DIY Deodorant Update

I think it's been a sufficient amount of time since I started using the deodorant I made to be able to give a solid review on it. I'll lay out the pros and cons for you.

Cons:

- The coconut oil melts very quickly, so application has to be quick or your body heat will turn it to goop, resulting in a mess that you have to apply with your hand. I'm thinking next time I may use less coconut oil.

- Another con due to meltage is that you have to mind where you store it. You can't just throw this stuff wherever; it needs to be in a cool, dry place (unless you like applying something the consistency of cream of wheat to your armpits).

- I used too much lavender oil. It smells like an old hippie. (Obviously I'll have more control over this next time.)

- This is not an antiperspirant. Luckily, I don't sweat THAT much on an average day, but it was a bit uncomfortable at first getting used to the natural moisture that occurs when you're not slathering yourself in chemicals.

Pros:

- No chemicals! Yay! I feel really good about using a product I made myself and know exactly what it contains.

- Though I was a bit heavy-handed in the scent part, it doesn't last too long. It helps that I shower in the PM and apply the deodorant directly after, so I have overnight for the old hippie smell to fade. And really, it could be worse. It's better than smelling like B.O., which brings me to my next point...

- It does work as a deodorant! I'm willing to bet that even without the essential oil added it would still keep body odor at bay. And trust me, I do stink just as bad as anyone else without it, which I discovered the one day I had forgotten to use it. Yuck!

- It passed the 48 hour test. Two average days (meaning I didn't work out or break a sweat more than normal) without using more than the first post-shower application and I did not stink at all. I'm pretty impressed by that kind of staying power from a homemade product.

- Lastly, it was super easy and cheap to make.


In conclusion, though I have almost an equal amount of pros and cons for my first DIY deodorant adventure, the pros outweigh everything else by a landslide. I'm happy with the way it turned out and will continue to use this product (with a bit of tweaking) probably for the rest of my life!

I hope this helps anyone interested in trying the recipe. I highly recommend it! My next post will be going over the toothpaste I made today. It's an interesting taste, that's for sure.

Until next time!

XOXO,

N

DIY Stick Deodorant

Hey all! I wanted to do this post sooner, but one of the points of making your own products is to save money, and I wasn't out of my old deodorant yet. I refuse to let it go to waste even if it is a chemical-filled science experiment. Now that the old store bought stuff is gone I can make my own stuff to combat stinky pits. And guess what? It's stupid easy!

Step 1.

Here's what you need.

This recipe calls for only a few ingredients: baking soda, cornstarch, and an essential oil of your choice. They recommended tea tree oil, but I prefer lavender over that, which was also suggested. Using those three ingredients you can make a loose powder version to apply with your fingers, but if that sounds too messy to you (it does to me), add in coconut oil to make a more solid product. That's what I've done. I took my old deodorant container and cleaned it out with some warm water and an old toothbrush to really get in there. You can buy new empty containers on Amazon, but since this is just for my own use, I decided to reuse. You'll also need a 1/4 measuring cup, a tablespoon, and a bowl.

Step 2.

Try not to make a mess.

Mix 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1/4 cup of cornstarch. Mix carefully - if you just dive in willy-nilly like I did all the powder will poof up and out and make a big mess! Next, add in your essential oil. I just winged it here, adding drops until the smell was to my preference.

Step 3.

Make it stick.

Yay! Coconut oil! I adore this stuff. Aside from baking soda, it's the most useful product I've come across. The recipe suggested starting with 2 TBSP and adding little by little until you get a consistency you like. I used about 3.5 TBSP until I got to where I thought it should be. It takes a bit more effort to blend this with the powders, but you can use your hands like I did. Just don't mush it with your fingers for too long or the coconut oil will melt and make things even more messy.

Step 4.

The Smush

I used a spoon. You can use your hands, someone else's hands, a robot hand - whatever you want. Just get it into the container and pack it in tight until it's completely full. I ended up having about a tablespoon leftover that wouldn't fit, but that's OK. You can store leftovers in a container and use it for your next batch. Or use an empty travel size deodorant container and keep it in your purse, car, or save for actual traveling.

Step 5.

Let it set.

The recipe says it takes a day or so for the deodorant to fully set. It also recommends using a much lighter application than regular deodorant. Apparently a little bit goes a long way! I'm excited to try this and will have to make an update in a week or so to let you all know how it's working.

Overall Impression:

Again, this was a stupid easy project. I love how simple it's been to create chemical-free products that cost way less than store-bought items. I can't wait to try this out and hopefully the lavender won't make me smell like an old lady or a hippie. I'll keep you posted!

Until next time!

XOXO,

N

Coconut Moisturizer Update

Hey all! Just wanted to give an update on my progress with the moisturizer I made in my first post, as promised. I've been using it on my face daily and I'm really enjoying it. In the morning after I wash my face I have to wait for it to absorb before I put my makeup on, so that's the only downside. With a little schedule adjustment it's not a big deal, especially since I'm a big fan of the results. But it does not leave my skin feeling oily. Once absorbed, my skin is super soft and supple. You know how sometimes you wake up with little whiteheads that seem to appear overnight? I've had less of those. Definitely not a bad thing. It's also been a huge help with the little dry patches I get in the winter. A mega plus is that I find I have to use very little. A a pea sized amount will cover my whole face and neck. A little bit goes a long way!

Will I keep using this?

Yes! A million times yes!

DIY Lip Balm

I love lip balm. I'll admit when it comes to the stuff I'm an addict. I've got a drawer full of them and if I leave the house without at least one in my purse or pocket I have a damn near panic attack. I can't go a full day without having something on my lips. It just feels wrong. But until now I had never tried to make my own. So, upon finding this recipe, I decided to give it a shot. Spoiler alert: It's awesome.

Step 1.

Gather!

You will need shea butter, beeswax pellets (pellets melt faster), an essential oil of your choice (I chose orange) and some sort of container. You will also need coconut oil. I used the same stuff I used for the moisturizer, which I found in my grocery store baking aisle. To melt the ingredients together you will need a pan and a glass jar of some sort. I used my handy dandy Pyrex measuring cup.

Step 2.

Everyone in the pool.

Yeah, that looks pretty gross. That mustard yellow stuff is the shea butter. There's just something about that color that makes me a bit queasy. Anyway...

The recipe I used calls for 1/4 cup of everything but the essential oil. Since I wanted to make a smaller batch, I halved that and used 1/8 cup of the beeswax, coconut oil and shea butter. Those all go into the glass, which then goes inside the pan filled halfway with water. Make sure you don't get any water in the mixture. Turn the burner on medium-low heat and let it work its magic. Stir once in a while to make sure the ingredients are blending together.

Step 3.

This.

If you're impatient like me and get bored while waiting for things to melt, just day drink! Don't judge me. I'm an adult and I'll do what I want. Besides, it was 3 PM so you can't say it's socially unacceptable. Moving on...

Step 4.

Add essential oil.

Eventually your mixture will start to look like this. The beeswax pellets take the longest to melt, but they will dissolve into the rest very nicely after a while. Once that is done it's time to add the orange oil. I used 11 drops - I was going for 10 but one more sneaky bastard got through. It's OK. As it turns out I probably should have used a bit more since the end result was very lightly scented and I was hoping for a more pungent smell.

Step 5.

Fill'er up.

Very, VERY carefully take your glass out of the pan. If what you are using does not have a handle, or if the handle has become hot, just use an oven mitt to grasp it. If your jar doesn't have a spout to pour from I recommend transferring it to something that does. My measuring cup has one so that made pouring the liquid into the tubes much easier. I set up the empty tubes on a paper plate in case of spillage. As you can see, I did spill a little bit but overall I'm fairly impressed with my lip balm tube filling skills. I only bought ten tubes because, honestly, I wasn't imagining things going as well as they did. I filled all of them to the very top and still had some liquid balm left over. With minimal spillage I think I easily could have filled another 2 or 3 of them.

Step 5.

Find a guinea pig.

These little guys cooled and set pretty quickly! Once that happened, Roommate Rachel tested one out. Being the braniac she is, she first tested the tubes' mechanism. "Well, it goes up and down." I guess that's a plus. I probably should have thought to make sure they worked before I filled them. Next time! That aside, the end product got the seal of approval from both Roommate Rachel and myself. Smells nice, feels even better and doesn't leave behind any color whatsoever. According to the recipe I used these have a shelf life of about a year. That shouldn't be a problem considering how much lip balm I go through.

Overall impression:

That was stupid easy to make. And I didn't burn myself or anything else in the process, so I'm pretty impressed with my mad scientist skills as well. I'm very happy with the end result and will be proudly passing these out to friends and family. These are also good for skin elsewhere, so if you're prone to dry spots on the face in cold weather like I am, this is fine to use and makes for easy application.

Until next time!

XOXO,

N

Homemade Moisturizing Cream

Tonight I made the skin cream I've been dying to try for weeks now. It's one of the first recipes I found in my chemical-free products adventure. This one only requires two ingredients: coconut oil and vitamin E oil. Super easy AND I love anything coconut so naturally I'm all in. Here's the breakdown.

Step 1.

Gather supplies.

That should be easy enough. I bought the coconut oil at my local grocery store in the baking aisle. The vitamin E oil I ordered from Amazon.com. Together they cost me about ten dollars. Not bad considering I'll be using minimal amounts of both, which ends up being waaaaay cheaper than an off-the-shelf moisturizer. I call that a wallet win.

Step 2.

Throw some coconut oil and vitamin E oil in a mixing bowl.

It doesn't look too promising at first. Coconut oil is fairly solid and it took me a few minutes to scrape it out of the jar. I used about 2/3 cup, as the recipe suggested. You can't see it, but there's just under one tablespoon of the vitamin E oil on top of that, which takes forever to pour out of the bottle. Totally worth it though.

Step 3.

Whip it good.

I used a hand mixer, but you can use whatever you prefer. Stand mixer, a whisk and brute strength, the Force, whatever. The end result should still be the same. Creamy perfection. I mixed for about 5-7 minutes. Looks kinda like homemade frosting. Does not taste like it though. Just trust me on this one. 

Step 4. 

Test it!

As one should expect, since this product is made of two natural oils, when it's first applied it will cause the skin to look oily. But it's not the greasy kind of oily. I was a bit taken aback at first, but I could still grip a doorknob and twist with ease. Pretty neat. Plus, these two oils will not clog the pores so don't be afraid to try it on your face. Once it fully absorbed my skin felt smooth as a baby's butt. Not that I go around caressing baby bottoms, but you know what I mean. 

Step 5. 

Contain the magic.

Put your new favorite skin cream in a jar or container of some sort so it may be stored properly. You do not have to refrigerate this product, but I do recommend storing it out of direct sunlight and in a room-temp place. Refrigeration will make the coconut oil too hard to apply and too much heat will melt the oils. I put mine in a plastic food container since it's just for my personal use. If you are making gifts for others and need fancier types of containers, I recommend this company that allows you to purchase online in bulk for decent prices.

Overall impression:

I dig it. My next little experiment will be to try this on my face. Even though I've been using The Oil Cleansing Method, my skin is still a bit dry thanks to the New England winter dry air. This past week I've been putting just the vitamin E oil on the dry spots and it seems to be working nicely. I'm excited to see how the coconut moisturizer works. I'll keep you updated!

Stay tuned! Future posts will include adventures in homemade lip balm, deodorant, toothpaste and even laundry soap!

XOXO,

N