I suppose I should warn you in advance that this post is not going to be about food. Instead, I am going to talk about a topic that is somewhat unappetizing, like personal hygiene and armpit issues, but I promise that I’m going to refrain from giving too much information and get right to the point. I made a homemade deodorant. 🙂

I figured it would be okay to talk about non-food related topics here, especially because making homemade beauty products like soaps and deodorants are so similar to cooking and baking. Everything can be done in a kitchen, and ingredients used are almost all edible!

I got inspired to make my own deodorant when I stumbled upon this tutorial by Soapaholic Anonymous, an adorable little blog packed with great inspiration for aspiring home chemists like myself. As soon as I realized that I already had all the necessary ingredients in the kitchen (coconut oil, baking soda, cornstarch, and essential oils), nothing was holding me back from making my first deodorant.

I wanted to make four batches so I quadrupled all ingredients that were listed. As I was mixing the baking soda and cornstarch with the melted coconut oil, I noticed that the consistency of the mixture felt a little too liquid-y so I added additional 1/4 cup of each powder. The mixture was still runny but I decided to go with it and pour it into four clean containers and let them rest at room temperature until the coconut oil hardened a bit. I used lemon and peppermint essential oils to give it a refreshing scent, and I love that it smells like a Christmas candy cane!

When it came time to take this on a test run, I used a wooden popsicle stick I had to stir the mixture, put a small amount of the deodorant on my palm and rubbed it gently on my skin.

I wasn’t sure how it would turn out at first because of the access oil floating on top, but the mixture was surprisingly refreshing and not greasy at all. Once the oily paste / mixture is applied to skin, it immediately turns into a thin dry layer, absorbing all wetness. As long the skin is completely dry (I don’t recommend applying this immediately after getting out of shower as it leaves a little paste on skin) and apply it thinly, you will not see the white residual that mass-produced deodorants often leave behind. I think the key here is to apply it thinly and not to be afraid of the oil. I think oil is what makes it feel dry on skin (who knew?)

I think I’m going to try other recipes in the future like the one I found in Angry Chicken (one of the cutest craft blogs around) but I’m happy with this one for now. I gave three away to my trusted testers so let’s see what kind of feedback I receive from them. 🙂