched my mom battle breast cancer and watched my grandpa's mental capacities slowly diminish.

That has been enough motivation for me to take some extra precautions when it comes to the chemicals that I expose my body to.

When it comes to keeping toxins out of my body and my home, I like to do everything I can to prevent exposure to things that might be harmful.

After reading Beating Cancer With Nutrition and then cutting most of the added sugar out of my diet, doing something simple like using my own homemade deodorant doesn't seem like too big of an inconvenience.

A lot of people think that I'm kind of extreme in my diet and the avoidance of chemicals that most people consider safe.

People can think what they want. I confess that I'm one of those weird people who doesn't necessarily think that just because something is FDA approved that I should trust it's good for me.

There are too many instances where money and politics are involved in the approval process for me to trust the FDA 100% with my health and well being, and for that reason, I choose to err on the side of caution.

There is a lot of information available about how money, politics, and poor research can affect the FDA's approval of food and drugs if that's something that you are interested in. Here is an interesting article about issues with drug approval, and Fed Up is a great documentary about how money and politics affect the foods that are on the market in America.

Whether aluminum is actually harmful or not, I can rest easy knowing that I'm not faithfully applying it under my arms where it has easy access to so many lymph nodes that are an important part of my immune system.

The worst case scenario for me is that I might not actually have a need to protect myself from the aluminum in store-bought deodorants, but even if that is the case, at least I still know that my home made recipe works and I don't smell bad.

To me, it's a win-win situation. I don't have to worry about repelling others with an offensive body odor, and I'm protected from aluminum if, by any chance, it actually is harmful.

Homemade Deodorant

• 1 1/2 Tbs. Grated Bees Wax (1/4 oz)
• 4 Tbs. Coconut Oil
• 1 Tbs. Shea Butter
• 1/4 C. Baking Soda
• 1/4 C. Arrow Root Powder or Corn Starch
• 15-20 drops Melaleuca Oil (Tea Tree Oil)
• Whatever Amount You Desire of Your Favorite Essential Oil for Scent, I use Doterra's Citrus Bliss. Lavender is another great one!
• Vitamin E, optional

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Instructions

1. Melt the bees' wax, coconut oil, and Shea butter
2. Mix in dry ingredients.
3. Add Melaleuca oil (and optional vitamin E)
4. Add other desired oils to come up with the scent that you desire. The proportions are all up to you on this one. Keep playing with it until you come up with a scent that you love!
5. Pour into desired containers and let cool. (The time it takes for your deodorant to harden will depend on the temperature of where you keep it.)
6. **As you learned from the preparation process of this deodorant, the ingredients can melt, so you want to store it somewhere with a fairly steady temperature where it won't end up melting.**

Simple Rule of Thumb: If You Can't Eat It, You Probably Don't Want It On Your Skin

If you knew that something was bad for your body and would cause damage to your digestive tract by ingesting it, the odds are that you wouldn't eat it. At least, I hope you wouldn't.

For the most part, we are pretty careful about keeping harmful substances away from our mouths, but what about putting them on our skin?

If you are like most people, you probably own an abundance of products that are meant to be used on the skin that you would never consider eating.

After all, it doesn't take a whole lot of common sense to figure out that you shouldn't be drinking your lotion or eating your body butter right?

The interesting thing about this is that while our digestive system could be easily harmed by ingesting too may toxins, it's actually pretty good at filtering out the things that are bad for us.

We all know that we don't want to force our livers and kidneys to deal with a toxic overload, and unfortunately that is still a fairly common occurrence, but most people aren't doing it on purpose.

Thank goodness we have these important organs that help to filter the things we put in our mouth so that they don't have as powerful of an effect on the rest of our bodies.

Now Let's go back to thinking about the products we put on our skin. Our skin is a huge organ full of pores that acts as a filtering system, but if we are forcing products into our skin by rubbing them in the way we do with lotions and deodorants, we are forcing those products through our protective barrier.

Chemicals that people would never think of ingesting often come into the body in a way that most people aren't thinking about. A lot of those chemicals are coming in through the skin.

That's why it's good to follow the rule of thumb that if you can't eat it, you might not want to put it on your skin.

Doesn't All Antiperspirant Have Aluminum In It? Are You Saying That I Should Allow Myself to Sweat in Public?

If you are a huge fan of antiperspirant, you are out of luck, because antiperspirants carry a pretty heavy load of this suspicious ingredient.

You might think that you have to use an antiperspirant because it's embarrassing to sweat, but maybe I can help to convince you otherwise.

Even if there is no danger in rubbing aluminum into your skin, there is another reason that you might want to avoid antiperspirant.

There is a reason that our bodies sweat. Sweating is an important bodily process that serves several functions. The truth is that we need that sweat to leave our bodies, and it is doing our bodies a disservice to try to get in the way of this natural and healthy process.

If you are worried about the odor of your sweat, it will be interesting for you to note that the unpleasant smell associated with sweating isn't actually the sweat itself. That unpleasant and offensive odor is actually the bacteria that live on your skin and loves to feast on your sweat.

Hence, you don't really have to worry about an increased amount of sweat causing a stronger odor if you are using a deodorant that works.

For example, the melaleuca oil in the deodorant recipe that I have included below is antibacterial and will rid you of the source of unpleasant body odors.

An effective deodorant will take care of the smell of that bacteria living on your skin but still allow your body to perform the natural and healthy function of sweating.

If I Can't Use Most of the Deodorants at the Store, What Can I Use?

The truth is that there are some deodorants you can purchase at stores that are aluminum free, so you aren't completely out of luck when it comes to checking the deodorant off of your shopping list. You just want to make sure to double check the ingredients before purchasing.

If you think you would like to try making your own deodorant, there are a lot of recipes out there. I've been using my own homemade deodorant for two years now, and I have no desire to go back. I'll include the recipe I've been using here in this article.

Just like different people have different favorite brands of store-bought deodorants, not every person is going to fall in love with the exact same deodorant recipe. If you want to try making your own deodorant, I would recommend trying a recipe, and if you don't really like it, you can always try another one.

All you have to do is Google search "homemade deodorant recipes," and you will find an abundance of recipes that you can try.

Some Ingredient Shopping Tips

The first time I made my own deodorant, I thought this could become an expensive habit if I kept it up. Some of the ingredients are a bit pricey if you don't already have them around the house.

For example, the first time I bought a little container of Shea butter, I thought that I wasn't going to be able to afford to keep making my own deodorant.

The key is that if you like it, you will want to figure out good places to buy high quality ingredients in bulk.

For example, I found a website that I love where I can purchase a large amount of Shea butter that will last me for quite sometime, and it's a better deal than buying the smaller containers that I was able to find at the store.

If you decide that you want to make your own skin care products, you will discover that there are several ingredients that are quite common, and it's probably worth your time to figure out where you can get the best deals on these ingredients in bulk.

When it comes to choosing which essential oils to use in your skin care products, there are a lot of opinions out there about which brands are the best.

I'm personally not one to get into those debates. I'm not a hater on any companies, but I do like to know that my oils are high quality if I am going to be putting them on my skin, so I'm a little bit picky.

If you are curious about where you can get certified pure therapeutic grade oils, you can follow this link, and it will take you to a website where it is quite simple to sign up and have some high quality oils sent your way.

I won't lie. The essential oils I buy are a lot more expensive than the ones you can buy at Walmart, but personally, I'm willing to pay the price for quality.

This documentary explains in detail how much money and politics affect the FDA. It's very enlightening, and it's definitely enough to make you feel pretty fed u

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and does not substitute for diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, prescription, and/or dietary advice from a licensed health professional. Drugs, supplements, and natural remedies may have dangerous side effects. If pregnant or nursing, consult with a qualified provider on an individual basis. Seek immediate help if you are experiencing a medical emergency.

Do you have a deodorant recipe that worked great for you? Would you mind sharing your recipe or the link where you found it to help out others?

ron i on October 03, 2017:

kind of a poor article. Most deodorants do NOT have aluminum. Most antiperspirants do. I use Right Guard Deo and Old Spice Deo and Speed Stick Deo all of which are Aluminum-free. Make your own if you want to, but I'm busy.

Rebecca Young (author) from Renton, WA on August 24, 2017:

Hopefully it's a success for you. I'm still using the same recipe...going on five years.

I'm glad you enjoyed the article.

John Brotherton from United Kingdom on August 20, 2017:

This is one cracking article, such a great wealth of information. I thought I was good at researching the effects of chemicals in the house and on your body, oh boy was I wrong, you win hands down! I did try a homemade deodorant a good while ago, however it didn't quite work out.

I am still learning the ropes with homemade toiletries, the only one I have mastered & wrote about so far is toothpaste!

So I think after reading this article, it's time to maybe try homemade deodorant out once again using your recipe, hopefully I will have more luck.

Rebecca Young (author) from Renton, WA on August 14, 2015:

Man! I wish I knew the answer to that question. I've never tried it with just Shea butter, so I don't know how it would turn out. I wish I could be more helpful, but I really don't know the answer to your question as far as how this specific recipe would work without the coconut oil.

You could probably find another deodorant recipe that doesn't use coconut oil.

I had a friend tell me recently that she's just been using baking soda and a tiny bit of water to make a paste and put it under her arms in the mornings and that's been working great for her.

I'm a little concerned about that method, because while it would probably successfully prevent unpleasant smells, I don't think it will do the trick to kill the bacteria that becomes present. I definitely think it's important to include essential oils for that purpose, but I guess it all depends on your own comfort zone. Like I said, my friend says that it works great for her.

MzMaryPie2U on August 09, 2015:

Sounds interesting and is something I would love to try but I'm allergic to coconut could I just use all Shea butter instead?

Rebecca Young (author) from Renton, WA on March 03, 2015:

Wow! Thanks for all your feed back. I keep hoping that with all the hubs out there I'll be able to connect with like minded people through my writing, and it's fun to see that I have.

Vellur, it sounds like you have experience with homemade deodorant already. Do you have any tried and true favorite recipes to share?

Rayne123, I totally agree with you about how all the extras in the modern environment, particularly in our food is affecting people's health... It's sickening... Literally

Poetryman...I don't think I'd just use any pleasant smelling food as deodorant, although that is an amusing idea. :-) it's probably safer to use a recipe that you know will work... Or at least a variation of one.

poetryman6969 on March 03, 2015:

I had heard that over the counter deodorants might not be good for us. The notion of eating something and then taking a bit of your food and using it for deodorant is somewhat amusing!

Rayne123 on March 03, 2015:

Hi how are you

This is very interesting. You know I never thought of the chemicals in deodorant.

When I think about it, it makes real sense.

Just like the vaccine that was out awhile back for H1N1. (in Ontario anyway) I myself did not receive it, apparently the mercury level was high. So even some types of fish may contain high mercury levels.

You know way back when my grandparents were kids, things were simpler, she use to tell me of good old fashion recipes.

Now cancer and many other diseases are infecting us full force. I believe it's all new stuff they are adding to foods and products. They think it's a great thing, a new and advanced stage that is going to wow us, however in reality the more they add the more it ills/kills us. It was more natural way back.

Thank you for this wonderful information.

Blessings

Laurie

Nithya Venkat from Dubai on March 03, 2015:

Homemade deodorants are way better than store bought ones. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Interesting and informative, voted up.