With canning season starting to wind down soon I’d like to start adding some other types of posts. So, another awesome use for plants is to make home made cosmetics/personal care products. I shall start with this fantastic recipe for homemade deodorant. I got the recipe here from the super great blog “frugally sustainable.” Thanks Andrea! And I don’t want to just tell you about recipes that are already out there only, so now that I have a stockpile of great natural ingredients I will definitely work to come up with some of my own concoctions to share with you. But let’s begin with this tried and tested one. I have made it for a few people now and it really works, just don’t apply too much, a little is enough!

Ingredients :
1 tbsp cocoa butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp shea butter
1 tbsp beeswax
2.5 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 tbsp baking soda
1/4 tsp vitamin E oil
15 drops of essential oil (I do half tea tree and half rose absolute)
2 capsules probiotics

Here’s how you make it:

Clean out an old deodorant container that you’ll pour it into, or else buy empty ones online.

In a mason jar or other clean glass jar, melt the beeswax, shea butter, cocoa butter and coconut oil by placing the jar in a small pot of water and heating over medium heat.

Heat until all the ingredients are melted and mix together with a chopstick or other stick like thingie.

Remove from heat, cool slightly and add the vitamin e, baking soda and arrowroot. Cool further until it’s quite thick (like pudding as Andrea described it) and then add in the essential oils and the probiotic capsules.

Mix together well and pour into the container!

Stick into the fridge and wait a couple hours and presto you have an all natural awesome smelling deodorant!

Love this idea but no idea where to get the ingredients? Here is where I get mine. And while there are multiple ingredients to invest in it is totally worth it because there are many other recipes they can be used for!

Links:
Beeswax – I really like this one because it is a lighter colour so doesn’t make all your products yellowy, and the pellets rather than bars are just easier to measure out.
Shea butter – So many uses! Definitely invest, I have more great ideas to come.
Cocoa butter – You can go without it and just use shea butter in some of the recipes (here and to come) but it is a little harder than the shea so adds a nice bit of hardness to this recipe especially. And adds a great smell.
Probiotics– This is the one I bought, but since unless you plan to take them also this is a lot of capsules, maybe you can find a smaller quantity or share with friends.

For coconut oil check the healthy section of the grocery store. You can also usually find essential oils and vitamin e oil at co-ops and health food stores or from Mountain Rose Herbs. Arrowroot I found in the bulk section (also at Mountain Rose). Enjoy!

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