Natural deodorant

by Lianne Groothedde

Sometimes you find an incredibly easy recipe for a care product, that works even better than the industrial version of it. This natural deodorant is an example of that. And it doesn’t only work better, it’s also a lot cheaper and it’s healthier for your body and the environment.

I’m talking about deodorant based on Baking Soda, possibly in combination with coconut oil and essential oils. The easiest way is to put a bit of Baking Soda into a jar with an airtight lid and then dip with moist fingers into the Baking Soda every morning. You only have to use very little of it. You can put this under your armpits and it should protect you from body odors all day. If needed, you can repeat this during the day of course. This isn’t only the easiest way, but also the cheapest. A box of Baking Soda (454 grams) costs only a few dollars and will last for at least a year, probably more.

The more elaborate way uses coconut oil, cornflour and, if you want, essential oils as well. To make this you have to mix 50 grams of Baking Soda with 50 grams of cornflour. Next, you stir in 4 tablespoons of soft coconut oil. You can choose whether you want to use the regular or the deodorised version of coconut oil. You can also decide to add in a few drops of essential oils at this point if you want your deodorant to have a nice smell. This isn’t necessary, you can also leave your deodorant odorless.

Stir all of the ingredients together until you have a paste and put it into a jar with an airtight lid. You will need just a tiny bit of this each day as well. The deodorant will keep for a very long time. There is however one disadvantage of this method. The deodorant will require a constant temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius in order to have the right texture to use. In winter the deodorant will easily get too hard and in summer it almost melts away because of the cononut oil that becomes fluid. But if you prefer a nice smell to your deodorant, then this is the way to go.

Personally, I’ve noticed that this deodorant (both ways) works better than industrial deodorant spray. And besides the fact that it’s cheaper and works better, it’s also healthier for you because you don’t have to use all kinds of chemicals. This, and the fact that there will be less waste also makes it better for the environment. A true win-win situation in my opinion. I recommend to try it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.