Homemade Deodorant

My husband and I are trying to turn our clocks "back" to a simpler more natural way of living without chemicals on or in our bodies. Last fall, I began experimenting with making homemade toothpaste, lotion, lip balm, shampoo, and deodorant. I tried using store bought natural deodorants such as Toms and Arm and Hammer, but they broke me out. I've also tried several different recipes I found online, but they broke us out in rashes after a few days. Obviously all bodies all react differently, but these are two recipes that I finally came up with that my husband and I are able to use daily. These deodorants don't stop our bodies completely from sweating like potentially harmful antiperspirants do, but they keep us fairly dry and do a  great job in naturally preventing body odor. I alternate these two deodorants every other day, while my husband uses the cream version (deodorant #2 daily). Our teenagers still use antiperspirants that are full of chemicals and perfumes - We haven't been successful in getting them to try out our all natural deodorants yet.

DEODORANT #1
Ingredients:

• raw apple cider organic vinegar (such as Bragg's)
• arrowroot powder
• non-aluminum baking soda (I use Bob's Red Mill) 
• Optional: a few drops of essential oil such as orange or lavender

Directions:
Mix 3 parts arrowroot powder with 1 part baking soda. You can add a few drops of essential oil to the powder mixture, but I don't.  Store in a sealed container/jar. Swab clean underarms with raw apple cider vinegar with a cloth or cotton ball (the vinegar smell dissipates). Then pat on the powder mixture.

DEODORANT#2 

This deodorant makes a cream that should be stored in a sealed container or jar.
Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons shea butter
• 1 Tablespoon Bob's Red Mill aluminum free baking soda (I've read that Arm and Hammer is processed with aluminum - not sure if that's accurate, but I don't want to take the chance.)
• 4 Tablespoons organic arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)
• 1 Tablespoon unrefined organic cocoa butter (I buy the 4 oz. containers  online at Mountain Rose Herbs)
• 1 teaspoon organic extra virgin coconut oil
• 1 capsule vitamin E
• Optional: a couple drops of essential oil such as orange

Directions:

Melt the butters and oil in a Pyrex measuring cup or glass set inside of a pot of water until the oils are  clear (or a double boiler).

Take off of the heat. Snip the end off of a vitamin E capsule, and squeeze the liquid into the melted oils. Stir in the baking soda and arrowroot powder.  If you add a few drops of essential oil such as lavender, orange, etc. then stir it in last, and pour into a jar. My husband is 6" 2" - 230 lbs. and loves this recipe (he always smells great to me.)

***Please note that diets high in plants and low in processed foods, meats, caffeine, and alcohol have also been shown to reduce body odor.

Homemade Lavender & Peppermint Shampoo and No Poo

 I love our chemical free homemade shampoo! In just five months, our hair feels thicker and softer than ever.

Lavender & Peppermint Shampoo
1 part Dr. Bronner's Hemp Peppermint Castile Soap
1 part filtered water
a couple drops grapeseed, almond, olive, or jojoba oil (optional depending on your hair type)
1 vitamin E capsule 
a few drops of lavender essential oil

Use a funnel to slowly pour castile soap and filtered water into a rinsed out shampoo bottle (We use one with a pump.) Snip off the end of a vitamin E capsule and add to the shampoo. Add a couple drops of your choice of oils (if desired) and a few drops of lavender essential oil.  Shake gently before each use. Please note: this shampoo will be watery compared to store bought shampoo, but lathers and works great on our hair.

5/21/11 UPDATE: Since I originally posted this, I've made two other shampoos with castile soap that I like equally well:

Almond Shampoo
Mix the following in a reused shampoo bottle: equal parts almond castile oil and water, a couple drops of almond oil, and 1 vitamin E capsule.

Eucalyptus Shampoo
Eucalyptus has a medicinal odor, but is supposed to be beneficial in helping prevent hair loss and dandruff.
Mix the following: equal parts Dr. Bronner's eucalyptus castile soap and water with 1 vitamin E capsule.

Check out "Sorta Poo" (from the Crunchy Betty Blog)

No Poo
My husband uses the "no poo" method of washing his hair. (I haven't been brave enough to try this method yet!)

In a squirt bottle, add
1 part aluminum free baking soda (Red Mill)
3 parts filtered water
optional: several drops essential oil (such as lavender, orange, etc.)

 *You can also just mix the baking soda and water up as you use it in a jar or  glass. Some people simply wet their hair first and then make a paste of baking soda in the palm of their hand that they rub into their scalps.

A couple times a week, we also rinse our hair in raw apple cider vinegar diluted with water. The vinegar makes our shiny and is supposed to condition it.

We found the video below helpful in using the no shampoo method.

Lip Balm

What would an organic DIY blog be without a recipe for lip balm? Let me Google a lip balm recipe for you and you'll find oodles of different concoctions.  The common ingredient for most lip balm recipes is beeswax. I purchase quite a bit of my supplies from Amazon since we have one natural food store where we live, Basic Foods, which is somewhat limited. You can also find beeswax at Mountain Rose Herbs. The next time I buy beeswax (which will probably be years from now since it takes such a small amount), I'll get the pellets so I don't have to grate it.  

I guess I put too much beeswax in my first batch, so I ended up throwing it out (I should have just remelted it and added more oil.)  On my second attempt, I used this recipe with coconut oil, jojoba oil, beeswax, and beet juice as a tint. The beet juice and oils didn't mix well for me. I tweaked the Peppermint Cocoa Lip Balm recipe from Mountain Rose Herbs site on my third try, and it turned out fabulous. The cocoa butter gives this balm a hint of chocolate flavor.

Cocoa Butter & Honey Lip Balm

1 Tablespoon pure cocoa butter

1 Tablespoon organic jojoba oil

1 Tablespoon almond oil

2 teaspoons grated beeswax (or pellets)

1/4 teaspoon local honey

(Most lip balm recipes recommend that you squeeze 1 capsule of vitamin E after the oils are melted, but I didn't put any in mine this time.)

Place the cocoa butter, beeswax, and oils in a small Pyrex measuring cup (I used a small glass) and heat in the top of a double boiler (I just use a frying pan) until the butter and beeswax have melted (it takes a while for the wax to completely melt). Once it's melted, remove from the stove and add a small drop of honey and capsule Vitamin E Oil (optional but recommended in most recipes). Immediately pour the mixture into containers. I couldn't find any BPA free plastic tubes, so I purchased 1/2 oz. lip balm tins from Mountain Rose Herbs (or you could reuse any small glass container). Allow your balm to completely cool before placing the caps on.  This recipe makes exactly enough for two 1/2 oz. containers.  Enjoy!

Body Lotion

There are many body lotion recipes on Tipnut. By far, our favorite homemade lotion recipe comes from the Sonoma Garden Blog. Cute gift labels for the top of your lotion jars are even included as a free download on this blog. I've made several batches of this recipe, and it's come out perfect every time. The only difference that I make is I use about 5 drops of lavender oil instead of the recommended 24-36 drops. We also use this lotion all over our bodies (especially during the winter) instead of just on our hands. My husband loves it on his tired feet!

My variation of the recipe:

1 1/4 cup hot water

1/4 cup emulsifying wax (We purchase ours from Mountain Rose Herbs.)

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (organic is always best)
A few drops of your favorite essential oil 

The Sonoma Blog instructs you to microwave the EVO and emulsifying wax for about a minute. I try to avoid using our microwave (some studies suggest that microwaving kills nutrients), so I melt the wax and oil in a pyrex measuring cup that I put in a pan of almost boiling water on top of the stove. Once it's melted, I add a few drops of lavender oil to the mixture. I do use the microwave to heat the 1 1/4 cups of water (I use purified water instead of tap water) for exactly 1 minute before I stir it in to the oil & wax mixture.

We used to spend money on expensive body lotions from various retailers and still had dry skin. Now, we spend a fraction of the cost,  and our skin feels better than it did in our twenties!

Brown Sugar Scrub

Making our own skin exfoliate has been the quickest and easiest body products we've replaced so far. Just two ingredients: about a cup of brown sugar and half cup or so of extra virgin olive oil. Mix the two ingredients in a glass container (we reuse glass containers with screw lids) massage gently into your skin, and rinse with water (no need for soap). The sugar removes dead skin and your skin will remain soft as a baby from the olive oil. We even use it on our faces and lips (don't rub hard). At first, we were a little worried that the olive oil would break our faces out, but it's done just the opposite......and we've been using it twice a week for the past year. You can find more body scrub recipes all over the web including Martha Stewart's site which includes cute labels for gifts, but personally, we like the ease, cost, and results of this recipe.