Thursday, August 23, 2012

Best. Deodorant. Ever! Thrifty DIY Peppermint Deodorant.

You're taught to slather on the store-bought deodorant sticks at puberty. Neglect the ritual and you'll be ostracized for eternity; doomed to life in musty caves with your fellow pungent trolls. Fear not, this stuff works!


This Deodorant Will Save Your Life! Conventional deodorants contain aluminum and other highly carcinogenic substances easily absorbed by your underarm skin, and they don't last long. My easy, thrifty peppermint deodorant does! It's effective 24/7 on men and women of all activity levels.


Ingredients: 1 tablespoon organic aluminum-free baking soda, 1 tablespoon organic cornstarch, 1 tablespoon 100% natural shea butter, peppermint essential oil, a small glass jar. (Jar pictured was $1.13 at Hobby Lobby, but you can up-cycle small food jars.)


1) Add the cornstarch and baking soda to your mixing bowl. I chose to mix mine in the jar, funneling the powders in to reduce mess. 2) Add the shea butter. 3) Add 5-10 drops of peppermint essential oil. I like to use rosemary and peppermint essential oils; experiment! 4) Mix. It will seem like you don't have enough shea butter at first. You'll know you're done mixing when a velvety, whipped texture is achieved.


To Use: Dip your finger in the jar to retrieve a minute portion. A little bit goes a long way, small amounts to start and see what works for you. Apply a thin layer to the needed area and enjoy the cooling tingle from the menthol in the peppermint oil.

This deodorant smells better than a peppermint patty and one tiny jar could last you all year! You only need a tiny amount to keep your feet and underarms dry and odor free all day and night! Perfect for hot summer months when you tend to wear shoes without socks. Try it, your body and the people around you will thank you ;)

Update: Shea butter can be replaced with coconut oil.

Got a favorite natural deodorant brand or DIY deodorant to share? What hippie concoctions do you like to mix up?
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41 comments:

  1. I don't get out much....where do you find shea butter?

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    1. Whole Foods and natural food markets like it would definitely have it. Regular grocery stores may have it. You can order it from sites like Amazon: http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=thrcor-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B000F4J8VI

      A little bit goes a long way, it's an excellent moisturizer for very dry skin. You can also use it plain as a chapstick without artificial ingredients.

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  2. I actually use coconut oil and I am in LOVE! I will NEVER buy that commercial poison ever again. *My pits are happy too.....lol!

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    1. I use coconut oil and olive oil as a body moisturizers/conditioner/leave-in hair serum, smells delicious and works better than the store bought stuff on all accounts!

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    2. I'm assuming you use it in it's solid form? I may have to try that, it's even easier than mixing up a batch of deodorant.

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  3. Hey Van, you should mix up a couple jars of that stuff, make a cool label, and sell it. I'm too lazy to mix it up, but I'd buy a jar off you. lol. :)

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    1. Hmm...you tempt me :) I do have the ingredients and extra jars...

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    2. I agree. Put some in the shop and I may pick up a jar.

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  4. I also use coconut oil, and don't always add essential oil. I can personally attest - works like a champ. Better than you think it would. I never smell. My husband was super skeptical. Now he's a believer too. Commercial deodorant is a scam.

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    1. I love converting the skeptics. My guy's a convert to the homemade stuff, too. And he's always wary of my "thrifty" or "hippie" solutions. Scam indeed!

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  5. A while back I switched to Lush's deodorant. It works so well, but I don't really like the smell. Will have to try making my own:D

    blueeyednightowl.blogspot.com

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    1. It's easy. Especially if you follow the advice by the commentators and try some coconut oil + essential oil and see if that works for you!

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  6. Yeah, I stopped using the commercial stuff too. I've been wanting to make up a batch of homemade stuff, but meanwhile I've just been using plain apple cider vinegar. Yup. I just put it on a cotton ball and rub it into my pits after showering. It works great on me, but might not be ideal for everybody. I've found that after giving up on the commercial stuff my pits don't really stink much anyway. Your body has a way of regulating itself once you wean yourself off of all the commercial things that advertisements tell us we "need."

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You won't get judgement for me on the vinegar bit. I've tried taking a teaspoon of it in the morning to "boost metabolism" (I've heard doctors say it reduces high blood pressure). I've used it diluted in water as a conditioning hair rinse. It works, makes your hair really smooth and shiny, great detangler. You're right, once you're weaned off of commercial things and adjusted you'll get better results than when you were on the stuff. All of the alcohols and sulfates do the polar opposite of what they advertise.

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    2. I tried using cider vinegar until I realized that you can smell it hours later.

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  7. Love this post - will give it a try to have on hand on the few occasions I do want to use deodorant. I use nothing after years of putting antiperspirant on every day. And I don't stink after all! If you shower daily, don't wear tight clothes and don't do much heavy labor, chances are you don't need it. And I am happy that I have no more antiperspirant stains on my clothes anymore :-)

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    1. Yep, I agree with you there. Most days you really don't need it. I don't wear it every day either, but when I'm out in the Florida heat hunting or moving boxes of antiques in comes in handy.

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  8. Thanks Van.I think I'll try this.On the days I do karate sparring,those classes are long and I leave smelling like a goat no matter what kind of deodorant I use.

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    1. This will definitely work. I used to have the same problem with store-bought deodorant, nothing lasted a long work-out. This one does!

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  9. I'm making this sometime this weekend! I have coconut oil that I use for my hair. Just need to get the peppermint oil. Thanks, Van!

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    1. Let me know how it works! You could use this exact recipe but sub the shea butter with coconut oil too if you want to try that.

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  10. I am going out now to get the shea butter, thanks Van. It makes me crazy, I wash, put on deodorant and still smell...can't wait to try this. Natural is better, I know that for sure.

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    1. Let me know how this works! I used to be the same way, conventional deodorant just didn't last long for me. This stuff has lasted for everyone I've given it to, even athletic males.

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  11. This whole DIY is neat and not something I've tried before, but I really, really love the way you used the vintage label for the jar!!!

    - Lindsay

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    1. I liked how that came out too, and it was super easy, just cut a vintage ad, spray on 3m artist's mount adhesive, and stick. Took minutes, even easier than writing a label :)

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  12. I'm allergic to Shea butter and coconut, any ideas for a substitute? I have a unique problem I'm allergic to aluminum as well and can't use any kind of deodorant (except for those crystals that don't work from health stores) I'm hoping this will be a good solution for me.

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    1. I've read that just dusting baking soda on your underarms can be a big help. Are you allergic to cacao butter as well, that's another possible base for the cornstarch and baking soda.

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    2. What about trying lard? Cheap, readily available and doesn't smell itself.

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  13. I did this, subbed in coconut oil for the base and tea tree oil (very sparingly for its antibiotic properties) for the essential oils. It works really well, and it's really solid, so I can basically rub it on like you would regular deodorant. I did have a couple of days where I didn't feel particularly fresh when I stopped using a natural commercial deodorant, but it went away pretty quickly.

    One thing that I thought might be helpful: I wear a lot of black. I have no problems with this if I put it on and let it dry, but if I put it on while I have on the clothes I'm wearing that day, all hell breaks loose. Which is to say that I have lots of white powder on me.

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    1. That's one tricky thing about the formula. I'll have to look up how to get around that. Hmm...

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    2. It doesn't bother me at all if I put it on right after the shower and let it dry before putting on clothes for the day. As far as I'm concerned, that's the solution. :)

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  14. Sample of bottle as like as product of TIBET Pomade brand in Bangladesh.

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  15. Have you ever come across Lavilin? If so, thoughts??

    I like it a lot for a variety of reasons: It's safe. It's aluminum-free, alcohol-free, and paraben-free. It's long-lasting. And it actually WORKS!

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    1. I haven't used it but will look into it more, sounds suspiciously like lanolin, wax secreted from the sebaceous gland of sheep o_O not appealing-sounding. Thanks for the tip though, will look it up.

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  16. Just buy Lavilin deodorant!! It's natural, easy to use, and lasts up to ONE WEEK!

    Don't know what I'd do without it!!

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  18. This deo CURED my funk!! I'm a very clean person, I shower every day, but for the past few months, I've had horrible BO. My armpits would start smelling right after I took a shower. I tried every hippie dippie deo I could get my hands on, and then tried the garbage from regular stores. Each would work for a day or two, then I'd go back to smelly pits. I discovered this blog last week and decided to try it out. I'll never go back to store-bought deodorant ever again. The next batch I make, I may play around with different essential oils. THANK YOU!!! :)

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  19. Hey. I just ran across this post and I want to try it. However I only have peppermint and vitamin e oils and baking soda. Is that enough for the deodorant? Or is Shea butter necessary?

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  20. Thank you very much for the sharing! COOL.. http://www.thebestfaceserums.com/

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I love reading your comments. Thank you for adding to the discussion! I always reply to any and all questions.

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