Today's recipe is for something you'll make in your kitchen with ingredients you would normally use for cooking, but that you shouldn't actually eat. (Or you could, but you'd be missing the point.)
Today's recipe is for a natural deodorant. I realize personal hygiene isn't an altogether food-friendly subject, but making your own cosmetics is not so different from making your own dinner, and I am so enthused by this one I thought I'd share.
I've long been weary of store-bought deodorants, and although it is easier than ever to find aluminum- and paraben-free deodorants, the list of ingredients remains disconcertingly long, and many of the "natural" deodorants I've tried over the years simply don't work very well.
So when I stumbled upon this formula on Maggie's blog (while searching for a sewing tutorial, of all things), I was instantly drawn to the idea: you simply mix coconut oil with baking soda and some kind of starch (such as arrowroot powder or cornstarch) to get a creamy lotion that will harden in the fridge (coconut oil solidifies gradually below 24.5�C / 76�F) and form a deodorant "stone" that you can rub on like an ordinary deodorant.
It is easy, it is cheap, and most important of all, it works. Coconut oil is a bit of a Swiss knife product, used in cooking but also to nourish the skin and hair, and for medicinal purposes: the lauric acid it contains is deemed to have antibacterial qualities, which explains its role here.
If you're worried about the coconut smell, don't be: although the deodorant itself does smell of coconut, the smell is very faint (and localized!) once you have it on, so it won't interfere with your usual perfume. It is also relatively trace-free -- though you do have to be careful when you put on your shirt, as with most deodorants -- and doesn't leave marks on clothes at the end of the day.
The only downside is that the deodorant stone needs to be kept in the fridge if you want it to keep its rub-on texture, which means that 1- you have to remember to get it from the kitchen before you shower, and 2- it's not very travel-friendly. However, you could also apply it like a lotion -- a little messier, but no less efficient.
So, are you ready to give this a try? And do you have any other homemade cosmetics recipes you want to share?
Continue reading "Homemade Natural Deodorant"
View comments
Copyright Clotilde Dusoulier © 2003-2011. This feed is for personal enjoyment only, and not for republication.
If you are not reading this in a news aggregator, the site you are viewing is guilty of copyright infringement. Please alert Clotilde Dusoulier.
Source: http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2011/10/homemade_natural_deodorant.php
No comments:
Post a Comment