Homemade natural deoderants and perfumes

Aluminum-based compounds are the active ingredient in antiperspirant. These compounds (usually aluminium-chlorohydrate or aluminium-zirconium-tetrachlorohydrate-gly) react with the electrolytes in the sweat and form a plug within the sweat duct that stops the flow of sweat. Aluminum-based compounds may be absorbed by the skin and cause estrogen hormone like effects. Estrogen has the ability to promote the growth of breast cancer cells. It is as well known that aluminium salts affect adversely the blood-brain barrier at very high doses. It makes me wonder if it is really totally harmless in low concentrations.

Researchers examining breast cancer tissue found that it contained paraben. A substance that does not occur naturally in the human body. It is used as a preservative in lotions and deodorant stick.

Other research suggests again that this all not proven and there is no enough evidence to support the cancer theory. In any case I am not confident that it is a good idea to use a body-function-altering chemical every day.

Self made deoderants and perfumes

There are very effective and much cheaper alternatives to commercial deodorants that do not pose the same risks. These recipes do not contain any antiperspirant. They do not congest any pores or cause any other problems to your body's natural transpiration system. They do take care of the odor.

The soda, coconut, starch deo

This can be used as a real deo stick. You can fill an empty deo stick with it. This mixture becomes very soft in summer and it is better to store it on a warm summer day in the fridge.

The ingredients for a soda-coconut-starch deodorant

What you need:

1 spoon of coconut oil
1/4 spoon of bee's wax
4 spoons of baking soda
4 spoons of corn starch

Melt the coconut oil (coconut oil is a paste a room temperature) and the bee's wax in a warm pot and then add the other 2 ingredients. Mix it. The paste becomes hard once it cools.

The self made deo stick

This deodorant is good for a whole day when applied in the morning.

Diluted apple cider vinegar

Just mix equal amounts of apple cider vinegar and water and then use a cotton ball and apply it under your arm. You will notice a vinegar smell for a few minutes after you apply it but it fades away quickly.

Natural unfiltered apple cider

You can fill an old roll-on deo stick with the diluted apple cider vinegar. This makes it much easier to apply it on a daily bases.

This deodorant is good for half a day when applied in the morning. You might need to refresh it during the day.

Perfumes

Perfumes can easily be made by adding some oil and alcohol to herbs that small good. It is important to use actual real drinkable ethanol (e.g vodka). All kinds of alcohol are toxic but only ethanol can be completely broken down in the human body and it does the least damage during that process. The cheap isopropyl alcohol is not suitable as it is causes kidney and liver damage even in small amounts. You are going to use a deodorant or perfume over a longer period of time. It is therefore important that there are no toxins accumulating in your body over time. Anything that you put onto the skin will be absorbed to some degree.

Bourbon vanilla

A nice fragrance is vanilla. Just buy real vanilla, slice it and poor over it some sugar and aroma free ethanol (30%-60% alcohol is good). Let the mixture sit for one or two weeks. Filter it and and store it in a perfume bottle.

Self made vanilla perfume

A nice fresh scent for men is cardamom. The cardamom seeds are very hard and need to be crushed. Put a few cardamom seeds in a strong bowl and then use a ceramic pestle or a piece of hardwood and crush the seeds. Again poor over the crushed seeds some sugar and aroma free ethanol (30%-60% alcohol). Let the mixture sit for one or two weeks. Filter it and and store it in a perfume bottle.

Cardamom seeds

Self made cardamom perfume

Which one should I use?

Smell is not the result of the sweat it self but the decay of the sweat under the influence of bacteria on the skin.

Deodorants are more effective if you change the deodorant once in a while as this prevents bacteria from adapting to it. Use for two weeks the "soda, coconut starch deo" and the next two weeks the "apple cider vinegar" and so on.

All ingredients we have used here are edible or drinkable and do not accumulate over time in your body.

Back to: "No preservatives added"