'Stinky' Pachy Preceded the Sweet Smell of Success

For the smell of success, take a whiff of Kasia Rothe’s pachy.

That’s the Polish word for underarm, and it’s also the name of the product Rothe of White Lake Township and her sister, Monica Stakvel, 32, of Farmington Hills, developed to correct a pervasive problem that developed during Rothe’s first pregnancy.

“I was stinky,” Rothe, 35, told The Oakland Press.

Rothe said she tried various over-the-counter deodorant products and they masked the odor for a while, then become ineffective.

That’s when she and her sister began researching different formulas, eventually getting the right balance for an all-natural deodorant launched recently by their Oakland County company, Rutic Maka.

The Polish-American sisters called it Pachy (pronounced ‘pahyi) to stay current to their Polish roots, Rothe said.

Created with made-in-nature, organic and vegan ingredients. Pachy is handcrafted without parabens, aluminum, triclosan, propylene-glycol, preservatives, GMOs, gluten, corn or soy byproducts, they said in a news release posted on Patch.

It’s made with food-grade ingredients such as organic coconut oil and skin softening raw organic Shea butter as the base for all deodorants. Rustic Maka uses only therapeutic-grade essential oils for scenting the Pachy deodorants, which makes them perfume- and synthetic fragrance-free. Pachy is also made in small batches to guarantee the highest quality during production and is packaged in BPA-free, environmentally friendly post-consumer recycled containers.

It comes in five scents: Naughty Butter, Sweet Lemonade, Wild Meadows, Calming Fields and Rough Rivers.

The deodorants have been selling well both online and at The Purple Door Store in Wixom, and now the sisters are in talks with stores in Farmington Hills, Grand Rapids, Midland, Mount Pleasant, Dearborn and Lapeer, Roth said.