My wife was pregnant and found this Jusubody deodorant that she loved.
Problem is… it is $12.50/stick! Woah. Not very frugal.
I have also been looking for deodorant that doesn’t have silver/aluminum in it after reading up a bit on some fear mongering internet material about how people with Dimensia/Alzheimers often have plaque deposits in the brain along with Aluminum.
(Long story short, I don’t think there is anything convincing, but the precautionary principle should still apply here. Modern deodorant is not lindy.)
So I went about figuring out how to make this stuff myself. Didn’t seem too hard, but getting it right isn’t easy either. Main ingredients follow:
- Coconut Oil or Glycerin – this is used as the base that everything is mixed into
- Corn Starch/Baking Soda – this is used to absorb moisture
- Essential oils – for perfume
I also mixed in some Lye and superfatted my mixture with soybean oil. This was mostly because in the past I had trouble getting the right hardness. I would either get something much too runny (too much oil/glycerin) or something too hard (too much starch). I figured with the lye, I could basically render the too wet mixture into something hardened and get the right mix.
Lessons Learned
- Lye is super cool. Was really fun to just work with it. Used my infrared thermometer to make sure it was working/cooling. Very happy with that tool.
- The right mixture seems to be 2 dry : 1 wet. I’m having issues with finding the right hardness, but getting quite close.
- I tried to use some activated charcoal, but it really didn’t work. I’m white so it made the deodorant black and stain undershirts. Big miss.
- Small batches early on. You are going to get your recipe wrong. Measure what you are putting in roughly (+/- 10g). Do several recipes. Then once you get something you think you could like, dial it in. Don’t try to be right on the first batch.
- Application method matters. I wound up buying 5 of the stick applicators. Even though my wife said she would be fine with the hippy wooden spoon on method (I didn’t believe her) it was a no go.
- It really works. The deodorant works quite well. Especially if applied at night. I should note that it is not anti-perspirant. Also I shave under my arms to help with the smell (use the sideburn trimmer on my shaver). This isn’t new to this experiment though, just something I found that works for me overall.
- Don’t pack the sticks too tight. Just pack it lightly and then you can sort of pack it tighter the way you would pack cigarettes. Don’t jam the unhardened cream in there or you’ll lose your sticks. Especially before you dial in the recipe.
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John Rhoads 