Homemade Deodorant
I have started running out of deodorant and scoured the internet for recipes on a homemade version. It is my goal to replace all the store bought body products in my bathroom with homemade natural and organic recipes that I make myself if they fall within my Sustainable Guidelines.
The recipe that I found was inspired by Angry Chicken. The only thing I altered about the recipe were the essential oils used and I added vegetable glycerin.
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons shea butter
3 Tablespoons baking soda
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons cocoa butter
1/2 tablesppon of vitamin E oil
Essential Oil (I use a special relaxing sensual blend)
Preparation
- Melt all the ingredients except the vitamin oil and essential oil in the microwave for 30 seconds.
- Add the oil and stir again.
- Pour into a jar and place in fridge to set. (Although I did this and it became too hard. Currently, its in my bathroom cabinet so that its a little softer. I might also suggest pouring this mixture into an old deodorant container and letting that set in the fridge, that way it has the form that you are used to.)
Problems 
The shea butter overpowers the scent of everything, including my sensual relaxing essential oil blend. Aside from it overpowering the essential oils, it just smells crappy. If you like the smell of shea butter, you are all good. But I should have known better. I hate the smell of shea butter. I’m thinking of flip flopping the cocoa butter amount with the shea butter amount. Or maybe only putting very little in it. I can’t decide. I will perfect this recipe and post my progress.
Other than the smell of the shea butter and it being in the fridge for a little too long, the deodorant works!
PDF 
I have been on the lookout for an effective natural deodorant. It has been a trial and error process. Keep us updated on your progress, and I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for being a guinea pig, lol.
So far, its effective. I need to have a day of hard action to see how it measures it up then!
Wow!! That’s awesome. I think you could open up a shop one day (along with the million other cool things you could do). But seriously, have you thought of a book with all of your recipes? I would definitely buy it.
There are two products that I sort of hold dear to me. The Coffee Brown Sugar Body Scrub which I’ve worked at tweaking the scent to be just so and my shower gel that I made last week. I haven’t posted it yet, but I did make a shower gel! I wanted the perfect consistency and finally acheived it! But I’ve thought of a recipe book. But some of these recipes are not mine such as the deodorant. Aside for changing the essential oils, that is Angry Chick’s recipe. But I do have plans for the recipes that are mine!
Awesome! I can’t wait to see how this works. I am sooooo looking forward to being able to try your recipes. I think the idea of pouring it into an empty container is a good one. That is what I thought of when I read about the fridge.
Yea, I should have done that! Next time though. Its really easy to make. Like less than five minutes.
my boyfriend and i are motivated to stop using commerical products and to start making our own natural products. I dont know if you talked about this yet but is it cost efficient making your own stuff? Dont get me wrong i think the health benefits definitely make it worth the costs but will i have to save some money before i make the switch? (if you know what i mean)
Shanny thanks for stopping by! While some commercial products are great, I found that I love the since of power I have from creating my own products. I just like that I can customize everything and now when people ask, what do you use in your hair or on your face or anything..it leads to an interesting conversation about how I concoct them myself.
Is it cheaper to make your own products? Sometimes! I set guidelines for myself when it came to making these products. That post can be found here. http://sheenalashay.com/2009/10/sustainable-guidelines/
Some of the products I tried are cheaper. Such as my face exfoliant. All I use is brown sugar and olive oil. You don’t even have to use olive oil which can be expensive sometimes. But I ALWAYS have those two ingredients in my kitchen because I cook or clean with them and use them on my body in various ways. So when I count the cost of what I would normally spend on an exfoliant versus using brown sugar and oil which is also used for many other things in my house…its much cheaper. Check out this post…http://sheenalashay.com/2009/10/the-price-of-convenience-2/
My homemade deodorant was also a cheaper product to make. Considering I use all those ingredients for other products as well. Considering I only used a LITTLE and yet I have enough deodorant for a month. So I think it balances out and sometimes its much cheaper. Buy products that can be used in multiple ways and if possible, purchase them in bulk. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions, or would like me to try a recipe first to see how it turns out and how much it cost or if you need references to other places that feature great homemade recipes too.
This is awesome! I’ve discussed and searched for homemade deodorant recipes before and have only come across ones only using corn starch and essential oils. I didn’t think that was enough. I’m going to substitute with mango butter. I’m excited to try this.
Mango butter. That sounds nice!
I will difinitely try this out, I am a huge sweater so I will definitely need the 4 scoops of corn starch and baking soda, that you where telling your mom in the you tube video. I luv your fam time to cute….. keep up the good work.I can to your site to get the deodorant recipe.I like :0) SLYoung great thing going on here. Be bless and Keep God First in all Things
Hi Sheena,
I found your site via curlynikki.com and your youtube video featured there today. I heart your videos!
I just tried out your homemade deo recipe (w/out the glycerin) and it blows me away. I must get used to the somewhat grainy texture (the baking soda?) but aside of this I love it (my eo`s were ylang ylang, clary sage, vetivert, sandalwood). Thanks for sharing!
@Monika, glad the deodorant is working for you! Also loving that mix you created. Its similar to the one I made with my brother. Have you seen that video? You know, I didn’t notice the grains that much but I’m making a new batch and actually will be pouring it into the deodorant container so we’ll see!
I found your website via EarthEasy. During a quest to find homemade soap scum remover (I have a few different bottles under the sink, but not the ‘right’ one for shower cleaning), I stumbled upon your site and I am really liking it! Thank you for putting your thoughts and creations onto the interwebs. I will certainly give your deodorant recipe a try. After all, many of our parents and grandparents kept clean homes and fresh armpits without the aid of Windex and Secret.
Hope you’re keeping safe, healthy and warm during our current snownami.