Get a fresh start with your own homemade deodorant!
There is more and more research that indicates a direct correlation between breast cancer and antiperspirant use. For years I’ve been using natural deodorants sold in the health food section. Deodorants like Jason, Lush’s Aromaco and Aromarant, and other organic brands.
Sadly many of these "natural deodorants" have known carcinogenic ingredients. Another issue I've faced with varying hormones that nursing or pregnancy bring, is that I often had to apply these natural deodorants a gazillion times a day.
This is my homemade deodorant recipe:
~1/4 C. Cocoa Butter
~1-2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
Melt, blend, remove from heat and then add:
~1-3 Heaping Tbsp of Baking Soda
~10-15 drops each of essential oil: Lavender, Patchouli, Sweet Orange, and 5-10 drops of an antiseptic oil like Tea Tree or Cedar Wood.
These are the oils I used but you could make up your own blend.
Mix this thoroughly. Using a spatula, scrape your mixture into a mold of some sort. I used a 1-2 ounce plastic container. Let it harden and remove. Depending on your climate this deodorant maybe a solid deodorant that you massage on, or for warmer climates it may be more of a paste that you administer in a pea size amount on your underarm. You can also just keep it in a warmer OR cooler place for your preference.
This is seriously the best deodorant I’ve used, and a simple beautiful satisfaction comes from knowing you did this yourself.
It can get a little messy, but isn't a bathroom or shower filled with chunks of this or pastes of that, or clear wordless bottles look SO MUCH BETTER....if feels much more restful than the busyness of cluttered-color-overloaded shelves that smell of artificial blah. Rather than the smelly cleaning isle of the grocery store, those spa like storage corners will look and smell fresh and clean and resemble more of a garden.
What is your homemade deodorant regime?
I'd love to try this... I've read that some people use an empty antiperspirant stick and keep it in the fridge (coconut oil melts like crazy in the summer)
ReplyDeleteFor the last few years I've been making a mix of corn starch and baking soda with a few drops of olive oil and essential oil for smell. It's crumbly for the first week or so and then seems to harden. I push it into an old deoderant container and it works great.
ReplyDeleteI've been using plain baking soda for about a year now and love it.
ReplyDeletehave you ever substituted cocoa butter for shea butter?
ReplyDeleteRachel, I know others that use plain Baking Soda as well, and love it! It's great because it is also a cleaning agent so, no more sticky underarms of shirts! p.s. What is your blog address?
ReplyDeleteTamara, I have never used shea butter, but I'm sure it would work just as well. Does shea butter have the same texture as cocoa butter? I bought several pounds of organic cocoa butter from RealRawFood so I've got to work my way through that. Let me know how the shea butter goes!
Coralee, that is a great idea! Yes my coconut oil is just a pool in summer - so the fridge is a great idea, cause it'll just melt as you roll it on!
ReplyDeleteEvelyn, that is so fascinating that it actually hardens! When you hear all the options of homemade, you wonder why we can't just put the industry out of business;)
Hi Patty-jean,
ReplyDeleteDoing a quick search I found a little article here about shea butter and cocoa butter. They both sound very similar. http://www.anti-aging-natural-supplements.com/anti-aging-shea-butter.html
I'm asking about the substitutue because I just happen to have shea butter in raw form. I ordered it to help me cope with eczema during the winter.
I'd like to give your recipe a try using shea butter.
Let us know how it goes. they say thriftiness is the mother of invention - could be "creativity; using whatever you have" is the mother of invention.
ReplyDeleteI'm such a hacker and I don't mean brilliant computer genious...I mean, like, what you do to a piece of paper with some horrible sissors. I throw a bunch of ingredients together and hope for the best - sometimes it works beautifully and sometimes not;)
Oh. I would LOVE to try this. How very interesting.
ReplyDelete