A Funk of Forty Thousand Years

So, I’ve been using a more “natural” deodorant for many years, to get away from the chemicals and other nasties. I’ve tried them all…Tom’s, Kiss My face, Jason, Lush, Alvera, Crystal, NOW. Some have been more successful than others (I’m thinking of you, Aromacreme, which I don’t think they even make any more, and the Fire Pits from Hell). All of them require frequent reapplication. I’ve been using the KMF Liquid Crystal for some time, as it seemed to work the best.

Recently, Bob and I were looking into the aluminum and the potassium aluminum sulfate that is in the crystal and other natural deodorants (see this article on Mercola). And once again, I was on the search for a new deodorant. Then, I came across this website. Wellness Mama has an excellent recipe for a natural deodorant, and I’ve used it as my recipe as well (though I’ve lessened the amounts of baking soda and arrowroot and used avocado butter instead of shea as it’s what I had on hand).

6 Tablespoons coconut oil (mine had completely liquefied in the car)
2 Tablespoons avocado butter (here)
1 Tablespoon arrowroot powder (found at our local health food store near the quinoa)
2 Tablespoons baking soda
10 drops Vitamin E oil
15 drops lemon essential oil
15 drops tea tree oil

I put it all in a small cleaned out olive jar. As I mentioned, the coconut oil was already liquid, so I just mashed in the avocado butter and everything else. I put it in the fridge overnight to solidify, which made it too solid (I was able to scrape some off with my fingernail, warm it up in my hand and use it just fine, though). This morning it was pretty gooey so I just remixed it all with my finger before using it and it worked fine.

So…how does it work? It freakishly works. Yesterday we did two greenhouses, I spent all afternoon planting and hauling bags of top soil, cooked dinner with the hot oven, all evening in the house, overnight and this morning…still no stink! Today I shaved, thinking it would burn when I put it on (it did not). Insane. Totally worth it.