Commercial deodorants and perfumes can be expensive – and more than this, most of them are chock-full of harmful chemicals. Provided you came here looking for a solution to both these problems – it’s the natural homemade deodorants that you need.
In addition to being inexpensive, the deodorants whose recipes we have mentioned below offer you an added advantage: they only contain what you add in them. That means that there’s no chance that you’ll encounter anything in them which could harm your skin.
With this in mind, let’s look at the 5 best natural homemade deodorants. But before that, it’s imperative for you to know why you need a homemade deodorant in the first place.
Why You Should Make a Natural Homemade Deodorant?
After all, the market is inundated with commercial deodorants which you can purchase for a pittance. Why, then, apply so much effort in making one at home? Here’s why:
- Less Expensive:
Natural homemade deodorants are less expensive than their commercial counterparts. What’s more, they last longer as well.
- Skin-friendly:
Unlike commercial deodorants – which have a history of causing reactions on sensitive skin – most natural deodorants are skin-friendly.
- Customized:
Have a strong body odor? Try the third deodorant on our list. Want something that could overpower your strong body odor? Check out the 2nd option.
- Easy to make:
In contrast to what most people believe, you don’t have to be a Chemical Engineer to make a natural deodorant.
- Won’t block pores:
Experts tell us that commercial deodorants – also known as antiperspirants – block your body pores to prevent you from sweating. In contrast, the natural ones differentiate between good and bad bacteria, letting the former to do its work.
Ingredients to Avoid In Homemade Deodorants
What do you think is the reason why people are switching to homemade deodorants? That’s right; commercial deodorants contain ingredients which are harmful to our skin. So it seems only logical that we name those ingredients so that you don’t end up adding them in your concoction.
Here are the ingredients you shouldn’t add in your homemade deodorant:
- Aluminum: Long-term exposure to aluminum can damage our immune system, cause neurological side effects, and even brain inflammation.
- Preservatives: These are substances which increase the shelf-life of deodorants by preventing the growth of mold and bacteria. However, many chemical preservatives are toxic to the body, hazardous in nature and are bio-accumulative. So it’s better for you to avoid them.
- Parabens: These are chemicals which can get into our blood and end up disrupting our endocrine system. Pregnant women and young children are more vulnerable to them.
- Petroleum-based: Petroleum-based substances like petrolatum, polyethylene, and propylene glycol – if not properly refined – can be considerably dangerous for your overall health.
- Triclosan: These are antimicrobial agents which are found in commercial deodorants and toothpaste. It is a suspected carcinogen and can also alter hormone regulation according to the US Federal Drug Authority.
5 Natural Homemade Deodorants
Now that you’re aware of the benefits of a natural homemade deodorant – and know which ingredients you shouldn’t tolerate on their ingredients list, let’s turn our attention to how you can make a natural deodorant at home.
1. Coconut oil natural deodorant
The coconut oil natural deodorant holds the distinction of being one of the most inexpensive options on this review. It contains only three substances – all of which you can easily find from your local store. So you won’t have to spend a fortune to purchase its ingredients.
That said, the fact that they come cheap doesn’t mean that the ingredients would perform the same. Instead, as experts tell us, coconut oil has antibacterial and anti-fungal properties. That’s the reason why most commercial manufacturers use it in natural face products.
Ingredients:
- Coconut oil (1/2 cup)
- Baking soda (1/2 cup)
- Essential oils (40-60 drops)
How to Prepare:
- Put the coconut oil in a mixing bowl.
- Follow it up with the addition of the designated amount of baking soda.
- Add the essential oils. You can choose any you want – just make sure that it smells good.
- Give the final concoction 1 to 2 hours to settle down.
- You can then store it in a glass jar.
2. Arrowroot powder natural deodorant
Some of us have a strong body odor which troubles everyone sitting around us. Provided you’re worried about the same – and came here looking for a solution to it – the arrowroot powder natural deodorant might just be what you need.
Natural and homemade, the presence of arrowroot in this deodorant gives it a nice spicy smell. With essential oils and baking soda also in the equation, what you get is a strong-smelling deodorant capable of overpowering your body odor.
Ingredients:
- Baking soda (3 tablespoons)
- Arrowroot powder (5 tablespoons)
- Shea butter (6 tablespoons)
- Essential oils (30-60 drops)
How to Prepare:
- Put the arrowroot powder, shea butter and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients. At first, the deodorant might feel a bit powdery but there’s nothing to worry about.
- Once you can see that the ingredients have achieved a homogenous mix, add essential oils. Once again use your hands to mix the ingredients. When you notice that the mixture has become creamy, stop with the mixing.
- Store the final mixture in an 8-ounce jar. You can use your fingertips to apply it sparingly.
Note: If you have the combo of a strong body odor and sensitive skin, remove essential oils from the recipe. Also, use melted coconut oil (4 tablespoons) in place of shea butter.
3. Natural deodorant for sensitive skin
Most of us who use beauty products are aware that frankincense has anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. Yet only a small minority knows that you can still use it on sensitive skin. That’s one of the major reasons why this natural deodorant is for those with sensitive skin.
Furthermore, this natural deodorant also has beeswax – which is a known anti-allergenic substance. It also acts as a moisture-binder – which means those with dry skin can also use this deodorant. Similar is the case with coconut oil whose benefits we have already told you.
Ingredients:
- Beeswax (2 teaspoons)
- Baking soda (1 teaspoon)
- Coconut oil (2 tablespoons)
- Shea butter (2 tablespoons)
- Tapioca or potato starch (4 teaspoons)
- Frankincense essential oil (50 drops)
How to Prepare:
- Take a glass measuring cup, and fill it with the designated amounts of beeswax, coconut oil, and shea butter.
- Partially fill a pot with water before placing the measuring cup into it – as we want to double-boil the ingredients of the cup.
- Place the pot containing the cup on a burner and apply medium heat.
- Keep on applying heat until you can see beeswax melting completely.
- Once it has melted, remove the cup from the heat and add into it starch and baking soda.
- Stir the mixture to achieve a homogenous mixture.
- After all the ingredients have completely mixed in, add frankincense oil.
- The addition of frankincense oil might cause the mixture to quickly harden – so you have to be quick and pour it into a 4-ounce tin.
- Provided you keep the tin in a cool, non-humid place, you can keep on using the deodorant for 12-months.
4. Coconut-oil-lacking natural deodorant
Let’s put things straight right at the off: we have no problems with coconut oil and it’s absolutely safe to use. And it provides amazing benefits too – from moisturizing your hair to aiding in weight loss. So why aren’t we using it in this deodorant?
Because not everyone might have access to it. Some of our readers also tell us that they don’t like the peculiar smell of coconut oil. With these concerns in our mind, we decided to tell you about a deodorant which you can make without this creamy white oil.
Ingredients:
- Shea butter (4 tablespoons)
- Arrowroot powder or corn starch (5 tablespoons)
- Baking soda (1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon)
- Essential oil of your choice (20 drops)
How to Prepare:
- Put the designated amount of shea butter in a small pan before placing it on a stove. Apply low heat to gently melt the butter. Don’t turn up the heat lest you want to destroy all the nutrients.
- Once you can see that the shea butter has melted, turn off the heat. Add arrowroot powder and baking soda. Stir vigorously to achieve a creamy paste.
- Add 20 drops of the essential oil before stirring it into the mixture. Only stop stirring once you can’t differentiate one layer from the other.
- You can pour the resulting creamy concoction into a glass container or a deodorant tube. If it’s the former that you intend to use, then let the creamy mixture to cool down for at least 15 minutes before pouring it into the container.
- Before using the mixture for the first time, store it in a refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Tip: If you want this deodorant to last the whole day, apply a pea-sized amount in the morning before going to the office.
5. Solid natural deodorant
There are many reasons why some people won’t entertain the idea of applying a lotion or cream in their underarms. Though the one which stuck in our mind is the maneuverability which solid deodorants provide – as you can easily carry it with you.
Containing a mixture of beeswax (which keeps it in a solid state), bentonite clay (which helps eliminate body odor) and shea butter (which fights against skin dryness) and other ingredients, you can count on this natural deodorant to do the job.
Ingredients:
- Coconut oil (2 tablespoons)
- Shea butter (1 tablespoon)
- Beeswax (1 tablespoon)
- Baking soda (1 tablespoon)
- Arrowroot powder (2 tablespoons)
- Bentonite clay (1.5 tablespoons)
- Lemongrass essential oil (2 drops)
- Citronella essential oil (2 drops)
- Tea tree essential oil (2 drops)
How to Prepare:
- Take a glass measuring cup, and fill it with the designated amounts of beeswax, shea butter, and coconut oil
- Partially fill a pot with water before placing the measuring cup into it – as we want to double-boil the ingredients of the cup. Bring the mixture to a boil. Keep on stirring until shea butter and beeswax are both in liquid form
- Remove the pot from heat. Add bentonite clay, baking soda, essential oils, and arrowroot powder. Mix it vigorously.
- Pour the resultant mixture into a 5 oz. container or a muffin mold.
- Give it a cooling time of 2-3 hours. Due to the presence of beeswax, the deodorant will remain in solid form for as long as you use it. The quantity of the mixture that we have prepared should be enough to make about 4 deodorant bars.
Conclusion
Let’s face it, nobody likes sweaty armpits or body odor. However, the fact that they trouble us doesn’t mean that we should choose commercial deodorants to fight them. For, as we have shown above, such deodorants contain harmful ingredients which could end up affecting your overall health.
Therefore, the only choice that we have is natural homemade deodorants. Containing ingredients which we know are safe, these sprays don’t block your body pores to keep sweat at bay. Instead, they work with the chemistry of your body to deal with problems like body odor and sweaty armpits.
As a result, while they make sure that people sitting around you don’t get uncomfortable on one end, these natural homemade deodorants won’t also harm your health, on the other. What more can you ask for!