DIY: Natural Deodorant

I am so excited to share my latest creation with you all!

I have been using natural deodorant for several years now, and really do love the brand I’d been using (see link) and the combination of tea tree oil and lavender.

Despite what critics of natural deodorants say, I have had nothing but positive experience with my natural deodorant. Sure, it doesn’t stop the sweat from coming along, but hey, who wants that? It is natural to sweat -- it’s our body’s way of naturally cooling itself. Many popular not-so-natural deodorants & antiperspirants are also not-so-healthy, including a potential connection to breast cancer risk.

Anyhow, I invite you to do some research on your own about such topics, but for now let’s dive in to making some truly natural, good-for-you deodorant.

After purchasing natural deodorant for a while now (which still has many unknown ingredients, see below), I decided it was time to start making my own, to brave the wild frontier that is DIY deodorant.

Store-bought natural deodorant ingredients

It sounds wild, it sounds barefoot and smelly, but really, it is simple and . . . graceful even.

The recipe I used was adapted from Wellness Mama‘s recipe and features the following simple, safe, and healthy ingredients:

1.) 3 tblsp Coconut Oil

2.) 2 tblsp Shea Butter

3.) 2 tblsp Arrowroot

4.) 3 tblsp Baking Soda

5.) Essential Oils of your choice – I used about 5 drops of lavender & 5+ drops of tea tree oil

6.) Not pictured & optional: An old (clean) deodorant container to reuse!

Here’s how it’s done:

1.) Start by getting all your lovely ingredients ready to go – measure out coconut oil and shea butter

2.) Melt coconut oil and shea butter. I did this by putting them in a canning jar and then placing them into hot/boiling water in a pot until they melted. This takes about 15 minutes or so if you are starting with cold water.

3.) Once melted, remove from heat, give a stir and get ready to add the rest of your ingredients!

4.) Measure out baking soda and arrowroot

5.) Mix in baking soda and arrow root thoroughly – use spoon or small whisk; whatever makes it combine well

6.) Add desired essential oils - lavender and tea tree oil make a wonderful combination that is very fresh feeling and smelling

8.) Then, this is the fun part . . . if you have an old deodorant container you can reuse, go for it! This is a fun way to put that plastic to use again, and it helps when it comes to applying your deodorant.

This recipe actually makes about 4 ounces of deodorant, so when I poured the {approximately} 2.75 ounces in my repurposed deodorant stick, I had extra! You can store the extra in a glass jar in the fridge.

A couple of tips:

*Store in fridge to keep it from getting too mushy

*Be patient and open in your new adventures, especially if you are switching from an antiperspirant – this will be different! Even if you are switching from store-bought natural deodorants, there will still be some acclimating that takes place.

I hope you enjoy your new natural homemade deodorant! I know your body will :)

Have you made your own deodorant?

I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below – whether it is from this recipe or not :)