27 August 2014
Homemade Deodorant
I haven't shared this idea on here before now because I realize that most people have very set opinions about personal hygiene and get very attached to their products; but going a more natural route with your deodorant is just as beneficial as cutting out processed foods. It's simply healthier for your body...
Traditional deodorants and antiperspirants contain aluminum and are designed to clog up our sweat glands. Our bodies are designed to sweat! It's one of the ways we get rid of toxins. You can read more about the dangers of aluminum in our deodorants HERE.
I started buying organic/all natural deodorant back when I started getting healthier and making herbal medicine. One day I ran out when the organic market was closed. So I took to the internet for recipes. For some reason I had never thought about making things like this. It made sense, though…I was making everything else from scratch…why not my deodorant.
This was the first recipe I tried:
Homemade Deodorant Recipe
And then I tweaked it…and I am still tweaking.
I mostly use lavender essential oil but in the Summer I switch to citronella for it's insect repellant qualities. Sometimes I make a separate batch for when I know I will be outside and use the lavender as my main deodorant. Rosemary or lemon grass or rose geranium would also work for the bugs.
Now, being an herbalist, I sometimes add a little bit of dandelion blossom oil. It is good for keeping lymph flowing freely so putting it in your deodorant is an excellent way to keep your breast tissue healthy and un-congested. It's a great protector against lumps and breast cancer. I will actually be highlighting dandelion in my next newsletter, which comes out at the end of the month!
I won't lie...your body does go through a detox period when you stop using the old kind of deodorant and you might be tempted to give up because you don't think it's working...but I promise you, it will! Most natural deodorants don't contain any form of antiperspirant...which I wasn't keen on. I did find one that had cornstarch in it, which was great, so that is why I like this recipe...it has cornstarch.
I want to play around more with the recipe...including switching out the baking soda for tea tree oil. Sometimes the baking soda's grit is a bit rough on my skin (though it makes a wonderful microderm abrasion scrub...but that's another blog post).
This recipe might not be for everyone, but I encourage you to explore your options! In it's simplest form it is definitely more cost effective than a lot of the store bought, natural products.
XO
P.S.My August Newsletter will be out soon! If you haven't already signed up, you can do so HERE!