Day Five: It's getting funky in here! Underarm deodorizing

Shewwwy! Something smells funny around here and it's not the dog! Has that line came up around you lately? Probably not, because you probably wear a good quality commerical deodorant plucked off the shelf from your favorite store. Or, not...maybe you're already cruncy and have an alternative already but seek something new?

I've only  recently broken my bondage to commercial deodorants! This was hard to do. I'd tried natural brands with no luck (stinky by noon? NO THANK YOU!) and even made a powder concotion that left me feeling galded and unhappy. Finally I hit upon gold. A natural, home made deodorante recipe that actually...WORKS! It works for me and I'm a heavy sweaty betty! I can lift my arms without fear! I can bake down in my hot basement bedroom all day at work and emerge smelling like....well not a rose...tea tree! I can go out in public with confidence that when I hand my change to the cashier she won't faint. I'm free free free!

Now, this recipe I'm about to share with you, is not an antiperspirant. Perspiration...is not a bad thing. It's how your body gets toxins out. If you really want an anti-perspirant I'll look around for something but for now, deodorizing is where it's at! Let the sweat pour and know at least you won't be stinky.

So, here's what you do:

5 tbsp of coconut oil (I used refined...I know it's more processed but I'm okay with that. It was cheaper and it lacks that coconut smell that may be off putting.) Coconut oil is naturally antibacterial.
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder (or cornstarch if you don't have any and aren't worried about GMOS)
10-15 drops of tea tree essential oil (You can use other oils or mix and match a few, but I really like the tea tree for it's fresh, clean scent AND it's anti-bacterial properties!)

Mash all the ingrediants together until you have a thick paste (You may  need to add more baking soda and/or arrowroot powder to get the consistency you want). Voila. That's it. You can be fancy and try to store it any number of ways. I'm finding that our house is warm enough now (summer) that the oil is melted at room temperature, so we're keeping ours in the fridge, wrapped up in a plastic baggie. The deodorant hardens this way so that when you use it, you take it out, holding the lump by the baggie and just press it to your body. The heat will melt it and you can rub it in then. A little bit is all it takes so if you don't mind the melted version, leave it out and just keep mixing it well! Take a little on your finger and just rub it on/in. You're good to go. Really, not hard at all.

There are many variations on this out there. I've seen other types of oils use, or just sprinkle on the powders only. I didn't like that though, it didn't seem to work well for me, the coconut oil was the lynch-pin in my deodorizing success I believe, so I'm sticking with it!

I found the original recipe here: http://www.survivingthestores.com/homemade-coconut-oil-deodorant.html  Neat trick, putting it into a used deodorant container! To messy for me though, my baggie lump works just fine!