Homemade Deodorant in Under 20 Minutes!

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Husband is a stinky man. Seriously. Stink-y.

He, therefore, is a deodorant addict. An aluminum-preservative-and-fragrance-laden deodorant addict.

Correction: he was a stinky, deodorant addict. Cue the homemade deodorant!

I can make a batch (about 1 cup) in way under 20 minutes, including cleaning time. The beeswax and shea make cleaning a bit of a pain, so I've culled one of my old pans to use just for recipes with the messy ingredients in them. The greatest part is that it actually works! Day one of testing went something like this (ok, it went exactly like this)...

It looks like a lot of expensive ingredients, but you can make enough deodorant for the rest of your life from these. Also, I use everything here in other concoctions. Arrowroot powder is a great corn starch sub for thickening sauces (and is non-GMO!), beeswax & shea go in my balm, I put orange oil in with my vinegar/water cleaner, and tea tree oil is great for minor scrapes and cuts.

The "bare bones" recipe is just coconut oil, baking soda, and arrowroot powder. Here's what the rest of the ingredients do (so you can decide if you want to use them, too):

Orange oil - smells yummy
Tea tree oil - natural antimicrobial (so it helps to kill the stinky bacteria)
Beeswax - thicker texture and helps emulsify
Shea - moisturizes & promotes smoother pits

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup GMO-free baking soda
• 1/4 cup arrowroot powder
• 2 tablespoons beeswax
• 2 tablespoons shea butter
• 1/4 teaspoon orange oil
• 1 teaspoon tea tree oil

Directions

1.  Combine all of the ingredients except the orange and tea tree oil in a small pan.

2.  Cook while stirring over medium heat until everything is dissolved.

3.  Stir in the orange and tea tree oil.

4.  Remove from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.

5.  When the mixture just starts to thicken, stir and pour into a glass container (Hobby Lobby!)

Usage

A little goes a loooong way! Scoop a tiny bit on to your finger and rub in under your pits. If you get too much, you could leave greasiness on your clothes (ick). I have a big jar of it in the bathroom and a little travel container in my desk drawer. This stuff is powerful, so I can often skip days and not have any smelliness!

Homemade Beeswax Balm {multipurpose}

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I was at a fancy spa last week and fell in love with a line of natural smelly-good body products that they carried: Zents. The smells were fantastic, and their balm, Concreta, was fantastically formulated. Then I flipped the cute little sample boxes over. Holy Cow! $34 for 1.25 ounces of balm! I'm pretty sure I audibly gasped...

Then I read the ingredients: beeswax, shea butter, coconut oil, scented oils. Seriously. That was it.

And, just like that, a new DIY project was born.

I added cypress essential oil for its muscle relaxation properties, rose hip seed oil for its skin regeneration properties, carrot seed oil for its anti-aging and detox properties, and orange oil for an energizing scent. You really can go wild, though, and add in any essential oils for their medicinal properties or their scents!

I think I'll be making another batch with calendula oil, peppermint oil, lavender oil, and tea tree oil and use it as a healing balm (just like All Good Goop!).

Ingredients

• 3 ounces unrefined beeswax (3/4 cup if you get the same size product as me)

Unrefined beeswax is yellow, so your balm will be
yellow. The Zents balm must have used refined
beeswax, since their product is so white.

• 3 1/2 ounces unrefined shea butter (1/2 cup)

• 5 ounces unrefined coconut oil (3/4 cup)

• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cypress essential oil
• 2 teaspoons rose hip seed oil
• 1/2 teaspoon carrot seed oil 
• 1 tablespoon orange oil

Directions

1.  Combine the wax, shea, coconut, and olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. The texture will be weird and soupy, since the coconut oil melts at 76 degrees and the beeswax doesn't melt until 140 degrees.

2.  Stir the mixture until the beeswax starts to break apart. This may take a little white, because you are waiting for the mixture to come up to 140-ish. {Note: do not stick your candy thermometer in the mix, because you will NEVER be able to wash the waxy balm off of it... Still trying...}

3.  When the wax starts to melt, whisk until it all makes one happy pool of clear, yellow liquid. Remove from heat. Dip a spoon into the liquid and then let it cool. Check the texture. If you want it more solid, add more beeswax and put it back on the heat until it melts. If you want it more creamy, add more coconut oil or olive oil.

4.  Add it your essential oils and stir well. If the oils make the mixture re-solidify, just put it back on the heat until its all melted again.

5.  Spoon or pour into jars. I found these adorable 4-ounce jars at Hobby Lobby to use as gifts {teacher appreciation week and Mother's Day!} I filled 6, so you should get about 24 ounces out of this recipe. If you need less, you can half the recipe. 

I ended up spending about what I would have spent on 1.25 ounces of the fancy Zents Concretas on what will make about a lifetime supply of the exact same recipe!

A few hints to make your process a little smoother than my first go at it was:

• Don't use anything that can't go in the dishwasher.
• Be careful not to get the ingredients or the final product on your countertops - they are really hard to get completely cleaned off.
• When you're done, stick the pan and utensils in the dishwasher and wash on hot with vinegar. Then, run it again with dishwasher soap.

Getting Dirty!

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I have found the best and cheapest skin care product EVER!  Seriously, ever. Are you ready for this?  Really ready?

It's Dirt!

Well, clay actually, but dirt's dirt, right?

I read about clay's incredibly complex characteristics and uses over at A Real Food Lover and figured, "what the clay"!  [my mom thinks I'm funny. I swear.]  I've had skin issues since Little Bear was born, so I figured I'd add it to the list of supposed magical remedies and get to trying it eventually.

I found it in a grocery store for just 7 bucks, so I thought Mom and I could try it out. Oh Em Gee!  (ordinarily I hate that phrase, but it seems very fitting here...)

Not only did it extract all the ickies from my pores, both clogged and not, but it also closed my gaping pores up without a trace of Little Bear left on my face! My mom likened it to a microdermabrasion, but I never cared for them and I LOVED this.

I'd definitely say that this is something to move to the top of your "to try" list, especially with a price tag of around 7 bucks or less (usually less than $6 on Amazon)!

Where to find it?  You should be able to pick a jar of clay up at a health food store, a natural health store, or even online. I've been using this brand, but any clay powder should work relatively similarly.  I wouldn't get hung up on the "type" of clay or the brand (e.g., bentonite v. kaolin). Dirt's dirt, right?

The How's and the To's  The process is a little messy, but the procedure is super easy.

1. Mix equal parts of clay powder with equal parts water (or for really deep cleaning, use raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar). Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes.
2. Once most of the lumps can be stirred out of the mixture, apply liberally to your face. You will want to really cake it on - a minimum  of 1/4-inch thick. You'll probably feel like the swamp thing, but this can be used to your advantage [think about how many veggies your little ones will eat while the swamp thing is watching them, or how much more willing your loud neighbor will be to turn their d**n music down when the crazy swamp thing lady next door asks them].
3. Cover your face with a damp cloth (or plastic wrap, if you're desperate - don't suffocate!).
4. Let the mask set for 20 minutes to an hour.  
5. Use a wash cloth to remove the mask, and wash your face well.
6. Dry, tone and moisturize your skin. DONE!

Notable Notes  A few things to keep in mind:

You're not supposed to let the mixture come in contact with anything metal, including the mixing spoon and bowl, but if you're having trouble mixing the paste, the mini food processor is really helpful! Otherwise, make sure to use glass, ceramic, or plastic for mixing and applying.

If you don't have time to sit still long enough to cover your face with a damp cloth, you can let the mask dry without a cover. From what I've read, the cloth helps the mask be more effective, but I've had good results without a cloth, too.

You will most likely feel your face pulsate a few minutes after application. This is normal (and really cool). I think it has something to do with drawing your blood to the surface and helping to detox.


Once you've removed the mask, your black heads will be all loosened up and a pore strip will be super effective.  I read a review on Amazon to this effect, so I tried it. SUPER CLEAN SKIN!

In addition to your face, try using the mask on your feet (especially the bottoms of your feet). Your feet are a major "port of detox" for your body, so a good foot detox really helps to detox your whole body.

You can make the clay mixture thicker and use it to pull out infection or other skin maladies just about anywhere on your body. I used it to cure a little hangnail infection (darn those suckers are annoying) in just two one-hour applications. The clay actually drew out all of the nasty infection stuff (let's just say it was really gross when I removed the clay...) and made the infection go away all together. It's also wonderful for pulling the poison out of insect bites (fire ants!). I saved Little Bear from a nasty slew of itchy ant bites by caking on the clay and wrapping his ant-bite-ridden feet in plastic bags for 45 minutes. They never even made him itch!

There are a ton of other uses for clay, but I haven't had a chance to try them out. If you're interested, I highly recommend checking out my inspiration for this post over at A Real Food Lover!