Homemade Deodorant

Have you ever picked up a container of commercial deodorant and read the ingredients? I can guarantee there will be at least one ingredient in there would put any tongue twister to shame. I've always had sensitive skin, and words like "fragrance" are a sure fire way to irritate my skin. Let me just say, my armpits are the last place I want itchy, painful, irritation. 

Once I hit puberty I began to use deodorant. I remember my first stick was some off-brand commercial kind advertised specifically for teenage girls, the scent was something along the lines of waterfall mist ... or something. The biggest thing I remember about it was the red bumps my armpit broke out in; effectively halting my use of that brand.

Tree here, I had already been thinking about ditching my commercial deodorant for different reasons. I had stopped using antiperspirant and switched exclusively to deodorant. Take a moment to think about why you sweat. The skin is the body's largest organ and its purpose is to protect the body. It protects the body by keeping foreign bodies out and by sweating toxins out. So if you prevent your body from sweating out toxins through your armpits what happens to those toxins. It was also around this time that we learned that aluminum (the primary pore clogging sweat blocker) may have a connection to breast cancer. 

Me and my mother hunted the grocery stores for a less irritating option, and we discovered natural brands. I tried many, some worked better than others, but none of them had the effect I desired. 

When it comes to "natural" deodorants the consumer bears the burden of doing their own research and bringing a dictionary with them. Many "natural" deodorants are no better than the commercial ones. I tried a number of them, some irritated my skin and others just didn't feel like they worked. I needed to reapply several times throughout the day (even when all I was doing was going to work).

Finally I decided to make my own. I read many internet resources, some praising the effects of it, some cursing it to the grave.

By the time Lulu had found her deodorant recipe I had decided on just powdered deodorant. I had scoured the internet myself and found the same things she did. People either loved it or hated it. I decided to skip the extras (needing to melt down a solid oil) and just use baking soda cut with a small amount of corn starch and peppermint essential oil. Now keep in mind peppermint eo is considered a hot oil and many people may find applying it directly to the skin irritating, especially to the sensitive armpits. I also learned that in many recipes baking soda can be an irritant, so if you try a recipe and it irritates you try melting it down again and adding more solid oil to cut the baking soda. 

I was using the powder with relative success (sucked for actual workouts) and it could be messy, then .....

I've decided I like it, and here I will share two recipes I've tried. I love both of them.

Recipe number one I made a while back.

You will need equal parts:

Shea Butter

Coconut oil

Baking soda

Beeswax

Arrowroot powder

If you so choose you can add a few essential oils.

Directions:

1. Melt down the oils in a double boiler.

2. Take oils off heat, and combine dry ingredients with the oils.

3. Stir and allow to cool a little.

4. Add essential oils of your choice.

Lulu as an athlete was loving the recipe above so I decided to accept her offer to make me my own. I LOVED this recipe. It worked great. I did find on my 12 hour days of class followed by clinic I needed to reapply, but it was easy to bring with me and easy to apply.  Then my container dwindled and so it was time to make more. However we did not have and Shae Butter. I had read a recipe that was just coconut oil and essential oils. This is my kind of simple.

The second one is my moms favorite.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon arrowroot

1 tablespoon baking soda

Essential oil of your choice

Directions:

1. Melt down coconut oil.

2. Add dry ingredients to oil

3. Allow to cool a bit and add oil.

As Lu pointed out this is my favorite recipe so far. This recipe could be poured into an old deodorant container and used just like real deodorant (or you can purchase new deodorant containers online). This recipe goes the distance. I wore it to an interview with no issues. At the end of my day I am still clean and fresh. I am still thinking of trying a recipe that is just coconut oil and eos, because I am all about simplicity, but right now this is the clear winner for me. 

Some really great essential oil combinations are ...

Melaluca and Clove

Melaluce and Lavender

Rosemary and Lavender 

Orange and Rosemary

Peppermint and Orange

Happy Christmas Eve! Whipped Body Lotion for ALL!

Happy Christmas Eve! Weather you spend it at home or with friends and family I wish you a joyous day!

As promised here is another homemade gift-able. Unfortunately unless you are as quirky as I, and have a teenage daughter who has been experimenting with making home beauty products for more than three years you might not have all the ingredients..... I even had to go out and buy more Apricot Oil last week (and to my dismay the coop only had one small bottle. I'll have to ask at the service desk about ordering a big bottle of apricot and a big bottle of almond - once I am back to work of course).

So here it is, and it is super simple. You keep a simple ratio of 3 solid to 1 liquid. Yep that's really all you need to know. 

This is what I used for this batch (and my recipe changes batch to batch, we keep tweaking it when we are 100% satisfied I'll update and let everyone know my final recipe).

520 grams of Raw Shae Butter (mine is the yellow kind, but I also get and use the white. When I purchase white Shae butter I make sure it is sun bleached and not chemically bleached. I get my Shae Butter for a rocking price from the African Store on S. Clinton Ave. It comes in chunks in plastic bags and is favorably priced. A shout out to the fabulous people at Aaron's Alley for sending me that way a few years ago when I was looking. RIP Aaron we all miss you)
99 grams of Cocoa Butter (I get Essential Living Foods from Abundance Co-op, this wasn't a complete package as Lu uses it for lots of her beauty products).
112 grams of Coconut Oil (I used up the last of a jar I had from Aldi's, yes you can get organic cold pressed coconut oil from Aldi's. In case you didn't know Aldi's is the outlet for Trader Joes....)

To that I added the following liquids
114 grams of Apricot Oil (Lu loves this for her skin.... and I picked up a few months ago after reading about it)
32 grams of Fractionated Coconut Oil (this was a left over bit I had from my EO days)

Once your solid oils are melted add in your liquid oils. You can use just one solid oil. I have made recipes with JUST coconut oil and fractionated coconut oil, but I personally LOVE Shae Butter and what it does for my skin. You could use just Shae butter, or just cocoa butter. Keep in mind Cocoa butter is a "hard" solid oil and so the resulting lotion may be stiff. It will still work you'll just have to "dig" it out and melt it in the palm of your hand. As for your liquids you can use just one vegetable oil (but not corn oil please) or any combo you like. Olive Oil is a favorite from the Mediterranean. There is also Sweet Almond Oil, Avocado (supposed to be great for mature skin), Apricot, Jojoba, etc....... The cost of the oils ranges....

Once the oils have cooled to a solid state, I reheat them. Double heating gives me the best results. Let them cool a second time, but not to a solid state.  Once they are cool but not solid add them to a mixer (you can whip by hand, but it takes more than 30 minutes) and add any essential oils you wish. I ALWAYS add Frankincense and Helichrysium, since both are great for the skin. To give you an idea a recipe like this I use up to 8 drops of Frankie and 2 drops of Heli.  This made 6 half pint containers and 6  four oz containers.

My original intent was to personalize each of the lotions with different EOs like orange, geranium, ylang ylang.... but when I finished whipping this batch

   It just smelled so heavenly I couldn't bring myself to add any other EOs to personalize them.  If you are not making a giant batch of one scent you would scoop out your individual amounts and add EOs. Again I recommend keeping it to no more than 3 EOs (unless you are copy catting someone else's tried and true recipe. I also don't count Franki and Heli when I use them in a recipe. 

The end result varies from batch to batch. This one was very butter-creme frosting like. If when the product completely cools you find it to hard or stiff you can remelt it and add some more liquid oil (not EOs) to it. Or sometimes just put it back in the mixer and whip it again. Now you will notice that I used a batter mixer on my Kitchen Aid, that is because this is my Mums old kitchen aid and she lost the whisk. My kitchen aid died after 3 years of use (I was disappointed to say the least. After all that old white kitchen aid which is older than I am is the reason I bought a kitchen aid. My mums lent us this one until we replaced ours. She has a new kitchen aid which is just fine 6 years later, but after the heartbreak of my first big married purchase breaking I'll just keep using her back up until it breaks down, which probably means I should seek out a whisk at a thrift store or garage sale.....)

Enjoy your whipped body lotion. Again you can fancy up the packaging  with ribbon or fabric and tie on a label (always label your gifts with the ingredients) and some twine.  I can only estimate this recipe cost:

Cocoa Butter - $12.95
Shae Butter - $5
Coconut Oil - $4.99 (but I used 1/3 of that jar so @ $2)
Apricot Oil - $7.99
Fractionated Coconut Oil - $9.99 (but we used less than 1/4 of that bottle so @ $2)
Divide by 12 = $2 per container

Add
$.25 for Essential Oil
$1.80 for the 1/2 pint jar
or 
$.90 for the 4 oz jar

Making a 1/2 pint (8 oz) container $4 and a 4 oz container $3

Again not a bad homemade gift. 

Company is Coming, Quick Put Out the Fancy Soap!

Often times in this house we "run out" of liquid hand soap. And by run out I mean I simply don't want to take the 3 minutes it takes me to make new foaming hand soap. When this happens the dish soap gets used for hand washing at the kitchen sink and the bar soap moves between the shower and the sink in the upstairs bathroom....

Now when I know we are having people over I TRY to make sure that we have plenty of foaming hand soap, I wouldn't want them to think me uncivilized. Who am I kidding they are family, they know me....

At any rate I made fresh foaming hand soap and I decided to share my recipe with you. I will not link to the original recipe (which is just an advertisement for a essential oil company) primarily because I have modified the recipe and I believe the amount of Essential Oil they are calling for is excessive. I am not an aromatherapist so any of my comments regarding essential oils are my opinions after more than 2 years of reading about the subject. When selecting the oils you plan to use consider the following:

Who will be using this soap?  The exposure to essential oils is very minimal total of 6-10 drops per entire bottle, but if you have little ones, elderly or pregnant mommas using your soap make sure to check the oils for safety for these "special populations".

Am I adding Essential Oils for Smell or for Purpose?  Do you know the REAL purpose of hand soap? Hand soap NEED NOT BE ANTIBACTERIAL. You remove bacteria with proper hand washing. Good hand washing is done with WARM soapy water and at least 2 minutes of friction. Soap is a surfactant. This means that soap reduces the surface tension of grease, oils and germs to make them more readily removed from your hands. If you wash your hands with warm soapy water for a minimum of 2 minutes with friction, not just placing them under running water, you should have no worries about germs. If you are worried about resistant germs, I have bad news, antibacterial soap contributed to the evolution of that bacteria and isn't the solution. That being said many essential oils have antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal properties. One can search the interwebs to find out what the properties of an essential oil are (please note if a website promotes or is in some way connected to a specific company and use wise judgement when accepting the information put out for the purpose of selling a product) and decide what ones to use. Keep in mind however unless you have the science background and the ability to GC/MS test (and read the results) of the oils you are using you never really know what and how much you are getting. 

The beauty of Essential Oils is that LESS IS MORE. No that is not a question. Anyone who tells you differently is simply uninformed or out to sell you more product than you need. Our bodies are wonderfully complex devices and just like the human body can only process so much water at a time (roughly 4 cups per hour, if your kidneys are healthy) it can only process so much essential oil at a time. The concern with essential oils is that they are lipid based. IF they were water based (such as vitamin B) you would simply pee out the excess. However lipid based items (like Vitamin D and K) actually get stored in body fat and can accumulate to dangerous levels. Use the least amount of essential oil you can for the purpose you are seeking. Are you simply seeking smell? Then add a drop or two of you oil and let it blend for 24 hours. If the smell is enough you are done. If you desire a stronger smell add 1 or 2 more drops. Are you seeking a therapeutic effect? The same rules apply. Generally if you can smell it, it is enough to have an effect.

At some point I will do several posts about essential oils. The purpose of my essential oil posts will not be to direct you to any company but to clear up misinformation being supplied by sales reps for some of the leading essential oil companies and to encourage my readers to do their own research (from non-affiliated websites and books) and make their own decisions with the guidance of their medical team. 

At any rate back to the soap:

You will need
Liquid Castile Soap - I use baby gentle mild, if you want to use one of the fragranced ones then omit any additional essential oils
A foaming Soap Bottle
Essential Oils (maximum of 10 drops and 3 oils)
Water

The original recipe called for the addition of fractionated coconut oil, presumably as a hand moisturizer. I made my initial batches with the FCO, but found that even if I remembered to shake the container before I used it the oil settled to the bottle. When I got to the bottom of the container the oil felt greasy. I omitted coconut oil and because castile soap is so gentle I did not find the soap drying or have a need for the oil. So as a time and MONEY saver I omit any kind of liquid vegetable oil from my recipe. 

I already had foaming soap containers on hand. If you don't then ask around you probably have friends who do. Or you can buy new plastic ones that look similar to the short ones with black lids at a place like Aromatools. I have purchased from them in the past (no I am not being compensated, they don't even know I have linked to them) and had excellent customer service. I am sure based on the inexpensive price these items are made in China in horrid conditions, but I have yet to find a US supplier. If anyone knows of any I would LOVE to check them out. Or you can go for the Mason Jar style. If you google then the lids will come up, you can even buy the complete jars through Esty. Again I am sure the lids are made in deplorable condition and I would LOVE to know if anyone knows of a US Manufacturer. Lastly, you can do what I am going to do in the new year: Repurpose glass jars with screw on lids and the foaming pumps from these bottles. I'll post when I get that one figured out. 

There is some debate about using essential oils (especially the citrus ones) in plastic containers. I have used citrus essential oils in these containers and had no known issues. If the citrus oil is breaking down the plastic I haven't seen evidence of that. That being said I DO PREFER to use glass with everything, especially my essential oils and storing products with essential oils. However I am also cost conscious so I use what I have. 

Take you old (or new) foaming soap container and give it a good rinse. Put clean hot water in it and pump it through until it stops foaming. 
Now take the castile soap and add 2 Tablespoons of soap to the container, I use 3 TBSP in the larger container.
Add your essential oils (I use 2 drops of Tea Tree and 2 drops of citrus, this time it was grapefruit).
Fill with cold water (filtered or distilled not necessary), leaving enough room for the foaming pump.

TaDa!

You're done!
For less than $1 worth of materials and supplies I have filled 3 foaming soap dispensers and this will last in my house for at least one month. 

. Let me know if you make your own hand soap, foaming or otherwise and your favorite scent combinations......

Why Organic is Worthless!

I have for the past five or so years been yelling from the rooftops... OK so I just tell anyone who will listen to me... that commercial organic products are absolutely worthless. Check out this article which I found in my facebook feed from Ever Growing Farm about why commercial organic and organic for that matter are currently worthless.

Factory Farms Producing Organic Milk/Eggs

I have been encouraging people to make their first priority to know their farmer. It is not about the label that is slapped on the food, or the government regulations. The reality is that when it comes to big farm business they will slap any label on the food to make extra money, and they have the money to buy the label in the first place, and pay the minimal fines IF they get caught. 

I remember when farmers used to have to defend that they did not have the organic label because the process to become certified was more about making money for the state and less about organic foods. There was a lot of red tape and cost that small farmers could not afford. There were also regulations (proof that there had been no chemicals applied to the land in the last decade) that some small farmers just couldn't meet. Those farmers were passionate about the organic methods that they used, despite not being certified. I used to purchase from those farmers (and still do). 

Then when big businesses (like the cereal companies) started getting into the organic market I knew that the standard would be diluted (and it has been, there is a percentage of non-organic components allowed in a product labeled organic, and now some amounts of pesticides and chemical fertilizers are allowed on organic lands). 

If you know farmers, then you know that there has been a movement from the term organic to the term sustainable. This is a self-imposed standard for which there is no regulation. I believe the government regulation is the problem. It leads the average individual to the false security that someone else (the government) has their (the individual's) best interest at heart and has already investigated and protected the individual. The REALITY of government oversight is that the government creates a lot of red tape and a process for everything they oversee. Big businesses have no problem keeping up with the red tape, they can pay someone to deal with the red tape and fill out the applications.

What government is concerned with is keeping its seat in office (which means making the lobbyists and moneyed constituents happy, and if you haven't figured it out yet that means keeping big business happy). 

Instead if we removed regulation of industries like Organic and took personal responsibility to investigate our farmers and their farms WE would know our food and the conditions it comes from. 

It is my intention to interview and visit several local farms, meat and produce and share those interviews on this blog. 

For the time being I challenge all of you to find out who the parent company of Cascadian Farms is.  Then ask yourself what does that REALLY mean for Cascadian Farms' "organic" products?

What's Wrong with Supporting Local?

When this NY Times article "The Downside of Eating Too Locally" popped up in my news feed I was curious.  After all what could possibly be wrong with eating locally?  The truth is there is nothing wrong with eating locally, and people who pledge to eat within 100 miles of their home are doing a wonderful thing for their home economy and for the global environment. The fact that some people won't purchase organic lentils from the mid-west is not the true problem for those farmers in the mid-west. The problem is that more of their neighbors are not buying truly local. 

I personally don't like labels, "challenges" or pledges. I do my best to purchase local. If I have the choice when purchasing local I purchase local that has been grown ethically and using sustainable methods, this may or not be "organic". If the next option is conventional local I might purchase it. Just because it is local doesn't make it better. If there is a non-local sustainable option then that might just be what I purchase. I had thought about trying a year long challenge of eating just local (I read a blog on that premise and they had a great year eating local), but I realized quite simply I like foods that do not grow in my neck of the woods. I love bananas, avocados and pomegranates to name just a few. 

I try not to label myself, because I have learned if you do label yourself people love to point out to you when you have left the path of righteousness that naturally goes along with that label. For a long time I worked really hard to purchase organic goods, and then I expanded to trying to purchase local organic goods. I learned over time that the organic label is 1) not what it used to be (thank the big business lobbyists) and 2) for small farmers (who are ultimately who I want to support) it is cost prohibitive to get the organic stamp of approval. Many small farms have moved away from the word "organic" because it has become so abused and diluted by big business who simply want the label to be able to charge more. Many small farmers are touting their sustainable and ethical practices. 

To know what your farmer does you have to be willing to talk to them, and the few farmers who have been offended at my asking questions about their farming practices have not gotten my business. The majority of farmers (conventional and other) are happy to chat about their farming practices. This is the reason I am not a supporter of government involvement in labeling GMOs.  

First, I don't believe that we need the government to step in and legislate this for us. We as a people are quite capable of asking questions and learning where and how our food came about. Those growers that would lie to the common man about the GMO status of their food will also lie to the US Government and pay the insignificant fine if they get caught. 

Second, people seem to have forgotten what the term GMO means. Genetically Modified Organism. This includes tree grafting and cross pollination. This is how food as become what it is today, and is not a bad thing. Now the genetic manipulation of organisms at the cellular level in a lab with constituents that may or may not be toxic to my person is a whole different story. I do love heirloom foods and I do not have a problem with plant grafting. 

For me the best way to know if my food is a GMO that I am OK with or if it is potentially toxic is to know my grower/farmer. Even better to grow my own. That is on my list for 2015. With the help of Lu, we plan to finally get our gardens in this year and start growing our own. 

Pink Washing, Green Washing, Organic Washing and now Local Washing.....

It started with the Susan G. Komen foundation selling out and letting any business (even those associated with cancer causing agents) put the trademarked pink ribbon on their merchandise. Then everything was suddenly in some way "Green" made with "recycled" materials or in "sustainable" practices. However, if you scratch the surface of any of these campaigns you will find hypocrisy and lies. 

I LOVE local businesses, even better when they are local artists. I do my best to support my truly local businesses and artists whenever I have the option. With "Small Business Saturday" fast approaching and people up in arms about stores (big box chains) planning on being open on Thanksgiving I just had to say a few words. 

First, no one is forcing anyone to work on Thanksgiving. Yes, there are people who need the money and feel they have no choice but to work on Thanksgiving. Working on Thanksgiving might even take them away from their families (whom they are working to support) on a MADE UP HOLIDAY about family. Holidays are ALL about family and they do not need to be celebrated on a specific day or at a specific time. It is all about the intent. So if you are one of those people who needs to work Thanksgiving in order to support a family remember you can celebrate early or late or not at all. 

Second, there are people who are alone for the holidays and some of those people actually prefer to work on holidays. I know several people who have good relations with their families but they choose to work holidays because the pay is good. They have said to many people on more than one occasion, that if the the Holiday is truly about family then they can celebrate that any day of the year. Some who are truly alone choose to work on a holiday so as not to be alone. 

However, all that being said if you do not support stores being open on Thanksgiving because you believe that everyone should be home with their families then remember YOU have a say in the matter. You can not shop on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. You can encourage others to do the same.

This brings me to "Small Business Saturday". First this is a fallacy. Small business Saturday is sponsored by none other than American Express. American Express is not a small business and is not a local business. They are just in it for the money. Second just because a business is "locally" owned does not make is a sustainable or ethical business. There is little difference in buying cheap goods made in unthinkable conditions from a BoxMart or from a "local" store. 

The why? It is simple, there is a benefit to buying from a locally owned non-franchise store but it is small compared to the benefit from buying from a locally owned business that supports local artists and American Made goods. First, even the big box franchise stores have "owners". These individuals are often local (not always). This means that these local owners spend a portion of their profits in the local economy. They do however send a portion of their profits as part of their franchise agreement to some big company somewhere.  A truly local business allows for more of the profits to stay in the local economy. Even better than a local business selling cheaply made foreign goods (which sends money out of the local economy and encourages poor and unfair employment and manufacturing practices) is supporting a local artist or business that sells locally sourced or American made goods. 

I am a realist, there are a number of items that are NOT made locally or even in America (unfortunately count most electronics on that list). I strive to buy local, sustainable and ethical. I support my local artists and crafters and encourage my girls to do the same. 

For several years now I have purchased from KiraArts, Francesca DeCaire, SunshyneSilverware, and so many other local artists and crafters. My girls have received gifts over the years that came from big box stores (American Girl Dolls and Accessories), but the gifts they love and cherish are always those that are handmade and unique. No one else has the same gifts that my girls have. 

Having handmade unique gifts also helped to keep the spirit of Christmas and the legend of Santa Claus alive for my girls. Not that long ago my now 13 year old daughter asked me if Kira was a Christmas Elf because she made such wonderful handmade toys for boys and girls of all ages. I wouldn't think Christmas complete in my house without a handmade gift from my local artists. 

I have selected a few items this year 2 monsters from KiraArts, felted sootsprites and a totoro from Peaches Products, and a sootsprite necklace and totoro necklace from a local artist. I am looking forward to picking up my custom orders and a unique ornament for each girl at the Brainery Holiday Bazaar as well as shopping Mini May Day. Funds are limited this year (as I have been unemployed since March and in a full time school program for the last 6 months) so I won't be able to support my local artisans as much as I would like, but I will support them none the less. 

I will NOT be shopping on Black Friday or Small Business Saturday, instead I support local businesses, artists and crafters year round. 

How about you? What do you think about Small Business Saturday, Black Friday and or Thanksgiving Day Shopping?