with all the talk about chemicals in beauty products, and specifically deodorant, i have been trying to avoid buying traditional products when i can. the drawback is that a lot of the “natural” products don’t seem to really keep the funk at bay. in their defense, it takes a lot to keep oneself smelling fresh when the summer temperatures rise to over 100 each day.
i have been bookmarking all kids of recipes and tutorials and finally decided to try one out. i got the recipe from the everything soap blog.
i ended up ordering all of my ingredients from amazon.com, although i think most would be available in a well stocked health food store. in fact, our regular grocery store had some of the things on their “healthy living” aisle. the directions say to heat 1.5 Tbs beeswax, 4 Tbs shea butter, 1 Tbs cocoa butter until all ingredients are melted and a you have a clear liquid.
i learned that i DO NOT like the smell of shea butter, but cocoa butter smells yummy.
then you mix in 4 tsp of bentonite clay, 10 drops of tea tree oil, and 10-15 drops of the essential oil of your choice.
after you have that all stirred up, place the cup in a bowl of ice water to thicken slightly. i did this with my first batch, and ended up with a mess on the inner walls of my cup. i skipped it the second batch, and i was able to pour it into the container with no problems, but it doesn’t seem like it is cooling quite as evenly.
i bought a 5-pack of empty deodorant applicators on amazon.
the deodorant on the right is the one i cooled before pouring. you can see it is smoother and more even. i don’t know if this will matter when using it, or if it is more about aesthetics.
one final note, it looks like i can use this clay for a very thorough facial. i just might have to try it!
my deodorant has to cool for 24 hours before use, so i will report back on whether my concoction is a success or failure!
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