Okay I know there's a lot of you hippies that rub lemons and bicarb under ya pits, and that's fine, but I'm a posh hippie bird that likes using something that smells lovely from a cute little tin. So if you'd like to do the same, and have been thinking about getting rid of horrible shop bought deodorants for ages, or you've tried natural deodorants but they're too expensive, listen up. This costs around $1.20 Australian a tin, and that's pretty good. You can even make it for all your smelly friends.
I've written about this deodorant before, but since then I've perfected the recipe by measuring it all out in grams and working out how much candellia wax I need as an alternative to beeswax, mainly for my vegan friends who don't like using bee products. So if you have beeswax instead, simply double the weight of beeswax and you should be good. I actually like the consistancy of the beeswax one a lot better. The proportions below are in grams - I had been given tbsps and cup measurements which drove me crazy, and I did adapt it, so thought precise grams would be a more accurate way of getting it right every time.
COCONUT OIL 57
CARDELLIA WAX 25
SHEA BUTTER 43
ARROWROOT 35
BICARB SODA 70
MANGO BUTTER 20
First of all, you want to melt the shea butter and mango butter and wax in a makeshift double boiler, like below. Super easy. Then, stir in your powders. Give it a good mix as you don't want it to be gritty. Really dissolve it. It doesn't take long so don't stress over it. Then, add about 30 drops of essential oil, mix, and pour into your tins!
These are 30 gram tins, and I filled them right to the top because it's only us using them. If I was going to sell them to my friends I'd weigh them more carefully. Leave them to set before putting the lids on.
Now, as for the scent, I spent ages working on one I like, so if I told you, I'd have to kill you. Or perhaps you could sneak a read of the ingredients on the side of the bottle below. Actually, I've just ran out of geranium, so this mix had a different blend of rose oil, ylang ylang and a few other oils. You might like it just plain. Remember, the butters smell quite sweet, so vanilla might be too much, or you could account for it in your oil blend. A straight oil you like would work great as well! Or you could even add a different set of oils to each tin, and use them on different days according to your mood! Damn, I like that idea - why didn't I think of it? He he.
I had some stickers printed out for mine which are kinda cute, and play into my 'I like cute tins' thing I have going on. I like the 'note' reference as perfumes have notes too, and we can have more confidence to play our own note when we smell good.
I hope this post gives you the courage to experiment with making your own deodorant. Honestly, I believe I've perfected this one after a lot of experimenting and reading online recipes, and both the husband and I have been using it for three years now and love it. So do the friends I've gifted it to. It does take a while for your body to adjust, so you might like to read a bit about the whys and hows of natural deodorant before you begin.
With Love,