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10.2K Views
6 years ago
DIY: How to Make Your Own Deodorant
Image Credit: iva
For many years deodorant has been the bane of my existence. As a teenager I learned that there is a strong connection between the aluminum in deodorant and Alzheimer’s disease. As a result, I was committed to using only natural deodorants. I have tried every stick, spray, roll-on, and crystal I could find. The result? Disappointment. I hate to say it, but I never found a product that worked for longer than an hour. In my frustration I found my way back to using conventional deodorant, stressing with each application about what I was putting into my body.
Then I heard from a friend that if you didn’t use deodorant for a period of time your body will naturally adjust to it and you wouldn’t need to use it. Let’s just say I tried that for a week and it was a failed experiment. And gross.
After searching around the internet, I discovered there are a ton of DIY deodorant recipes that use natural ingredients like baking soda, corn starch, and coconut oil. I have tried several different batches of homemade deodorant using different proportions of these ingredients and different essential oils. My first batch used peppermint oil which irritated my skin, my second batch had too much baking soda which also irritated my skin, but this final batch? Just right.
Since I live in a colder climate, coconut oil is usually solid (except in summer) so I had to gently heat it to a liquid so I could mix my ingredients. When it cooled again, my deodorant was a solid gel. I’ve heard mixed reviews from others who have put homemade deodorant into empty twist-up deodorant containers – some say it crumbles while others think it works fine. I haven’t tried this myself because I think it’s easier to keep the deodorant in a small jar and apply by hand. If you live in a warm climate, your mixture might not solidify (unless you keep it in the fridge) so it will be even easier to apply by hand because it will be in a liquid state.
I have been super impressed with how well this deodorant works and it actually works better for me than conventional deodorant. I think I have to say that again. It actually works better than conventional deodorant – the ones with the aluminum! If only I had known about this years ago. Sigh. I guess the perfect deodorant search is over.
DIY Deodorant
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 Tablespoons corn starch*
- 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking soda*
- 20 – 25 drops lavender essential oil
Directions:
- Melt your coconut oil (if necessary) and mix with the corn starch and baking soda.
- Add the essential oil.
- Mix.
- Transfer to a glass container.
- Use up!
- Will last 2 -3 months depending on usage.
*Notes: My batch has less baking soda and corn starch than some recipes I’ve seen because I experienced skin irritation from these ingredients at a higher ratio. If this mixture is not effective for you, you can increase the amount of baking soda and corn starch by about 2 teaspoons.
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I use rice instead of corn starch since corn starch clumps. I don’t use coconut oil as it can stain your clothes.
This is a good change since corn can be GMO and full of pesticides unless its organic. Rice might be grainie but forms breathing room for your underarm like sand filteres the shore water without packing down. Thanks for sharing this information with everyone.
Your body is designed to sweat to remove toxins through the pores. It only has a number of avenues to excrete waste and sweating is one of them. If it can’t get the toxins out, they will stay in you and you will get sick. The reason you stink for that first week is because you have a build up of excess toxins- and now, due to your use of anti-perspirants- bacteria that has been trapped in your pores. It will take longer than a week for this to cleanse and you to start smelling naturally good. For some people, this can take up to six months, but it will happen. Additionally, if your body is sick, you will smell.
I’ve heard it said a lot that sweating removes toxins. Having reviewed articles on the subject whenever I come across them, I’m convinced that this isn’t true. Chemical analysis of sweat reveals no toxins, and sweat glands aren’t directly connected to the liver or kidneys, where toxins first get filtered out of digested materials and blood, to allow for toxins to pass through them.
Sweat glands are for cooling; it’s the liver and kidneys that sift out toxins to be excreted via urine and feces.
Thanks Angela for great insight, the lymphatics are a important part of the exhaust system in the body and each of us drain differently especially of our ancestors who came from a different climate. We all chelate according to where our roots are from. so someone from Iceland with blue eyes and blond hair absorb the sun faster to chelate naturally occuring aluminum found in air water and food. Someone from the equator would retain the salts in the human body so the Sodium and potassium channels would work. Today our bodies are sodium(aluminum) rich and potassium poor. Herbalix website offers great insight into the aluminum world. There are over 30 diseases associated with aluminum according to Scientist studying aluminum
“As a teenager I learned that there is a strong connection between the aluminum in deodorant and Alzheimer’s disease.”
As an ADULT, did you learn to GOOGLE?
https://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_myths_about_alzheimers.asp
Reality: During the 1960s and 1970s, aluminum emerged as a possible suspect in Alzheimer’s. This suspicion led to concern about exposure to aluminum through everyday sources such as pots and pans, beverage cans, antacids and antiperspirants. Since then, studies have failed to confirm any role for aluminum in causing Alzheimer’s. Experts today focus on other areas of research, and few believe that everyday sources of aluminum pose any threat.
DO YOUR RESEARCH. This nonsensical spread of anti-science ignorance is hurting our planet, and our collective intelligence. You should be ashamed of yourself, and I expect a full retraction and explanation of your ignorance posted here, but I seriously doubt it’ll happen.
Lastly, coconut oil turns RAPIDLY rancid at temperatures above 76 degrees. I bet your pits smell like ass with an athlete’s foot stuck all up in it.
FFS, educate yourself.
Fix it, or you’ll be reading about this on your facebook page.
Time to calm down, Michael. You don’t have any reason to believe that the author is writing in bad faith. If she’s incorrect, it’s simple enough to point that out. The insulting tone of your response is wildly out of order and makes me wonder just what your interest is in this subject.
My interest in stopping the spread of misinformation and “old wive’s takes”. The author claims to be a “holistic health coach” and “educates children and low-income families about seasonal vegetables and healthy eating”. It makes you wonder what other nonsense she’s spreading around as “fact”.
Dude, what is your dysfunction? Regardless of what anyone chooses to believe about the Aluminum-Alzheimer’s connection, it’s safe to say that limiting Aluminum intake/exposure is a good thing. Not to mention all the other toxins that come with traditional deodorants/anti-persperants. I applaud anyone who makes their own natural products and are willing to share the fruits of their labors with others.
And perhaps YOU should do your homework. As long as you are using virgin, raw coconut oil, it is one of the stablest oils you’ll find. Unlike most vegetable oils, coconut oil is a saturated oil, which means that it’s bonds are very stable and not susceptible to attack by oxygen.
Maybe you should take a look at your own displaced anger.
Thank you for your correction on coconut oil. In Chinese medicine the liver is responsible for anger, sadness and sorrow. The Herbalix people recently discovered the liver can be congested with aluminum from our food chain causing anger and depression.
If your interest is on stopping mis information then you should start with yourself. It looks like you’ve done 5 minutes research on Google and now you claim to be the expert.
This is not anti-science – this is someone making their own deodorant at home because at this point in time the research is not conclusive either way on aluminium.
Aluminium has no biological function in the body, and has never been proved conclusively safe. It is therefore wise to proceed with caution, rather than slathering it underarm, cooking with it, drinking from it and injecting it in the form of adjuvents. Go to pubmed and search for aluminium – there are plenty of studies suggesting genotoxic and cytotoxic effects on cells in lab conditions. Sure, this is not conclusive – it is preliminary. But it suggests that aluminium is not inert and should demand further research before becoming commonplace in our everyday lives. Surely that approach is nothing but common sense.
And your comment about saving the planet is even more ridiculous! So you suggest that if we don’t rush out and buy everything the planet will collapse!! Not only is this nonsense, it is the complete opposite of the truth. For thousands of years humans have been making things at home using natural sustainable materials. Why must we now go out and buy stuff full of things we’ve never heard of??
If anyone should be ashamed it is you. You have waded in with an arrogent, dismissive tone and a total lack of research to back up your point of view.
Shut up Mike. You are a troll, and a bad salesman.