Tonight was supposed to be dedicated to toothpaste-making, but I still need spearmint and peppermint essential oils. I have plenty of lavender and dried mint on hand, though, so I decided to make a little deodorant since I used my next-to-last crumbs up this morning anyway. Most people who know that I make my deodorant exclaim one of two things: a mildly disgusted, “Why?” or “Cool! Can you make me some?” This whole thing started my sophomore year when Lush abruptly stopped making their Aromacreme,which I’d been using and loving for a year or two. I was devastated, and tried several all-natural brands that left me spelling a lot like a Frito Chili Pie. Needless to say I was tired of stinking. I was also tired of paying up to $15 on products that likely wouldn’t work for me, so I decided to google something like “homemade deodorant recipes,” and the following concoction is the first one I stumbled upon. I’ve continued to make it because it’s worked so well for me, and although I recently heard that Lush’s Aromacreme is back in production,there’s no way I’m going back to paying for that stuff when I can make this myself for a lot cheaper.
As for the recipe itself, here’s how it goes: I smashed up a little dried mint, lavender essential oil, and baking soda in the mortar and pestle and then mixed it all with cornstarch, baking soda, and coconut oil. Any essential oil can be used, and the mint seems to be more for appearance than anything—I’ve been trying to perfect this combination for some time now, but half the time I can’t even smell the mint part. Expect further experimentation on this combination in the future.
Easy Homemade Deodorant
1/2 C cornstarch
1/2 C baking soda (I used some of this portion to smash up the mint with)
1-3 T. coconut oil
A few drops of the essential oil of your choiceCombine and store in an airtight container. I find a clean pimento jar works nicely, and this amount lasts me a month or two.