Coconut Deodorant!

A few months ago I read that due to it's antibacterial nature coconut oil could be used as an underarm deodorant.  Yes, seriously, I kid-you-not coconut oil slathered under your pits will protect you from dreaded BO!  The scientist part of me was intrigued. The earth-friendly, chemical hating side of me was excited....and the guinea pig inside me was ready to try it out :-)

I had just got a freakishly large tub of Tropical Traditions Gold Label unrefined, super duper coconut oil so I took a small amount and placed it in a jar in the bathroom in preparation for my grand experiment.
My negative control was to go au naturale for a day.  Since I have a desk job, work from home and it's still Spring I felt it wouldn't be too traumatic.  By the afternoon I was a little ripe but not bad...I am a girl after all!
My crude calibration was basically to see how close I had to get my nose to my pits.
- lunch time no smell
-3pm I had to poke my nose under my t-shirt before I got the slightest of smells
- 9pm I still had to remove clothing before I could smell anything, but it was stronger than 3pm

The next day I stood in my underwear and giggled as I put about half a teaspoon of 100% unrefined coconut oil under each pit.  Coconut oil is not a thick oil, so it felt a little watery and not sticky at all.  I had some concern about marking my clothes and how would I explain big oil patches under my arms, but that turned out not to be a problem.  Within minutes the oil had soaked in under my arms and my skin felt dry and baby soft!
- lunch time no bad smell, just a slight sweet smell, more vanilla than coconut
-3pm I poked my nose under my t-shirt - nada!
- 9pm I removed clothing and did a weird yoga-like pose to get my nose as close as I could to the potentially offending area.  I really couldn't smell anything.  Holy crapolli, it worked!

I have continued to use coconut oil to make sure my experiment wasn't a fluke!
When I exercise and lift weights it doesn't work as well, but still I have to lift my arm before other humans (husband) could smell anything bad.  One weekend when I used wax that wasn't warm enough and irritated my skin, I was a little worried about using a deodorant, so I used coconut oil.  No sting, no problem...and my irritated skin was fine in 2 days!

It's not an antiperspirant, so when the Summer heat arrives I may switch to something less clammy, but for now it's nice to use something natural.  I also found out it's pretty good on preventing smelly feet too!
No negative control required for that one :-)