Is Deodorant Bad For You? (How to Make Your Own in Under 10 Minutes)

I would bet we have all had that moment when we are slathering on the deodorant where we ask ourselves “is deodorant bad for you?”  I know I have.  In fact most days I do, but I tried all the “natural” deodorants on the market and decided I would rather stay married than give up the “bad stuff’.  Until I learned to make my own!

The Store Bought Natural Deodorant Test – Hint, None Of Them Passed

Months ago I set out to do a post on the best store bought natural deodorants.  For years we have all heard about the questionable ingredients in most conventional deodorants but we haven’t made the switch.  This is probably because nobody is in a big rush to smell like patchouli.  Then one day the thought of rolling toxins on my body sent me once again on the quest to find a replacement.   My husband Bob and I tried 10 of the most popular brands in the health food stores today and each day we tried a new brand and kept notes so we could report back to you.

Day after day we did the arm pit “sniff test”on each other and each day we laughed at the fact that we smelled like day three at Woodstock.  Sometimes our body odor was worse after applying certain deodorants. When all the humor of smelling awful wore off, we scrapped the idea all together.  We went back to rolling the dice with our toxic deodorant that smells wonderful and keeps us smelling fresh, clean and happily married.

Then Fate Stepped In

Right when we had given up, one of our favorite blogger’s posted a DIY deodorant recipe.  We ran out and bought all the ingredients (minus the essential oils).  We didn’t want to spend money on essential oils we may never use if the recipe didn’t work. Let me tell you her recipe works!  It was hard to believe something we could make at home in under ten minutes beat out the top brands on the shelves.  A week later we were contacted by Aroma Foundry asking if we would like to try their native sourced essential oils.  Heck yeah!  My husband chose the Bergamont and Rosemary for his deodorant since those are more masculine scents, and I chose the Lemon and Lavender for mine (lavender by the way is a great antimicrobial – big bonus)!  Dr. Axe has now come out with his own line of organic essential oils, and I love the fact that they are organic!  Now our home-made deodorant not only works but it smells great and has some added health benefits verses health risks.

Why deodorant may be bad for you:

1. Cancer.gov website believes there is a possible connection between it’s use and breast cancer
2. Antiperspirants can kill off healthy armpit bacteria
3. They contain aluminum and other toxins which may increase breast cancer and Alzheimers
4. Some contain parabens and other harmful preservatives which may increase risk of cancer

Ingredient for DYI deodorant

I have altered the ingredients just a bit to our liking.

For instructions on The Healthy Maven’s DIY deodorant recipe click here.  It works!

2021 update – The second edition of my book Eat Pray Get Well – A Journey from Chronic Illness & Brokenness to Wholeness & Healing has hit shelves.  Learn more here.

There may be affiliate links in this post.  I would never recommend a product I do not use myself.