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DIY Witch Hazel Deodorant

I still like the DIY cream deodorant recipe I posted back in August, but I wanted to try something new, which is where this one comes in.  I was browsing deodorants one day and kept coming across liquid roll-on formulas that had witch hazel fairly high up in the ingredients.  Eying my almost-full bottle of Humphrey's Witch Hazel Astringent, I came up with this recipe.  It uses only two ingredients and just might be the easiest DIY you'll ever find.  It literally takes all of 20 seconds to mix up.  

Recipe
1 ounce witch hazel astringent
4 drops lavender essential oil (or other essential oil(s) of your choice)

Pour ingredients into a bottle and shake to combine.

  


Love at First Swipe
This is basically the same thing I use as a toner on my face and I'll admit I was skeptical of how well it would would perform as a deodorant, but right from the first application, I was smitten.  I saturated a cotton ball with the mixture, swiped it on, gave it a minute to dry, then got dressed and went about my day.  That night, I checked back, and even with some up-close and personal sniffing, I couldn't smell anything.  Like a good blogger, I diligently tested this, checking every day for stinkyness.  It worked great - no irritation, no unsightly white marks on my clothes, and absolutely no sweaty smells to be found!

 A Short-Lived Affair
Unfortunately, after about a month of using it, the deodorant stopped working.  There were no hints, no gradual lessening of effectiveness, just an abrupt 180 - one day we were great and the next, it was over.  I was stinky again.  I tried using different essential oils, adding more essential oils, and even reapplying throughout the day, but to no avail.  I'm so disappointed!  After a month of working perfectly, I can't seem to get this deodorant to work at all anymore.

The Bottom Line
While it worked, this was probably my favorite deodorant I've ever used.  Long term is another story, and for whatever reason, it stopped being effective for me.  Still, deodorant can be a funny thing and tends to interact differently with different people's body chemistry, so just because it stopped working for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you.  I'd still recommend giving it a try.  Besides being ridiculously easy to make, these are inexpensive ingredients that I expect many of us already have lying around.  Really, what have you got to lose?

 I'm back to using my cream deodorant again, but I have to ask: store bought or homemade, what's your favorite deodorant?  Are there any wacky DIY concoctions on your vanity?


Also, you've still got one more day to enter my SoapStix Giveaway.  If you haven't entered yet, make sure you head on over before time's up!
  

         
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Easy DIY Cream Deodorant

I've been wanting to start concocting more things myself, so when my regular, purchased deodorant stopped working so well, I decided it was the perfect time to try my hand at making my own. 

I found a ton of different recipes, but I didn't really follow any of them, opting instead for just adding ingredients to a bowl until my mixture reached a decent consistency, then crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.  Surprisingly, it turned out pretty great!  (What didn't turn out so well are the photos of this adventure, so I hope you'll forgive that this post is a little lacking in that department.)
 
Here's the recipe I came up with:


2  1/4 tsp baking soda
3  1/2 tsp arrowroot powder, corn starch, kaolin clay, or other baking soda buffer
1 tbsp coconut oil
10 drops lime essential oil
4 drops orange essential oil
4 drops eucalyptus essential oil
4 drops spearmint essential oil

What's nice about this recipe is that it doesn't require any heat, so it's super quick to whip up.  I just stirred together the dry ingredients, then mixed in the coconut oil and essential oils until everything was well combined. When I first made it, in the winter, it was fine at room temperature, but since it's gotten warmer, the coconut oil stays liquid and I find it too messy to use that way.  Instead, I've been storing it in a small jar in the fridge, then just scooping out about a pea-sized amount to apply.  As long as you're planning to store it in the fridge, you could also put it in a deodorant tube, since it's stay solid enough to apply that way too.  Alternately, you could try adding in a little beeswax, which will help it stay more solid at room temperature.

One last thing that's worth mentioning is to always make sure you're using high quality essential oils.  I use Young Living, since a lot of the essential oils you find on shelves are diluted with other junk or extracted using chemicals.  

I'm not the smelliest person to begin with, but this has been keeping me totally stink-free throughout this hot, humid summer.  What's more, I'll even catch whiffs of the deodorant during the day, which is kind of nice, since I do like how it ended up smelling.  It's super simple to make and ends up being cheaper than a lot of natural, store bought deodorants.  Also, you can control exactly what goes into it and you play around with the recipe until it's exactly to your liking! 
 
Have you ever tried your hand at making your own deodorant?  If so, how did it go?  


         

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