DIY Deodorant

As I've mentioned on here before, I always want to test ideas/recipes out BEFORE I post them on here because I want to make sure you won't be wasting your time if you try something I've suggested. I want this blog to help make your life simple, not more work. Or, if it's gonna be a bit more work, I at least want it to be worth it, something that saves you money, keeps you healthy or something you can just take pride in having done yourself.

So today I wanna share a recipe for homemade deodorant. Yes, I realize you can take less than 5 minutes and a few dollars and just go buy some. Yes, I realize you're limited on time. However, I also realize that store bought deodorant is FULL of aluminum. And being that your skin is the largest organ on your body, you are putting that aluminum directly onto your skin where it seeps into your blood stream. Not good for you. PLUS, it's the reason your hubby's white shirts have all those yellow pit stains.

Yes, I realize you can spend a bit more and get a healthy, organic version from any health foods store. However, if you're willing to take 20 minutes once every 3 MONTHS (yes, you read that right) then you can have the same, organic, good for you type of deodorant for a fraction of the cost! And worst case scenario, if you try it and decide you either don't care for it or don't wanna take the time to make it, you can always use the ingredients you bought in many other recipes, so they won't go to waste.

I've been using this recipe for 3 months now. I just made my second batch today. I LOVE IT. It's simple, it's healthy, and it works! I searched for a long time through a myriad of recipes for homemade deodorant. But all I ever found were ones that had you make a paste and then rub it in your armpits with your fingers. NO THANK YOU. And besides, I have limited time to get ready in the morning because I want every minute of sleep I can get, so I really don't want to add another time of washing my hands while getting ready. Even if it only takes a few minutes every day. For a few minutes every 3 months, I can have regular, solid deodorant that doesn't require me to get my hands goopy. Yes, please!

I came across this recipe on the blog Frugally Sustainable. Love, love, LOVE this blog!! You should definitely check it out when you have a minute! Here's my version (with a couple of things omitted):

DIY DEODORANT

1 T cocoa butter
1 T coconut oil
1 T beeswax
3 1/2 T arrowroot powder
1/4 t. vitamin E oil
8 drops essential oil
Clean used deodorant container

You can find all of these items at your local health foods store (except the container of course). I wish I'd paid attention to the original cost, but knowing that the equivalent in store bought healthy deodorant is usually $6-8 each, this is waaaaaaaay cheaper. I'm roughly guessing it cost me about $30-35 for all of it. But this will make you at least a 5 YEAR supply if each batch lasts 3 months. You'd spend that on the store bought stuff in just over a year if not sooner. So it's approximately 1/5th of the cost if you DIY.  :)

The original recipe calls for shea butter and probiotics. I have no idea why I didn't get the shea butter, but it didn't seem to make a difference, so I'm not worried about it now. As for the probiotics, those can be expensive, so I wanted to be sure I liked the recipe before I bought them. Next trip to the store, I'm definitely picking some up! I also used only arrowroot powder and 1/2 the amount of essential oil it suggests because I have sensitive skin.

So here's what you do (total time about 20 minutes):

1. Melt the coconut oil, beeswax & cocoa butter over a low heat.

**I just eye-balled 1 T of each because the butter and wax are hard.**

2. Remove the pan from the heat and add the arrowroot powder, mixing until well blended.

3. Add Vitamin E oil and essential oil. Let cool in the pan to a pudding-like consistency.

4. Carefully scoop into your clean deodorant container with a spatula.

**Make sure your container base is rolled down to the lowest setting. Then you'll have to press down on each scoop of deodorant to squish it into the container. You should have very little left as it will take nearly all of it to fill a regular size deodorant dispenser.**

The finished product!! Now place in the refrigerator to cool completely and harden. Once it does, you can keep it in your bathroom at room temperature.

Here's to healthy, money-saving ways to DIY in your everyday routine!

DIY Face Wash

**Repost from 7/5/12 on my previous blog**

So there's a number of things I've been DIYing over the last few months, preparing for potential posts on here. Some worked and some didn't. But I wanted to be sure I'd tried them first so that I could give you honest feedback. I must say, out of all the things I've tried, this was my favorite by far! DIY Face Wash!

I've been back and forth between your standard, run-of-the-mill store brand face wash, and the high-end representative-ordered facecare line and all the in-between. I've never been as happy with any of them as I am right now. It's simple. It's relatively inexpensive. And my face has never looked or felt better. What do I use? OIL. Now PLEASE hear me out. I'd hate to lose you at the word "oil"! There has been tons of research done on the subject and more and more people are switching to what is commonly referred to as the "Oil Cleansing Method", with amazing results! Go on, Google it. Find out for yourself!

Basically, it boils down to this:

Dry Skin:            10% Castor Oil, 90% Jojoba Oil
Balanced Skin:    20% Castor Oil, 80% Jojoba Oil
Oily Skin:            30% Castor Oil, 70% Jojoba Oil

You can always change out the Jojoba Oil for EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil), Grapeseed Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Sunflower Oil or others. I prefer to use Jojoba because it is lightly moisturizing without being overly thick. But before you put money into this, I'd advise you to research the properties of the different oils and figure out which one does what you're looking for.  I have balanced skin for most of the year, so I use an 80/20 ratio. I also bought both of my oils at a health food store so that they would be organic, but you could easily buy them at many local grocers as well. To make this easy on myself I did the following:

1. Rinsed out my empty pump bottle of face wash I had just finished using.

2. Emptied the contents of the Jojoba Oil bottle (the little one) into the pump bottle. In this case, the only Jojoba they had was a smaller bottle, so I used it's entirety to make up the 80%.

3. Eye-balled what I believed to be 20% of additional Castor Oil.




Now that I had my face wash, I decided to make it fit into MY schedule rather than adding any extra steps, just to be sure I was going to like it without much work. Remember: Simple is the key! So, when I got in the shower, I applied 1 pump worth (about a nickel size amount) of oil on my hands and began rubbing it in gently. After about one minute, I grabbed a clean wash cloth, wet it with fairly hot water, laid it on my face with my head tilted back just a bit, and allowed my self a minute or two to relax under the shower spray while the rag cooled. This "steaming" allows your pores to open up and the oil to really cleanse your face. Once it cooled to about room temp, I used the rag to gently wipe off any excess oil. **NOTE: Do not scrub the oil off your face. Your skin is supposed to feel slightly oily to the touch, but it will soak in within minutes. If you scrub it all off, you will need to use moisturizer afterwards, which the oil could easily do for you if you'd just gently wipe it off instead.

Then I finished showering, got out, and got ready for the day. Easy as pie! That was nearly 2 months ago and I wouldn't go back! I have found that if I wash my face at the sink at night (which I do if I've worn make-up that day) I may or may not need a tiny amount of moisturizer in the morning, but if I do, it's WAY less than I ever used before.

Results:

*Less expensive than store bought organic face wash. I was paying about $18 per bottle that would last me about 6 weeks. Now I'm paying about $40 (after finding a larger Jojoba Oil bottle) and while the full pump bottle still lasts me only 6 weeks, I have leftover oil for up to another 3 batches!

*My skin is clearer, softer and more balanced than with any other product I've used.

*One product does the job of many. No more wash+toner+lotion. Just wash. Maybe the occasional lotion, but rarely.

*Before, I was also paying about $16 for a tub of organic face lotion that would last me about 8 weeks. I started the OCM about half way through one of my lotion tubs. I'm STILL using it. It has about 1/4 left and it's been almost 2 months for me to use the 1/4th that I have!

I really have NO complaints. I would highly recommend this to all of you! Give it a try--at least 2 weeks of daily use and see your results! I'd love to hear how it works for you!

DIY Face Wash--a simple way to keep you looking beautiful.

Homemade Fabric Softener & Dryer Sheets

**Reposting from 6/14/12 on my previous blog**

Maybe you don't all feel the same, but my philosophy has always been, if I can make it/do it myself without much hassle AND for less cost out of pocket, why not? A lot of times when you make something yourself, you're able to keep out extra things that aren't good for you like preservatives and other chemicals. So in that case, they're also better for you.

I used to always use dryer sheets. Until the day the guy fixing my dryer told me how dangerous they were. Because of the chemicals in them, they leave a film on your lint screen that, if left unchecked and not regularly cleaned, becomes the number one cause of dryer fires. In order to check and see if your lint screen has this issue, take it out and run it under water in your sink. If it holds water rather than letting it run through, then you already have the film on there and it needs to be cleaned. You can easily clean it with warm soapy water and verify that it's fully clean by running it under water again to be sure it runs through the screen. The other thing the chemicals are known to do is to make your clothing less fire-retardant, which is never a good thing.

Now I don't know about you, but even without the fire-retardant clothing issue, who has time to clean their lint screen all that often? And who wants to sit up at night wondering if they clean it often enough to always be safe? I'll be honest. I have FOUR kids, soon to be five. The last thing I think about most days is all the smaller, routine home maintenance stuff like dryer lint screen cleaning.

All that being said, I was also hesitant when someone first told me I could simply use vinegar in place of fabric softener. I don't care for the smell of vinegar. And I LOVE the smell of freshly cleaned clothes. But I thought, well I'll try the vinegar. It worked. It was simple. It didn't make my clothes stink like vinegar. But they weren't overly soft, either. So I wasn't thrilled. Enter this recipe from Jillee over at One Good Thing. (I love her site!!) This allows you to get the inexpensive benefit of vinegar but also the softness and more enticing smell from hair conditioner! That's right, hair conditioner. It goes like this:

6 cups water
3 cups vinegar
2 cups conditioner

Gently mix all 3 ingredients in an extra large bowl OR a 1 gallon jug. If you're too fast in mixing it you will get bubbles, so be sure to be gentle. Once it's all mixed, use it just as you would your store-bought variety! Easy Peasy! Now, I will say that I chose to make the recipe in half, simply because I wanted to reuse my old store bought bottle and it's just over a half gallon size. But feel free to make it in the full version if it works for you. I always find that I use more shampoo than I do conditioner so it's easy for me to use up conditioner faster this way. If this is not the case for you, just find whatever brand of conditioner smells good to you and use that--as this is what your clothes will smell like when you're done.

If you'd still rather use dryer sheets than liquid softener, you can! Simply take your homemade softener and completely dampen (but not to dripping) 5-10 clean old wash rags/scrap towel pieces. Let them air dry, then keep them in a bin or container in your laundry room until they're needed! Each rag should work for at least 10-15 times before it needs to be re-soaked and dried. This is not the method I use, simply because the liquid version works for me. To make dryer sheets would be an extra step I don't need to take.

Hopefully this has encouraged you to to grab the ingredients (because you likely have them on hand) and take 5 minutes--yes, only 5 MINUTES--and try making your own! It's so easy and so inexpensive! And that's always a beautiful thing!

Note:
*I prefer to mix using a whisk as it seems to blend it a little easier.

After Mixing

Before Mixing