Coconut Oil Deodorant

I sweat. A lot. Like really, really, really A LOT. Both at the gym, where it's totally fine, and in real life, where it can get more awkward. One of the reasons I tend to favor black/dark-colored shirts is that I never really know when my armpits are going to decide it's a good time to go totally batshit crazy and start sweating buckets. This can happen if it's too warm or too cold, if I'm in an embarrassing situation or just sitting around doing nothing. I was diagnosed by a dermatologist once with "hyperhydrosis" but since the treatments for that involve, on the mildest end, painting acid on your skin (for real!) to the more extreme - actually cutting nerves to decrease sympathetic nervous system response (seriously!) - I have opted to just deal with it.

Probably because of my diagnosable ability to produce such impressive amounts of sweat, I have never had much success with deodorant/antiperspirants. I've tried pretty much every brand out there, even the "clinical strength" ones that you're supposed to put on at night and then let seep into your skin and not wash off in the morning (creepy.) My most recent attempt at keeping myself sweat-free led me to Ban brand, which features something like 20% aluminum chloride instead of the usual 12-14%. Aluminum chloride is also the stuff that some say gives you breast cancer/clogs up your lymph nodes/is generally just bad for you/etc. While I'm not taking a stand one way or another on whether antiperspirant/aluminum chloride will kill you/make your armpits cancer-laden time-bombs/etc, it has always sort of bugged me that I was spreading chemicals all over my skin especially because they weren't actually working for me.

A while back I stumbled on a "recipe" for coconut oil deodorant, and being a recent covert to the "coconut/coconut oil is the best thing since sliced bread and even better because bread has gluten and gluten is probably giving you cancer" camp, I figured it was worth a try. Having used it exclusively for the last five months or so, I am happy to report that this stuff WORKS. It keeps me smelling fresh and actually seems to help me sweat less. Don't get me wrong, my armpits are still completely capable of drenching a pastel-colored t-shirt in literally 1-2 minutes of furious sweating, but I have noticed that since I started using the coconut oil deodorant I seem to be sweating less, plus I'm not dumping a bunch of crappy chemicals into my body, which is always a win. I also really like that I can put this on right before I train - it always felt weird in the past to be putting on antiperspirant when I'm going to the gym for the purpose of sweating a lot, but I also never wanted to skip it because I think it's rude to be obnoxiously smelly in a closed environment like the gym. (I have tried just using deodorant in these situations, Old Spice being my favorite, but I think it's also somewhat off-putting to be forced to inhale sweaty pine smells from the lady in the squat rack next to you. I don't want to be that lady.)

This is not my photo, but this is about what my deodorant looks like, depending on how warm it is.

Without further, ado, here's the "recipe" as I have been making it:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup baking soda
• /4 cup corn starch (you can also use arrowroot powder or any other starch here if you think that corn is the devil)
• 2-4 TB coconut oil

Recipe:

• In a medium size bowl (you want room to get in there and really work the coconut oil in), mix the baking soda and corn starch together until well blended.
• Blend in the coconut oil until you have a consistency that is to your liking. I usually use my (clean) hands for this as I think it's easier. I recommend starting with 2 TB and working up from there. The consistency will also change based on how hot it is, as coconut oil melts at about 75 degrees F.

Notes:

• I make my deodorant more on the creamy/liquidy side and store it in a little tub and put it on with my fingers like a lotion. It also works to make it more solid and put it into an old deodorant stick container thing and put it on that way (you can even store it in the fridge to make sure it stays solid), but you have to be more cautious about the coconut oil melting on you and I also think this is way too much work.
• Based on several other recipes I have seen online, you can add essential oils to make it smell like whatever you want, or something like tea tree oil to increase the anti-stank properties of the product even more.
• Why does this stuff work? The baking soda absorbs odors, the corn starch absorbs wetness and the coconut oil has natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties that help keep the smelly away.
• I have noticed a tendency for this to show up on black tanktops if I put it on and then the shirt right away, but it also comes off pretty easily (unlike the white streaks you get from traditional deodorant), so it hasn't really been an issue for me.