I've been on the hunt for the past several months trying to find an alternative, natural way of making deodorant for a few reasons. For one, there is such a strong connection about aluminum with Alzheimer's and cancer that is concerning. Second, the higher the aluminum content, the more dry, red and itchy I became. It would get so bad that I had to stop using deodorant for several days to heal. And lastly, since I recently had my second child, I've noticed that when I hold my baby and he falls asleep, his head can be near my armpits. Or when I hold him when he's awake, since he is moving so much now, his arms go everywhere. So I don't want him to breathe or touch this stuff, my personal feeling. Now you might be asking, "Why don't you just use Tom's of Maine?" Well, I have and still have it in my bathroom, but it doesn't work that great on me. Listen, I am a girly-girl but this girl NEEDS help, or you don't want to be next to me. Ladies, lets be honest,we all don't want B.O. but do. It happens, so why not find a natural way?
So I've been asking people with no luck, then decided to search the Internet. I came across several people raving about this homemade coconut deodorant. Now I already knew coconut oil in general is great, but using it as deodorant? Well, the only way I would really know the truth is to try it out myself and husband.
Here's the recipe that I found:
5 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup baking soda
*Mix well all ingredients in a bowl till it becomes a creamy paste. Done!
I cleaned out an old deodorant container and put the new in. Please take note that this will not stay solid in hot places. So I actually have mine in the fridge!
The real question now, does it work? Well my husband has been using this for a few weeks and he said for a natural non toxic deodorant it works pretty good. Now it doesn't last all day, maybe 6-8 hours. So if you plan to go out for dinner, I highly recommend to reapply.
If you have very sensitive skin like me, you will need to adjust the recipe because you will get a red irritation due to the baking soda I believe. What I did for me was to reduce the baking soda to 2 Tablespoons and use virgin, unrefined coconut oil.
Conclusion, it really works. If you want something natural, non-toxic to use, this is it. You have nothing to lose because you probably have the ingredients all ready in your kitchen!
