Not everyone needs a powerful, sweat-absorbing antiperspirant. I don’t know about you, but the last time I checked, we weren’t all firefighters or police officers who drip sweat all day. Some of us don’t really sweat that much. But we wanna smell fresh. Fresh as the summer wind or the wee daisy flower, if you will.
Here’s a quick and easy way to get most of your deodorant needs met. This formula is great for underarms and feet. (The alcohol content dries quickly — so feel free to use it right before your socks go on). I have trusted this alternative for over 3 years and am now completely spoiled. I can no longer tolerate the artificial scents and propylene glycol or whatever other ingredients are in the widely available brands.
Fight Body Odor with this Natural Recipe
Put 2 parts vodka, 1 part lemon or lime juice (if fresh, be sure to strain the pulp), and 1 part water in a container. (Optional: Use a few drops of the essential oils of lemon, lime, and/or lavender) for fragrance. Pour final mixture in a small pump (non-aerosol) spray bottle. Use liberally and adjust water content if skin sensitivity ensues.
This is safe for all ages.
Take Caution
The only slight drawback of this recipe is that it isn’t safe to have around if you or someone you live with is a recovering alcoholic, as the recipe is largely edible. But if that isn’t a problem, this is a wonderfully easy and portable way to avoid using the not-so-healthy chemicals currently available in drugstore-bought deodorants.
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Thank you for this post, CX! I am going to try this out!
Gina
I’ve ditched deodorants & soaps, and totally rely on baking soda. I stumbled across a site called “instructibles” where this lady talked about going “poo free”. Obvious jokes aside, what she was referring to was ditching the shampoo and instead using baking soda for shampoo and vinegar (+a little oil if dry hair) for conditioner. She also mentioned it’s a good body wash, since it’s deodorizing, exfoliating & fairly antiseptic (sodium based).
I tried it, being some what skeptical, and the first shower I took I thought my face was coming off. What was happening was all this leftover dead skin on my face and body was finally coming off. The baking soda absorbs the oil and other gunk (like facial creams and other crap people put on themselves), breaks up the skin, and after 5 minutes I just started rubbing it with my hands and a lot of dead skin came off. After getting out of the shower, my face was very radiant and clear.
The reason I decided to try it was because I suffered from sebhorraic (sp?) dermatitis for several years, which affected my scalp as well as cheeks. (They’d get red, itchy and flaky). Turns out this kind of dandruff is caused by a sensitivity to a skin yeast which is normally harmless to humans. The soaps and things I was using (along with harsh scrubbing) was just leaving my face dry with a thin layer of dead skin. I’d put on some facial cream, and this just caused an oily film of dead skin to form, which the yeast loved to munch on. Same for my hair (I have dry hair and skin). Since the baking soda dried out and whisked away all the dead skin the soap was actually CAUSING, the fresh skin underneath was clean and pure and no longer had this problem. I’ve been “dandruff” free ever since.
As for deodorant, I put about 1-2 tsps of baking soda in my hand while at the sink after a shower, run some water into my palm, mix it together with my hands until it feels greasy with only a little bit of graininess left. Then, I just rub it under my arms. You let it air dry, and for the rest of the day, the film of dried baking soda absorbs sweat, odor, etc. Works quite well. If someone has very bad BO, even after showering, then they could use isopropyl alcohol to mix the baking soda up while applying. And, as mentioned, they could mix in some essential oils and things to make it smell nice. (Personally, I don’t want my deodorant competing with my cologne.) Side note, I don’t recommend putting dry baking soda under the arms. It can start to chafe really bad, plus it doesn’t seem to stop sweat as readily as when the baking soda has been wetted down to make a film.
There was a show on NPR about natural remedies, and they said Milk of Magnesia works as an underarm deodorant / antiperspirant, too. I tried it, but wasn’t as impressed with it as I was with baking soda.
The bonus to the baking soda is that it’s very cheap (big box is about $2, and will last for several months). I use an old kefir bottle to put it in along with water for shower purposes. When I’m refilling my kefir bottle over the sink with baking soda, some will naturally fall into the sink. When it does, I just toss some lemon juice and rubbing alchohol into the sink to make a fizzy cleanser with the baking soda overspill, and clean the sink in 2 seconds. Baking soda really is a kick-butt necessity.