How to Prepare a Natural Deodorant at Home

6 minutes

Last update: 17 April, 2015

Do you often get irritated by your smelly underarms? Never liked the scent of deodorants sold in stores? Are you really keen on doing away with those chemical beauty products you’ve been using all this while? If so, you have all the reasons to read on further! We’ll share with you some very interesting recipes for making your own natural, economical and effective home-made antiperspirants. But first, let’s go over the common side effects of the deodorants available.

Side effects of deodorants

A lot of research has been carried out on the commonly available deodorants in the marketplace. Men and women throughout the world continue to actively use cosmetic deodorants, oblivious of the serious problems they may cause. People don’t realise how many harmful chemicals go into them. The majority of the deodorant manufacturers use aluminium (referred to as aluminium salts) in their production. These can clog the pores, making it hard for the skin to breathe and block the passage for sweat. Many people argue that this is exactly what deodorants are meant to do.

However, the problem is that by doing so, deodorants obstruct the body’s natural task of temperature regulation. Hence, preventing the body from carrying out its natural task, and cooling areas that shouldn’t be cooled down. Doing so can create problems for the body over a period of time. There are also some studies which suggest that regular use of deodorants may lead to breast cancer, because of the substances which penetrate and get deposited into the skin under the arms.

Anyone who uses deodorants on a regular basis will notice the change if he/she stops using them. The person may start smelling worse, not because he or she stopped using the deodorant, but because of the substances that we talked about above, which gets stuck in the underarms.

You have two choices when it comes from protecting yourself from the harmful effects of commercial deodorants – start buying ones which don’t contain aluminium salts or better still, start using a homemade antiperspirant. The first one is entirely up to you. We’ll take you through some highly effective, home-made deodorant recipes right here.

Home-made deodorant recipe no. 1

You’ll require the following ingredients to prepare this first recipe:

Coconut oil – 3 tablespoons
Corn starch – 1/3 cup
Baking soda – 1/3 cup
Essential lavender oil, tea tree oil or eucalyptus oil (all antibacterial) – 10 drops
Essential sandalwood or mint oil – 10 drops for women and 20 drops for men
Vitamin E oil (optional) – 2 tablespoons

Mix all the above ingredients into a bowl and continue mixing until you get a thick paste. Pour into a empty deodorant container and use it on a daily basis. However, avoid using too much of it.

Home-made deodorant recipe no. 2

The ingredients you’ll require for this recipe are:

cornstarch – 2 cups
shea butter – 2 cups
coconut oil – 3 cups
baking soda – 3 cups
essential oils (optional)

Get a double boiler and melt the coconut oil and shea butter in it until they’re completely melted. Take the boiler off the flame and add some cornstarch and baking soda to the solution. Stir properly to mix them well. Pour the solution into a glass bowl and allow it to cool down for some time.

Home-made deodorant recipe no. 3

Although this recipe has many ingredients, the results are nothing short of amazing. They include some:

castor oil – 3 drops
rosemary oil – 15 drops
coconut oil – 1 tablespoon
beeswax – 1½ tablespoon
lavender oil – 25 drops
cocoa butter – ½ tablespoon
white thyme oil – 15 drops

Put beeswax into a double boiler and melt it completely, followed by the addition of the cocoa butter. Add the oils listed above one by one. Mix everything well and let it chill inside the bowl for some time. Use the resultant solution (in small quantities) after bathing and see the amazing results.

Home-made deodorant recipe no. 4

This homemade, natural deodorant uses lemon as its base, and is highly effective. To prepare it you’ll need:

dry rosemary leaves – 4 tablespoons
water – 100 ml
90 proof alcohol – 20 ml
lemon essence – 5 drops
witch hazel extract – 10 drops

Put the dry rosemary leaves into boiling water and let it cook for some time. Once they mix well, turn off the heat and allow the covered solution to cool down for 10 minutes. Thereafter, add lemon essence, witch hazel and alcohol to it. Mix everything well and save it in a glass jar.

Home-made deodorant recipe no. 5

This one is prepared with oranges and is extremely simple to make. You’ll need:

Sea salt – 1 cup
Water – 1 liter
Orange peels – 3
Lemon peels – 3
Baking soda – 3 tablespoons

Start by grating the fruit peels and boiling them in water. Once boiled, strain the solution and let it chill. Then add baking soda and sea salt to it and put it in another bowl after mixing the solution well. You can use this deodorant on your underarms and any other body part too. It can even be used for preparing a relaxing bath.

Home-made deodorant recipe no. 6

You can prepare this recipe in two different ways – the standard way for normal skin and the special way for sensitive skin.

The one for normal skin requires the following ingredients:

coconut oil – 3 tablespoons
tea tree oil – 10 drops
baking soda – ¼ cup
cornstarch – ¼ cup

For the second one, you’ll need:

coconut oil – 3 tablespoons
tea tree oil – 10 drops
cornstarch – 6 tablespoons
baking soda – 2 tablespoons

You can add the essential oil of your choice into both of these. Furthermore, if you’re keen on getting a good moisturising effect on your skin, put some almond or vitamin E oil as well.

Mix cornstarch, tea tree oil and baking soda in a bowl or cup. Add coconut oil to it and stir it well until you get a good paste. At this point, add vitamin E or almond oil if you’d like to. As mentioned above, you can even put some essential oil of your choice like rose, lavender, sandalwood or eucalyptus oil too. However, make sure that you add only couple of drops as all of them have very strong aromas.

Put the resultant solution into some empty deodorant bottle. You may find it quite creamy and smooth initially, but it’ll harden up after a few days. Then its texture will become the same as the deodorants you buy in stores.

Images courtesy of Chapendra, hot diamond 5, Matt 1981, grrllscout 224 and Tony Alter.