Ridiculously simple, two ingredient recipe for roll-on organic deodorant

Raw organic virgin coconut oil is an amazing food, medicinal and beauty product. I recently used it successfully and quickly to heal shingles (I ate two tablespoonfuls a day), however, one of the further ways I started using it last year, was as a deodorant.  As with toothpaste, I had been using an organic store-bought one but was determined to make my own.

I started searching and found a fair few recipes I liked the look of and in particular, one from Colorful Canary, who has an excellent blog and youtube site on all things organic. I decided to make a version of this latter using just one ingredient, coconut oil. For an extra luxurious touch, I also added a few drops of my favourite essential oils.

This is not an antiperspirant  

Sweating is a necessary and vital function, it not only keeps the body cool but also is a way your system rids itself of toxins, so stopping yourself from doing this is a real no-no. Recent research has looked at the way in which heavy metals and toxins such as BisphenolA (BPA) and phthalates are expelled through sweat. 

Coconut oil is natures richest source of lauric acid, which is a powerful anti-bacterial. It also contains, in smaller amounts, capric and caprylic acid again both having anti-bacterial properties. The smell involved in sweating, is not the sweat itself but the breakdown of the latter by the action of bacteria on the skin, so using coconut oil allows you to sweat normally but without the odour.

Materials 

An old roll-on glass deodorant bottle.

A heatproof jug containing hot water. 

Coconut oil melts at 24°C (76°F) so the water doesn't need to be boiling.

Ingredients 

Coconut oil

essential oil(s) of choice

My favourite essential oil for using as a perfume is Ylang ylang (Cananga odorata) but I like to use it with a note of citrus, so either essential oil of Sweet Orange (Citrus sinensis) or Mandarin (Citrus reticulata). The mandarin is a fabulous deep greenish gold, so even a few drops give the finished deodorant a rich creamy colour.

Method

Wash and dry the glass bottle and rollerball and add the coconut oil, it is up to you how much you want to make at each batch but there is no need to fill the bottle.

Replace the screw cap. Place in jug of hot water, the coconut oil will melt pretty quickly.

When melted remove from jug and leave to cool for a few minutes. 

Add essential oils. I usually add 6 drops of my principal oil and 2-3 of the secondary. This would be for half my deodorant bottle of coconut oil but if I was to fill it to the top (the bottle holds 50ml or 1.6 fl oz), I would only add a couple of drops more  of EO. I find always with essential oil that to get a good aroma without it being overpowering, a little will suffice. If at a later date you feel the scent is not powerful enough for your particular preferences you can always add an extra couple of drops.

Replace rollerball and top and give the bottle a shake to mix/incorporate the ingredients. Your deodorant is now ready for use.

Use

Colorful Canary's recipe (live link at bottom of page) involves several additional ingredients because she makes a solid stick form of deodorant but I wanted to make a roll on, hence one ingredient.

I live in an old stone house, which stays cool in the Summer and I do not heat the bathroom so my deodorant stays solid. All I do is heat it briefly in warm water. I believe this is a small concession for a non-toxic, totally  organic home-made product. There is also a wonderful sense of freedom in making your own health and beauty products and it is fun too to fill your house with fragrance in making them. I guess there is a little of the alchemist in all of us, as we turn basic but quality household items into pure gold.

As I work at home, I do not feel any necessity to wear deodorant every day, even though with this recipe, I could and would.  Coconut oil is to me a very valuable food item, so I would rather be using my stock of it as food. We do run a homestead/smallholding here, so do a lot of heavy manual work, which obviously engenders perspiration but I'm more likely to wear it when 'going out'. I would always apply the deodorant a few minutes before putting on any figure-hugging clothes, just to give the oil a chance to be absorbed by the skin. I must say I have never had any issues with coconut oil leaving marks on clothes and the test for identifying quality essential oils is that they don't leave residues. However, if you were going to wear your best close fitting silk party frock then you might think of incorporating some dress shields to protect the fabric. These are removable fabric pads, really easy to make, which are loosely sewn into a garment to protect the underarm. If you've ever bought antique or even vintage clothing you may have come across them.

If you've enjoyed this post then please feel free to share it, ask questions and/or comment.
Hope to see you here again for another recipe from an old farmhouse in Normandie,
Sue
 
Return to 'WHAT'S ON THE MENU' for more Simply Organic Recipes
© 2015 Sue Cross

RELATED POSTS

Home-made Organic toothpaste. Old Swiss teeth whitening recipe 

An element some people ignore, although choosing to eat organic food, is that they are not only what they eat but also what they put on their skin and use to clean their teeth....read more

Live link to: Colorful Canary 

How to make organic candied orange and chocolate dipped peels.

It is such a shame to compost the peels of any of your organic citrus fruit, when you can cook and candy them so simply. The following method is also the one I use to prepare peels before making marmalade, as it renders them less bitter and to us, more digestible at the breakfast table. They can also be kept for use in cakes and puddings.

Above - Delicious home-made economical sweets from something you might have thrown away or at best flung in the compost bin! You can use a variety of citrus peels for sweets even the Seville, if you you want something as a bitter foil for a sweeter chocolate. The best lemons for sweets are those varieties which have very thick peels - I am lucky enough to have a neighbour who brings me them back every Summer from her mother's tree in Sardinia. They are supposed to be from a root-stock introduced by Alexander the Great and are also brilliant for juicing.

The  peels left have been dried in the oven and will keep for ages in a sealed box. If I want to make softer peels like the ones for the tangerine peel chocolates above I follow the same method but I cook the  peels in the syrup at the end and then just roll them in sugar and air dry them for an hour or so. 

The Method

                                                  

Wash the fruit to rid them of any dust. Remove the peels from the fruit in reasonably sized strips.

You don't have to be as fanciful in peeling your fruit but I was making a film and wanted my citrus to look interesting, 'dancing' in time to the music! (link at end of post)

 


Add all the peel to a saucepan and cover with cold water, bring to the boil and remove from heat, drain and rinse. 

 
Repeat this process three times in total. 




 

Using a sharp filleting knife or similar remove as much pith as possible from the peels. This can then be composted. Cut the peels into strips. The strips are now covered with cold water, brought to the boil and simmered until they  become translucent. This takes approximately ten minutes. Drain but do not rinse put into a a measuring jug, so as to gauge the volume of syrup needed, you will need enough to cover all the peels completely.
 

Make the syrup with equal amounts of raw cane sugar and water. Stir well to dissolve and then leave to boil without stirring until the mixture is golden brown. Pour over the peels, cover and leave for at least an hour. Remove and leave to dry on racks in the bottom of a warm oven. This will make for very dry peels, which will keep well. 

Juicier, softer peels for sweets, decoration and dipping in chocolate

 

If you want softer peels, then you can cook them in the syrup, rather than just cover them with it, where they will plump up. After the syrup thickens you can then let them cool and freeze in containers. Or you can go on to make them into chocolate dipped peel



Below are some I have dried ready for dipping.

I often make these softer peels as I need them, as I did with this mix for my Christmas Pudding below. Link: Victorian Christmas Pudding Recipe with gluten-free option.



Pictured below soft peels drying and lightly dusted with sugar.

Once you have dried your peels and rolled them in sugar take some good quality, high coco solids cooking chocolate and melt it in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. You can then dip one or both ends of your peels into the melted chocolate and put them to dry and cool on a plate





-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dried and candied peels can be used for both cooking, cosmetics and medicines. The main ingredient of the home-made tooth powder which we use everyday, is dried, powdered orange peel. So next time you eat an organic orange, think twice before you consign such a valuable asset  to the compost bin.    
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  

You can find my toothpaste recipe here 'Snow Caps' old Swiss teeth whitening recipe

If you enjoyed this recipe, please feel free to share it, comment and/or ask questions.

I'll wish you bon appétit and hope to see you next time, Sue 

Return to 'WHAT'S ON THE MENU' for more Simply Organic Recipes 

© 2013 Sue Cross