Manuka Oil Deodorant Recipe with Detoxifying Sea Clay

This manuka oil deodorant recipe is a great choice for anyone wanting to switch to a natural, non-irritating deodorant. Made with antifungal and antibacterial manuka essential oil as well as detoxifying, mineral rich sea clay, this natural manuka oil deodorant recipe fights body odor without synthetic or toxic ingredients and offers a fresh, uni-sex scent perfect for summer.

What is sea clay?

Sea clay is a dark greenish-gray clay derived from the ancient sea floor of the Dead Sea in Israel. (You are probably already familiar with Dead Sea salt which comes from the same location.) As such, this unique clay offers an array of skin care benefits in part to its rich magnesium, potassium, sulfate and calcium content. Commonly used as an ingredients face masks as well as a natural soap colorant, sea clay also possesses detoxifying properties that can help to absorb odors and wetness when used in deodorant.

Alternatively, sea clay is also used by some alternative health practitioners to treat fibromyalgia, likely due to the high magnesium content. While the science doesn’t support using clay to treat this illness, I have found that including magnesium in my homemade deodorants has helped lessen the symptoms and severity of my own fibromyalgia with continued use.

It is important to note, however, that the Dead Sea is receding at an alarming rate in part both to regular mining and global warming. (You can read more about the recession of the Dead Sea on Wikipedia here and BBC News here.) As such, if you prefer not to contribute to the recession of the Dead Sea by purchasing Dead Sea salt or Dead Sea clay, you can simply substitute the sea clay in my manuka oil deodorant recipe with bentonite clay which has similar properties. (I had some leftover sea clay that was purchased prior to the discovery of these articles.)

What are the benefits of manuka essential oil?

The manuka plant is native to New Zealand. This is where both manuka honey and manuka essential oil are sourced. Manuka honey is used for its beneficial properties in both skin care and as a health food for its wellness and antibiotic properties. (Learn more about manuka honey here.)

While manuka honey comes from New Zealand’s bees, manuka essential oil is produced by steam distillation of manuka leaves. (Learn more about manuka essential oil here.) This non-toxic, non-irritating and non-sensitizing essential oil is generally safe for all ages to use and is commonly included in skin care applications for its beneficial antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties. As such, manuka essential oil is common in products that help to relieve itching skin and dandruff, rashes, common skin diseases and minor abrasions, as well as to ease pain in the muscles and joints.

I omitted the use of baking soda in my manuka oil deodorant recipe as it’s a common skin irritant for many, myself included. However, as with many of my past natural homemade deodorant recipes, I once again included magnesium hydroxide. Studies have shown that most adults have low levels of magnesium and as such including it in deodorant is an easy way to increase those levels. Sound good? Great! Let’s get started!

 

Manuka Oil Deodorant Recipe

© Rebecca D. Dillon

Ingredients:

7 oz. arrowroot powder
3 oz. magnesium hydroxide
1 oz. Dead Sea clay (or bentonite clay)
2.5 oz. kokum butter
.5 oz. refined shea butter
2 oz. shea nut oil
2.5 oz. macerated carrot oil
1/4 teaspoon carnauba wax
.05 oz. manuka essential oil
.1 oz 5-fold lemon essential oil

How to Make Manuka Oil Deodorant

You’ll need a digital scale to weigh all of the ingredients for my manuka oil deodorant recipe, except for the carnauba wax. You will need a measuring spoon to measure out the wax.

To make my manuka oil deodorant recipe with sea clay, begin by weighing out the shea butter and kokum butter into a large glass Pyrex measuring cup or glass bowl. Next, measure out the carnauba wax and add it to your container. Melt these ingredients in the microwave at 40%  power until melted. (Alternately you can also use a double boiler.)

Once melted, weigh out the shea nut oil and the macerated carrot oil. (If you live in a particularly warm environment, I recommend reducing the amount of carrot oil to 2 oz. – 2.25 oz. The mixture should be just pourable.) Stir these oils into the melted butters and wax. If needed, you can gently heat the deodorant mixture again then mix well to combine.

While the manuka oil deodorant mixture is still hot, weigh out and stir in both the arrowroot powder, sea clay and magnesium hydroxide. Mix well with a non-metal utensil to combine.

Then follow with the essential oils, again mixing thoroughly to ensure they are fully incorporated into your manuka oil deodorant.

Now carefully pour your manuka oil deodorant into eight travel size 1.5 oz. brown paperboard push up tubes. (You can also halve this recipe if desired. Half the amount of manuka essential oil is .025 oz./1 gram and half the 5-fold lemon essential oil is .05 oz./1.4 grams.)

Alternately, for a regular sized deodorant, you also use around four silver deodorant tubes with domed caps or white deodorant tubes with flat caps.

If your deodorant starts to solidify during the process of pouring it into your containers, you can gently reheat the mixture.

Once your manuka oil deodorant has cooled and fully solidified – this can take 1-2 days depending on your container size and room temperature – cap the deodorant containers and label as desired.

If you are using the 1.5 oz. brown paperboard push up tubes, you can download the PDF for my free printable sea clay & manuka oil deodorant here. Then simply print the labels onto full size sticker paper, cut out the individual labels and apply as desired to your deodorant containers. (These labels are free for personal use and gifting only.)

The clipart for my manuka oil deodorant labels was purchased from Kenna Sato Designs. I specifically used the Crystals, Diamonds and Minerals clipart found here if you’d like to create your own similar custom labels.

Not quite ready to make your own manuka oil deodorant? You can buy a natural orange & vanilla manuka oil deodorant from Skin Craft Organics.

For more of my natural homemade deodorant recipes, including my palmarosa + lime natural deodorant recipe with aloe vera oil pictured above, visit Soap Deli News blog here.

Want to make my manuka oil deodorant recipe to sell? Then you’ll need to label your deodorant containers appropriately to meet state and federal laws. If you’re unsure about the rules and regulations regarding labeling, I highly recommend the book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling: How to Follow the Rules and Regs Explained in Plain English, by Marie Gale.

For more great skin care recipes from Soap Deli News blog be sure to follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

And, if you make your own bath & body products, be sure to add the hashtag #soapdelishowoff to your instagram posts. I’d love to see what you’ve created.