Product ideation

For a while, I’ve been wanting to make my own natural deodorant since the traditional ones are:

1. packaged in plastic;
2. filled with man-made chemicals and aluminum (that’s been linked to alzheimer’s); and
3. antiperspirants block your pores to prevent you from sweating.

Sweat is not the enemy! Perspiring is our body’s natural way of staying cool during physical exertion. While using natural deodorant, it is perfectly normal to still sweat, but you shouldn’t stink.

Product testing

To formulate OR natural deodorant, KEEPIN’ IT FRESH, I took the usual approach of finding various recipes online (for both a stick and a cream), changing the proportions a little at a time, and testing it out with my focus group. However, this focus group was just 2 people: myself and my husband.

I chose just us as the focus group because we can get pretty stressed out, and have really stinky sweat as a result. Throughout the testing we noticed that weekends working around the house and yard made us sweat, but not stink. The opposite was true during the 5-day work week.

Did you know that stress sweat is the kind that smells like onions, and typically results from a bacterial imbalance?

Product use

KEEPIN’ IT FRESH is formulated with several natural ingredients that target odor + help promote balance. The KEEPIN’ IT FRESH paste works really well for me, and has a little less baking soda, arrowroot powder, and cornstarch. I apply a little bit to my underarms before I get dressed, and give it a minute to soak in.

Dustin needed a little bit stronger natural deodorant, so for the KEEPIN’ IT FRESH stick I increased the arrowroot powder, cornstarch, added kaolin clay, and swapped out the avocado oil for cold-pressed coconut oil. His body heat warms up the stick for a few moments before he swipes it on.

To transition, we put on a little KEEPIN' IT FRESH first then followed it with a little of the other deodorant our bodies were used to. If you're not worried about impressing people the first few days, use 100% KEEPIN' IT FRESH to give your body a chance to get rid of the man made chemicals.

For the primary scent, I wanted something that was pleasing for both genders + helped control odor. After some testing, I came up with a citrus mint blend that’s fresh + gender neutral: grapefruit, lemon + peppermint essential oils.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

NOTE: Please allow about 2 weeks for your body to adjust to an all-natural deodorant.