Deodorant Recipe Question

[SuzyK]

I am looking at deodorant recipes because I have had quite a few customers asking for it.

Most of the recipes I have found have used essential oils. Do I HAVE to use essential oils or can I use regular fragrance oils for scent.

[TallTayl]

You can use fo's, just make sure you look up the IFRA guidelines for each Fo you wish to try for the usage rate. Often the rate for deo use is much lower than for other uses. Same for eo's. the under arm skin area is very sensitive and thin, not to mention quite close to lymph nodes.

[SuzyK]

Awesome. Thank you! I didn't think about looking at the usage rate since the skin is extra sensitive there. Thank you!

[KrazeKelly]

I've been playing around with deodorant also. I found the perfect recipe with the texture that I love but it's a recipe with baking soda and it turns out I'm allergic to it. My pits itched so bad I could not sleep. They were red for several days after I used it. Another tester didnt have any issues with it and loved it. I substituted arrowroot in place of the baking soda, it works but I hated the texture. It felt more gummy. So keep that in mind, some people are sensitive to baking soda. I'm still tweaking my recipe til I get it where I want it.

[SuzyK]

That's a bummer that you couldn't use it. I was wondering why I saw so many list that there was no baking soda in their recipe. I didn't see why it was a drawback. I have all the ingredients I want to use already, I am just waiting for the containers.

That's good to know about the arrowroot. I plan on using it but I'll look for it being too gummy.

[TallTayl]

I have to agree about the baking soda. Tore my skin up very painfully at any usage rate. Arrowroot seemed to really suck up humidity, and if you happen to sweat it permeates shirts leaving an unsightly ring around the arm pit of dark colored fabric.

I am one that does not like the feel of the oil/butter/wax blends for underarm use - Occlusives in the pit area are not a great idea. Deo's are harder to formulate than they first appear. It took me a little over a year to develop a deodorant stick with an active that works, feels right going on and is hypoallergenic. It was a long stinky journey =D

[emilyspoppy]

I have to agree about the baking soda. Tore my skin up very painfully at any usage rate. Arrowroot seemed to really suck up humidity, and if you happen to sweat it permeates shirts leaving an unsightly ring around the arm pit of dark colored fabric.

I am one that does not like the feel of the oil/butter/wax blends for underarm use - Occlusives in the pit area are not a great idea. Deo's are harder to formulate than they first appear. It took me a little over a year to develop a deodorant stick with an active that works, feels right going on and is hypoallergenic. It was a long stinky journey =D

Shannon; Do you know if corn starch is a suitable replacement for arrowroot in deodorant?

Dave

Edited May 7, 2013 by emilyspoppy

[TallTayl]

Shannon; Do you know if corn starch is a suitable replacement for arrowroot in deodorant?

Dave

Corn starch is used in a few commercially available deo's - notably in the Lavanila Laboratories products that consistently receive high marks in the natural deo market tests. It all depends on what you like, and what pH your deodorant is at. Arrowroot performs better at lower pH ranges in the kitchen, and seemed consistent with the tests I did for deo. Corn starch seems to be more stable at higher pH ranges. IMO, starches are used more as fillers/bulking agents than an actives. Corn starch often feels nice, though talc feels better than either, as much as that goes against the new trends for natural deo products

I read hundreds of patents and about that many manufacturer formulations for deo's that have been commercially available for the past few decades. Corn starch appears in several. Arrowroot in none. That clued me in on where to look at why arrowroot in my own tests was not effective.

[emilyspoppy]

Wow! You know your craft. I can attest to the quality of your CP soaps and some beauty products; We'll at least my DW can on the B&B.

I'm sure I'll never make a deodorant product, but I have "Terminal Curiosity" about almost everything.

I use arrowroot in cooking and feel it does not have the thickening power of cornstarch although the textures are similar. I was just wondering. I agree that talc has a better "feel" at least for me. Either, though, can only absorb so much moisture before the clumping begins, in my opinion.

Good luck with your product development. Call me if you find the time,

Dave

Edited May 7, 2013 by emilyspoppy
I'm a MORON.

[SuzyK]

I've seen arrowroot in many deodorant recipes that have great reviews. I'll have to play with lots of different things.

Thank you for all the info!

Edited May 7, 2013 by SuzyK

[TexasBrat]

The reason you want to use essential oils is for their "medicinal" properties. FO's will only add scent and irritation.

I use arrowroot in my recipe and mine is pretty good. I sent them out in a swap here on the board and several really liked it. My testers who have been said it was really good too.

[SuzyK]

That's good to know about the arrowroot.

I knew the essential oils had the medicinal properties. Even with skin safe Fo's, they will be irritating? Is it because that area of skin is more sensitive?

[emilyspoppy]

I'm not a bath and body products producer at this time, therefore I probably shouldn't be posting here, but I'm wired to try and be helpfull particularly when health and safety issues are involved. I have been investigating a small venture into trying to market a very limited line of M&P soaps and lotion bases that I modify.

Last week I spent several hours in a phone-a-thon with a purveyor of EO's who is also a manufacturer of FO's. I've known this manufacturer for about a decade and thus we've become quite friendly over the years.

During our conversation we discussed the safety concerns I had for skin allergies to FO's VS EO's. My friend explained to me that most of the FO's that he manufactures are skin safe, but quite a few of the EO's on the market were not only not skin safe, but in certain applications they could be even poisonous.

An example he told me was; The pure "natural" Lemon EO he sold was NOT recommended for skin contact due to photosensitivity issues, yet the "synthetic" Lemon FO was considered skin safe at recommended levels. He said this was consistant with some other citrus type fragrances including the popular Bergamot fragrance which is used in many fragrance recipes. He also told me that some "unsafe" EO's could be made "safe", but the process would mean they were no longer pure and natural and couldn't be marketed as such.

I'm sure there are many very good EO's out there, but based on what I've learned about them to date, I'm going to do a whole lot of checking before I jump into fragrancing any B&B products with either EO's or FO's. I doubt if I would ever have the courage to make an underarm product, myself, but that's just me and in no way meant to discourage anyone else what-so-ever.

PLEASE have pity on this B&B "dummy" and don't gang up on me for posting this. I'm just trying to help some reader/looker/lurker out there from assuming all EO's are better and safer than all FO's.

JMO/HTH

Dave

[SuzyK]

That's good info. I have stayed away from EO's because of the info I've read on a website that sells them. I am leery of using them because some said not to use while pregnant.

NG does a great job of giving the percent of each FO that is safe for skin.

[TexasBrat]

I would think using essential oils at small increments and blended with oils, would not make it harmful to the skin. I think full straight on eo's on the skin would be irritating.

Suzyk, I just don't think there is any purpose to add a fo to deodorant. The use of eo's helps as part of the deodorant, it can fight bacteria, it's purpose is not just to scent but do a job. You could try and test it out.