Hello, strangers!
So, I have some good news and I have some bad news. Which news do you want first?
The good news? Yes. That is what you want.
Crunchy Betty is getting a makeover! I’ve been diligently working with a lovely site designer over the past few weeks, and we should (hopefully) be ready to roll it out on August 1st. Better news? With the new design will come a new format, a new way of thinking, a new way of looking at our lives RIGHT NOW AS THEY ARE through what we do.
(I’ll fill you in more about the superb details later, but for now, let’s just say the new concept for Crunchy Betty is “Go Deeper.” Yeah, baby. Go deeper.)
Now for the bad news …
The bad news is, I can’t think of any bad news to tell you. Sorry I got your hopes up.
Until August 1st, I’m going to try to share a few little things I’ve learned over the last few years, to kind of tidy up the “old” Crunchy Betty and make sure you have all the information you need to solve a few little problems you may be having.
Today, I want to talk about a problem that’s pervasive – one I hear about occasionally, one I’ve solved one-on-one with several people, but I think it may help you with your baking-soda-based homemade deodorant – now or in the future.
(And here I was hoping I could never talk about deodorant ever again.)
Fixing Your Skin When Your Homemade Deodorant Leaves You Itchy
Without a doubt, one of the only complaints I ever hear about homemade deodorant goes like this:
“I’ve been using homemade deodorant with baking soda for about six months. The first week was awful. Like a million red ants were setting up a tent and picnicking on my skin. After a three days of preparing to gnaw my arms off at the shoulder, things got better. Much better. PERFECT, really. I wasn’t stinky, my skin was soft and smooth, and little birdies would alight on my head, thinking I was the origin of nature itself.
And then, last week, itching started. It’s not horrible, but it’s not comfortable. I don’t want to feel like this forever, so I might just give up. Help!”
And to these lengthy queries (which are always worded the exact same way, complete with the shoulder gnawing – I’m convinced there must be a copy/paste script out there), I give this possibility.
And all the feedback has been wonderful.
So, if you’ve ever experienced the itching, giving up, gnawing, and otherwise slightly irritating feeling that comes with homemade deodorant, I want you to try this remedy first, before you throw in the towel.
Balance Your pH with Apple Cider Vinegar, and Make Your Homemade Deodorant Work Again
The main problem with baking-soda-based homemade deodorant is that it throws your pH balance out of whack after some amount of time. You’re constantly applying an incredibly alkaline substance to your skin, and as a result you end up with raw, itchy irritated skin. Although some people can go a lifetime and never have the pH imbalance. I call these people SupHer Heroes, and there are a LOT more of you out there than you would think – in fact, I’d say 75% of the people I’ve talked to have never had an adverse reaction pH-wise to baking soda.
To bring some relief to the pH imbalanced skin, all you need are two things:
- Distilled or well-filtered water
- Apple cider vinegar
This is, perhaps, one of the easiest things in the world you can do.
Mix together water and apple cider vinegar.
No pHd required. (Get it? pH? D? Hilarity).
Anyway, here’s a great proportion:
One tablespoon ACV to 1 cup distilled (or well filtered) water.
Mix that together in a small container (if you have a spray bottle, this would be absolutely awesome as a little spray).
How to Apply Your pH Rebalancer
Before you apply your homemade deodorant, dab on a small amount of your sweet, simple rebalancer, and rub it all over your armpit area. Hold those arms up there and let it dry completely. Then, once it’s dry, apply your deodorant.
Pro tip: Don’t forget to wait 30 minutes to an hour to apply baking-soda-based deodorant (or apple cider vinegar) for that matter, if you’ve shaved in the shower. Nothing says ouch like applying either of these things to nicked, irritated-with-a-blade skin.
Now, if you’ve let things build up until you have rawness, you might want to take a total break from your baking-soda-based deodorant for about a week, and apply this pH rebalancer two times a day. In fact, you may even find that THIS (the apple cider vinegar and water mixture) is the only deodorant you need at this point.
But, either way, spend some time allowing your pH to come back to a good baseline (you’ll know you’re there when the itching and redness is completely gone).
From then on, you can just use the rebalancer before you apply your deodorant, as outlined above.
And that’s it! Simple enough, ain’t it?
But … But … Baking-Soda-Based Homemade Deodorant Made My Skin Dark
Okay, so this is a MUCH more infrequent complaint. When I first started hearing tell of this problem, I was pretty stumped.
And I won’t lie, I still am. I honestly have no idea why the deodorant gives some people an “armpit shadow.” But, everyone who’s had this problem seems to (and I may be 110% wrong about this) have one thing in common: They have darker skin to begin with.
It may have something to do with melanin and how it reacts with one of the main ingredients (coconut oil, arrowroot/cornstarch, or baking soda), but the “fix” I’ve found that works for most people who have this little issue is two-fold: Apply the pH rebalancer as described, but also make sure to exfoliate your underarms when you bathe (using a washcloth or a soft loofah).
And with this issue – or ANY ISSUE WITH HOMEMADE PRODUCTS – if you have a reaction that makes you uncomfortable, that you cannot solve easily, do more homework. Do more experimentation. And stop any time you experience prolonged irritation.
Don’t Fret – These Reactions Are Few and Far Between
I read a blog post recently that subjectively commented that almost everyone they’ve ever talked to has adverse reactions to baking-soda-based deodorant and that no one should ever use it (citing that it’s dangerous and encouraging the use of commercial deodorant in its place – heh). Subjectively, I’ve found most people have zero issues, ever. Once you get through the early phases of readjustment, for most people it’s smooth sailing.
But the possibility remains that you could, in fact, at some point experience some discomfort. So here is a quick and dirty list of tips for you to remember, to have and to hold, ’till stinkiness do you part.
- The first week or two may be rough. If it’s HORRIBLE, stop doing it. If it’s mildly irritating, remember that it will get better. If it does not get better, stop doing it.
- Never apply homemade deodorant (or any deodorant, for that matter) on open skin – this includes skin that has just been shaved. Let that skin repair itself first.
- Wait 30 minutes to an hour after showering/shaving before applying ANY deodorant. If you have open skin, you’re just inviting things to join your blood stream a little more easily (I’m looking at you, triclosan-containing commercial deodorant).
- Maintain your skin’s pH balance by using the distilled water/apple cider vinegar balancer before applying a baking-soda-based homemade deodorant.
- Make sure your diet is as free from foods with preservatives and other stink-causing foods as possible, and eat a fair amount of green veggies, and you may find you don’t need much deodorant at all.
- Don’t let anyone tell you that homemade deodorant is bad, dangerous, or otherwise stupid. Thousands upon thousands of people use homemade deodorant with absolutely magnificent effect. You may find it doesn’t work for you, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work for them.
And here are some homemade deodorant links you may find handy:
- The first homemade deodorant (and the base recipe for my favorite homemade deodorant that you can buy at the Natural Market).
- Not a Secret Deodorant (made without cornstarch or baking soda, but I found that it’s not quite as effective).
- Soothing deodorant recipe (made with baking soda and arrowroot, but also includes soothing ingredients).
- Spray deodorant “refresher”.
- A Pinterest board I set up to chronicle all the homemade deodorant recipes I find on the internet.
Now, my questions to you are this:
- Are you still using homemade deodorant? If so, tell me about your love for it.
- Have you had problems with homemade deodorant? ESPECIALLY, have you experienced the darkening of the skin? If so, tell us more about it, so we can find the common link and why it may be happening.
- HOW EXCITED ARE YOU FOR A NEW CRUNCHY BETTY?
Ever tried to make your own deo? Don’t want to? Check out the Crunchy Market for a homemade option from yours truly!
And Then the Fires Happen
I simply use distilled water and magnesium chloride flakes in the same amount to make magnesium oil which I place in a glass sprayer bottle for deodorant. You warm/boil the distilled water remove from heat and dissolve the flakes, cool and place in bottle. It gives you additional magnesium where your body can absorb it and I have not experienced any irritation.
I am going to make this ph refresher as I have heard that it is good to use on your face as a toner if you have any acne or yeast. I read if you have any small bumps they are probably caused by yeast.
Ok, so I’ve been making deodorant for about 2 years now, and it’s been working really well! Just recently though, my hubby has been having issues with perspiring more; like, embarrassing-ginormous-pit-stains perspiring! I haven’t changed the recipe at all (coconut oil, cornstarch, baking soda, clary sage, tea tree, sweet orange, lemon). He tried adding more baking soda and cornstarch. Nothing. It’s gotten to the point now where he’s about to give up and go back to store bought stuff (*gasp*)! Any suggestions??
I have been using homemade deodorant for about two years now. I have tried many different recipes. I have been using a new one for about 3 months now and have had almost no irritation and seems to work for me. I use a spray bottle and add about 70% magnesium oil and 30% aloe Vera gel and scent with my favorite essential oils. In the shower I spritz my pits with acv and apply deo after and sometimes need to reapply part way through the day. It’s been the easiest one to make and apply and take with me if needed.
Mineral crystals are good deodorant. I tried them and it seems to work out great for me.
Hi Betty… I was using the homemade baking soda/ cornstarch/ coconut oil
deodorant for a couple years before i started experiencing the dreaded problems. Raw inflamed itchy pits. I also started thinking about the PH of this deodorant. I decided to add an acid to the mix. I chose to use Absorbic acid. Works like a charm. No added need for pre or post skin treatments. I love my homemade deodorant again.
Hi, I started making my own deodorant using activated charcoal, baking soda, cornflour, cocoa butter, coconut oil, vitamin e oil and potassium alum (crystal salt). I loved it for a year and one day I started t smell absolutely horrid and I freaked out! I have never had an odor problem but had switched to natural for health reasons and due to skin sensitivity. In the first year I have shared this with family and friends and everyone loved it. But when this happened I couldn’t believe I smelled this bad, sharp and pungent. I have never smelled in my life! so I tried detoxing with the water and vinegar mix but to no avail. So I switched to regular deodorant but it’s literally as if my sweat breaks through immediately and it’s the worst smell ever! I can’t believe iv caused myself to start smelling! I tried then going back again to natural but this hasn’t worked either and now I’m really worried. What can I do?
HELP!!
I tried a basic deoderant recipe that I found which called for 1/4c each baking soda and arrowroot powder. While I feel that it works fabulously, it began irritating my armpits shortly after use. I’ve done some research and discovered the whole ph balance situation. I tried also to add more oils, butters and beeswax, basically doubling the recipe (sort of) without adding more powders to cut the ratio of baking soda. It hasn’t helped much. I don’t want to stop using it or throw it out as I’ve made about 4 deoderant sticks worth and feel that’s such a waste. I’m wondering if I should keep adding oils and butters to bring down that ratio of baking soda. Any thoughts?
Hi colleagues, how is everything, and what you wish for
to say on the topic of this piece of writing, in my view its
in fact amazing in support of me.
This is really amazing article
Soo, I have experienced the (major)darkening of the skin while using baking soda based deodorants, and the correlation I made was whenever I started using tanning beds again(I have psoriasis, it helps, a lot, don’t judge), my armpits would get dark. And I am actually the fairest of the fair skinned. So definitely doesn’t have a sole connection to just darker skinned people, but I agree, some of the ingredients must be interacting with the sun. I have used baking soda based deodorants from chagrinvalleysoapandsal with.com for years, I love their products. And I JUST made the connection it has something to do with tanning, because I only start tanning again when my skin really flares up.
Hope this helps!
Great article, Betty! Home made deodorant isn’t something I’d ever put on my body…
Hello there, love the article but I do just want to put out there that I am pale as snow and when I use baking soda, arrowroot, or cornstarch deoderants ( homemade and store bought naturals) my armpits turn almost as dark as my husband ( he’s Indian). All my light skinned friends and family have had similar reactions. There is good news though- I use undiluted apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle under my arms every morning as a deoderant along with a spray of mother dirts aob mist! The combination works beautifully and I don’t smell at all even when exercising or on 90 degree days!
Thanks so much for the apple cider vinegar and water remedy…worked like a charm!
Hi I was using DIY deodorant about 2 years ago now. I loved it, until I got an unbearable painful rash so I stopped. I was using tea tree oil to heal it, which seemed to work. Here I am 2 years later and still get the rash from time to time and can’t go anywhere near my pits with anything containing baking soda. I’m going to try the acv mix and also aloe Vera for healing after some digging. Is there anyone else that has any suggestions to help? Or has had similar experience and how did you get your pits healed?
Couldn’t I add ACV into my deodorant somehow to try to get the pH where it needs to be? If not are there any other natural additives to try to pH balance my homemade deodorant?
I am totally going to try th ACV spray!!! I have been off my deodorant for a little over a week and my itchiness is just getting worse and worse and the bumps are spreading. HOWEVER, I have only been using coconut oil and tea tree oil and lavender oil. That’s it. Would the coconut oil and EO by themselves still cause a pH imbalance?
I am so glad to know I am not alone! I thought I was going crazy!!
Hi,
If you are going for finest substance as I do,
simply visit this page all the time since it offers highlight substance
Regards,
CouchTuner
Hi
Phenomenal read. Trust you get various responses as I endeavor to add to my photography capacities I need to scrutinize connections from people that I can trust. I value your aptitudes and you haven’t lead us wrong yet. Greatly refreshing Tom for this one.
Regards
Shreya
Hi,
This was amazingly useful. Much obliged to you Crunchy Betty and wherever you are, I trust that you are having a quiet and happy time.
Regards,
Sneha Meena
Great work”” “New News and pH Balancing Your Old Homemade Deodorant Problems” I utilized characteristic/hand crafted antiperspirant now and again for around eighteen months before surrendering. Not just did it chafe and obscure my skin, each 1-2 weeks my skin would begin to peel off and leave my armpits red and crude. This happened even with more delicate custom made antiperspirant and touchy Primal Pit Paste. I at last began simply utilizing weakened vinegar and my pits aren’t chafed, yet I discover I get stinky truly quick (I just eat natural, nearby (in season), loads of green and cruciferous veggies). I’m eager to attempt the vinegar + antiperspirant thought. I trust it works!
This is something good”” “New News and pH Balancing Your Old Homemade Deodorant Problems” It’s the best time to make a few arrangements for the long run and it’s a great opportunity to be upbeat.
I have perused this submit and in the event that I would I be able to need to recommend you few
intriguing issues or recommendations. Maybe you can
compose resulting articles alluding to this article. I wish to peruse much more issues about it!
@Admin
know this has happened if you get the crazy bothering yet again. According to Crunchy Betty, swabbing with apple organic product juice vinegar before applying the antiperspirant will update the
It’s truly a great and helpful piece of info.
I have been using baking soda as my sole deoderant for over 6 years. It has worked extremely well for me! I can even wear a shirt twice if I want because there is no odor under the arms. However, several months ago I noticed my under arms are very dark. I didn’t know way to do. Now that the weather is warming, I was getting embarrassed when I lifted my arms up to do pull-ups etc at the gym where everyone could see me. So I searched for a solution and found your article. I am on day 5 of your 7 day prescription and my under arms are noticeably lighter. I am confident they will be fully restored to their original color in 2.5 more days. And the interesting thing is that the acv works well as a deoderant also! Except there is a slight vinegar smell on my shirts!
Thank you so much for your clear explanation and instructions. I really appreciate it!
Tiffany C. Wright
FabFit40
In the event that you are going for finest substance as I do,
just visit this page all the time since it offers highlight substance,
much obliged…
Regards
Jessica Ray
Good Article. Thanks for sharing.
It’s truly a great and helpful piece of info.Thank you
A debt of gratitude is in order for sharing, Crunchy! I’ll need to interface back to your site from mine all alone antiperspirant page. SO far I have continued preparing pop out of my own formula since I would prefer not to have a response to it however I’ll need to attempt this technique for ph rebalance when I make my next group of deo.
If you ask a dermatologist, they will tell you to never apply baking soda to your skin in a strength much over 10% of entire solution. I have friends making homemade deodorants with 1 spoonful baking soda, 1 spoonful arrowroot powder, 1 spoonful bentonite clay, some essential oils, and coconut oil and I have news for you….that is going to hurt your skin! Your skin has a protective layer on top that is naturally a ph of 4.5-5.5 and you eat that protective layer away with non-oh balanced mixtures! I think if you are going to make a homemade deodorant, you should make sure you’ve got an acid in it (like apple cider vinegar) to balance out the basic (alkaline) ingredients such as baking soda, bentonite clay, etc. P.S. Everyone is all ‘I made an all natural homemade deodorant with only coconut oil, baking soda, clay, essential oil fragrance etc’ when baking soda by definition is a CHEMICAL compound (NaHCO3). Be careful people…
So is H20! Watch out for water, people! It’s obviously out to get you! (seriously calm down)
This weekend is decent for me, as this time i am perusing this awesome instructive post here at my home.
Really…??… Looks differen..a homemade deo.. u should go to some lab ..& discuss its process… who knows it can be a next innovation… !!
@Admin
I have a problem guess that has both skin darkening and itchiness from homemade deodorant. i ma insanely irritated by this problem. Can anyone help me from this problem?
Regards
Tina
hey, thanks for pointing these things out. I’ve been using Dr.schmidts natural deodorant for about a year, but have been finding that it’s impossible to find. It comes in a little pot and includes a spatula, which is reminiscent of homemade deodorant. Which is why I thought about making my own deoderant when I couldn’t find it last month.
I do have the dark armpit issue – which is why I may consider returning to Dr Schmidt. It’s honestly the first of 10 natural deodorants I’ve found that works for the full 24 hour (fresh pits the next morning!)day. Plus it smells nice. I didn’t really notice the dark skin issue with this product. And it has a nicer texture than my natural recipe.
I didn’t have the arm pit irritation as described but I do get giant red halos (I was concerned I had ring worm!) when I either don’t use deoderant and experience sweating, or do use the natural recipe, which fade into dark patches. They are mildly irritating. I’m extremely pale/red headed. I’m wondering if Dr Schmidt was an acclimatized phase which lessened the itching.
I’m going to try exfoliating because I only use soap and water and that is a reasonable explanation.
As for the recipe, it’s based with baking soda, Shea butter, and coconut oil. I added lavender and lemon oils.
I have the red halos too from Primal Pit Paste. Any suggestions? Or should I discontinue use and try something different? It was always under the left underarm and I just noticed it for the first time under the right, too.
Schmidt’s is still in business. I saw 2 jars at Sprouts this weekend. They also have an etsy shop and their own website. The etsy shop has sample sizes and the stick version.
Another great article! Thanks, we have been waiting for our deodorant to run out before we try this so we’re looking forward to it.
I made a pre treatment spray as well and it’s worked great. Only I use 2/3 aloe juice, teaspoon acv, about 5 drops castor oil, 5 drops vitamin e oil, and a couple drops of tea tree and lavender ( I think I used lemongrass last time). No more bumps 🙂
Ha ha, I thought I was imagining things when I noticed my underarms looking a bit darker! Now I know I’m not! I’m not darker-skinned though, I’m a brunette but not olive-skinned.. just plain white, lol I’ve been using a handmade baking-soda based deo for years now from a great seller on ebay and I love her products but I started noticing my skin there being a bit darker! I will try your suggestions for this – I have the loofah already, that I scrub my legs & elbows with, now the armpits too!
Thank you for this, pretty dang on genius.
Would you recommend possibly adding this to a baking soda recipe to directly counter act the aversion to the baking soda?
hi, i have made my own deodorant following the common recipe many years ago and i too had the rash,the dark patch under arms and even a real rough skin as well.
the baking soda is not for me !
it has made me so miserable i swore never again!
the coconut oil melted under my arms in the heat and was so embarrassing-that was a joke too!
and lastly the cost ! gathering coconut oil,which is 8 bucks where i live and the other ingredients was so dumb because the normal deodorant was only 1 dollar !
and it smelled better too!
why cant we all just get together and make a petition for good deodorant?
i mean the aluminum alone is a toxic poison! isnt that enough?
anyway … i found a great deodorant that is homemade and easy to make.
i bought my favorite body cream and my favorite foot powder that is unscented
and i added the two together and i got my new homemade deodorant.
the foot powder ,controls sweat,it only has a few ingredients,and its absorbent.
and my favorite cream makes my skin feel great ,and it comes off easily when i wash it off -not like some stick deodorants that you have to scrub and scrub to feel fresh!
oh yeah ..my 2 cents – by using homemade deodorant ,and using corn starch -some people have complain about a smell … that smell is a yeast infection!
quite a few people had to buy womens yeast infection cream and put it under their arms to get rid of that smell.
so there is a tip for everyone.
I must agree that creating your own deodorant is quite the idea! This would definitely increase the quality of the indoor air, since all the pollutants in the real deodorants are simply avoided. Great ideas!
Mmmkay, so I sweat…a LOT!! After 42 years, I’ve accepted this as a part of my life, mostly by convincing myself that it healthy to sweat, it’s the body’s way of pushing out impurities and cleansing itself and that anyone that doesn’t sweat is just weird. Now, we all know that there is a fair amount of truth to that but let’s face it — IT SUCKS! And as if the wetness wasn’t bad enough, let’s throw in some ‘funk’ to remind me (and anyone within 3′ of me) that no matter how hard I worked to get into that strappie little summer dress, nature has stricken me with the inability to wear anything sleeveless.
A couple of years ago, I was desperate to fix this before I went to Oahu — desperate to the point that I scheduled an appointment to have botox done only to find myself standing in a methadone clinic and being told they needed a urine sample but that’s a whole other story! Needless to say, botox didn’t happen and I gave up. Then I randomly stumbled across your site and read your blog about your journey creating Kokomo and it freakin’ cracked me up! Seriously? Flaming burrito’s in your armpits? Epic!! This totally convinced me that I had to get some!
I certainly wasn’t going to try this alone so I bought 2 jars and gave one to my 22 year old daughter. I had a little irritation at first but it subsided and it worked like a charm!! My daughter didn’t have any reaction to it and raved about it. What I didn’t know and just found out is that she hasn’t quit ordering it from you since then. Yep, my daughter is officially a Kokomo junkie! In fact, she swears that she’s never going back to store bought.
I on the other hand, haven’t ordered anymore but only because I decided to try my hand at waxing myself and ended up in a panic when I accidentally got my hand mirror stuck to my armpit. Again, whole other story but it ended with blinding white pain and not only did it rip out all my hair, I think it took most of the ‘funk’ glands with it cause I’ve been odor free since!!
Anyway, I wanted to share that with you and thank you for saving my vacation and let you know that my daughter is a customer for life!!
Oh so very interesting! I have found, over the years, as a natural skincare manufacturer, and the deodorant being one of my best sellers, that the couple of customers that I have had that had a reaction, was due to a systemic yeast overgrowth. In that case, I switch out the corn starch for tapioca (for free), people can use this sensitive skin formula, while making some dietary change recommendation, adding enteric coated oregano oil caps for two weeks and can then go right back to the regular deodorant. That would explain why the ACV would work though as well, as it will kill a localized yeast overgrowth too. In my experience it is from the corn starch, not the baking soda (although I don’t know if your contains corn starch), as the few customers that have had in this situation were able to use the BS/tapioca formula. But this is SO VERY interesting! Thank you for sharing!
I’m so happy I googled “itchy armpits baking soda deodorant” because it brought me to this lovely solution and awesome blog! Seriously, you’re the best!
Thanks so much for the apple cider vinegar and water remedy…worked like a charm!
You should take part in a contest for one of the greatest blogs on the
web. I will recommend this web site!
Thanks for sharing, Crunchy! I’ll have to link back to your site from mine on my own deodorant page. SO far I have kept baking soda out of my own recipe because I don’t want to have a reaction to it but I’ll have to try this method of ph rebalance when I make my next batch of deo.
I use a bit of fine citric acid (food-grade) in the deodorant mix. It won’t react with the baking soda because there is no water. This takes care of the pH issue.
@Admin
know this has happened in the event that you get the insane irritation once more. As per Crunchy Betty, swabbing with apple fruit juice vinegar before applying the antiperspirant will revise the
regards
rakhi
i went thru my first batch of homemade deodorant and it was great! but somewhere in the second batch it was too…..full of lumps of baking soda that never worked themselves in with stirring….maybe i was too much in a rush….nonetheless you could feel the graininess of the deodorant in your hands…yes i applied straighr with my hands in a circular motion. with that batch was how i ended up with the darker pits but they weren’t darkened as much as that they were “scabbed” over…i figured i got an allergic reaction when i got sweaty or maybe when i wore a fabric that irritated it…it had to heal to not be dark…peeled like a sunburn…but it took a miserable painful week without any deoodorant. back to normal but cant use the homemade. haven’t been brave enough to make a new batch!
I love that I found this 2 years to the day it was posted! Anyhow, I’ve been using the basic baking soda/arrowroot/coconut oil mix for over 5 years with great success and just recently got tender, itchy red rashes on my armpits. I’ve been applying neat tea tree oil u Der the assumption that it was my tinea versicolor lspreading to my pits. They’ve calmed slightly, but now I plan to try your act trick. Thanks!
Thanks for some other informative website. The
place else could I get that type of information written in such a perfect way?
I’ve a undertaking that I’m just now working on, and I have been at the
look out for such info.
It’s truly a great and helpful piece of info.Thank you.
Simply desire to say your article is as astounding.
The clearness for your post is just nice and that i could think you
are an expert in this subject. Fine together with your permission allow me to clutch your feed to
keep up to date with coming near near post. Thank you 1,000,000 and please
carry on the gratifying work.
Betty I am one of the few I guess that has both darkening skin and itchy skin from home made deodorant :/ Apparently I am fabulous for dysfunction. I am Caucasian with medium tone color. It isn’t a “shadow” under my arm it is flat out dirty looking blech. I tried less baking soda and while the irritation disappear the stink reappeared and the filthy look stayed. I gave up for about a year and am now working on steeping my coconut oil with calendula and lavender. The jar sits in my garage so it will stay liquid. Really crossing my fingers for this attempt. I will also add some vit E oil and coco butter to the mix. I hope this will combat the irritation of baking soda.
Hi Tara:
I am having the same problem. Did you find anything to help?
Hi friends, how is the whole thing, and what
you wish for to say about this paragraph, in my view its really amazing in favor of me.
This was extremely helpful. Thank you Crunchy Betty and wherever you are, I hope that you are having a peaceful and joyful time.
I recently made homemade deodorant and I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks. In that two weeks my armpits have become dark in color and be skin seems really rough. There has been some irritation but it’s been minimal and I assumed it would happen with trying something new. I just made diluted acv and filtered water so I hope it helps. Any more suggestions would be appreciated. I love it so far but the darkness of my underarms is bothering me.
Phylicia,
I have the same problem after two weeks use of Soapme with nature citrus deodorant. I love that I don’t have body odor but I’m worried about permanently having dark spots under my arms. Could you please let me know if you dark spots went away? I have a olive skin tone and one of my underarms looks ugly and the other one is beginning to show a dark spot.
Thank!
Hi, I am fairly new to your blog and am about to start the OCM! What could I use as an organic/ natural exfoliator? My skin is sensitive and combination…
Rejuvenate dry, stressed skin with this luxurious mask made with extracts of lavender, blueberry, and blackberry,
as well as papaya enzymes. Many have suggested that it will be better if
you use a product that does not contain harmful chemicals.
Bathe your feet in Bliss Softening Sock Salve, then flip through your favorite magazine for 20 minutes while
your gel-padded Bliss Softening Socks work on those hardened heels.
I added powdered citric acid to my DIY deodorant. Since there is no water in the deodorant mixture, the citric acid does not react with the baking soda and you end up with a more acidic pH. Citric acid is also a natural exfoliant. Along with that I also added tapioca starch instead of arrowroot. Hope this helps! Btw, start with small amounts of citric acid. More is not always better and may add some stinging “somewhat like applying vinegar to freshly scrubbed skin) though the mixture of starches and oil tend to buffer.
Just wondering, has anyone had a problem with beeswax in their homemade deoderant? I had been using Bubble & Bee deoderant for over a year and then I switched to Primal Pit paste–the only different ingredient being beeswax–and a month later, I got a horrible itchy rash and cysts under each of my armpits that lasted for over a week. I stopped using any deoderant and started the ACV/water mixture above twice a day and it went away. But I’m stumped. You’d think that the beeswax wouldn’t make a difference. Not sure if it’s just a delayed reaction to the baking soda or if it was the beeswax or something else entirely. Anyone have a similar experience?
I was looking into buying the primal deodorant. I’ve been using Schmidts for a few weeks and now developed cystic lumps in both underarms! All the ingredients in the lavender sage deodorant seem natural except for baking soda or sodium bicarbonate. I’ve read that baking soda is very harsh for the skin. Does it clogg pores too? Hence causing the cysts? Anyway, my right underarm has several cystic lumps that it’s difficult to keep my arm down!
I’ve been using primal pit paste for about 1 year now and just recently started getting these cyst on my armpits. They hurt really bad. No other reaction and super strange that it would happen after 1 year. I have heard that baking soda can cause a reaction but more of a rash I believe. I do love the deodorant but this is not good.
Some people also believe the Lord Shiva, Har, lived in Kailash mountain, so the place was titled as Kailash Har,
later was changed to Kailashahar. There are software programs that school districts
can buy, but such programs tend to be rather expensive.
Visually impaired readers will be pleased to learn that large
print editions are a common occurrence at Zooba – plenty of popular bestsellers have their large print
counterparts.
Who is going to fund retail price for a product that is
an unknown brand? Most free solar panels are damaged and when linked in series affect the whole
panels output. Pillows now are also accustomed to enhance very well being.
On average weight gain during pregnancy is between 25 and35
pounds, and that right after giving birth, the mother loses
about 10 to 15 pound of baby weight. The remedy is about putting some framework
into the eating during this specific time period, just like you might have throughout the day:.
I’ll give you here three important tips that can help
you to achieve a successful weight loss and to maintain it
afterwards.
What’s up, this weekend is nice in favor of me, as this time i
am reading this great informative article here
at my house.
Attractive component of content. I just stumbled upon your
website and in accession capital to say that I
acquire in fact enjoyed account your blog posts.
Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your feeds or even I success
you get admission to consistently rapidly.
It’s truly a great and helpful piece of info.
I’m satisfied that you simply shared this helpful info with us.
Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
Note: You must download the license to the included iLok USB key; other iLok USB keys
cannot be used. The big questions are why Avid is making a version of Pro
Tools available to everyone for free, how does it compare with other versions of Pro Tools, and in reality what can and can’t
you do with it creatively.
For college level students Pro Tools for Education is more suitable as it
exactly matches the feature set used by the
pros, is required for certification, and is now
available for as little as $99 per year.{Also, since Pro Tools First shares most of the same features as Pro Tools, there
is a wealth of online ‘how to’ video resources that musicians and audio
editors, new to the world of recording and/or Pro Tools, can access to help them get the most out of the Pro Tools First experience and ultimately produce great sounding songs and
tracks that stand out from the crowd.|Although it is the perfect
tool for music creation, Pro Tools First can also
be used for audio edit applications such as the spoken word, voice over editing, sound effects design and
for mastering tracks from video editors.|For
this review, I tested Avid Pro Tools 11.1.2 on two machines, one for
each platform: A custom-built Intel Core i7 (Haswell) PC with 16GB RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 3TB internal SATA
drive; and a MacBook Pro 15-inch with a quad-core 2.6GHz Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, an internal 256GB
SSD, and a 3TB 7200rpm Buffalo TeraStation external drive connected via USB 3.0.
In both cases, I tested Pro Tools 11 with a Focus Saffire
18i8 audio interface. |Avid optimizes Pro Tools to work seamlessly with the company’s hardware,
including HD and its third-generation lineup of Mbox systems,
all at extremely low latencies
Fantastic items from you, man. I’ve consider your
stuff previous to and you’re just extremely excellent.
I really like what you have acquired right here, certainly like what you’re saying and the way in which during which you are saying it.
You are making it enjoyable and you continue to care for to stay
it wise. I can’t wait to read much more from you. This is actually
a tremendous web site.
Has anyone tried baking POWDER or baking soda/cream of tartar? I was thinking about acidification and remembered that my mom said baking powder has the acid added to it (for recipes with alkaline ingredients). Baking powder is baking soda plus cream of tartar plus cornstarch. I found one that is aluminum free. Theoretically, it sounds promising since cream of tartar would acidify the mix. Any thoughts? Adding cream of tartar would allow for adjustment to fit someone’s specific needs. I’m also thinking the mix should be shelf stable as long as you don’t add water.
I’m one of the ones who get the “shadow” but I’m pretty pale. It makes them pretty red but exfoliation does help. I’m going to try the pH balancer as well. Thanks!
If you are going for finest contents like I do,
only pay a visit this web page all the time since it offers feature contents,
thanks
Hey, I’ve been using the basic arrowroot/cornstarch/baking soda/coconut oil mix for 5 years now, and I think it works so much better than any regular deodorant. I was just toss in this comment with the other 532 comments.
I found that olive oil is more moisturizing for people who have drying issues. It doesn’t impact it’s effectiveness.
I add rice flour/tapioca flour instead of cornstarch, which has certainly helped with the irritation.
I also add beeswax to make it all a bit “firmer.” I live in Thailand, so it was always a runny mess, but the beeswax keeps it more manageable.
So I was wandering through these parts of the interwebs and happened upon this interesting post.
My own take on it is a little something like this…
Two years ago I heard that rubbing a fresh lime in your armpit would work, because acid kills the bacteria that cause the smell, and I figured, fair enough – nothing ventured, nothing gained! It must be done ASAP after showering, fyi. It just works best that way. The first day I tried it, there was a 90% reduction in smell. The second day, 99%. The third day, and ever after, 100% smell free. I tested it! And we’re talking I-limed-up-yesterday-and-haven’t-showered-yet-today-and-I-just-walked-around-Ikea-three-times-because-I-lost-my-bloody-shopping-list kind of test.
Summer came. I started smelling like warm lime juice. Nothing wrong with that but I wasn’t too keen on it, either, so I thought about it and figured if it’s the acid that does it, I’ll just use some other acid. (Really kids, don’t try this at home. Even if I say it’s awesome.) I made a weak solution with water and ascorbic acid (that’s vitamin C for the curious), and applied it with a spray bottle. Worked! Awesome. But… When it’s left sitting around it turns… orange?! So the underarms of my clothing were going off colour… What to do, what to do…
Use citric acid! A looooot LESS citric acid, because it’s stronger than ascorbic acid, I now know. I should probably point out at this point that I don’t frequently shave. I wouldn’t recommend this to the frequent shavers out there.
I never bothered trying the baking soda deodorants, and you may be asking me why. It’s because our outsides are supposed to have a certain level of acidity. The skin has something it naturally produces called the ‘acid mantle’, and it’s a defensive mechanism, our first line of defence against invaders. Wouldn’t baking soda neutralize that? And in right in the armpit too, where we have valuable clusters of lymph nodes that would probably appreciate keeping that outer defence intact. Alkaline on the inside, acid on the outside, that’s the way to be. 🙂 If you’ve ever heard of souring laundry, it follows the same story line – when soap makes our clothes too alkaline, it irritates our skin, so we sour the wash with acid to make everything happy again.
Now it’s been two years of playing with this, adding essential oils, trying this, trying that, and I’m quite happy with it all. I would rather try one of those probiotic deodorant recipes floating around out there than try a baking soda recipe, just because I believe in our need for acid, and I’d rather fight microbes with microbes if the acid isn’t working anymore. This is something for those who have trouble with the baking soda to consider – try googling probiotic deodorant recipes. Who knows? It may be your answer. 😉
Tips:
Don’t try this at home. I don’t want to be responsible for anyone playing with acid, no matter how weak it is. And when I say weak, I mean using it by the pinch in a 2oz spray bottle.
Try the armpit detox; info on that is only a short google trip away.
The bacteria in your armpit are eating YOU, and you are (and excrete) what you eat. Just like when you fart evil kittens when you eat something bad, so do they. Feed them nicely.
Pump up that bacteria killing, odour masking power – use essential oils that’ll help the killfest, like grapefruit. I’ve got a mix going of grapefruit, ylang ylang extra, and vetiver that smells amazing. My arms are so perfumed! 😉
Am I dissing baking soda deo? Not really. I’m just here to give people another option. The probiotic deo option, not the acid. 😉
I have been using homemade deodorant for over a year now. I have the dark, dry patches of skin in my armpits and I hate it! Thank you for this post! I’m going to try the ACV!!!
I used natural/homemade deodorant off and on for about a year and a half before giving up. Not only did it irritate and darken my skin, every 1-2 weeks my skin would start to peel off and leave my armpits red and raw. This happened even with more gentle homemade deodorant and sensitive Primal Pit Paste. I finally started just using diluted vinegar and my pits aren’t irritated, but I find I get stinky really fast (I only eat organic, local (in season), lots of green and cruciferous veggies). I’m excited to try the vinegar + deodorant idea. I hope it works!
What i don’t understood is if truth be told
how you are now not really much more well-favored than you might be now.
You are so intelligent. You already know thus significantly in terms of this topic,
produced me personally believe it from so many varied angles.
Its like men and women don’t seem to be fascinated unless it is
something to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your personal stuffs
great. All the time maintain it up!
I would act as the creative producer at a salary per episode.
“I don’t do that many isolation movements, like single joint stuff,” Gunnar says.
Maybe your skin is a bit drier, a bit oilier, or maybe you just need a little wrinkle or blemish control.
I’ve been using the natural deodorant for about 1,5 months. To be able to get used to natural stuff, I started the process applying a clay detox, too, and I never had any problems like itching, burning, redness and whatnot. Also, I shaved a few times, applied the deo the next day or at least a few hours later, and never had problems again. However, about 10 days ago, a lot of abscess appeared on my underarms (real a lot -more than 15 on the left!). This occasion was only few days after my shaving and applying coconut oil right after shaving onto my armpits for the first time to make them smell nice and get moisturized. My doctor told that they were caused because of an infection, and I have been using a foul-smelling cream and antibiotics to heal them. I still have a few, though. I am not sure which one to blame, the deodorant or coconut oil right after shaving. What do you think about that? Also, the natural deodorant leaves white stains on my clothes, and as a girl wearing lots of dark colored clothes, this is a nightmare! Do you have any solution to this? Thanks a bunch!
I tried the baking soda, arrow root, coconut oil homemade deodorant mix. It works. I found a much easier recipe though. I squeeze half lemon into my hand and apply to my arm pits. It is the best deodorant ever. It is only one ingredient and very convenient.
After using it for some time, I found that the dark spots I had under my arms have been vanishing. I love that it has served 2 purposes. 🙂
I know what most people think; it’s sticky! Actually, once you let the lemon dry on your skin, you don’t even feel it.
I used baking soda deodorant for over a week…never again unless I figure out how to balance it properly. I’m a fair/olive complexion, but it’s a very light olive. My armpits were almost black after a week of using the baking soda deodorant, if you don’t count the swollen red parts from all the irritation and itching. I got tired of it, and last night made a bentonite clay mixture of several recipes, and just omitted the baking soda. It does not work as well; however, I’m also getting sick (changes my smell), and my pits are completely normal looking by this morning. The itch has diminished, and whatever odor I accumulated taking care of my sick toddler was very easy to wash off (with a baby wipe, so not like I did a good job). What’s funny about it is that I smelled like very faint BO and ylang-ylang…so the fragrance I used didn’t go away, it just doesn’t work as well after a couple of sedentary hours. I feel I should also add I haven’t eaten a whole lot or drank any water today because I’ve been taking care of my flu-ridden toddler. I know that what you put in can affect what you put out, so I’m sure that may also have something to do with the funny odor today, and not necessarily reflective of the non-BS deodorant. I don’t know if it was this page or another one, but it talks about the MSDS warnings for baking soda, and all the symptoms we’ve expressed are side effects of over exposure to it. Perhaps if we only use maybe 1/8 tsp. of BS in deodorant instead of 2 tsp. it may help with that. Cookies don’t need much, our skin doesn’t, either. 🙂
Hi, THANKS YOU!!! I love my natural deodorant and i had very itchy armpit, since i started with the apple cider mix with water everything works smoothly.
I was wondering, why not adding apple cider while making the deodorant? any idea how would that work?
Again, many thanks
dafna
Vinegar is acidic and baking soda is alkaline…when you mix them together it pretty much negates the effects you are looking for from the baking soda. You could do it, but the baking soda will have been neutralized and won’t work the way it’s intended (I took several years of chemistry in college, and neutralizing acids and bases was a common theme, LOL). If you use them separately, it kind of works similarly, but they aren’t being mixed so you’ll still get some of the effects…which is why putting lemon juice (acid) on your pits, letting it dry, then adding the baking soda deodorant (base) works for some people. I’m not willing to turn my pits black again, so I’m just not using baking soda for the time being. 😉
THank you SO much for this post. I’d researched online today about why natural deos (both store-bought and the one I’ve been making) make one armpit (but not the other!) red and itchy. I’d read elsewhere that it was due to ph trouble, but the blogger didn’t offer any solution. I don’t want to give up my own deo though — thank you for this solution. I will begin implementing it immediately. I don’t think I’ve had the discoloration, but it’s hard to tell when the pit is red 🙂
I find homwmade deo “recipes” irritating to my skin, however- I have successfully used just straight baking sofa for a few years now. Two tips: I moisturize my whole body with coconut oil after I shower, including my armpits- this seems to help the powder “stay” when I apply it. I also CANNOT use arm&hammer brand, it is really large particles and rips up my skin. I use a no-name brand produced by Lawblaws, it is like a silky powder compared to the more expensive brands. No recipe required! Just apply a thin later with fingers or a blush brush! (And u used to have to look for the strongest sports type deo when I used conventional products!) so easy, so effective!
Hi! I kicked antiperspirant to the curb for fear of developing breast cancer. I happily made and used baking soda and organic coconut oil for about 2-3 months. I have fair skin and blonde/light brown hair. At first it was great! Then I started to get stink. I increased the baking soda and even added a couple
Of drops of eucalyptus oil to add a nice scent. To my HORROR my arm pits turned super dark, stinky, itchy and the skin started to come off! Now I am using nothing, I stink and the dark skin is slowly coming off and there is tender pink irritated skin. Help
I’ve had skin darkening, and I have very fair skin…
THANK YOU for this post! *Raises hand to reveal armit shadow* I’ve had darkening skin, irritation, etc but can’t give up on the baking soda because it’s the only thing that works. I’d never thought that my skin’s pH is way off — thanks for the insight! Have you tried adding vinegar to baking soda and testing until it’s close to balanced (maybe somewhere 6-8), then adding the whole thing to oils (you can emulsify it with a little vitamin E), then combining that liquid mixture with the dry powders (arrowroot/cornstarch)? That might turn this into a one-step deodorant. Definitely going to try it out! Thanks!
Antiperspirants containing aluminum, exertion toward bring to an end totally perspiration as of happening. Deodorants do not hold aluminum. Deodorants permit perspiration. They effort to execute the germs so as to causes smell at what time we perspire. From a merely usual point of view, it makes additional intelligence for us to utilize deodorants, as it is obviously a additional usual procedure to permit our bodies to worry.
So I made my first homemade deodorant. Shea butter, coconut oil and baking soda. Lemon grass and citronella scented. So after first use the next morning I noticed skin irritation; red, puffy but oddly only around the area arm pit hair grows. Just the areas where my clothes rub, the crease area, especially the back crease. I used it again to see if it was just my shirt but nope. All day my arm pits felt like a sun burn other then where the actual hair grows. Why is this?
*apply with cotton ball.
Proofing is a good idea ;p
What about Witch Hazel?
Background: Tan skin complexion. Dry skin. Don’t have a sweating problem, just minor smell. The natural deo’s I’ve tried are better at fighting smell. Give it time!
So… I was having some irritation problems with my natural deodorant as well (a deodorant bar, sodium bicarb). So I switched to a moisturizing Patchuli deo bar for a week: I would clean the armpit w/ hydrogen peroxide with a wet washcloth , then apply witch hazel with a cotton bar. My pits cleared up, and I’m still doing the same routine and using my old deo bar.
The H.P. cleans the area, if you have to reapply during the day, I think that was my problem. Don’t reapply deo to an unclean area, it will affect the deo. That’s what I was initially doing. Also, the W.H. helps “minimize the pores” or something similar, and the deo doesn’t irritate as bad. It’s also good to use W.H. after waxing, soothes the area. That’s my two-cents/experience.
***
It’s ingredients:
Sodium Bicarbonate , Cream of Tartar (Tartaric acid) , Apricot Kernel Oil (Prunus armeniaca) , BlueWax (Specerit Blue C) , Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia) , Magnesium Carbonate , Lemon Oil (Citrus limonum) , Juniperberry Oil (Juniperus communis) , Lemongrass Oil (Cymbopogan flexuosus) , Fresh Grape Juice (Vitis vinifera) , Blue Cornflower Petals (Centaurea cyanus) , *Citral , *Eugenol , *Geraniol , *Citronellol , *Limonene , *Linalool , Perfume
Thank you for this post. After using my homemade deodorant for 3 weeks, I developed some redness, rashes and hyper pigmentation on my axilla. I was so bummed because I finally found a deodorant recipe that actually works. I heard about your article on balancing your skin pH before using a deodorant with baking soda. I tried the apple cider but wasn’t too keen on the smell. So I tried lemon juice then progressed to using orange essential oil. I used a couple drops to rub it on my axilla twice a day. The oil really helped plus it made my skin softer and improved the darkness. Although I had to stop using the deodorant for a few days to heal the rashes. Orange oil did not only balance my skin pH, it also smells delicious and relieved my hyper pigmentation. I saw a thread of some skin cancer patients who said that orange oil helped improve their skin condition. I don’t have studies to prove this claim but think about how all these cosmetic companies are using Vitamin C to prevent spots and dark pigments on the skin. I’m just using the same principle. I hope this comment will help others like me. I’m planning on adding orange oil to my deodorant recipe and see if that will be a good pH balanced deodorant.
Oh my! This is so on target. I made my 8 year old the natural deodorant recipe (coconut oil, arrowroot starch and baking soda) and it works like a charm. I would occasionally use the batch I made for myself (mine has a drop or two of peppermint and lemon essential oils. Well, I’ve used it exclusively for 3-4 days in a row and all hell has broken loose under one arm. I noticed it was a little raw and a little swollen and a growing more irritated each day. So much so that I decided to take a peek to find the skin very dark, a little scaly, and “burntish dry”. I would just hate to return to chemically based deodorant, so I will give it a day or so and try the ph resolution. I must say, I’ve been skipping the D and going mostly without and have the sweetest armpits ever. So, my recipe works! I hope to adjust and adapt accordingly!
Yes! Finally someone writes about regime sans residu sushi.
I started using a recipe a little over a year ago that was 2-steps. First apply coconut oil, second dust with a combination of equal parts arrowroot and baking soda. I use a large foundation brush to lightly apply the powder. I have never had any problems. Essential oils can be added. I found this somewhere on the Internet but can’t remember where.
I found that making a solution of half aloe Vera juice and half rose water applied before I put on the deodorant solves the irritation problem without irritating my freshly shaved pits. I apply this same mixture before I go to bed. Smells lovely and protects my skin. I love the deodorant so much. It’s the best I’ve ever used in quality of effectiveness and in not poisoning my body and clogging my lymphs. Thanks for sharing this amazing deodorant recipe
Hello. I stopped using commercial deodorant about 3 weeks ago and started using a natural one. Within the first few days I developed a itchy rash so I stopped using the natural deodorant (after about 2-3 days of use) and decided to go au natural without any deodorant. I’ve been completely deodorant free for about 3 weeks now. I have a odd problem now. The itchy rash doesn’t go away. As a matter of fact, sometimes it’s gotten worst. I’m not using any deodorant whatsoever so obviously it cannot be any baking soda or other ingredients. What gives? Do you have any idea what might be causing this rash?
Vida,
My guess would be that the rash has not been able to heal (shaving and naturally perspiring). Try plain coconut oil, especially after you shave. It will soothe it and help with healing, being an antibacterial. Good luck.
Hi!
When I first started experimenting with homemade deodorant, I made a very simple baking soda and coconut oil recipe. My issue was that it was too thin, and I developed a chafing rash almost immediately. The baking soda only exacerbated this. I am on day 2 of a baking soda free recipe that uses beeswax and shea butter…so far, so good!
My point, I guess, is that you may be experiencing chafing since you have no barrier to protect that sensitive area…similar to a runner whose legs sweat and they have no barrier between their legs.
I know for me i got the underarm shadow after a month and a half of using my baking soda recipe, and I am not dark in skin color at all. I realized that the outer layers of my skin were hardening instead of shedding and this was causing the darkening. I started putting a few drops of jojoba oil, because it helps shed sebum, on my underarms once a day before bed and really exfoliating during my shower and the darkening quickly went away but after a week of clear skin I started having a reaction to the baking soda. Yes I let it get to the raw stage cause I wasn’t sure if it was a detox or not. Now I’m definitely going to try this and see if it works. Here’s hoping!
I LOVE my homemade deodorant (Coconut oil, melaleuca, lavender and baking soda) BUT it makes me break out into a red, itchy rash. I was so disappointed because regular store bought deodorant makes me smell bad and the natural deodorant is the first thing I’ve found that has worked! So I tried rubbing the acv on and it made the rash go away REALLY fast. BUT as soon as I started using the deodorant again I got the rash. 🙁 I know it’s the baking soda, so unfortunately it will have to go. It doesn’t work quite as well without it, but I’m going to keep trying to figure out something that works! The melaleuca really helps a lot though.
I had an issue with skin darkening and I am very fair skinned. I found that using papaya soap on my underarms solved the issue.
Hi Marlyn , where do you get the papaya soap?
Thank you so much for this! I was using homemade deo for a about a week and was LOVING it till I reacted. Luckily I found this page and have been using ACV prior to my deo application for 3 weeks and everything works wonderfully. Also, my dark skin in the underarms has faded
I’m one of the ones who get the “shadow” but I’m pretty pale. It makes them pretty red but exfoliation does help. I’m going to try the pH balancer as well. Thanks!
This is the best deoderant recipe I’ve found:
http://wellnessmama.com/4901/deodorant-bar-recipe/
Did you know that all you need to do is rub a little coconut oil under your arms to substitute for deodorant…..I guarantee you, that you will never smell again. Just rub it under your arms after showering every day, no expensive aluminum based products needed ever again.
I have tried this. Unfortunately it does not work for me and my family. However, it is wonderful for just about everything else!
The traditional Coconut Oil/Baking Soda/Essential Oil has worked the best for me, however, I do get bumps with the occasional pimple under the armpit. I have tried many different ingredients but they do not seem to keep away the odor. My husband, who has olive skin, experienced the brown “shadow” which began to grow raw. The ACV healed it well. A natural health adviser told me that it could be tobacco/toxins being released…??? Some of the other experimental deodorants (w/Bentonite Clay and one with Diatomaceous Earth) worked at first with my husband…but not for long. I am at a loss for him.
I started using baking soda about two months ago. I just add a pinch of baking soda to the palm of my hand & drops of water, and rub on armpits. It has been the only thing that has helped control my BO. First few days it gave me a rash. I later learned that it was because i was not diljtinv the baking soda enough. Once i diluted it well, the rash went away. Sadly to say I am one of those unfortunate ones whose armpits turned dark. This makes me super sad :'(. I also have been feeling so much itchiness on my armpits these last couple of days. Does baking soda dry out the skin? I may have to find another home remedy because this itchiness is overwhelming. :-/
I have been using variations of this recipe for almost 6 months. It started off amazing (no smell for 24 hours) then I got some irritation which I just pushed through because the results were worth it to me. I did use a bit of antibiotic ointment on the irritation just to make sure it would heal nicely. Tried using just the coconut oil and some essential oil but that was not as effective as having the baking soda in there. I eliminated the arrowroot and added some essential oil (peppermint and tea tree) and I am about 90% satisfied. My only issues now are:
1. It may be slightly less effective than when I first started.
2. I am starting to see some darkening of the skin (I exfoliate with a scrubby every time I shower).
3. Strangely enough, the skin feels a little…hard. Initially my skin felt baby soft because of the coconut oil, but I noticed this change about 4 months in.
Anybody else notice something similar?
The reason why people are seeing the darkening of the skin is because of irritation. Your skin is creating a callous of sorts which of course is darker then your non irritated skin. I am assuming the baking soda is creating the irritation. Scrubbing the area does not work for people because exfoliating an irritated area makes the irritation worse and therefore the darkening of the area continuous. So DONT SCRUB THE AREA PLEASE. The reason why people see results with the ACV is because it is nuetralizing the baking soda/ “the skin irritant” in this case and so the body naturally sloathes off the darker skin and you are left with normal skin once again. This May or may not work for some people so removing the baking soda all together might be the solution. Good luck to everyone! I know how uncomfortable it is to have dark armpits is especially during the summer. My skin irritant turned out to be shaving. I now use an emulator and my dark skin is all gone 🙂
Meant to type Epilator. Ah the wonders of auto correct 🙂
Great stuff! I also love Frugally Sustainable’s idea of adding probiotics to the recipe to help balance good bacteria and prevent odor.
The Deodorant worked for me sooo great but then it start this itchiness, I think is also because baking soda was exfoliating my skin a lot.
Every skin is different, my boyfriend found your recipe like a miracle because he’s not smelly anymore, he tried many products & nothing worked until I made your recipe for him.
For me was the perfect deodorant as well, but my skin is more sensitive to the exfoliation, anyway still a great recipe & the most important… without chemicals !! pesticides & all that crap.
Now I will try this with ACV & let’s see, thnks !!
I JUST started using baking soda based DIY deodorant, but did some reading up on it first before using. One blogger highly suggested “priming your pits” with alcohol or witch hazel first before apply the baking soda based deodorant. I’ve been using witch hazel, and so far no problem. I guess the witch hazel serves the same purpose as the apple cider vinegar, here, in balancing the pH as it is acidic, too.
The combo of these two steps has been highly effective for me…so far.
These homemade baking soda deodorants don’t “throw your pH balance out of whack”. They simply irritate your skin because baking soda is too alkaline. This may sound like a quibble, but describing it like that masks the reality. The reality is you are applying a layer of mildly caustic stuff to your skin that may over time give you a mild chemical burn. When you apply vinegar on top of it, the vinegar is neutralizing the baking soda, so the layer of deodorant you’ve got on your skin is no longer caustic.
This may well be a reasonable way to avoid wasting a batch of this stuff that you’ve made under the misunderstanding that baking soda is a reasonable thing to leave on your skin (as I did). But the real solution is to change your recipe to either not use baking soda or use only a very small amount. When you neutralize it with vinegar it is no longer baking soda anyway, so you are kind of defeating the function of the baking soda.
The products of vinegar and baking soda are water, carbon dioxide, and sodium acetate. Sodium acetate itself can be a skin irritant, but the quantities here may be too small to have that effect. In any case I don’t think it’s what you are looking for in a deodorant ingredient.
I get the darkening, but not just from my homemade deo. It started for me when using store bought ‘natural’ brands such as Toms and Jason. I had hoped that switching to homemade would help things but now I have darkening, rawness and peeling 🙁 I have olive skin, I get pretty tan but I wouldn’t say that I have dark skin and interestingly enough, it’s always significantly worse on the left side. I am hoping for the best with my ph balancer adventures. No matter what, I’ll go the route of Peppy Le Pew before turning back to mainstream methods.
I just looked it up. Believe me–I don’t have PCOS. 🙂
🙂 Haha!
I mean what is PCOS?
usually darkened armpits is from PCOS. get that under control & armpits go back to normal.
What is POCOS?
I have PCOS and I’ve never heard of dark arm pits as one of the symptoms. And trust me, you don’t just “get PCOS under control”, it’s a disease that you can lessen the symptoms and possibly put them into “remission” but you always have it.
I had PCOS myself for several years and a few years ago rid myself of all my ovarian cysts. My gyno first told me that I would never be able to cure my PCOS and it would be difficult to conceive but he would give me a pill if I ever wanted to get pregnant. I am proud to say I have been symptom free and cyst free since 2011. I no longer have high testosterone, irregular periods, crazy acne on my face, and have a much easier time maintaining my body weight; I did it all naturally and through trial and error on my own since I didn’t like my gyno’s take on PCOS and I couldn’t afford to see a naturopathic doctor regularly. With discipline & determination it it possible to reverse, I swear!
Hi there! I couldn’t help but to reply to this, especially since both of my teenage daughters have PCOS! I’d like to ask you how you healed yourself from it naturally. I’m trying to get my whole family on board to a more “green” lifestyle but some are just set in their ways! My oldest daughter is now pregnant (even with the PCOS) and oh my gosh, I’ve never seen someone get sick like this girl! The morning sickness is horrendous, to the point of a couple emergency room visits within a couple weeks! They said she’s so sick because of her hormone levels being so crazy high, and now even higher since she’s pregnant! I’d greatly appreciate ANY information that you’re willing to share because my girls need to heal from this horrible PCOS! Thank you for your time.
Blessings and peace : )
Wow! I thought I was imagining the darker skin in my armpits. I am super pale, tons of freckles, but very white otherwise. I’ve been making my own deodorant for a year and a half now and it’s only since this new batch that I’m seeing the darker skin. I’m using a different coconut oil this time and I think this batch had more baking soda in it. I’m going to give the acv a try (already have a spray bottle of that ratio water to ACV in the bathroom for my hair) We’ll see if that does the trick.
I made your recipe for baking soda deodorant a few weeks ago and am loving it! I tweaked it a little by adding a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. This is the best natural deodorant I’ve ever tried! I think next time I make it I will use Shea butter or kokum butter to make it extra creamy rather than the evoo. I find that if I get to much on the evoo stains my shirts. It’s important to know that two swipes is plently. If I use the right amount it absorbs into my skin leaving no residue and I’m completely stink free all day! Thank you for your insightful blogs. I’ve learned a lot from your page 🙂
Helpful info. Lucky me I found your web site by chance, and
I’m shocked why this coincidence didn’t came about earlier!
I bookmarked it.
I visited multiple web pages except the audio feature for audio songs existing at this website is genuinely marvelous.
I have been using homemade deoderant for about 2 months and I love it! The only problem I seemed to have was weird sweating at night. I finally decided it was caused from my bodies reaction to the Young Living Purefication essential oil I had used in it. Must have been getting the toxins out of my body!
Just wanted to chime in that I don’t use deodorant at all anymore and feel really good about that decision. I do eat lots of veggies, pretty much no artificial stuff, etc. But don’t be afraid to try it, especially if you are lazy like me about making your own products 🙂
I am one of the few that have my armpits turn dark so I researched it and found your comment on this issue. I am a freckled, fair skinned redhead. I am told that white people call me a white chick. lol I am glad to find out that I am not the only one with this problem. I thought it might be because of the baking soda and will start making new batches trying different doses. Please let me know if you have come across any remedies. Thx!
I’ve been using straight baking soda, right out of the box, for oh, maybe two, two and a half years? No problems. Guess I’m one of those super pH people.
Can’t wait to see the new Crunchy Betty site go live!
I read somewhere that baking soda actually pulls the toxins out of your skin, and that is what turns the skin dark. I am African American, and consider myself to be an even brown color and after trying the baking soda based natural deodorant, my arm pits were black. After about a week the toxins were peeling off my armpits.
Hi all! For about two years, I have been using a homemade deodorant made with coconut oil, baking soda, corn starch, and tea tree oil, and I LOVE it. I haven’t had problems with darkening or itchiness, but my boyfriend stopped using it after it made his armpits itch. I ran out of my homemade this week and had to use his store-bought deodorant…it was disgusting, left a reside that I couldn’t scrub off with soap. I’d rather stink!
Crunchy Betty, come back to us!
Im so glad I found this
I used to have 0 problems when I started this
ans then it started to burn but I thought it was because one day I decided to rub lemon essential oil under my arm so I thought that burned my armpits and turned it dark
turns out it was just the deodorant so I started easing off a tad You the dark would peel off and what not
out of no where it made my armpits raw so I stopped using deodorant for a week or so (since I started using all natural deodorant I dont smell like I used to) but a few days ago I used my deodorant again and my armpits broke out in this CRAZY rash so for now I’m only using coconut oil hopefully the pH balancer helps me
hello,
i am just discovering your website and I am really enjoy it.
I have found another way to rebalance my skin PH and killing two birds with one stone I also moisturize it. The added benefit is that it does not smell well…vinegar 😉
The secret, which is not one is fact, is to use a fermented dairy such as kefir (my favorite, I wash myself with it most of days even my hair),yogurt or sour cream.
in fact any kind of fermented food might do the trick, such as Kombucha. If you use your imagination, I am sure you will come up with something new (I don’t think that unpasteurized miso paste or sauerkraut will pass the smell criteria but some may like it).
The secret weapon is twofold : the lactic acid of these products rebalances you PH and respect/enhance your skin flora and the fat in dairies moisturizes.
The result is a glowing, dewy, non smelly, healthy skin, nor dry or oily, resistant to any trouble (name them acne, psoriasis,
Please comment if you have time.
Hi,
Just wanted to say that I’ve had a lot of luck avoiding irritation by applying a very small amount of coconut oil BEFORE applying the baking soda deodorant. Makes a protective layer, I guess. I also take a break from the baking soda formula every couple of days and use a coconut oil, arrowroot powder and EO mix. The baking soda deodorant I have is from your shop and I love it. 🙂
Where r u? Your new site? I just found this & felt instant connection & now I see you haven’t been here for a while!! I hope all is okay!!! Could someone let me know?
Yes, I would also like to know what is going on and if you are ok.
Hi Cruncy Betty!!
My mom and I used schmidt’s deodorant and it darken both our armpits to my horror. It worked so well and I was in love until my pits became inflamed and black! We are black, well shades of brown to begin with me more than her lol but it was awful. I found your acv toner and it definitely helped bring my skin back. Now my pits are beautiful (I can show them off) I’m still trying to find a natural option, I did make your version with bentonite clay but it didn’t work :(. I’ll keep an eye out and if you have any new recipes, I’ll be more than happy to take a whorl.
Thanx Siobhan
Hello! I love your blog and want to buy the deodorant but it’s not for sale anymore :’-(
Will you be selling it again? (Please be selling it again!)
Hi CrunchyBetty,
I am one of the few that has the darkening of the skin issue. I also have naturally darker skin, although its been awhile since my desk job has allowed me enough sunlight to even get a tan…. I havent tried to treat it yet, but I also am trying various recipes since the deoderant works better than others, but still not all day. I am trying to add probiotics to the coconut oil, baking soda, arrowroot, tea tree oil mix. We’ll see.
This is important to keep those armpits smell free. I avoid using anything that harm my skin… I had a wonderful experience with coconut oil and Lavender homemade deodorants, they has wonderful antibacterial properties.
I have the armpit shadow and I have quite pale skin. I’m going to try your tips.
I use vegetable glycerine in my deodorant instead of coconut oil as I seem to be a bit sensitive to coconut oil. I find it doesn’t leave any oily marks and I noticed I seem less sensitive to the baking soda then when I did try it with coconut oil.
Hmmm. I had the itchy skin and muddled through it. Now my underarm skin is suffering from the “shadow.” I am super white – can’t tan even if I wanted – but can’t get rid of the shadow. I’ve tried the exfoliation, but nothing. I’ve been using homemade deodorant, but not the recipe found here. It contains shea butter, cocoa butter, arrowroot powder, baking soda, vitamin e oil, and essential oils. I’m gonna try the ph resolution cause I sometimes have a recurrence of itching. For the most part though that shadow is the only issue. :0)
Part of the problem with some of these “deodorants” is you are trying to stop sweat , a natural process which is good for us ,
I’m definitly off commercial antiperspirant we absorb that and if u read label kidney patients shouldn’t use it , so we probably shouldn’t either
I wanted to change my facial products with organic, i wanted to have everything on my face chemical-free so i google organic facial cleanser and this website was one of the million results google provided me with, i read the article and ended up opening one article after another until i realized i have been browsing this website for 3 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and its so worth seriously i love it thank you so much and definitely without a doubt the best website for everything, i like how i can find so many things i need and have always thought id never find. best tips/ingredients i found online all from the kitchen and organic.
Here here-I feel exactly the same way but from what I can tell she’s not on any more. 🙁 I have no idea how to get in touch w/her but I’d follow her…don’t do twitter or that other stuff (don’t know how) but I thought I had found the mother load. Would really like to communicate w/you Betty if possible.
Does crunchybetty not post anymore?
I am so glad I found your site! New fan/follower and NEW to Green Cleaning! Following ETSY too! 🙂 Thank you for all of your brilliant easy-to-follow help!
I’ve been using homemade deodorant for at least a couple years — coconut oil, cornstarch, baking soda, EO. It works great for me. No problems. Except sometimes I stink. Not always, but sometimes.
I’m light skinned and have had darkening of armpits. It seems to get slightly better with exfoliating. I only mention it because I saw it in this blog, otherwise I don’t really care cause it’s pretty rare that anyone sees my armpits. I’m definitely more concerned with keeping away the smell and my baking soda coconut oil mix has been working well.
I was thinking about the dark skin complaint. Grapefruit EO has whitening effect, therefore it might be a good idea to add few drops to your home-made deodorant. Have not tested the idea yet though.
Kudos! A good amount of material!
I sweat like a trucker (per my husband) and have always had to use the strongest deodorant I can find. While I really wanted to find a natural deodorant, the thought of rubbing baking soda/coconut paste on my pits just didn’t sound very appealing. I had already tried the crystal/rock with minimal success only if I wore 100% natural fiber clothing in the middle of winter and didn’t sweat… otherwise I couldn’t get near anyone. I was also aprehensive about the straight baking soda as some folks mentioned it messing with the body’s PH. SO… I have been successfully been doing the following for several weeks – through many fake fiber shirts of all kinds, through hard exercise routines, and sweating on my walk into the office in a suit jacket: Dab on undiluted ACV (regular vinegar might work too)to entire pit area, then using an old makeup brush, apply straight baking soda on top. It’s a bit messy, but it’s just baking soda falling on my bathroom rug, which needs a little deodorizing anyways… so two birds with one stone! No reapplying has been necessary throughout the day, nor have I experienced any negative reactions, detoxing, adjustment period, etc… Hope this helps!!
Have you experienced the skin darkening like some of the other posters? This sounds like the best option for me. Thanks!
Can anyone tell me if it’s ok to use potato starch instead of corn starch? I live in Ukraine and I haven’t been able to find corn starch for months now… Until it comes back in stock is there any reason why I should sub potato for corn?
Thanks
I’m a (pale) Caucasian, and I got armpit darkening. What I think was actually happening, though, is that the PH of my first mix of homemade deodorant was so high my skin was basically forming protective calluses. (Hot!)
I gave my skin a break, exfoliated like mad, and then experimented with making a new batch of deodorant. I basically started with a very low level of baking soda, and kept increasing the amount until I hit a level where it definitely controlled smell, but doesn’t (after a couple of months, knock wood) seem to be causing any skin problems. I also found that adding tea tree oil to the mix seems to help control smell at lower levels of baking soda.
Just in case this helps anyone else!
I am an African American woman and Ive been using homemade baking soda deodorant on and off for about a year. Unfortunately after a few weeks of use my left under arm turns dark. As a matter of fact it’s dark right now, hence me stumbling across your page. I hope there is a fix for this problem because I have no desire to go back to store bought deodorant.
I’ve worked out a good solution to the dreaded messing up a whole batch of deodorant due to not getting the ratios right.
Last year I made up a huge batch of lotion bars to give out to friends. I got a mix that’s solid at room temp using cocoa butter, shea butter, coconut oil, sweet almond oil, beeswax, and a little Vitamin E oil. I didn’t scent them much except for a little lavender. The leftover ones ended up in my freezer.
Now, when I run out of deodorant, I can just shave off a piece of lotion bar and play around till I get the baking soda and starch ratios right. I just throw a small amount in the microwave for a minute, add the powders and essential oils, and voila! Makes things so much easier and I don’t feel like I’m wasting ingredients if I screw it up. I get to play around with fragrances, too, using the little amounts.
I’ve been using dry baking soda as deoderant for a week and I love it. The first day I made a mistake and scrubbed them with BS in the shower. The next two days they burned when I applied the dry BS, but since then they have been great. If I apply it once every 24 hours, I have no BO at all. I used to use Secret and only applied it once a week, but I’m so glad to be free of that horrendous stuff!
I would guess that the infections and other problems I’ve been reading about are due to the cornstarch. I’m a nurse and have heard from many other nurses that cornstarch/baby powder can cause infections.
Ok so last time I tried homemade deodorant, it made my skin BREAK OUT in a crazy angry rash. I was trying not to cry and holding ice packs under my arms and taking advil. Are you sure that the redness is from PH and not because baking soda is crazy abrasive and I’m sticking it in an extra rubby spot?
I don’t want to go through that again, but I really want a natural deodorant that actually works for stinkers like me!
Yeah, my homemade deodorant has not been my friend. Very painful rash, peeling skin, burning sensation. I went 2 months…maybe more, with NO problems whatsoever then it started up. I was so disappointed because it worked SO well for me. I’m going to try coconut oil, arrowroot and clay to see how that does. I’m very sad.
What about grain alcohol and an essential oil you like? Just put it in a spray bottle and the alcohol will kill bacteria and the EO will give you a nice scent of your choice. Use care right after shaving, the alcohol might sting a bit, but this recipe seems to work for me. Also I’ve used bentonite clay and corn starch with some EO mixed in and put it on pits with a powder puff or makeup brush.
Hey I found your blog looking for a hair mask. I also live in the Springs and that fire was scary and hopefully you still have your home:) I was disappointed to see your blog wasn’t updated but completely understand. The community amazes me that we all come together in time of crisis. Hope you get blogging again. God bless:)
I had some adjustment issues with my homemade deodorant at first as well. I made my batch with more shea butter and arrowroot powder than baking soda, but it still caused some issues. It wasn’t burning so much as it was very ithcy, irritated. I found that using my apple cider vinegar & witch hazel facial toner was too strong for my irritated skin and made it worse, BUT using straight witch hazel calmed the irritation down almost immediately. Since that time, I have gotten into the habit of applying a few drops of oil to my armpits right after I shower (sometimes this is excess facial oil left on my hands after I’m finished applying it to my face!). The oil definitely helps to keep my skin happy and doesn’t seem to reduce the deodorants effectiveness at all. Happy armpits and happy me! I hope this helps someone! 🙂
A neurologist, who is a specialist in this field, will work with a primary care physician to regulate care of the patient.
Funding and staffing reductions would increase wait times at airports,
weaken security between land ports of entry, limit CBP’s ability to collect
revenue owed to the Federal government, and slow screening and entry for those traveling into the United States.
While you may not be able to complete an entire associate degree in this field online,
there are a few schools which offer online options as a
part of their program.
Before we dive in the lineup, let’s talk about the name, Fusion. Speed up laptop computersby running Anti-malware programs like Malwarebytes’ to sniff out the malware and quarantine it.
I, as well, have experienced the skin darkening problem. It becomes rather leathery, too. I had been using the baking soda+cornstarh+coconut oil recipe for about 2 months when I really noticed it. As you mentioned, I do have a darker complexion– I’m part Filipina, so I’m more of a medium-honey color. It got so bad (combined with the TERRIBLE itching) that I had to stop and switch back commercial deodorants. I am an extremely heavy perspirer, and now I’m in a massage therapy program, so I /have/ to make sure I smell clean and look clean, so I’m worried about trying this new technique and having it work just as well as commercial. Any news from heavy sweaters and how well this works for them?
I had the same problem. I’m Indian so brown. My pits were horribly itchy and got discolored, but every week or so, the discolored skin would peel off in horrible huge chunks and then the skin would be raw and miserable before the cycle restarted. I had even tried a similar pH rebalancing thing but it didn’t help, and at times it almost felt like the baking soda was just too physically abrasive, even if it was not a pH issue.
I just stopped putting baking soda in my deodorant. It’s just coconut oil, arrowroot starch, and tea tree oil. I prefer refined coconut oil because somehow the unrefined one smells rancid on my skin, even when it’s not rancid in the jar!
In any case, try without baking soda. You may find that you will be fine. I normally need to reapply after about 12h, but really I can only smell if I stick my nose directly into my bare armpit.
I also wanted to say, while I’m not a particularly heavy sweater, I am a stinky sweater. Or at least, that is what I thought when I was using commercial deodorants. I thought I was the world’s smelliest person and “needed” all these chemicals to keep the stench under control. turns out, I don’t smell so bad once I stopped putting scary stuff in my pits!
I’ve been using milk of magnesia as a deodorant and its works wonderfully. It’s really cheap and I don’t have any problems with itching, dry skin, or skin discoloration. I apply a nickel size amount under each arm and wait for it to dry before putting on my shirt.
Sorry to break it to you! I am pretty light, bordering on pale. I get the skin darkening. But I do have a few ideas. One is that im half Mexican, so maybe it has to do with ethnicity vs actual skin color. I also have dry skin, not helped one but by this drought in California…. Anyway, hope it helps!
Is there a difference between Clove essential oil and Clove Bud oil? Also Cinnamon essential oil and cinnamon bark oil?
I’ve been using homemade baking soda and cornstarch based deodorant for a few months now and I haven’t had much problem with it aside from the skin darkening you mentioned. My mother has it too. She started using Tom’s brand deodorant before my homemade one and has the issue with both. Neither of us had the discoloration when we used the commercial, homemade stuff has so many more benefits though that we happily deal with the darker pits. I want to play around with some different recipes and moisturizers as well as essential oils to see if any of these have a lasting effect. so far exfoliating helps a little but it’s only about 30% effective for me. I would love to talk to you or anyone else looking into this more and hopefully figure something out.
Yea, we can only hope this blog bursts back into life again. These posts are quality and a lot of fun to read as well as being so helpful.
Is this blog dead? Am I missing something or is the last post from July? Betty, are you still there?
Hit the Facebook link, and then the last post has a link to her closed “private” group, it says something about spammers is why she is going that route. I requested to be added, so we’ll see.
Thanks for the reply Samantha! Alas, I’ve looked everywhere for the post with the “private” group link and couldn’t find it. Thanks anyway, I appreciate it!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/crunchybetty/
🙂
Umm friend request me and I will send link or invite. Samantha Jolene Mata (and another name)
I have been making my own deodorant for a while now, and have been fairly happy, minus the red bumps I get frequently, and the case of “falliculitis” (blocked glands) that had to be treated by antibiotics.
My question, however, is about essential oils. I have read on some other sites that tea tree oil and lavender oil are not safe during pregnancy. I’m looking for a new recipe to try, and just wondering if you know of any safe/yummy smelling oils to put in deodorant. Thanks for any input you may have!
You know what works that requires no mixing??? Lemon or lime. I swear it. I used the homemade coconut oil/baking soda/cornstarch recipe until my poor pits started reacting to it. After a short internet search, (third time’s the charm in many things which now include internet searches), I found that a simple rub with a lemon or lime wedge will prevent odor. And, let me tell you, I had odor. Big time. First sign of sweat and I was terribly stinky.
This works, and I won’t go back to anything else. Unless…
Hi, I’m so glad I’ve found this website!! It’s very helpfull and really funny!
I have a problem with the ph rebalancer. Everytime I make it, it goes bad after 5/6 days. At least it looks like it has gone bad. There’s floating some stuff in it that wasn’t there when I made it. I store it in the bathroom, is that bad? Does it needs to be stored in the fridge? It works like a charm, so I’m really happy with it! I really hope there is a solution for my problem. Thanks!!
I may be wrong, but it sounds like if you’re making it with natural acv (Braggs brand, for example), it may be starting to grow a “mother”…. It’s not bad, it just means you’re using the good stuff.
You’re right it’s a natural organic acv. Well that explains it. Thanks for your reply!
since it has water in it it will go bad. definitely keep it in the fridge but it probably won’t last longer than 5-10 days or so anyway. you won’t necessarily see anything but water is only fresh for 1 or 2 weeks in the fridge.
I can still hear the commercial in my head “Strong enough for a man, pH balanced for a woman.” Now I finally sorta know what that means!
Thank you for all this wonderful information about homemade deodorant. I have not been using commercial/chemical deodorant for more than a year. I have been using coconut oil and essential oils. I am eager to try your recipe. When I used commercial/chemical deodorants I had trouble with gray skin under my arms. I think that the gray skin may be because the area is dry. Think about gray knees and elbows. What is the culprit? Dry, dead skin. I exfoliate when I bath and for a time I would also apply lotion to my underarms. The coconut oil is also moisturizing. The skin coloration under my arms is no longer gray. So I would suggest moisturizing the underarm more. This could be achieved by using a natural lotion, cocoa butter, shea butter, etc. One of these or a combination of these could be layered with the pH balancer & deodorant or cocoa butter/shea butter added to the deodorant.
we miss you!
I originally used just coconut oil as a deodorant but found that if I mix the coconut oil with grape seed oil it kept me smelling fresh throughout the day
Amazing theme of blog! What’s it called?
Add teat tree oil to the mix and you should be fine. I also added eucalyptus and rosemary for the fun of it, and I love the arrangement. Good stuff
I’ve been using homemade deo for at least a year now (tried several recipes, then bought your Kokomo deo and recipe, and am on my second jar of it!)
Occasionally, I get bumps (Not like goosebumps….more like tiny peas!) in my pits. Like under the skin. Like blocked pores? They go away after a few days, but I’m wondering what causes it. Baking soda? Have you heard of this before? Or am I just freaky? ;P
I just simply leave out the baking soda. It’s that simple.
Switching up the essential oils from time to time keeps the deo working better for me.
Hi!
So, I’ve definitely had the darkening under the arms after using the deodorant from Crunchy Betty. I love it in general, but I started with a red rash, then now dark underarms. Really dark.
This happened to me with a Lush deodorant Greench, which does not include baking soda. However, it does have several tea tree products in it, just like the one I bought from C.B, so?
I’m not sure, but I’m sad about it. Will try using ACV rinse in the underarms before application to see if it helps!
Nina
Ps. I’m half Mexican, fourth Russian and Polish. Yellow undertone to skin, but not dark.
I have a fat belly How is it possible to get rid of them 🙁
THANK YOU! I shouldn’t thank you quite yet, but i’m going to go ahead anyway. I used the same basic homemade deodorant recipe for a couple years and then started having itchy, raw armpits. I noticed a darkening happening along the way, but I thought it had to do with hormones and pregnancy and I didn’t care. (i’m a white gal with nice tan armpits…) now, the darkening has been replaced with just raw irritated-looking (and feeling) skin. I can’t use ANY deodorant. I haven’t been able to for the last year. EVERYTHING now hurts and itches… and I bet it has to do with the pH. i’m trying your solution. unless i’m doing something out in the hot sun, or with a wildly crazy activity level, i’m not stinky, but I still would like to solve the itch and raw pits!
i’ll keep you updated. i’m sure you’ll be on the edge of your seat. 🙂
I know what causes the dark marks on the skin!
I’ve been using homemade deodorant for just over a year now and when I first started using it I also got dark patches of skin under my arms, and was ready to give up until my husband who is a pharmacist asked me what anti fungal oils I put in it and I said, erm… the nice smelling ones?
So basically, the dark skin is a fungus that covers the appears on the skin because of bacteria that comes into contact with sweat. The sweat isn’t stinky thanks to the lovely homemade stuff but it’s still there and still reacts to bacteria in the air.
Solution? Yes! You just need to add more anti bacterial and anti fungal oils. Coconut oil itself is anti bacterial but it’s not enough for everyone, so I replaced all twenty drops of different essential oils with only tea tree oil which is super duper anti fungal and anti bacterial, and gone! no more dark marks.
I did need to have a few days where I cleaned my pits a couple of times a day and then rubbed just coconut oil and tea tree oil onto them to help clear the fungus up. If you’ve had it for a long time you may need an anti fungal cream for a couple of days just to get it away and then you can go back to your homemade stuff. I hope this helps someone, those dark patches get very dry too and can make you feel really self conscious…
Hi!
I ordered your Kokomo Cream Deodorant and can’t wait to receive it, it should be on my doorstep in a few more days.
I have a question, how much baking soda is used in this?
I had made my own deodorant with baking soda, arrowroot powder, a little tea trea oil and coconut oil… but I had the worst reaction. My armpits became red and irritated, burning and itching. I came to the conluson it was the baking soda, I am able to apply tea tree alone without this reaction, and nothing else does that to me either. So I am concerned about the content of baking soda in your product. I hope it works out for me.
Thanks! Jen
I have been using homemade deodorant for about 7 months now. I LOVE IT!!! Something I changed from the original recipe I had found, because it make my armpits burn and have a few bumps, was I added more coconut oil. Kept the cornstarch/baking soda the same, and added more oil. I’ve read where just coconut oil can be used as a deodorant, but the first time I tried that, I didn’t like it. I still smelled at the end of the day. My ratio is 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/4 baking soda and 1/3 cup oil. And if that irritates you still, I’d add a little more oil. Just my opinion, I’m no expert LOL!! But I love my deodorant and won’t go back. I’ve become a semi hippie since we’ve moved to western Washington. 😉
There are not words to express how much I love my homemade deo for the B.O.
I have been looking for deodorant that “works” since I was 15 years old (25 years)
I switched brands (every single brand/flavor at the drugstore – even men’s), I tried all the natural options at the health food store. A few worked for a minute, but my B.O. is apparently unstoppable. UNTIL I read the recipe somewhere (equal parts coconut oil, cornstarch and baking soda) My life has changed. If my B.O. gets stinky in the middle of the day, I can just apply my deo. and the smell goes away. If I remember to apply right out of the shower it works for at least 2 days. (I’m out of the habit since nothing worked – I pretty much gave up for many years – but now I’m getting back in the habit and LOVE applying my deo and adding essential oils sometimes just for fun and variety.)
My sister, sister-in-law and husband are all converts. (and my husband is a hard sell on any homemade personal care or cleaning products!)
Now if I can just get my 13 year old son to use it 🙁
I’m still looking forward to the new Crunchy Betty website!
me too. i wonder where crunch betty is. hope she didn’t fall into a vat of coconut oil. 😉
Hi, to begin with I love this website and all the great information,also experiences, I live in the Caribbean so the heat is woa. I tried the baking soda base and my underarms kept shedding just peeling away and after about two months of use, yes, the fire itching began. But just me doing a skin routine where I apple cocoa butter to my whole body at night and before gym and decided to try it under my arms and just that kills my scent. Am gonna try melting it and adding some baking soda and the arrowroot powder that’s mentioned and let you all knw. But since using the cocoa butter my arm puts have been clearing up and the skin is moist. Hope you’ll can use the cocoa butter or if it have any wrong in what I’m using.
From Caribbean Girl
I made my 1st batch last year & it saved my life (I wrote in with gratitude)- no irritation & stink-free. Then my 2nd batch caused the red patches & bumps mentioned. I tried reducing the baking soda, new coconut oil & changing essential oils. Nothing has worked, but my theory is that the newer the soda is, the more potent it’s effervescing & irritation qualities will be. In my 1st batch I was repurposing a long expired opened box of baking soda from the pantry. For the 2nd batch I bought a new box. The irritation started immediately with the 2nd batch. Not sure what to do now!
I have been using the Coconut oil, arrowroot powder, Baking soda with some grapefruit essential oil for just over a year and I really like it except for the fact when it is hot and I sweat then my shirts get wet and it is somewhat embarrassing and the other day I noticed a dark ring stain around the wet on the underarm of my shirt which I assume is from the baking soda. I am using all the right ingredients, like aluminum free baking soda. Am I doing something wrong and is there a way to prevent this from happening. Thank you and I love you site with all it’s helpful hints
I’d been wanting to move away from store bought body products for a while now, and I’ve started my transition with homemade deodorant since the store bought kind never quite did its job for me no matter what brand it was. I tried a dry powder corn starch and baking soda mixture; but it being in the height of summer and working a full time job, I couldn’t reapply the dry powder enough to cut the odor. I started using coconut oil as a base for the baking soda, and that works wonders beyond what I’ve experienced with store bought deodorants.
I did have that issue of the first transition week or two including some itching and redness. The itching has pretty much gone away; itching will sometimes occur again if I haven’t allowed enough time to pass in between shaving and then applying the deo (I’ll be better at timing after reading your blog!). However, on days when I haven’t shaved, I’ll still find my left armpit (oddly enough, it’s mainly that one and not the other) turns completely red (I’m very pale skinned). My right armpit might have a small spot or two, but the redness covers the entire area of my left armpit. It’s not every day. The redness kind of comes and goes, but it will last for a couple days, fade and then come back. I’m going to try the ACV mixture to see if it’s a pH balance issue; hopefully that does the trick.
Im so frustrate w/ my armpits odor & lot of sweat what i suposed to do..i want help guys plz help
I to had the itchy, rashy, and irritated armpits when I first started using the homemade deodorant with baking soda. I cam up with a recipe that has moisturizing butters and decreased the baking soda to two tablespoons. I think it doesn’t work quit as well as the first recipe but I have not had any reactions to it and am stink free all day long all year.
I, too have experienced the itch & burn as well as skin darkening, however only on the LEFT pit. Weird, huh? So I didn’t think about the ph effect, but instead spritzed on witch hazel with a drop of melaluca prior to application and all is happy on the left including lightening of the darkness. I love this deo and have been sharing it with all my girlfriends. My husband won’t use it, says it is too disturbing to rub his pits with his fingers, something about the hair. Silly boy:) I will certainly share these tips with my gals in the event they are not super heroes, either. Much love!
I have yet to try homemade deodorant (I’m waiting until I finish my stock pile of Tom’s, so I can use the empty containers), but I have had armpit shadowing. I didn’t shave my pits for about two years, and everything was fine until a few months after I gave birth to my son. Then my armpits started to get really dark. I didn’t change the brand of deodorant I was using, or do anything out of the ordinary, but it got so bad that I started shaving again. Haven’t had the problem since. I have light skin so it looked like my pits were dirty all the time, it was pretty gross.
I have been using a mix of coconut oil with arrowroot powder for a while now. It has been working quite effectively. However, the past couple days as I’m applying it, fresh out the shower, I stink right through it! I can’t seem to put enough on. Has anyone found it becomes less effective after some time? It is frustrating!
~Vee
Since my skin can’t handle the baking soda I recently tried just plain old lemon juice, straight from the lemon (not concentrated). Got to say it has worked like a charm! Only been using it about a week but am very impressed that there is absolutely no underarm BO & no skin reaction to the lemon juice. Using soda would make me break out with an itchy, nasty rash in less than a day. I’m going to experiment with just how long it will last by skipping a day (or two,three-whatever it takes). I’ve read on other sites that some folks are able to use it just once a week & have excellent results. Life is good!
So glad you posted this! I’ve been using a baking soda-based homemade deodorant & it made my skin
darker. I am very fair skinned though, just to stump you further. I’m going to give this remedy a try!
Does anyone else notice an unpleasant scent when wearing synthetic fabrics. such as polyester, rayon, and acrylic? This being, of course, while using a natural form of deodorant like the ones described in this thread.
Me too! I notice specifically when I wear my white cotton/poly work shirts, and even more so if they’ve been bleached, that there will be a funky synthetic smell. I think the baking soda is reacting.
I haven’t tried making my own deodorant yet but I’m considering it. I have switched to a natural one and I’m a little disappointed with the fact that I am noticing an odor now. I have to reapply several times a day. When I was using Dove once was enough…I’m not typically very smelly. I am pregnant though so I’m wondering if maybe that could be affecting it somehow…
I NEED SOMEONES HELP,
I have been using the baking soda/cornstarch/coconut oil deodorant for 4 months. I have loved every minute of it and I have recommended to everyone. However recently it stopped working. Suddenly, there was that smell once again. Im completely distraught that my beloved deodorant stopped working. My question: Is there anything I can do so it can work again. IS IT JUST ME? OR IS IT YOU MY LOVE (deodorant) I don’t want to break up…
I am beginning to experience the same thing. It is so sad! Although, I just use coconut oil with arrowroot powder.
So…sorry I can’t help you, but I so feel your stink..and your pain!
I had problems with my homemade deodorant, too. The first recipe I tried was super easy (1 part arrowroot, 1 part baking soda, 3 parts coconut oil) but WAY too soft — and with all that baking soda, caused stinging that would come and go. I also found that the baking soda and arrowroot would settle to the bottom before completely cooling, so by the time I got to the bottom of my deodorant, it was REALLY gritty. The second recipe I tried was firmer because it added beeswax, but the coconut oil was decreased, in essence increasing the baking soda (1 part baking soda, 1 part arrowroot, 1.5 parts coconut oil). The itching and burning increased, my pits darkened, and my clothes started staining. Everything I wore got a dark or orange stain on them. My husband went back to using Sure because his pits were always irritated and the deodorizing quality was only fair. (He’s in construction and needs something strong!)
Finally I found a recipe at herbmentor.com. I love it! We have been using it well over a year now, and we have NO burning or itching, NO stained clothes, NO dark pits and NO problem with odor. (Of course odor can be affected by diet and/or other system issues that might be going on.) And my husband hasn’t asked me to buy him Sure in over a year. Yeah!
The recipe might put some of you off because of the ingredients, but it is really very easy: it has three different butters (Kokum, Mango and Shea, all of which I found at Mountain Rose Herbs), beeswax, oil of your choice (I use coconut), baking soda and a little lime juice (helps with odor). There is very little baking soda compared to the butters and oil – less than half. And there is just enough beeswax to keep the deodorant firm but not enough to leave a dark, waxy orange stain. (The Kokum butter is very firm at room temperature, so that helps, too.) Depending on the size of your deodorant sticks, one recipe makes about 2-3 sticks of deodorant.
The recipe can be found at http://www.herbmentor.com/rosalees-natural-deodorant-recipe. One note: the recipe also calls for Illipe butter, but it doesn’t appear to be available anymore. Just use twice the amount of Kokum butter to make up for it. Hope this works for some of you like it works for us!
I guess you could call me a “newbie Vegan”, though it’s more out of personal need than environmental concerns.
That being said…I have a *lot* of hesitation in using any deodorant that contains baking soda. Am I over-reacting? The idea of having to deal with MORE itching under my arms (as opposed to the itching I’m dealing with right now in my store-bought deodorant) doesn’t sound appealing. I have sensitive skin, and I’m just tired of my personal skin products causing me more instead of less problems.
OTOH, some toothpaste is made with baking soda, so….am I being *too* cautious?
The first few months I used my baking soda based homemade deodorant were fine. Then I started to get a rash and some peeling skin. I picked up a deodorant crystal since, but find it doesn’t work quite as well as my homemade deodorant. I use apple cider vinegar like a maniac on my hair and face. I can’t wait to try this trick and see if it helps. I have a huge batch of deodorant sitting in the freezer and was disappointed that I couldn’t use it.
I also have a question. When I first made my deodorant I just cut it into small bars, but I’d really like to put it in a container for easier application. Is it possible to melt down what I have? Will it reharden correctly, or will it just be a mess?
I’ve been having a problem of a different kind. My homemade deodorants works very well at the beginnning, no itch, redness or stain. The trouble is their effectiveness only lasts about 2 weeks, after which it’s as if I’m not using any at all. The change is gradual, but in a few days I have to switch back to the store-bought one (maybe this is why I’ve not had the other problems – I’ve never used the homemade deodorant long enough!). This has already happened with 3 different formulations over the course of a few months, with or without apple cider vinegar, and I’m at a loss to explain it! I’ll keep trying, of course, especially now that the cold season is upon us: maybe I won’t sweat that much and it will be easier. I’m also considering starting a magnesium oil therapy – they say it’s good for many things and some people noticed a decrease in sweat odour, amongst other benefits. Who knows, it might work on me, too.
i take magnesium supplements with vitamin b6 (p5p50) and i do find that i hardly stink at all like i used to, its great! but i also take food grade diatomaceous earth and so i dont really know if its that or the magnesium? i also use baking soda and coconut oil under my pits….i dont know if its all 3 things but my pits hardly smell at all like they used to; in fact i can go a day or 2 w/out even washing them so somethings def. working
Wow, thank you so, so much!! I have been using baking soda based deodorant for about 3 months. I thought it was weird that I was breaking out and since I couldn’t find any info about it online, I thought I must be allergic to something. But I couldn’t figure out WHAT since all the ingredients are natural. I even have the dark patches. Although I don’t know about it being on people who are dark to begin with because I am as pale as they come. I will try the ACV/water solution ASAP!
I’ve been using the Kokomo deodorant for about 3 months now and love it. But now I’ve noticed terrible stains on my clothes at the armpits. I’m not sweating a lot so am wondering if it is from the oil in the deodorant? Your thoughts? Suggestions at removing the stains?
I am so sad to find that ACV has not worked to alleviate the painful armpit bumps that the deodorant causes but I’m not willing to give up on my deodorant yet. I might try adding the arrowroot (I think I read that was antibacterial?) To be honest, if the ingredient list goes beyond 3-4 items I’m not likely to make it myself anymore. I was so excited when I started making my own (coconut oil, baking soda, and cornstarch) and found it very effective so I’ll be a little crushed if I have to go back to store bought. Suggestions welcome!
One thing that seemed to help with the itchiness was to add aloe butter to the recipe. I ended up feeling like I didn’t blend the baking soda and arrowroot powder into the butters properly. I warmed it, added the aloe butter and it was much better. This time around I’m going to put the aloe butter in during the initial mix and I’m going to be sure to ‘cream’ the baking soda & arrowroot into the cocoa butter, aloe butter and coconut oil very thoroughly, just like when you’re making cookies! 🙂
Hi, I’ve been trying very hard to use natural deodorants and I am starting to lose faith. I have never had a smelly armpit problem before. I had been using antiperspirant since I was probably 12. However, when I started learning about more natural beauty alternatives and the health risks most commercial deodorants have, I really wanted to stir my lifestyle away from it as much as I could. I started with making my own deodorant. It worked okay, but halfway through my day I would become self conscious about my pits. I started using ACV before showering and neutralize my PH, and sometimes leaving it on over night. Applied deodorant in the morning, but by the end of the day I needed a shower.
My question is how often are you reapplying? Do you have any other suggestions for me? Last night I came close to wanting to buy commercial deodorant again, because I am so embarrassed.
Thank you for your help.
My theory about the itching is that the base pH encourages yeast growth, and the cornstarch feeds it. The vinegar kills the yeast and discourages regrowth. Just a theory, but years ago when my diet was more junky, I used to have a problem with fungal growth in some skin folds during humid weather. Talk about red and itchy! I had been using talc, but switched to cornstarch baby powder at some point, and it made the situation worse by orders of magnitude. When I stopped using the cornstarch powder the flareups were much milder.
Not suggesting taking out the starch – obviously the vinegar is a great fix – just suggesting a mechanism.
I have been using homemade deodorant for a couple of years now (coconut oil, baking soda, arrowroot, various essential oils) and am very happy with it. I found that after using it for awhile I could often go without anything just fine. I have had some itchy episodes, will try the ACV fix.
I thought you would appreciate what happened when I flew about a month ago. We live in Texas, and our luggage had made the 2 hour ride to the airport in the back of the truck, in August. I didn’t think much of it, I had flown with my deodorant in my carry-on bag before. I had had a few discussions with security and it had been swabbed multiple times. I always offer to eat some if that would prove it was safe, they’ve never taken me up on that.
Anyway, this time my deodorant was rather liquid, and they took it out and were going to throw it away. You know, it was not in a less than 4 oz container, blah blah blah. I explained, rather heatedly, about the trip in the back of the truck and said I had taken it through security multiple times with no problems and informed them they WERE going to give me back my deodorant, again offering to eat some if necessary and assuring them as soon as it returned to room temperature it would be solid again. And they gave it back : ) Next time I think I will put some in a small container and put it in my liquids bag just to avoid the hassle. But I won…
Decades ago I made my own antiperspirant. Took some experimentation. I started with alum–ammonium alum or regular (potassium) alum, whichever the drugstore had; I used both over the period of my experiments. That alone will work as antiperspirant, but is harsh. So I buffered it with aluminum hydroxide one time, baking soda another. The higher the pH, the less irritating, but also the less effective. The range between too irritating and too ineffective will be broad for some people, narrow for others, nonexistent for some. I put it with water in a nose spray bottle. That too is tricky–too high a pH and it forms insoluble bits that clog the feed tube. Unfortunately I didn’t save my notes, so no recipe here, but I spent a long time with mixtures that deviated in one direction or another before making it good.
Of course it was still an aluminum-based antiperspirant that stiffened shirts and felt unclean in my armpits, and was pretty wet going on, but not bad for homemade. And it didn’t need a separate deodorant, nor a preservative. Best applied hours before you start to need its effect, and preferably a good long while before you put on a shirt.
I have very fair skin and had an issue with my underarms turning dark. I kept at it though, finally coming to the conclusion that the darkness is build-up of excess dead skin. I exfoliated them with a sugar and lemon scrub every time I showered until they got better. And they’re great now! just have to keep at it… that’s the things with these natural products… you have to keep researching, keep learning, and don’t be afraid to fail! 🙂
This post! So glad I ran across it. I couldn’t figure why my armpits would get super irritated everyone in awhile while using my homemade deodorant (which I love). I’ll be giving the acv a try immediately 🙂
Oh and I’ve had a little skin discoloration from this deodorant and I’m pretty darn pale!
This is unrelated to this post, but I had to ask, is there anyway I get the egg smell out of my hair after an egg mask? I’ve tried shampooing twice and spraying plenty of perfume ,but the eggy smell persists. Hints?
Apple cider vinegar may help.
I am in LOVE with my homemade deodorant! I looked all around the internet, read comments, and came up with this recipe. From day one it never itched or burned. I did notice for the first two weeks I was sweating a bit more then my normal but after that small period of time things could not be better. I highly recommend anyone who has not found something that has worked to try this!
1/8 cup (1/2 oz) Beeswax, 1/3 cup (1.4 Ounce) Shea Butter, 2 TBSP Sweet Almond Oil, 1 capsule of Vit E oil, 2 TBSP Arrowroot powder, 1 TBSP Baking Soda, 7 drops Tea Tree Oil, 20 drops essential oils, 2 capsules powdered probiotics (should contain Lactobacillus and bifidobacteria)
Good Luck!
I tried making my own deoderant from baking soda and coconut oil. At first no problems, then the itchy/gnawing and darkened skin under the armpits. I am very fair skinned and occasionally sensitive to things. I switched to just putting coconut oil on right after I dry off from the shower and that seems to work fine. It doesn’t have any sort of “antipersperant” type effect like you get at least a bit with the baking soda but so far this has not been a huge issue for me. And I am a fairly sweaty lady 😀
I’ve been using a salt crystal followed by the same olive oil–essential oils blend that I use as a whole-body moisturizer—also right after showering. It seems to work just fine for me, too, although as you note, not necessarily as an antiperspirant. Your experience makes me think I can dispense with the salt and just use the oil instead (and maybe try coconut in place of olive).
The only drawback is that if I dress before the oil has time to absorb, it absorbs into my clothes as well as my skin. And those are not easy stains to remove! But then, pit stains never are…
I used homemade deodorant and LOVED it! Used a blend of coconut oil, cornstarch, and essential oils. I have very fair skin and exfoliated often but did experience darkening. Would love if someone could finally crack the case as to why because this was my only reason to stop using.
I just commented and then saw your comment, so here’s my take! I have very fair skin and had an issue with my underarms turning dark. I kept at it though, finally coming to the conclusion that the darkness is build-up of excess dead skin. I exfoliated them with a sugar and lemon scrub every time I showered until they got better. And they’re great now! just have to keep at it… that’s the things with these natural products… you have to keep researching, keep learning, and don’t be afraid to fail! 🙂
I am interested in trying the sugar and lemon scrub. What is the ratio of sugar to lemon?
This is the link to the one I made… fantastic during the summer because it smells so fresh and light. http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2010/05/lemon-sugar-hand-scrub-for-mom.html
so you got the darkened armpits even though your deodorant had no baking soda in it?
I tried the baking soda one but it sadly did not work for me. I tried it for a couple of weeks but it made me smell worse than using nothing at all. And I had stopped using commercial deodorant a couple of weeks before that as well. Now I use alum mixed with water and it works for me. I’m excited for more crunchy posts!
Hi Crunchy Betty! So glad I found your site, you make me do this weird half chuckle whenever I read your stuff. I love it 🙂
I am a recent homemade deodorant convert.. and I love it. I do however get the raw itching rashy thing when I use it on random occasions.. usually when I need to wear a strapless dress… I am going to use your alkalizing recipe though! Sounds great! I am one of those crazy ladies that gets the darken pits.. I am a pretty fair person as well.. I also get flaking skin on the pits.. If I exfoliate then it seems to dispensary. Apart from that, on my good days I love the stuff.. coconut oil, baking soda and arrowroot and some vanilla fragrance. Marvellous 🙂
About your words on dark skin on the armpits, I have pale skin and I suffer from a shadow on my armpits. I have had this for many years. I have never really done anything about it but I’m in the process of trying to figure this out. I tried to use a loofa to get rid of it, and I’ve also scraped away at my pits with my hands, however it leaves my skin feeling raw, and I get red marks from it. I really want to try this recipe but I’m just afraid my pits are going to burn.
This may be a silly question, but would it work to add a bit of vinegar into the deodorant recipe?
I got tired of having to do a two-step process just to put on deoderant (ACV/water,then deodorant), so I’m currently using a batch from a different recipe that doesn’t use baking soda. I like this batch, but I do notice that it simply doesn’t deodorize as well. 🙂
Thanks!
Unfortunately, adding vinegar to the mix will cause a chemical reaction. Acids + baking soda = release of a gas and a neutralized pH mixture that bears no resemblance to the original baking soda.
Not sure if it would be harmful or not (probably not?) but it may not work anymore, either.
I suspected that would be the case, remember science fair volcanoes. 🙂
baking soda + vinegar = carbon dioxide and water. So it isn’t any more harmful that vinegar or baking soda individually. Basically if you have an excess of baking soda your baking soda + vinegar = excess baking soda + water. If you have an excess of vinegar your baking soda + vinegar = vinegar + water.
Hope this helps!
Frances
depending on the amounts of each the extent of the reaction will vary, but the end result will chemically be: (drumroll) table salt and water. nothing nasty, but not terribly helpful either.
Can’t wait to see the new design! It’ll be different, but a nice change as I’m so used to seeing the current layout 🙂
xo,
Klaudia
I have been using your deodorant recipe for about 5 months. I have had no itching but do have dark patches in my underarms. They seem to be a thickening of the skin in addition to the darkening. I am white and have relatively pale skin. I just read this post today so have started with the ACV and exfoliation. I’ll let you know how it goes….
I have had the same thing. I am pale skinned and after about 6 months of the natural deodorant I have had a severe reaction and my underarms are dark brown tough and sort of scabbed. I’m using Aquaphor at night and it’s going away. I am pretty sure it’s the baking soda because it occasionally burns and itches.
I think I will try no baking soda in the future.
My sister only uses coconut oil, and it works brilliantly for her. I use the mix and I have had no trouble, and possibly in the future when my current batch runs out, I will just try using coconut oil.
I often use lemon as a natural deodorant. I rub it under my arms. Works for me.
I added tea tree oil and lavender oil to my deodorant and have had no itching or bumps since! I love it!!
I love your website! Excited for your new one! I read your requests the we let you know if we’ve experienced the darkened underarms. I experienced it when I used a dry deodorant of baking soda and cornstarch. I stopped using it and it went away. I didn’t give up though. I mixed the baking soda and cornstarch with coconu.t oil and I never had the darkening again. I have very fair skin.
Hi Betty. It is Betty right? Well I stumbled upon your blog while looking for recipes for homemade deodorant. Love your blog by the way. But here’s my dilemma and wondering if you have a solution. My daughter is 8 1/2 and she need deodorant. I want to start her out right in life and use something natural. However, she is allergic to coconut!! I know crazy right? With our allergy issues in our home not being able to use coconut oil sometimes or coconut flour drives me crazy. Okay, but back to the subject. Is there a homemade deodorant I can make for her that doesn’t use coconut oil? I hope you get this and respond. I know you are very busy. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Hi Sheri 🙂
Sorry to interject! I just saw your comment and thought that maybe I could help you out. When making homemade deodorant, people usually favor a recipe that is soft and can be scooped out of a jar versus the conventional stick ones that you buy in the store. This is why coconut oil is such a popular base because it is soft but still a semi-solid and has lots of great antibacterial properties. Now because of your daughter’s allergy I would recommend using a butter as a base instead. This will keep the deodorant solid enough to scoop out of a jar but because it isn’t as soft as coconut oil, you’ll have to add a substitute oil to soften it up. That could be any oil that you prefer… I love almond oil and grape seed oil… then you could add the ingredients such as arrowroot or baking soda or kaolin clay and essential oils of your choice.
I would love to give you specific measurements for a recipe but I am horrible at measurements while I’m DIY-ing. I just add as I go until I like it. I would recommend that you mess around with measurements and such until you find something that you and your daughter are happy with. But in terms of actually making the deodorant the best method might be softening your butter of choice (maybe cocoa, shea, or mango) by slightly melting it in a double boiler then taking it off the heat and adding your oil of choice then blend it in a mixer until it fluffs up. You can then add in the arrowroot, baking soda, or clay and the essential oils and continue to mix until it’s all combined.
I really hope that was helpful and I hope that you find a healthy and effective deodorant that’s right for your daughter!
Best Wishes 🙂
Thank you Sydney!!
Hi Sheri! There is some wonderful information on here for your daughter. I wanted to let you know what I use. And it’s great! I use 1 part baking soda, 1 part arrowroot powder (or cornstarch). Then mix that with aloe vera,enough to make a cream consistency. I then add essential oils of my choice. Lemon is nice. Grapefruit is awesome! It works great and hopefully it will for your daughter. I just apply this with a cotton ball or a cloth. I think it would be perfect in a roll on container.
Thank you Jo! That sounds good too! And easy. So glad to see arrowroot powder can be used. That’s what I have on hand since I am allergic to corn and cannot use cornstarch. Oh and since I haven’t made anything yet I just used this post’s recommendations for pH balance with the ACV and an essential oil as our deodorant. So my daughter and I have been spraying just ACV and lavender essential oil on our armpits and it’s working! No stink! A bit messy but working. 🙂
This is good to know! I was thinking about trying the acv and essential oil. Now I definitely will! It can’t get easier than that!
If you want to be safe, Lavilin is all-natural and a really reputable, safe brand. I would recommend trying it out: http://www.microbalanced.com
Hi! I’ve been using your homemade deodorant for over 2 years now and it seems to work great with my skin, which was a surprise to me since I have very pale and sensitive skin, prone to redness. I use baking soda, cornstarch and coconut oil, with a little sweet orange oil. I’ll be honest, the first few weeks, it stung like crazy! And I even experienced a little darkening around a few months of use but nothing a good exfoliation didn’t solve. I had tried a lot of “natural” deodorants and nothing worked for me, I still stank… but no more 🙂 Thanks a lot!!!
I’ve been using homemade deodorant since June and it’s been amazing (found this post because I finally ran out of what I’d made and needed to make more). I did have to tweak the recipe because the original one was too irritating, I’d made half a recipe with half shea butter and half coconut oil to start with and ended up adding a few more tablespoons of coconut oil and arrowroot powder to dilute it. I’ve also been using just straight coconut oil on my pits at night and then use the deodorant in the morning and that makes a pretty big difference.
This time I made it using about two ounces of coconut oil, slightly less of shea butter, about two tablespoons of arrowroot powder, a few drops of tea tree oil, and just a teaspoon of baking soda. I haven’t tried it yet but I was pretty excited to whip it up.
This deodorant has been a lifesaver because I’ve been dealing with swampy pits since high school and the only thing that worked was using two clinical strength type commercial deodorants (and that only sort of worked). I tried a bunch of different natural deodorants and none of them worked (and I don’t recommend Tom’s of Maine because it made it worse) and tried this as a last ditch alternative. Amazingly, I’ve actually had dry armpits since I started using this. Obviously it’s not going to work for everyone, but it’s been amazing for me.
I have tried using various all natural deodorants over the years. The most recent one was Pit Paste. Sadly, for me, they just don’t work. Even with the commercial store bought ones I tend to have a reaction. I get horrible break-outs on my armpits and have even gotten dry, itchy rashes extending down my arms.
Right now I’m “stuck” using the Clear-Tone line from Dove. It works, no rashes, and I don’t smell.
I was using Tom’s of Maine but, after a while, I noticed my pits were reeking of cat pee (and we don’t own cats!). Yikes.
For the record: my skin is very fair, typical ginger skin. My husband, who is blonde with pale golden skin (really, he looks like Thor, it is so unfair), and never has any issues DID have issues with Pit Paste. So, he’s back to using Tom’s of Maine. He also can skip deodorant all together and still smell like awesomeness because Mother Nature just has the best since of humor ever. 😉
One can spend some time and cash in starting up an industrial website for his company. Cash for Car dealers typically ask various questions about the auto before deciding the quote price. Getting rid of one’s old junk isn’t longer an incredibly big deal.
I cannot WAIT to try this recipe. I tried homemade baking soda deodorant for several months, starting around January. Week one: itchy, week two: better, week three: I got big dark scabs in my armpits and got really scared. From then on I tweaked recipes, I switched from baking soda to probiotics, I began pulling my hair out with the pain and itching. I stopped using anything for a while; the scabs went away but the itching never subsided. I went back to my old deodorant, which never gave me a problem, it’s Kiss My Face, natural, no aluminum, good-for-you deodorant. Well, the itching still persisted. I started applying tea tree oil every other day and using my deodorant on the off days. Still nothing. I have resorted to applying anti-itch gel to my armpits every night after I scratch them to shreds. It’s been 3 months since I went back to my store-bought KMF deodorant. I am desperate at this point! I really hope this works! Thank you so much!!
I love my homemade deodorant! Mine is baking soda, arrowroot powder, and coconut oil. Can’t get much simpler than that. No reactions or anything of the like so far. And I’ve found it is actually LOTS more effective than commercial deodorants. So if I forget to apply one day, it’s no big deal. Double bonus!!!
Silly question here, but can you mix the vinegar directly into the deodorant like you do for your bathroom cleaner?
Love the site, CrunchyBetty!
I’ve just finished making the soothing deodorant recipe (the calendula/chamomile-infused one), and it is so effective! I, too, however, have been getting a bit of a rash from it. In my case, however, I think it is simple abrasion. I can feel the little crystals of either baking soda or arrowroot powder in the cream (cream because of the temperature in my bathroom at the moment). It is gritty. I think that it is this that is causing the abrasion and the resultant rash. Any ideas on how to get rid of the grittiness? Maybe use less arrowroot/baking soda altogether?
Thanks for the help!
I’ve been using homemade deodorant for about 2 months now and I’m noticing it’s not as effective as it was when I first started. I’ve always battled underarm odor – I used to have to keep 2 or 3 different deodorants so I could switch off because my body would get used to one and it would become ineffective after a few hours. I started making homemade and it would last me ALL DAY and it was a god send, worked ALL DAY LONG and was just great. After a bit, I did get the irritation stuff, but I thought maybe I had scraped myself on the plastic container or something, but it went away after a few days. Anyway, I’ve noticed that I’ve started to need to apply twice a day now- I’m starting to smell about half way through the day. What gives? What can I do differently to fix this?? I love my homemade deodorant and want to keep using!!
I have been using your recipe (coconut oil, cornstarch, bicarb) since Feb 2012. It is just brilliant. The one time I did have a reaction (red, itchy, raw) was when I stopped using almond oil to cleanse and used shower gel, once I went back to almond oil, no problems. I never pong, and I find that my clothes don’t pong either…after a whole day (very hot whole day, I live in a hot climate) they still don’t pong (clothes or pits) I am also getting hot flashes, but that doesn’t make any difference, still no pong! Neither does the clothing get greasy or have any marks. Amazing. Thanks for sharing.
I started using a homemade deodorant several months ago, made mainly with coconut oil, baking soda, and a few drops of patchouli essential. It has worked better than any store-bought deodorant I’ve ever used in my life, so I’ve kept using it. However, I am darker skinned and did have the painful redness, and the dark leathery shadow that peeled like something nasty. I still kept using it though, because it worked, and I just didn’t wear sleeveless tops, and wouldn’t wear deodorant on days I didn’t go into work or have other plans. Even then, I didn’t have any odor, but it did allow my skin to “calm down” and the redness would subside just a bit.
Anyway, I want to *thank you* for your ACV solution! I’ve been doing that for about week, and the redness and peeling is gone, and my armpits almost look normal again! I have been using my homemade ACV facial toner (1 part ACV, 2 parts witch hazel, a few drops of lavender) on my arm pits, waiting a minute or two for it to dry, then applying the deodorant, and it’s been working wonderfully. It’s genius! Thank you for letting us know about this, and also thank you for your blog in general. It’s been very inspirational for me!
I used your recipe to make my own homemade deodorant but my sister-in-law (who also used your recipe) had a weird reaction and she thinks it was because of too much baking soda. So when I made mine, I cut down the baking soda. I’ve been using your recipe for over 3 months and have no problems whatsoever–no itching, no burning, nothing! 🙂
Thanks a bunch!
crunchy betty! i love your blog and am learning all about making skin & body care products and essential oils just from reading you and others in the last week. i’ve made my own deodorant and today is the first day trying it and i can tell i’m getting red, my skin stings and have burn marks but i smell great. so, i just made the ACV concoction to try tomorrow but i have a question: can i use lemon juice instead of the ACV? lemon juice smells so much better and it has the same pH level as the ACV so i thought it might be a nicer substitute.
also, do you have a post on shelf life and the safety of all these products? since i’m starting to make my own i definitely would like to be safe about it all. thanks!
Actually it is vinegar that is the and bi-card that can help balance the Ph
I have been using your recipe for homemade deodorant (with arrowroot) for months now! It is, hands down, the best thing I have ever tried! I have experienced the irritation. Before, I would just stop using it for a day or two, using coconut oil in its place. That worked until now; I have little whiteheads in my rash this time! Ow! I will definitely try the pH balancer tomorrow.
BTW, the deodorant works so well for me, despite my extreme unexplained stinkiness. Before I switched to natural, I had even tried perscription strength commercial deo, and it only made me smell and sweat more! Going vegetarian helped a bit, but your recipe is so much better, even with the irritation, since I started being allergic to the commercial stuff anyway.
Super excited about the new Crunchy Betty, cant wait!
I myself have tried to go the homemade deodorant route. Used the baking soda and cornstarch. The first week it was fairly bad and itchy then it got better and I was so happy. The out of the blue it got bad again, my armpits got itchy again and then stayed red and pissed all the time. My skin even changed texture sort of looked and felt like alligator skin or something. So I stopped and let it clear up using store bought for a couple weeks 🙁
I tried a new recipe that used arrowroot instead of cornstarch. Same thing itchy and then alligator skin. So went back to store bought.
Found a new recipe that used just baking soda and no cornstarch and it was bad too 🙁
So now I am back on store bought unfortunately and looking for something new to try.
Any help would be appreciated 😀
Also need a good detangle/conditioner for curly hair if anyone has something. I have tried aloe and its okay but not good at tangles.
For curly hair (which I have a ton of)-
Dissolve a tablespoon or two of honey in some warm water (like 1/4-1/2 cup). Pour on your hair in the shower, detangle with a wide-tooth comb, and rinse it out. Magic stuff.
Thanks! I will definitely try that.
I use straight organic, unrefined coconut oil – nothing else – and it works great! No rash, no itching, easy and love the smell. No complaints! 🙂
I am fair skinned and had both the itchy painful and dark shadows. The thing is that the itchy red, irritated, stinging never stopped.
My first try, I through it was becuse the first recipe was from my own inexperience. I even used arrowroot powder. But 3 months later – nothing had changed.
My next idea was to order from you. The first 3 days were fine. . and then the same issue started up. I was in as much pain as the first time round. I was like this for 4 months – determined to not GIVE UP.
I adored the “natural” feel. I didn’t have an odor. It was too painful and dark to keep going.
I just started making my own deodorant a week or so ago, after resorting to antiperspirant when in public because my pits were so stinky. Alas, my 2 ingredient homemade deodorant eliminated my need for antiperspirant, and I wasn’t itchy at all!
I have been using the deodorant for nearly a month now….love it love it love it!!!!
I have not been able to use any deodorant because of awful itching. I would scratch my armpits until I screamed so for years, went without. Husband reminded me now and then that I was a bit smelly in that dept!!! horrors.
I ordered Kokomo. The second week there was a bit of itching. I was not going to stop using it so looked online for oils that help relieve itching. I used geranium and lavender oil at night for a few nights and that did the trick. No itching. If it happens again, I will try the PH balancer :0……thanks CB for making my pits smell pretty!!!!
Hi! I’m brand new to your site and just thrilled to have found it!! I’ve recently started making a few different things that have blown my mind… Like healing salve, headache balm , deodorant among other things! I am having so much fun learning more about Essential Oils and their wonderful properties. I can’t wait to browse your site and find more stuff to try. I also love reading all the comments because we learn so much from other experiences and recommendations!
I was loving my baking soda , cornstarch deodorant ..but then started getting very red and a bit itchy…I was so crestfallen! After being so proud of how much better it was then anything I had ever purchased! …I am definitely doing this ph balance recipe! and if that doesn’t work, I will try substituting the baking soda with arrowroot powder and since I’ve made my first Calendula Infused Oil, with Jojoba & Org olive oil…I will add some of that to the recipe also….but first, I’m going to start with this Ph balancing spray!…..I’ll be back to update my findings!!
I used crunchy betty’s recipe for deodorant for probably 9months w no problems ever whatsoever. Then one day i developed a horrible painful itchy rash that would not go away and only left after i quit using it. After some time off i made anothrr batch w arrowroot hoping it was the cornstarch. It took about 3days to break out again. Planning soon to reformulate on my own with a calendula and chamomile infused oil like another commenter talked about above but more simply and using only arrowroot poder,no baking soda because that seems to be what is causing me the problems.
So today I remembered your post (http://crunchybetty.com/help-crunchy-betty-with-a-little-eggshell-issue) about powdered eggshells used as translucent powder, and now I’m thinking: Would this work to help absorb sweat?
I have been making the best, simple deodorant ever this past year using equal parts shea butter and baking soda whipped together with whatever essential oils I feel like. This has totally beat all stinkiness, actually lasts for two day whereas with any other deos I couldn’t get through a day with out reapplying. The shea butter has been super soothing too and I have not had any irritation with this. I did have irritation when I used coconut oil instead of shea.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I’ve been using the ACV mix since you posted and the dark patches have almost disappeared. No more irritation, either. Betty, you rock!!
I made started using my homemade deodorant in early June (equal parts coconut oil, BS & cornstarch and 10 drops of EO – I used lavender and eucalyptus). The first week or so I LOVED it – in the evenings there was no gross, musky smell. However, I too, suffered with irritation, which led to the dark skin, which led to skin coming off (like from a sunburn). I am pretty fair-skinned (it’s the Irish in me – my mother’s paternal grandparents were both from Ireland) so it was a really noticeable. The irritation lasted a couple of weeks, then finally subsided, though I still have the dark shadow. I finished that batch up last week and made a new batch using the recipe from: http://www.vintageamanda.com/2012/04/diy-coconut-lime-deodorant (though I stuck with my EO’s). I haven’t had any irritation from this yet, but I did notice some skin coming off again two days ago. I’m not sure what the issue is, but since there’s no irritation, I will stick with it. I love the idea of the ACV spray – easy to do since I use that as a conditioning rinse already! I’ll have to try it and see if it helps with the dark skin.
I did BS and coconut oil for several months without any problems. Well, except for the darkening and roughening (is that a word?) of my pits. I am fair-skinned, by the way. The darker/rough skin would periodically peel off. As far as odor protection, it was great. But after about 4 or 5 months, my pits went rogue! Horrible irritation. I went straight coconut oil for a while to let them heal, but my stink caught up with me. I’ve been using CB’s Not a Secret recipe for the last two weeks, and it works pretty good. No irritation at all, but a little odor starts to creep in towards the end of the day. I will give the pH balancing spray a try and see if my pits can tolerate the BS again. Thanks CB!
Thank you for this wonderful and helpful post. I wondered why it left my armpits dark and dried out. Now I know! So happy to try your remedy.
I tried the bs, cs, coconut oil recipe for about a month. At first it worked ok and i had no irritation. But then it stopped working for me. And it was staining any clothes that were not straight cotton. Once i sweat for the first time each day a sweat mark appeared on my shirt and didnt go away. It came out in the wash, but pit stains that dont dry up are not ok with me! I am currently trying the natural deodorant from soapwalla. Still too early to tell, but i hope it works!
I have been making the basic coconut oil, arrowroot powder and baking soda deo for7-8 months. I still have not found something that works for us. It seems the tiniest bit of baking soda aggravates our pits but I will get the courage to try the acv spray.
I also got the dark circles but don’t know why (have med./light complexion).
My last recipe was not balanced properly, in that I put too much arrowroot powder to sooth our pits and to make it more solid. It seems as though the extra arrowroot powder makes us stinkier and it crbles in our pits. Also, I have a terrible time with the coconut oil stains on our clothes. But I love coconut oil!! I refuse to give up but I am discouraged right now…
I’ve been using the coconut oil/bs/arrowroot for awhile now and love it! I started using it because the commercial brand was turning my armpits a chartreuse color and it scared the heck out of me. For awhile I used nothing, but I stink, so that wasn’t great; I just wasn’t willing to risk my health to be socially acceptable, although I think I noticed it more than anyone else…….. at least no one SAID anything. I add a little tea tree oil and lavender oil and it smells nice; if it’s hot I may have to re apply part way through the day. I just recently started having some irritated bumps, but hadn’t associated it with the deodorant, so will try the acv balancer, thanks! It wasn’t bad enough to gnaw my arms off at the shoulder. 😛
I make a deodorant with one tablespoon or so of baking soda, 5 ounces of coconut oil, and 3 ounces of cornstarch. LOVE IT. I haven’t had irritation with this formula at all and I’ve used it for over a year.
I recently read a post on another blog (wonder if it was the same one Betty mentions) that says almost everyone she’s heard from hated the baking soda and had a terrible reaction to it. I wonder if that’s because the people who’ve loved it don’t usually drop by and comment ‘hey, I have no bad reaction to my deodorant!’ It’s hard to say.
But that is the thing I love about the crunchiness- figuring out what will work the best for you and your body!
Hi CB! I am so grateful for this recipe, so natural and inexpensive. This is my first week using it and find I’m having the dry itchies, as you indicated, but I also have some bumps that seem like little pimples but aren’t. Is this also normal, and should I just sally forth and wait until my body adjusts? I really want to continue on the path, but just want to be sure this is normal and not a bad sign.
I really love my homemade deodorant! (And have no problems with it at all, apart from the fact that it goes liquid in the heat of summer. But that’s not a problem when I keep it cool.)
I had a hard time with store-bought deodorants, there were only ever one or two I could use without horrible itching, and irritation, and my skin darkening (it’s usually very pale to begin with).
I am very fair and had horrible pains and dryness and skin darkening from a market store bought bicarb based deodorant (recipe similar to yours). The one I’m using at the moment contains deodorant crystals and something called farnesol and that works brilliantly and no irritation 🙂
I’ve been using the baking soda version since last October. I never liked using the aluminum stuff, but natural ones didn’t work. Once I switched, I realized the commercial deodorant was making me smell worse (not to mention it didn’t stop me sweating either). I’ll never go back! I do have darkened skin, but I think it is caused by chaffing/rubbing, because I got it before I changed deodorants and I have it in other places. And I think it’s more about how easily your skin scars vs. your skin tone.
What a great idea. I tend to sweat really bad and buy the most expensive deodorant on the market. I’m going to h=give this recipe a try. I love your blog ad your creative ideas. Thanks so much for always sharing such interesting things.
I made my first home made deodorant two weeks ago, and both I and my fiancé have been using it since. No irritation, no stink, and no coloration yet. I made it with 2 parts coconut oil, 1 part cornstarch and 1 part baking soda.
I used to have very irritated skin, but not whit this. During periods with a lot of stress I used to stink, but I haven’t had any of that now either. I have been sweating a lot, but it is very hot and humid (for Sweden) so it might be very normal, but it might also be because I cut out all of the aluminum from our skin care.
One thing that I love about this is that it has no perfume in it. I used to almost choke on the strong stuff my fiancé had to use to keep the odor in control, but not anymore!
Good to find out about the ACV now if we have any trouble later on! I’m thinking we could use the white wine vinegar rinse we use for our hair, since it is already kept conveniently in a spray bottle in the bathroom.
I wish I would have seen this a few days ago. I made some homemade deodorant and it worked fine for the first few days with no irritation at all. After that there was some mild irritation. I was determined to work through it but ultimately gave up out of fear more than anything, I won’t lie. I wasn’t sure if it would correct itself and it was pretty darned uncomfortable. I will try this now and see what happens. I am determined to find something! Thank you so much for this information.
Well let me start by saying that I have been experimenting with a few deodorant recipes that I have found online. I am very fair complected and I got the dark shadow and pit burning from the baking soda, cornstarch, and coconut oil combo. The one I found that used green french clay killed my skin and had it falling off in chunks. I was feeling very discouraged and wrote to Crunchy Betty and she was very supporitive and said that I am finding out what does not work for me and that in it self was very helpful to finding out what would. Well I really needed to hear that because I went back to the drawing board tossed out all the recipes I found online did a whole heck of a lot of research and I finally came up with something that worked for my ridiculously sensetive skin. And I am so proud of my self because I came up with it, me. I have been using it for a month now and have had no pain or burning and best of all no odor to boot. I am getting 24 hour protection from my little concoction. My sister just asked me if she can try it and she loves it too. I am so thankful for the encouragement that I received from Crunchy Betty because what she could not see at the time that I wrote her was my tears of frustration and how close I was to going back to Secret and that was something that I desperately did not want. Not after finding 5 lumps in my breast this January. So thank you Crunchy Betty from the bottom of my heart I really needed to hear the right words and you were there to say them.
I have the same problem as you – what was the recipe you came up with? I actually think my homemade deoderant works better, but I just can’t tolerate the rawness it gives me. It doesn’t cause itchiness, but it is burning me. I would rotate between an herbal one and this every other day, but I finally had to quit because even that burned me. Unfortunately I have had to go back to the evil ones. I cringe every time I put it on, but I just couldn’t tolerate the pain anymore. It also turned my very fair skin dark also.
Please share your recipe, I need to find something that doesn’t hurt me anymore.
To Karen and Annie. This is what worked for me. If it helps even one person I will be very happy.
I infused 5 Tablespoons coconut oil and 4 T olive oil with 3 T calendula petals and 3 Tablespoons chamomile for 4 weeks. So this is the infused oil in the recipe.
4 teaspoons oil infusion
1 teaspoon beeswax
1 teaspoon castor oil
30 drops of grapefruit seed extract
4-5 teaspoons arrowroot powder
1 1/2 teaspoons zinc oxide (non nano)
1 1/2 teaspoons boric acid powder
Lime Essential Oil 30 drops
Oange Essential Oil 20
Garpefruit Essential 20
I use a double boiler to melt the beeswax then I add the infused oil, castor and grapefruit seed extract. When that had all been combined I take the powders and place them in a bowl and mix them up a bit. Then I add it to the oils. Last I add the the essential oils I add a bit more lime then the others because it is antibacterial. I use a pipete for the drops so they are very small drops. Give it a good stir and you have a cream deodorant. I use 4 teaspoons of arrowroot powder, but if you want it a little thicker you can make it 5 teaspoons.
I am so proud of this creation that I am considering making it to sell. But I have no idea how I would even go about it. Well there it is ladies I hope that it may give you some ideas.
I am a fair skinned girl and I’ve also noticed the dark shadow. It’s almost like a layer of rough skin forms. I have very sensitive skin as well, and I loathe to go back to the store bought brands. I currently use the Kokomo deo that CB makes, and love it still so I’ve been turning a blind eye to the dark shadow. I think I am going to try the apple cider vinegar pH balancer thing and see what that does. I hope you share the solution you found, I’d like to at least try it and see.
Yes I had the rough skin that you are talking about and it came off in chunks and left my armpits red and raw. It took about 2 weeks to heal. I hope the recipe that I provided is helpful to you. Best of luck.
I was having a reaction to the coconut oil. I switched it out for cocoa butter, and I no longer get irritation.
Hello!
I’m a new crunchy, but I’m already of big fan of your Crunchy outlook!
I started using the baking soda-cornstarch-coconut oil combination around 2 months ago. Before I found your deodorant discussion, I had THE worst nuclear waste bad stinky pits, a mere hour after the application of ANY commercial solid stick underarm deodorant, and that includes those that advertise baking soda as an ingredient! It was downright life-destroying, let me tell you!
After 1 week, I dropped the coconut oil from the recipe, because I seemed to be reverting to the stinks after having had no issues with the oil initially. I hypothesized that in my case, my pits were aching to breathe!
So I dropped the coconut oil in favor of just the dry ingredients: 50-50 percent BS-CS: applied in the tiniest amounts, just a dusting, really. I had maybe 2 days’ light irritation but nothing unmanageable, so far, not a hint of the itches or discoloration.
Presto chango, it’s been a magical and very sweet smelling month for me, like none that I’ve experienced for the last several years!!! I just made up a huge new batch, in fact!!
So, to you, dearest Crunchy Betty and all you contributors, thank you from the bottom of my pits! 🙂
I have experienced the dark armpit shadow! It happens after I have been using baking soda for a while, about a month or two. And then if I keep using the BS the shadow gets raw and hurts. I stop using the baking soda and the pain and shadow goes away. I prefer the BS based deodorants or just BS itself but I rotate it with store bought deodorant from my local health food store. I do not know why I get this, but I can tell you I am a very white girl. 🙂
I am going to try the PH rebalancer but my husband HATES the smell of vinegar so it might not go over very well.
Thank you for your blog! Toni
Toni this is exactly what happens to my armpits too! I make the recipe with a white clay now using the same amount for the recipe that you would the BS and my armpits are so much nicer to me now. Also, just for fun I tried the vinegar and some bs deo that I had left over 2 days ago and my pits went right back to broken out and burning. SO I won’t be doing that again!
Me too! I finally gave up and I’m using the crystal stick. As long as I don’t drink caffeine, I don’t smell. And I’m pretty pale naturally.
I started last year with your deodorant recipe. I do adjust the amts no and then. I don’t measure anymore. Anyway the last few months I have noticed darkening of my skin towards the breast area of the armpit. Actually my mother pointed it out. It’s only on one arm. However I am pale as pale could be without being albino. Sorry
I had a bit of trouble with the first deodorant recipe making my skin sensitive and itchy, but once I tweaked the baking soda/arrowroot powder balance (more arrowroot than baking soda,) it worked wonderfully. I’ve been using it for months on end now with no problems at all, and I love it! I’m very happy that I don’t have to rely on store-bought deodorants to keep me feeling (and smelling) fresh. Thanks so much for the deodorant recipes!
Thanks for sharing! I’ve tried everything including the “natural” store brands and none of them worked for me. I have used just baking soda and I’ve used cornstarch and ouch! They made me itchy and irritated. The arrowroot powder is amazing! I mix it with baking soda and coconut flour and no more irritation! I really believe that the arrowroot powder is the way to go! I have been using my new deodorant for months in FL heat and it’s been holding up great without a hitch. No darkening here and I’m a pasty white girl! I do like your idea of using the ACV to balance pH. I think I will be adding that to my routine. Thanks for sharing! I always learn something when I read your posts!
If you’re having trouble with the Ph think about working from the inside out: balance your Ph by drinking water with lemon juice (real is best or from the bottle if necessary) or with apple cider vinegar, if you can stomach the stronger flavor. It has worked for me and I have an added benefit of losing a lot of my joint pain too. It took about three days, but it has been soooo pleasant.
I have discovered that if I drink my ACV in something that is already tangy, I don’t even notice it. I like citrus fruit juices and it blends just fine. I feel that I get real benefit from it, although I haven’t had issues with homemade deo beyond darkening of my underarms. I just lowered the baking soda content.
I looooooooooooove it! I use arrowroot powder instead of baking soda, I don’t know if that is why I have never had a problem, or if my pH just doesn’t care.
I think everyone should make and use their own homemade deodorant! It is so much better for our bodies (unless you’re gnawing your arm off at the shoulder) and gives us the ever-wonderful benefit of knowing how to do things ourselves.
If you haven’t tried doing homemade deodorant yet, get over to CB’s recipes – you’re sure to find something you love (not to mention the good vibes you’ll feel as you cross over to slightly Mad Scientist World…it just feels like that, don’t worry, it’s good Mad Scientist World).
And CB is right. I personally can’t go without deodorant, but my hubby can (and he has – for about 6 months now). He’s like the world’s most non-stinking man. We do eat cleanly, but I am just a stink factory anyway.
Happy deodorizing! Just do it!
I’ve made my own deodorant and used a few other’s handmade deodorant in the past and they didn’t work very well for keeping away odor. My own homemade deodorant irritated my skin (baking soda and possibly the coconut oil). So I went to Tom’s of Maine, and used crystal liquid and rocks — still stinky after a while and constantly freshening myself up. About 1-1/4 months ago, I bought CB’s Kokomo cream deodorant to try and was hoping that it would not irritate my skin. It has not irritated my skin at all. I can sweat like crazy and would either not stink at all or not as bad, depending on my activity. Also, this deodorant smells so good, like cream cheese icing. If I ran out of food and money and all I had was this deodorant, I would probably eat it. YUM! This deodorant is a miracle for me. After many, many years of looking (homemade and conventional deodorants), I’ve found something that works for me.
Before I learned how to make my own deodorant I tried baking soda alone. It was okay for a day or two, but then my skin got irritated. I have no problems with the homemade deodorant (I use the Kokomo cream deodorant) so far. I just made a new batch of it a couple of weeks ago. The combination of coconut oil and lime essential oil is divine!
I’ve been using natural deo for about a year now that I made with beeswax and aloe butter mixed with tea tree oil and willow bark extract to kill the bacteria that causes the smell in the first place. It’s like putting on a lotion stick and it doesn’t cause horrible red swollen hives like when I tried baking soda deo.
I am a homemade deodorant convert! I use the Soothing Deodorant formula with a few tweaks. I use a ratio of 2 parts arrowroot to 1 part baking soda, and it works great. (I even got my husband and my mom to use it!) I didn’t like the way the formula separated, so I heat the oil and add a teaspoon or two of beeswax before mixing in the dry ingredients. It’s not enough to make it solid, but now it stays creamy and mixed-up even when I travel. I’ll never go back to store-bought again!
And yay on the new website! Can I request easier access to the archives? I came late to this party, and there’s no way to read the archives without starting with the most recent post and scrolling backwards, page by page. I am tormented by the crunchy goodness I might have missed! 🙂
I made my own deodorant with cornstarch, baking powder, coconut oil, and tea tree & eucalyptus oils. I had a single day of mild itchiness and nothing worse. People commented on how lovely the combination smelled and that it was very ‘me’. I fell off the wagon during the last drought-plagued Texas summer because while I still smelt of eucalyptus, I was sweating a LOT and it made me uncomfortable, so I switched back to commercial antiperspirant.
While it was still relatively cool, I ordered some of the deodorant from your online store. I’m absolutely in love with the clean, citrusy scent, and while this summer has been admittedly more rainy and slightly cooler, it works even when it’s hot and dry, and I will NEVER go back to commercial deodorant. I plan on reusing the jar and making it at home again until the end of my days!
I’m in the “no reaction” camp. I’ve used a 50/50 mixture of baking soda and cornstarch with a few drops of tea tree oil for over a year now. I started out by using a drop of my face oil/moisturizer and then applying the deodorant powder with a makeup brush, but now I just use the powder on damp pits right out of the shower (sorry, I know that’s not recommended). Works for me, and I thank you for the wealth of information on your blog!
I used homemade deodorant for years with fantastic success. Then I had twins. I was SO soaked by the body fluid reduction that I gave up and went to an antiperspirant – yes I’m ashamed. : ) It kinda became a habit, and now a year later I was still using the same tube. Then this summer hit. It’s HOT! I was totally unable to control the BO issues! Crazy! Then I grabbed my homemade again… heaven! Zero stink issues WHATSOEVER.
My husband had a great homemade experience also: able to play street hockey all lunch hour and go back to work stinkless, something all the extra strength stuff had never been able to do. After 2 years he developed the itching/burning thing and quit. He’s pretty excited (about deodorant?!?) to hear about the ACV spray. I thing that’ll do it for him, THANKS!!!
P.S. This is a crazy amazing bunch of What-We-Rub-In-Our-Armpits stories! Haha!
….also there are some comments above about using baking soda for the ‘no poo’ hair method. I tried this also and it just about wrecked my hair. I had unbelievably itchy scalp and my hair got very dull and limp, greasy looking yet dry and straw like. So if you’re reluctant to give the soda based deodorant a go for this reason, I’d like to put out there that I found the hair thing really awful but the doedorant thing was great.
As I mentioned above, try it with the following ratios, and apply some NEAT coconut oil to moisturise your pits and create a barrier before the deodorant goes on:
1 part baking soda
3 parts arrowroot
2 parts coconut oil (or more or less as required)
Start off making a very small batch and see how you go. Like with teaspoons (1 tsp soda, 3 tsp arrowroot, 3 tsp coconut oil) so you dont waste ingredients.
I’ve been using homemade doedorant for a few years now, and would NEVER go back to store bought. However I did have to tweak it along the way.
I found I was getting irritation/red bumps, even though I am lucky enough to not have sensitive skin. Here are the things I’ve done to address this, which worked brilliantly:
1. I reduced the ratio of baking soda, so now my ratio is 1 tbl baking soda, 3 tbl arrowroot, 3 tbl coconut oil
2. I rub on some neat coconut oil before the deodorant goes on.
These two things have made all the difference.
That being said I have just recently made my first batch of Betty’s Kokomo deodorant, which uses equal parts of soda/arrowroot. This has worked fine and I have no irritation. I can only put this down to the other conditioning ingredients in the recipe and of course the application of neat coconut oil under the deodorant.
I havent had the dark issue, so can’t comment on that.
Hope this helps. For those who have the irritation issues, I would strongly suggest reducing the amount of baking soda. Using a 1:3 ratio of soda:arrowroot was still plenty strong enough to eliminate the stink. I did try coconut oil alone but that didnt work for me unfortunately
When I began making deodorant I researched a lot and using other people’s experiences advice and methods from sites such as yours I finally adapted my own recipe. If you use antibacterial ingredients such as coconut oil, essential oils etc and apply to clean armpits there is no reason why you need to use baking soda. The anti bacterial ingredients obviously kill the smell creating bacteria and stop the BO in its tracks.
I never had any breaking in issues or rashes or any other effects from it and none of my friends either. Of course I went through a few weeks of heavy sweating as the body adapted but that is about all.
I have light olivey skin, it’s dryish during winter and I’m a average sweater. I find on very hot days or when I’m hot the deodorant doesn’t last the whole day, but neither did any of the store bought ones I used to use. Although I have to say that the one I make doesn’t leave me stinky on hot days, so the odour is much much more fainter. I think as with any deodorant carry a home Mede refresher spray with you based on essential oils to freshen up!
Really looking forward to your new way and new site! Excited!
I wash with baking soda then after showering I spray with hydrogen peroxide then dust with baking soda/arrowroot. I have bee doing this for 8 years and never have a problem unless I forget and use it right after I shave…….I quit shaving recently and use an epilator and that works better. I don’t like the oily coconut oil on my underarms.
Thanks for this. I had to take a hiatus from it with Tom’s or just coconut oil (if I wasn’t leaving the house), so I tried it for the first time today. Will report back.
I wonder if the discoloration (I AM one of those with discolored pits) really does have to do with melanin. I am Latina, not particularly dark-skinned at all, but still not of Anglo hue. My pits got very dark, and during the hiatus, were more like a bright flushed pink.
As I said, will report back. Thanks for your wonderful blog from your fellow Coloradan. Looking forward to the face lift!
Has anyone here tried subbing in lovage for the baking soda? Or used it for bodily deodorization at all?
CF athlete. Living in AZ. Don’t shower daily (go ahead and judge).
Was using Tom’s of Maine, which is an epic failure of a product. Finally made this stuff with a co-worker of mine and I love it. Didn’t even add essential oils because scent from coconut oil is plenty. But I am worried that people are saying it’s darkened their skin, but maybe because they are out and about exposing their pits to the sun? Any kind of oil will make your skin darken with UV rays, kids. Basic tanning principles.
Much love from the boring desert,
A Los Angeles Granola Kid
Actually coconut oil and shea butter both have an SPF of about 4 or 5.
I tried baking soda deodorant a few months ago but gave up when the redness and irritation became too much for me. I might give it another shot at some point, but for now I’ve been using magnesium oil. I read somewhere that milk of magnesia works as deodorant, but all of them had nasty chemicals listed in the inactive ingredients. So I bought magnesium oil (Ancient Minerals brand) and I mix it 50/50 with aloe juice and add a few drops of essential oils, and put it all in a small spray bottle. It’s been working great so far, even in the heat wave:)
Wow, I have been using it for over six months and just recently stopped because my pits got all red and angry looking. I am so going to try the ACV trick. I did notice some darkening too, and I am pretty fair skinned. It appeared to be buildup and scrubbing pretty well did the trick. Thanks!
I have tried twice now to use baking soda deodorant, and both times my left pit (and only my left pit) got really, really irritated and itchy. With the second batch I had cut the baking soda amount in half, and I had high hopes when it didn’t get irritated as quickly, but unfortunately it did happen. And it didn’t go away. I’m going to try arrowroot powder next, but I was just wondering if anyone else had the problem of only one armpit getting irritated? Would that be a pH problem? Oh, one other question: I can’t justify spending my limited funds on buying water, even if it is distilled. Could I boil tap water to purify it and use that in place of the distilled for this recipe?
I boil water when it’s called for in recipes instead of buying distilled and haven’t had any problems.
Thanks!
After I first started using homemade deo, I got the very irritated, red, peeling, burning, painful pits. I did more research and it sounded like it was the baking soda so I switched to cornstarch. Then I got the dark armpit skin! It was not painful so I continued using it. It would peel and seem to go away for a day or two only to return. Each time it returned it got slightly worse, only I didn’t realize this at first. My stink problem also returned. With a vengeance! After lots of googling, I decided what was going on was an overgrowth of yeast from the cornstarch – *that* was what the skin darkening was from and why I continued to stink! So then I switched to arrowroot. The skin darkening was gone, and I didn’t have any irritation, yay! Unfortunately, it just didn’t do the job as well as the others in the stink department. I have since switched to using a grain alcohol based solution in spray form, however, I have found that spraying it on tissue and then wiping it on my pits is even more effective than directly spraying it on my pits. I have hormonal imbalances and have always had the worst pit problem. This works almost as well as the toxic store bought clinical strength stuff. Some days I may have to reapply twice, depending on temp, activity, diet, or hormones.
I am wondering if those with the skin darkening are using cornstarch only or a cornstarch/baking soda blend?
Corn starch harbours bacteria. Baking soda scratches. I use milk of magnesia. It works great. Sadly on gym days I must use the commercial stuff. I can’t find a homemade recipe that works yet.
I’ve been using homemade deodorant since last summer, and I apply it in 2 steps- first a coconut oil/vitamin E/Lav EO blend, which just happens to find its way onto my face and neck sometimes too, and second a powder of baking soda/cornstarch/Lav EO dusted on.
When the weather heated up this summer, I started getting a rash so I stopped the powder. My theory was that I was sweating more, and the crystals were drying on the surface of my skin and abrading it, rather than staying absorbed by the oil and doing their own absorbing. The rash was gone in a few days, and I’ve been using just the oil for a few months now, with the same non-smelly results.
I also use vinegar/water as a hair rinse, so now I’m thinking I’ll save some of that to apply after my shower, and try going back to using the powder again. Thanks for the tip!!
And I’m VERY EXCITED for your new site! I was so happy when you came back after your hiatus, and I’m very happy again that you’re still keeping your work alive for us. Thanks for your hard work!
I am so glad you posted this! I’ve been using one of your recipes that contains baking soda, and after being happy with it for a couple months, I started getting some irritation and skin darkening (despite being very pale). Both went away as soon as I stopped using it and I ordered some more Lemongrass Pit Putty as that is all natural and has never given me problems, but I’m glad there’s a way to keep using my Crunchy Betty deodorant too.
Do you think the apple cider vinegar/distilled water pH Rebalancer could be used on facial skin? I’ve been experiencing some increased redness of my acne and some itchiness lately.
I use and LOVE your Kokomo deodorant cream! I’ve told others about it, too. My pits are occasionally and very mildly itchy, but I didn’t really give it much thought until this post. I may – or may not – try the ph balancer. I’m just tickled to have a safe but effective deodorant!
I have been usin your first recipe with the baking soda, cornstarch, and coconut oil for close to a year. I didn’t have any irritation, and no longer have the problems with bumps and ingrown hairs I had with commercial antiperspirant. I have noticed a little bit of darkening within skin folds, but only with one armpit, and it is barely noticeable.
I have used homemade and alternative deodorant for years, from the crystal salt deodorants, to the baking soda recipes.
These worked OK, and just OK, when things got really hot, they would fail, not completely but they didn’t work as well as the commercial stuff.
I learned about using milk of magnesia as deodorant, I gave it a try and it does work! You have to apply it to clean skin (applying it over stink doesn’t work), you must rub it in until it is dry, it just takes less than a minute to get it dry, then you are good to go. I put mine in an empty roll on bottle (after cleaning it very well)… I did learn that milk of magnesia is very alkaline, it hasn’t irritated my skin in any way, even after shaving. All I can say is it works, it hasn’t failed me yet, even in the most hot and humid weather, I have never heard of it darkening pit skin.
They say to use plain (not flavored), I had an old out of date bottle and gave it a try, I discovered later that it was mint flavored, it didn’t matter, it still worked and at best I had minty fresh pits 🙂 Actually I didn’t notice much of a scent, could have been because it was an old bottle. I have now purchased a new bottle of plain milk of magnesia, I bought the generic house brand, can’t imagine why I’d want to spend more money on the name brand when I’m going to be using it THERE… 🙂
Wretha
I dab on some coconut oil and then dab on a tiny bit of baking soda on top of that. it has never given me red bumps or a rash unless I used it right after shaving. I’ve been using it this way for about 2 1/2 years. some days I don’t even use the b.s. and i’m ok. love coconut oil!!
I started out using just coconut oil, then I added a small dusting of baking soda on top of that. I could only use this method for a few days before irritation would start, so then I would back off for a day or two. I never ever used it on the same day I shaved, or OUCH. Yes, the entire day.
About 6 months ago I finally got some arrowroot powder and mixed up a concoction: coconut oil, baking soda, arrowroot powder, and a few drops of (I didn’t have any oils) peppermint Dr. Bronner’s castile soap. It works wonderfully and I only get mild irritation if if I apply it immediately after shaving.
I didn’t realize ACV restored the pH balance, but I use it in the shower as a conditioner and have found it is a great moisturizer, so I usually splash some on the pits (and face and anywhere else) if I’m noticing any dryness.
Thanks so much! I love my homemade deodorant but I do go through patches of skin irritation and I definitely have the darkening. I will try the balancer and be more aware of putting it on right after shaving. Very excited to try this.
More than 3 years using BS deodorant (just BS+ coconut oil+ sometimes some eo). Best thing ever! no irritations, freedom and birds and lilies everywhere!
I’ve been using the basic deodorant recipe (with various EO additions) for about a year and a half with mostly fantastic results. I might have some *slight* darkening, but nothing really noticeable (I’m very pale).
Every once in a long while, I get some minor irritation and redness; I’ll definitely be trying the ACV for that if it happens again! It’s been quite a while since I’ve had that issue…
I had similar challenges at first. I just used aloe vera gel and it worked like a charm. I applied the gel at least twice a day, at night as well as prior to applying the deodorant, and any other time I experienced irritation. The problem eventually went away, but the ACV is a great idea so I will try that as well. I stand by my home-made natural deodorant as THE BEST deodorant I have ever used, and that includes the extra strength commercial brands.
I haven’t tried the baking soda deodorant yet, but I’m not sure if I want to. I had a similar problem with my hair! I tried doing the no poo method with baking soda and apple cider vinegar. I dissolved 1 tbs of baking soda in a cup of water. Then I used 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar mixed with a cup of water. It worked great for a month but then my scalp become extremely itchy and I had a lot of hair breakage. I tried using different amounts of baking soda and vinegar, but it didn’t help. I came to the conclusion that the baking soda was the problem. I Googled it and several sites said it was a skin irritant. I had to go back to using shampoo and conditioner which I’m not too happy about. Trial and error! On the next method!
I had similar itchiness w/baking soda. I also had a hard time finding good shampoo and conditioner to use. Did you find anything good? I thought I had found a good one with “Organic Excellence” as far as the ingredients listed go but it gives me and my not-so-sensitive husband scalp boils after using more than 2 consecutive days. So far my best solution with my extremely hard water is Bubble & Bee Hard Water shampoo and Dr Bronner’s hair rinse but it’s still not ideal. My hair is still stringy or frizzy at times. Luckily work at home so I use it most days then when I go out I use the Organic Excellence. Sigh.
I use Kiss My Face miss treated shampoo and conditioner for dry and damaged hair. I like it because the first ingredients in it are aloe and rosemary. However the conditioner isn’t moisturizing enough. I always mix it will jojoba oil. Burts Bees makes some good shampoos and conditioners also, but I think Kiss My Face is better on the ingredient list. I know you can buy both of those brands online, if you want to try them. I have hard water too, but it never gave me a problem with which shampoo I use. I feel like I have more of a problem when I go somewhere with soft water. With soft water nothing feels like it rinses off all the way and I can’t dry off. It makes me feel sticky.
Have you ever tried Trader Joe’s Peppermint Tea Tree shampoo and conditioner? It is rather inexpensive but does not have crazy junk in it and it works for me even being in a chlorinated pool for 3+ hours every week. (Usually I can just sigh and watch my hair turn slivery-green, but this has kept it looking like human hair instead of…alien swimmer hair.) I wonder if it might help you? Just an idea.
I use a homemade shampoo mixture of 1 cup Dr. Bronner’s castile liquid soap, 1 cup rain water, 1 cup coconut milk. I also have really hard water, so using the rain water (or distilled if it’s not raining in your area – I keep a gallon of rain water on hand for my shampoo, mushroom grow kits and soap making, but I’m a big nerd!) really helps with the lathering of the soap and the good feel on my hair. I don’t feel the need for a conditioner. I have very oily hair, and tried the baking soda/no’poo for about a year, with very dry results. The castile/coconutmilke/rainwater combo has been the best for me, and I’ve used it for two years now quite happily. (That being said, my husband tried using it once and hated it.) Keep trying your own stuff! You’ll get one that suits you eventually. Good luck!
I have tried that…as far as traditional shampoos go, that is a good value and has great ingredients except for one in my book. I actually keep bottles of that and the Organic Excellence on hand for when I need to go out in public and my hard water/castile shampoo isn’t going to cut it. Thanks!
Linda, that is really interesting! I will have to catch some rain water next time it rains and give it a try. I tried coconut milk in my hair once but I must’ve done something wrong or had wrong ratios because my hair was majorly greasy afterwards. I have baby fine, thin hair with a typically oily scalp. I too had dryness with the baking soda no poo deal. Lately I’ve been putting a sprinkle of baking soda into my hand with the Bubble & Bee Hard Water shampoo and then rinsing with Dr. Bronner’s hair rinse which is a lemon juice/oil concoction, and that is working better than just the hard water shampoo on its own.
Shampoos like Kiss My Face and Burts Bees won’t cause any issues w/hard water because they are detergents, not true soaps like Bubble & Bee or Dr. Bronner’s. That said, I’m looking for a more “natural” solution, or less chems might be a better term to use. Thanks!
Debbie- something I just tried and LOVED:
2 tablespoons of rhassoul clay
2 teaspoons of honey
Enough water to make a runny paste (it’s been very very runny for me a couple times because I added way too much water, but it still worked just fine)
Pour into your wet hair, scrub your scalp, rinse it out. It detangled my massively curly hair with no problem at all- I didn’t even need conditioner of any variety. If the baking soda/ACV thing wasn’t for you, this may be the ticket.
I’ve been using homemade deodorant since last fall (coconut oil, baking soda, corn starch.) I’ve not had any irritation, only noticed that I’m less sweaty and smell better than when I used commercial deodorant – even during Virginia summer – yay! The only challenge is keeping it not too melty/liquid in the warm weather. I put it in the fridge, but then it gets too hard and it has to sit out for a while. A small price to pay. Can’t wait for the new site – deeper sounds yummy!
Crunchy Betty! I’m so glad you’re back! I only discovered you a week ago, but I have been scouring your website, following your tips (ordered neem and tamanu oils off Amazon, and you pointed me to the best shea butter I’ve bought so far! My crunchy collection is rapidly expanding!), bought your fabulous book, and just received my sampler of cleansing grains today! They smell heavenly!
I hope everyone in CO is okay after the fires. I’m so glad you don’t have any bad news.
I still have months of your archives to dig through, but I’ll be checking for your news daily! 😀
YAY for this! I adored my homemade deo, but got
Horrible, horrible, acne-like rashes under my
Arms after about 6 mo & had to stop. I tried everything until I just settled on crystal deodorant, which is fine but not my favorite. I can’t wait to give the pH balancer a try! Thank you!
Congratulations on your new makeover. I’m anxiously waiting.
I love your Kokomo deodorant, I’ve made my own but didn’t have the neem oil so it’s not as effective. I haven’t had any problems except the occasional case of the stickies when I’m working hard and stressed or its just too hot (doesn’t happen that much in the PNW). Maybe a vinegar rinse would help when the stinkies hit by wiping out the bad bacteria. Hmmm… Maybe because its not baking soda but arrowroot!
I’ve been using homemade deodorant for 6 months or so, the simple 1/3s recipe. What I like best about it is not having to face the baffling deodorant wall of mysterious chemicals and fragrances. It works and I don’t smell weird. I’ve had no problems with it.
Ashley,it bleaches my pit hair, too. 🙂
Looking forward to deeper crunchiness!
I’ve been using a baking soda deodorant for well over a year now, and while I’ve never had a problem with the itching or burning, my skin does discolor. It starts as a red ring around my armpit & it gets darker. Usually after about a week, the skin just sloughs off. And it’s back to the red ring. I think (in my case) that its definitely related to the baking soda. I messed up a batch once & only added half of the baking soda as usual & I didn’t have the discoloration. I do add lavender e.o. to the deodorant. I’m going to try the “re-balancer”, fingers crossed.
I had a horrible reaction when I used any baking soda under my arms. I got the severe painful red bumps AND the skin darkening – BAD! And I am paler than pale can be. Could it be something in our systems? Heavy metals? Something that comes out in the perspiration? I’d love to know too. I’ve found Real Purity’s deodorant is one I can use. I’d love to make my own, but am too afraid to after the “black pit” incident.
1. I use homemade deodorant. I’ve scoured the internet and combined and tweaked many recipes and had a great time doing it! I ended up making a powder deodorant and love it…as do many friends/clients. I use herbs from my garden + baking soda + nonGMO cornstarch + arrowroot powder + litsea cubeba EO + love = awesome deo that works! Because I use herbs from my garden, my recipe is never the exact same. I use what I have and whip up a batch as needed. I customize the deo for clients, too. Sometimes adding a favorite EO, sometimes using specific herbs, often using whatever container she prefers, adding a colorful label, etc. I started out just telling a friend…LOL…she wanted to try it…then she told more friends…and they told more friends. It is so much fun!!!!
2. The challenges I’ve had with homemade deodorant have been consistency and scent. None of my stick / solid deos have had the consistency I like. My spray deos have either burned my sensitive skin or failed after an hour (the teen crowd). Creamy deos have never appealed to me, but I’ve made them for friends and they’ve loved them. I researched and wrote up a tips sheet for clients. So far, when I follow up with folks, there have been zero issues. My sample size is tiny compared to ‘scientific studies’ (LOL) and I’ve not had the darkening of skin come up.
3. Although I adore Crunchy Betty (and YOU) as is, I am excited to see what’s next!!!! Bring it on!!!
When I used straight baking soda dabbed on with a damp washcloth, I had no stinkiness whatsoever (yea!), but within a few weeks had seriously irritated pits and darkening skin. I have pale (and fairly oily) skin (but I do tan) with dark hair and eyes. I stopped using the straight baking soda, and switched to an olive oil and baking soda combo – better, but it still irritated and if I wasn’t careful with my application it was oily. Looked further and tried coconut oil and baking soda – a good combo when not too hot (liquid) or too cold (hard as a rock). I finally added baking soda to my garden-hand-balm (coconut oil, cocoa butter, beeswax), and that works quite well with little to no irritation. (However, it’s not so good in the summer heat because it’s only semi-solid.) I still trade off with a crystal stick, mostly because I think I do better smell-wise if I can confuse my skin a bit. I have discovered that no matter what I use, when I am stressed, I am going to smell – and just deal with it. I am going to try this pH balancer though, as I think it will round out my stinky-fight nicely. Thanks for all the recipes and encouragement! I’ve had a great deal of fun finding just the homemade products for me. (I make lip balm, shampoo, and deodorant and am going to start with my own soap soon!)
I’ve never had irritation, but my (quite pale) skin did darken a lot. I solved it with pause in my deodorant routine, and applying tea tree and sage EOs in a bit of coconut oil for couple of weeks to my pits. The darker skin just fell off, like a burned skin in summer, but it was quite a high concentration of EOs.
I have been using homemade deodorant for about 9 months now – with no adverse affects. I have had the occasional “put it on too soon after shaving” incident. But other than that, baking soda or arrowroot – my pits are happy either way! What I noticed most about switching to a natural deo was that I needed to shave every other day (while with commercial deodorant I was in the clear for about a week). I’m assuming the hair growth is two-fold 1) no chemical inhibitors and 2) coconut oil awesomeness. Thanks CB for all your info and I can’t wait for the unveiling of the new site! 😉
OMG…..thank you soooooo so much for posting this. I just started using homemade deodorant last week and I am so red. I was itchy too but that went away when I put alcohol on my pits before the deodorant. I didn’t want to give up because I really want this to work….and by god it will….I just got to get past this rough patch (some pun intended)
And FYI..I am so freakin’ excited about the New Crunchy Betty….but just so you know…the old ones pretty terrific too :). Thanks for all you do!
I haven’t made the switch because, well, I sweat. A lot. And I just can’t be walking around at work with pit stains. When its cooler out I do use the natural stuff, but in the summer I just can’t.
I am such a homemade deodorant convert! I use the third-third-third ratio (coconut oil, baking soda, arrowroot powder). I originally tried cornstarch and ew! Then I made some with arrowroot and it was great for a couple of days, then ew! Finally I realized I wasn’t using the good coconut oil. Switched to the cold pressed stuff and man, it’s awesome! I do find that every once in a while (like twice a month) I do get a mild rash, but if I lay off for a day it disappears. I’m definitely trying this rebalancer, though, because, well, it’s July and I live in Texas! Skipping a day isn’t always pleasant!
I haven’t had any negative issues with mine but my fella and my best friends husband both had very red, irritated pits from using the deo.(made with Baking soda, arrow root, coconut oil and essential oils). My best friends hubby quit using it all together, mine kept with it and it has gotten better but I believe the recipe changed some. Maybe less baking soda. I have, however, had my pit hair turn blonde. Well, more a strawberry blonde, I am very dark haired. I thought it was the baking soda but none of the guys using it have had it lighten their pit hair. Any ideas on this? It doesn’t bother me at all, just curious 🙂
Which essential oils did you use? Several oils have hair color-altering effects over time–it’s what makes a few of them ideal for grey-hiding or highlighting hair-product options. Rosemary, for example, work for dark hair; chamomile and calendula flowers blondify.
I tried homemade deodorant last summer, and I LOVED it! It worked better than commercial deodorants for me. But then I got red, itchy, painful bumps and gave up. I think I’ll try again, along with the ACV spray 🙂
I have tried baking soda and it leaves me with HUGE red swollen puss like areas. Is this also a ph issue? I am currently using the crystal and/or coconut oil to rid myself of these nasty painful things. Any ideas?
I too got those, but I thought they were ingrown hairs. When I stop using my homemade deo, it goes away. My homemade is with arrowroot, not cornstarch. Originally I had no problems at all with it (for a year and a half!) It started for me when I made a different kind with shea butter and clay. It was so bad I would have rather gone without and become a stink bomb!! I am currently using store bought, but all natural (Alvera) but SO would like to go back to my homemade!! I will try the ACV refresher.
Try the ACV and some straight coconut oil (VERY small amount)…mine cleared up withing two days. It was a miracle 🙂
I’ve been using the homemade deodorant for about 6 months now and I really do love it. I have had some irritation from time to time, but I’m not surprised by that b/c I had issues with store-bought deodorant as well. I just have sensitive skin. I get the red bumps, but I think it’s mostly b/c I apply the deodorant right after I shave, which I didn’t realize until I just read this blog. Thanks for the heads up with that! I usually just stop using it for a few days and go au natural until the bumps disappear. Will def try the ACV option to balance things out a bit!
I’ve had both irritation and skin darkening (I’m way pale too) with homemade deodorants. The irritation went away when I ditched the cornstarch in favor of arrowroot. Turns out I have a mild topical allergy to corn.
The skin darkening gets somewhat alleviated by exfoliation, but often I have to switch to a mineral crystal for a week or two. I can’t help wondering if using powdered mineral crystal instead of baking soda might make a difference. I haven’t tried it yet, but I keep thinking about it.
I’m like you Erika. I get the irritation and darkening and I’m pretty pale. I use Crunchy Betty’s kokomo deodorant, but I have to use it in spurts and sometimes I just use a lime or plain coconut oil in between to calm my skin down. It’s definitely worse if I shave my arms right before or even the night before. I keep meaning to reformulate the deodorant adding in some arrowroot to calm down the baking soda effect but I have yet to do it. The darkening is weird, but I would take that over using regular deodorant again!
Hi Toni and Erika,
I am also like the two of you. I love the deodorant because it works sooo much better than store bought of any kind. Have anyone of you tried waxing instead of shaving? I wonder if it would help or be worse? Where can you buy the powdered mineral crystals? Good luck ladies!
Okay, I’m totally fascinated by the darkening effect some are experiencing. How long did you use the deodorant with baking soda before you noticed the mystical shadow fx?
I’m wondering if it could be as a result from long-term exposure to the abrading effect of baking soda–clinically similar to those strange elongated mole-things you see where your husband has been chafed by his favorite jorts for the last decade, or smaller ones on the back of your neck where your not-so-favorite-anymore necklace has pinched you for the thousandth time. For example.
I had a little adjustment period where I felt like I didn’t smell so great then my body got used to the deodorant. I have always had sweating issues and have tried every deodorant on the market so I was pretty skeptical about this working. I have to say that I feel like the entire chemistry of my body has changed. Of course I still sweat, but the smell is different. Sorry, off on a tangent of TMI, but I can’t get over how much better “homemade” deodorant works. Anyway, I’m not positive when the discoloration started exactly. It was winter time so I wasn’t really noticing my armpits until one day I caught a glimpse in the mirror of them and about freaked out because it looked so odd. At that point I wasn’t really having irritation unless I put the deodorant on immediately after shaving. I discontinued using it for a little while and the discoloration faded so I started using it off and on. During the winter I was able to skip deodorant some days (something I could have NEVER done in the past) and some days I used just straight coconut oil instead. The more I used the deodorant, the more sensitive I’ve gotten to it and now that it’s hot out, I have to be really careful about shaving the night before using it because that has now become an irritation. Yesterday I forgot and used it even though I had shaved the night before and I did a shotty job of lathering up my shave soap and already had a little irritation before I even put on the deodorant…big mistake! When I read this post yesterday, I had a huge rash under one arm from putting on deodorant on already irritated skin. I went home and washed with warm water then used my curly hair spray (ACV, water, Rosemary & lavender) under my arms. Within an hour the rash and pain had diminished immensely. I’m close to finishing up my kokomo deodorant so my plan is to remake it with less BS and use arrowroot instead and see how that goes. I can’t give up the deodorant though. I’d choose dark underarms over the deodorant issues I used to have. I used to carry deodorant in my purse, have one at my job, one in my car…I can now put deodorant on in the morning and not worry about it again unless I do something strenuous!
How much rosemary and lavender EOs did you use? Or did you infuse the vinegar with the actual plants?
Tina, I usually make a “tea” by boiling water with dried rosemary & lavender, then strain it and add ACV. It’s definitely not anything exact. Sometimes I’ll just do ACV, water and some essential oil if I’m running low and don’t feel like re-making it. I keep a bottle of this concoction in the fridge and use it pretty much daily. Even just plain lavender water or lavender/ACV/water works great for re-activating curls. I’ve also infused lavender and rosemary in the ACV, but it was pretty much the same result as making the tea then adding ACV.
The reason for the irritation and sore from a baking soda based deodorant is that the baking soda crystals are sharp and they scratch the skin. I can’t use it. I have yet to find a homemade deodorant that works or doesn’t destroy my poor armpits!
Erika, I buy the deodorant crystal stick, seal it in a Ziploc-type bag, smash it up with a hammer, and then mix .6 oz by weight with 8 oz of boiling distilled water. When it cools, I put it in a spray bottle and deodoriser to my heart’s content! You can add a few drops of EOs for the great scent and for anti-bacterial and skin-soothing properties, too.