Make Your Own Natural Deodorant

I have stepped deeper into the rabbit hole of crunchy living.

I have been wanting for some time now to make my own, natural deodorant, free from aluminum and other toxic chemicals and substances that are common in traditional deodorants. But for one reason (lame excuse?) or another it’s taken me too long to get it done. And yet when I finally did it, it only took me, maybe 10 minutes, tops. It was probably more like 5.

The biggest challenge was getting my hands on arrowroot powder which isn’t in great supply here in Lake Charles. I had considered ordering it on Amazon but, again, for whatever reason I just didn’t. Thankfully when I made a trip to the one health foods store in town to see if I could buy essential oils locally, I was able to buy both.

It still took me another week or two to finally set myself to the task of making my deodorant. Why? I don’t know. We’ve been busy packing, then unpacking, cleaning, sorting, donating, selling, organizing…I guess I just felt too overwhelmed to try something new. Silly, silly me.

I have read numerous blogs and articles with recipes for making your own deodorant but I hadn’t bookmarked any specific one. When I finally made time to do this earlier this week, I quickly looked up this recipe and it looked like what I had seen before, so I gave it a whirl.

Ingredients: 

• ¼ cup baking soda
• ¼ cup arrowroot powder
• 8 tablespoons coconut oil
• 4 drops of tea tree oil
• an empty deodorant stick

In a mixing bowl, I combined the baking soda and arrowroot powder, then added the coconut oil gradually so I could monitor the thickness.

It’s pretty warm here which keeps our coconut oil in a fairly semi-soft state. I was able to add it right in and as I mixed, the oil softened even further making it easy to combine. (Don’t be fooled by it’s deceptive frosting-like appearance. It is not frosting.)

Once I was happy with the texture/thickness, I added about 4 drops of the tea tree oil.

A side note about tea tree oil: I was not sure about the scent because it is sometimes described as a “spicy, woodsy scent” which doesn’t really jump out as something I would be attracted to. It’s also described as having a “fresh, camphor-like scent.” Again, not sure about that on paper. But it can be useful around the house in many ways so I thought I’d give it a chance and if I didn’t like it on me, then hopefully I could still use it for a variety of other things. As it turns out, it’s not very fragrant and doesn’t bother me at all.

After mixing in the tea tree oil, I spooned the mixture into my empty deodorant stick.

As it turns out, this particular recipe makes about twice as much as my stick can hold.
Note to self: next time, cut recipe in half.

No real harm. I put the extra in a tupperware and it’s on reserve to refill my stick when it runs out.

Since trying to ditch traditional deodorant a few months ago, I’ve been using a crystal, or deodorant stone, which is ok, but there’s something about it that irritates my skin and I’ve had to take breaks from it every couple of weeks and give in to using the last little bit of traditional deodorant I hadn’t completely used up. Until about two weeks ago.

I’m on day 3 of this crunchy experiment and…I like it. So far nothing seems to be irritating my skin. Hopefully I’m not premature in declaring it a success.

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
~ Confucius

Ladies Eyes Only! Men, you’ve been warned.

Men, you might be curious but be warned, this post is about feminine functions. You might want to read ahead to see if your lady might like to hear about this awesome invention but I’m trying to give you a chance to press delete or browse on ahead to your next feed. Don’t blame me if you read on and regret it.

Ok. Any men left? You sure?

Ok…

LADIES!

Check this out. Did you know there was an alternative to tampons and pads? I sure didn’t. By pure happenstance (of which I don’t even remember the circumstances) I learned of the menstrual cup. Say what?

Apparently these ingenious, re-usable devices have been around in some form or another since the late 1800′s. But societal views of menstruation have kept us from talking about our feminine products very well over the years, and when there was a larger push in advertising, the focus was on disposable solutions. Well I don’t know about you, but I’m all about less waste. I’m SO excited to have found a solution that reduces my feminine product waste AND reduces my expenses. For $27.27 US dollars I now have one product that is re-usable, made from medical grade silicone and therefore contains no toxic shock syndrome risks, and that will last for years before needing to be replaced.

Think of it ladies…think about all the tampons or pads you use in one month, multiplied by 12 months, then by years…then by millions of women! Think about how much less waste we will be leaving younger generations if we switched to cups.

Yes, it requires a little more in terms of being comfortable with your body, but I really think anyone already using tampons should not have any trouble switching to cups. It’s hardly different in terms of functionality and actually way better in my opinion. I was able to leave my cup in for a full 11 hours (testing how long I could go) without any leakage or problems. You can’t do that with tampons – or you shouldn’t anyway.

If you need a little more convincing, let’s look at numbers…

I typically bought a 100 count pk of tampons at Sam’s for $12.44 which would last 4 – 5 months (purchased twice in the year.) Another 40 pk at Walmart for $4.34 would round out the year which puts my annual expense for feminine products at about $30. Over the last 16 years of buying my own products, that’s $480 I’ve spent, give or take a little for price differences.

Now, if my $27 (let’s call it $30) cup lasts me for the next 5 years (the suggested life of the brand I chose), I’ve saved myself $120 already. Ok, so that’s not a HUGE number but think of those same 240 tampons going down toilets (and clogging the septic and sewer systems – they are made from absorbent, expanding material and not meant to be flushed, as much as the packaging might suggest otherwise) or going in landfills. Yuck. I know, none of us really wants to think about that but we should. It’s a reality that can’t be wished away by ignoring it.

There are actually a TON of menstrual cups out there to choose from. There is a GREAT blog with very detailed comparisons of the different cups to help ladies look at the different makes and models before choosing. After thoroughly reading through the blog I narrowed down my preferred choices to either the Femmecup or Lunette. In the end, I went with Femmecup** for a few reasons. My friend who turned me on to this (Thank you D!) has a Femmecup and loves it; Femmecup comes in one size only (Lunette you have to choose size 1 or 2 and how the heck do I know?); and Femmecup was less expensive.

As to be expected, I was nervous at first. Nervous about trying something new, whether it would work, whether it would leak, whether I would be able to insert it properly, whether it would get “lost” up there. And yes, some women do have trouble getting the hang of things, I was cautioned that there is a learning curve. I did have one fleeting moment on the first day that I inserted too far and would, god forbid, have to enlist assistance, but after a few deep breaths I worked things out on my own and after about two days I felt comfortable that I knew what I was doing. It’s super easy once you get the hang of it and I had less leakage than when I used tampons. I know, TMI for some people and sorry guys if you kept reading, but I really want to get the word out to other ladies about this amazing product. I don’t care what brand you decide on, it will change your life. Think about not having to cart around tampons or pads in your purse. What if you are camping or on a boat? What do you do with those disposable products? With a cup, just rinse it out and re-use. Seriously. If I’d known this was available I would have switched years ago. Tell your friends! Let’s change the world of feminine products as we know it!

Waste is a tax on the whole people. 
~ Albert W. Atwood

**I have not been compensated or contacted by Femmecup for my opinion; I just want to help spread the word that these are an alternative option for women.

I’m in LOVE with Soap Nuts

This is what I’ve been washing my clothes with for over a month now and my clothes have never been fresher!

No more two-step laundry detergent and fabric softener or dryer sheets. No more harmful chemicals or perfumes. Soap Nuts are a natural, hypoallergenic, eco-friendly alternative to traditional laundry cleaners. And I’m in LOVE.

Not that I ever had any problem with the perfumes in detergent, although Don seemed to from time to time. Many people do have sensitive skin that may react badly to the many unknown chemical ingredients in traditional cleaners. Yet, we’ve all been trained to trust these products and to believe they are what we need to clean our clothes. They are not the only option. My eyes are open now (thank you CaveGirl!) and I’m in love with my new soap nuts. Not only are they better for me and the environment, I’m certain that I’m already saving money on the cost of two products for laundry. The bag you see pictured cost me $13.68 (including shipping – which will differ slightly depending on your location or your choice of shipping speed.) I’ve been using them since Dec 7th. Here we are more than a month later and I’ve maybe used half the bag. I never wrote down how often I bought laundry detergent and fabric softener in the past, or how much I was spending, but I’ve got a good sense of it after doing it for 15+ years and I am confident that the soap nuts are costing me less. Maybe not wads of money but definitely less, whether a couple of dollars or even just pennies, over time that will add up and make a difference in my budget.

So how exactly do I use these? I put a few nuts in a muslin, draw string wash bag and place it in my wash. It stays in the washer through the wash and rinse cycle. When the wash is done, I take the bag out, empty out the nuts, let dry until the next wash. Then I take my clothes out and dry as usual: a few minutes of fluff drying and then hang to dry for most of our outerwear, full drying for socks, towels, sheets, and other such things. No dryer sheets necessary. No fabric softener added during the wash. And no static. I think that amazed me the most. And the clothes smell CLEAN. Not perfumed. Just clean. I admit, it’s really weird at first. But the first time I washed my sheets and slept in freshly, soap nut washed sheets, I was in heaven. You just have to experience it to believe it.

I’ve washed campfire smoked clothes, hunting clothes, smelly gym clothes and every one of them came out fresh and clean. I find that the nuts are best for about 4-5 washes before they start to lose their potency and natural cleaning agent. I wanted to test the length of their use and at 6 or 7 washes I noticed a little bit of lingering smell (sock stink and smoke) so now I keep track of how many washes I use the nuts and stop about 4 or 5, composting the used nuts when I’m done.

I sent some to a friend and she sent me this last night. “Ok, my verdict is in.  I love them for my regular laundry.  For my (cloth) diapers, I needed just a bit more kick.  So I am doing a medium low water level wash with 2 rinses and a half tsp of my normal diaper detergent.  Then I do another wash with one rinse with the soap nuts.  This has left my diapers so much fresher when clean and no ammonia smell whatsoever after they are used.  I think this is a great wash plan and I think it is going to completely solve my detergent build up issues (which is what causes the (ammonia) smell.)”

I gave some to another friend whose newly born baby has been breaking out regularly due to traditional detergents and although I have not been able to get her feedback yet, she was excited to try them and I’m hopeful they will be as equally beneficial to her and her family. I would love to share them with everyone I know but I’m afraid many of you who have known me for years already think I’m off my rocker and turning “hippie.” (The acceptable term these days is crunchy. Yes. I’m certainly going crunchy. Although I think I always have been. I’m just finding more ways to embrace my inner crunchiness.)

To learn more about Soap Nuts, which aren’t truly nuts but dried berries, visit Green Virgin Products. They offer a trial size purchase that is good for 4-7 washes for only $1.89 if you’re interested but skeptical.**

**I’ve not been compensated or had any contact with Green Virgin Products regarding my opinion. I’m simply sharing my love of something with those who would listen in the hope that it might help someone who is looking for alternatives and hasn’t heard about this amazing natural product.

Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.
~ Harvey Fierstein