all natural DIY antiperspirant and deodorant.

my arm pits sweat. a lot. it aint pretty. and was mortifying when I was younger.

this has led me to try literally every brand of deodorant/antiperspirant on the market. without dry success. I was never able to try natural deodorants because they don't have any antiperspirant aspect to them. My wanting to be less wet in my pits has led me to use aluminum based antiperspirants for many years. I know, its HORRIBLE for you, and I even tested high for aluminum in 2006 but wasn't able to let that go, even in the name of health.

on a whim I went to a DIY essential oils deodorant class earlier this year and thought, what the heck, ill try it, and low and behold it worked!!! so then I decided to try and make it myself, and make it even better. so after a few attempts at perfection.... here it is! my all natural amazingly effective recipe. my armpits have NEVER been healthier and drier.
bonus all the ingredients are food grade so its technically edible. lol

this recipe makes abt 2.5 deodorant sticks. so I often double it to get 5 sticks.

I buy my supplies online from amazon, mountain rose herbs, aromatools.com and from the grocery store. just depends on who has what on sale.
I use doTERRA essential oils.

side note: you can use any oils you like, its your deodorant! my favorite combo is grapefruit, cypress, rosemary and lavender. the grapefruit is a well known lymph mover, and your arm pit is basically a mother ship of lymph nodes. the cypress and rosemary are for circulation enhancement which plays a big role in sweating (or not sweating). the lavender has healing qualities with an affinity for skin and is very soothing, esp after shaving. together they are the perfect mix of citrus, savory and floral scents.

other good oils to try depending on your medicinal needs and nose preference, are: frankincense, peppermint, tea tree/melaluca, wild orange, lemon, patchouli, ylangylang, geranium, basil, cedarwood

adjustments:

if you want an even stiffer deodorant, add more beeswax.

thinner, add more coconut oil. 

if you want it to be white, don't use bentonite clay and use more baking soda/arrowroot powder instead.

use mango butter along with the shea and cocoa, or instead of.

happy dry smelly good pits to ya ;)

1 oz beeswax (pellets are easier to melt, but anything cut up small is fine)

2 oz shea butter (either natural or deodorized)

1 oz cocoa butter

2 oz coconut oil

3 T baking soda

1 T bentonite clay

3 T arrow root powder
suggested eo's: may start with less drops and add more as you feel necessary. feel free to add more, too!

15 drops grapefruit essential oil

10 drops cypress essential oil

10 drops lavender essential oil

8 drops rosemary essential oil

~~~ tropical variation~~~ When living in Haiti, the air was HOT 24/7 in the house and my skin was sweaty constantly from every single skin pore, I found that changing the oil butter ratio from 2:2:1 (shea:coconut:cocoa) to 1:1:3 made for a much stiffer stick of deodorant (recall that coconut oil will melt at about 75/76 degrees.) so if you live in a warmer climate, I strongly recommend the 'tropical variation'. 

fyi. 1 oz = 2 Tblspns

I like to measure out my ingredients into bowls.

baking soda, arrow root powder, and bentonite clay

cocoa butter, shea butter and coconut oil

beautiful beeswax

melt together in double broiler the oil and butters. I like to use a glass measuring cup with a pour spout for easiest last step, in a medium pot. stir till completely liquid.



melt the beeswax into the melted oils. stir well.

melt the powders into the liquid and stir evenly.

yours prob wont be quite this dark, this is from a pre perfected recipe.

remove from heat and let cool a bit, stirring helps keep it all evenly mixed.

add essential oils.

stir well.

 

pour into empty deodorant stix.

when pouring, make sure your liquid cocktail left in the pouring cup isn't settling to the bottom or separating. we want all the stix to have equal proportions!

the finished product. go ahead and fill to brimming. they will recede slightly as they cool and solidify.

best to leave cap off for 24 hrs to make sure they have 'dried' properly all the way through. but they will be solid enough to cap and transport in 30 mins or less.

I have not had any problems with my clothes being stained. my arm pits got a bit tinged (tan) from the bentonite clay when I was using higher amts of it in my recipe. I have not had any problems with it melting or traveling.