help here
i have always heard (and read) that anti-perspirant is bad for you.
after reading the no impact book, i decide to change a few hygiene things....
one being my deodorant.
i am using this brand.
lavender scent.
roll-on.
i don't like it.
i feel like i stink.
any recommendations?
i am game to try something new.
again.... no anti-perspirant.
no animal testing.
not bad for environment.
let's hear it......
Comments
Here's how: Mix equal parts baking soda (for odor) to corn starch (to help with moisture absorption, or you can use arrowroot powder if you want to get away from GMO sketchiness. ;) I finally found some non-GMO corn starch at a local health food store last month!).
Mix with about equal parts (or so) coconut oil (NOT coconut milk or coconut water!). Optional: add essential oil of choice. Coconut oil is expensive, but a little bit goes a long way and it's great for baking and SO good for you.
Start with 1 T. of each powder, mix with coconut oil (you might need to melt it just a bit in the cooler months) until you find a good consistency. You'll need to play around with that ratio. Sometimes I use too little oil and feel the friction of the baking soda, and sometimes I use too much... You can put it in a small glass jar (like a baby food jar) and use a little spoon or your fingers to scoop it out. I melt it a bit and pour it into an empty deo container before letting it solidify again and then apply as usual. Because coconut oil has a low melting point, we keep ours in the fridge during these hot months. It feels very cool and refreshing to rub it on! I still have to rub it in with my fingers a bit, though. My husband also uses it, and he's a hairy, sweaty beast who exercises daily. (And still stink-free!) ;)
Surprisingly, the coconut oil gets quickly absorbed into the skin and doesn't stain clothing! Coconut oil also has natural anti-bacterial properties (as do essential oils). Of all the "natural" deos I've purchased and tested in the past, none have worked as well as this homemade concoction!
Let me know if you decide to try it!
P.S. We also make our own toothpaste. Let me know if you want to go down that path, too! ;)
that recipe above sounds good, though.
btw, have you been making your own laundry detergent? i'm pretty sure aunt g has been...
who woullda thought on a Friday night I'd be learning how to make my own deoderant?! LOVE it.
I'm going to try the recipe mama v posted.
I'd love her toothpaste recipe if she wants to share. :)
and I make my own laundry detergent and dish washer detergent ~saves lots of $$ and things are still squeaky clean. :)
https://store.drhauschka.com/b2c/ecom/ecomEnduser/items/itemDetail.aspx?&page=&store=&itemNum=DEOFL&siteId=1&bulkexists=0
Although, I don't know many who would pay $23 for deoderant...
When I started using natural deodorant around 10 years ago, I tried the crystal rock. Have you seen those before? It sort of looks and smells like plastic. I personally didn't love it. If you want to try it, they're relatively affordable, but make sure that it's a natural rock and not the synthetic version before buying (Um, I'm not really sure how to tell the difference? Maybe one is clear and the other opaque? Or just from the ingredients?). I also bought it in a deodorant canister instead of the big solo chunk, which was handy. I think it works similarly to coconut oil in that it kills (or maybe neutralizes?) the bacteria. But I learned that if one didn't apply it right after showering (or if I tried to reapply it later in the day), bacteria (and the stinkiness) would get transferred to the crystal, and then the crystal would stay stinky unless I rinsed and wiped it well or I'd just end up reapplying more stinkiness and making things worse. I think I lasted just a couple of weeks with it but some people love it and swear by it, including one of my best friends. Might be worth a shot?
I tried Tom's for a while but felt I had to reapply just a few hours later. I used the Jason brand for many years and had better results but sometimes still felt stinky by the end of the day, especially if I had been exercising or working hard on a hot, sweaty day.
I just realized something -- if this is your first time switching from an anti-perspirant to a "natural" deo, it could take time to get used to the wetness under your armpits. I took me a long time to get used to feeling my sweat and to seeing wet rings on my clothes (and to more yellowing as well). And even if I wasn't stinky, I think it was a mental shift for me to not seem stinky just because I "felt" stinky. Does that make sense? For special occasions where I get to wear a fancy dress and don't want to show wet rings, I keep regular anti-perspirant/deo stuffed away in a drawer. I think I've owned the same container for almost 10 years now! ;)
Let us know what you end up trying! Could be a fun experiment!
Toothpaste! Not sure if you're aware of the reasons to not use conventional toothpaste, but I'll leave that kind of thing out and pass along the recipe for now!
You can make a tooth powder or a tooth "paste." My husband uses the former and I use the latter. ;)
I'm sure there are a gazillion recipes to choose from online if you do a Google search. But here's what we do:
Tooth Powder -
1 t. baking soda.
1 t. fine-ground celtic sea salt. (we cook with celtic or himalayan sea salt, so we have it on hand, but I'm sure any fine-ground sea salt will do - just stay away from table salt!)
10-20 drops of your favorite essential oil. I like LOTS of peppermint oil (closer to 20 drops). My husband experiments with cinnamon, lemon, etc. and adds fewer drops than I do.
Tooth "paste" -
Made with - you guessed it! - coconut oil! Can't you tell I love that stuff?
2 T coconut oil.
2-3 T baking soda.
1/4 t. Stevia. For a bit of sweetness - I've never used Stevia for cooking or eating but once bought a box of individual packets of the stuff for my MIL, who didn't like it (I'm trying to get her away from Splenda and all those fake sweeteners). It turned out that one little packet is exactly 1/4 t. and just right for this recipe. When I run out, I think I'll leave the Stevia out all together to see how it feels/tastes. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes.
10-20 drops essential oil.
Mix well, keep in a small glass container, scoop up with a small spoon (or if it's an individual's container, just use your toothbrush to scoop out enough for brushing). Now that we know what we each prefer, we make it in larger quantities.
I have some tooth sensitivity from some enamel erosion that occurred many years ago and used to only buy Sensodyne or other similar toothpastes containing sodium nitrate for the tooth pain. I found that the tooth powder irritates those sensitive spots just a bit BUT the tooth "paste" with coconut oil doesn't bother them at all! I can brush right over those spots rigorously and not feel a bit of discomfort! Again, since coconut oil has a low melting point, I flush my mouth with warm water at the end to make sure it rinses out well.
We haven't been doing this but for a little over 7 months now. But the dentist has given us both high compliments on our clean teeth! ;)
It took us both a bit of time to adjust to the saltiness of the homemade concoctions. Even if you're using a recipe without salt, baking soda has a very salty feel and flavor to it.
How about continuing to spread the natural-product love by posting your detergent recipes Jeanette? I've seen a few online but haven't yet taken the plunge. Maybe you can help convince me! (And thanks, K, for providing the forum!)