I have, however, tried 4:
Tom's of Maine: I actually found that this stuff didn't work very well for me. I had to reapply it constantly, and it still didn't contend with my b.o by the end of the day!
JASON: This is the stuff I used for the longest time, and I like it, but I found I had to carry it with me to reapply throughout the day.
Me&You.: My husband uses this deodorant and absolutely loves it! It's actually one of the few that he doesn't react to (he has very sensitive skin). I, on the other hand, didn't like it at all. It actually managed to make me smell worse than if I was wearing nothing! I also reacted pretty badly too it.
Hugo Naturals: This has been my latest trial, and I liked it for a little over a week, though I did have to apply it a couple times a day. However, recently, it has just stopped working, no matter how often I wash and reapply.
So the other day, I just got fed up with this. I didn't want to buy any more and discover that they also do not work.
So as usual, I did some reading about what I could to, on a couple of my favourite blogs, and some random ones too. I started off by looking up some natural deodorant reviews and then from there decided the most cost effective thing for me to do would be to just try make my own. I could make a small amount and if it didn't work, i'd try something new!
Years ago, I tried making a basic coconut oil, essential oil, baking soda and cornstarch deodorant, but it didn't work for me at all, and I reacted pretty painfully to it too. Unfortunately, that put me off experimenting with this..... until now!
Crunchy Betty has a couple of recipes for homemade deodorant that look amazing, and she also links to a couple other recipes that she has found. That's where I started my search. I cruised around the blog and found another post about a more complicated deodorant that I just didn't want to get into (and can't, because I don't have all the ingredients).
On this page, she mentions that it's better to use arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch, so that there's less chance of a reaction. I stored this little nugget away, as I believe that that's what I reacted to in both my own attempt at making deodorant and the Me&You. deodorant.
It wasn't the recipe that Crunchy Betty uses on her blog that interested me, though. It was another link that she posted at the bottom of her post. A two-step deodorant that's supposed to really work!
Now, the reason I was attracted to this one, is that in my desperation to rid myself of b.o. for a day out with my family, I did some reading about things that could help and one girl said just straight up baking soda would! I tried it, and it actually did! Even the next morning, without a shower, i'm still relatively odour-less! I was pretty shocked, to be honest. I was not expecting that at all.
So when I saw this two-step recipe, I decided to give it a try.
What it is is a cream and then a powder that you apply on top of the cream.
The cream is nice and soothing, and also antibacterial. The powder, which is held on your skin with the help of the cream (!), helps to absorb moisture and odour.
For the cream, I changed the recipe a little bit because of the reading I had done about other deodorant recipes. I know that both shea and cocoa butter are great for smoothing and soothing irritated skin and i'm loving it in my lotions, so I did:
15g coconut oil
20g shea butter
10g cocoa butter
1 drop tea tree essential oil
6 drops lavender essential oil
3 drops lemon essential oil
I melted the coconut oil, shea butter and cocoa butter in a double boiler and then removed it from the heat. After letting it cool down a little bit, I added the essential oils, mixing well, and poured it into my sanitized container.
For the powder, taking Crunchy Betty's advice, I replaced the cornstarch for arrowroot powder:
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup arrowroot powder
2 drop tea tree essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
6 drops lemon essential oil
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| The cream cooling and the powder nice and mixed and smelling amazing! |
Today is the first day i'm going to try it, and this deodorant is really going to be put to the test next week when we head to BC for a wedding! I anticipate travel b.o. (yes, it's a real thing), sweaty hikes and much dancing at the wedding! I will report back at the end of our trip to see how well this stuff actually works!
UPDATE: check out my thoughts on how this deodorant held up for multiple days of travel, a wedding, and nature walks!
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