Homemade Natural Deodorant: Day 1

So I finally decided to open the jar of coconut oil, organic extra virgin, after having it sit on my table for a few days. I put a tablespoon of baking soda and a tablespoon of coconut oil into a face cream container (oh, I remember now, I didn’t have a nice container to put my homemade deodorant, so I had to leave the coconut oil on my desk, abandoned. I had wanted to put it in a little container with colorful beads on the outside and a smooth shiny glass on the inside.

The baking soda and coconut oil made a nice slushy texture. I dabbled my fingers into the mixture to get a thin coating on my fingertips and spread it over my underarms. The coconut smell was delicious.

I spent the entire afternoon in Governor’s Island having a picnic. Even through sweaty minutes on the sun-beaten streets, on the subway platform, on the island, on the other island, on line to a restaurant, on the bus and on the subway, I still smelled like coconut when I raised my arms. When I put on Dove or Secret, my underarms produce a distorted smell after sweat and time; the smell sometimes become more pungent than a deodorant-less underarm.

I’ve been using solely baking soda for a last couple of weeks. But since I also use lemon juice to lighten my underarms, which dries it out, I have to use coconut oil to moisturize it.

I’m really excited about this new concoction! Now I have to find other great remedies for me to use up the jar of coconut oil!

Eucalyptus oil on Skin

I’ve been putting eucalyptus oil on my skin for the past 12 hours, not completely knowing if I’m doing it right or what I’m putting on my skin. All I know is that it’s an oil used for aromatherapy from the bottle. I’m still trying it out to see if it can really repel mosquitoes. I did some more research on the oil, and found that I should have been diluting the oil as I apply it to my skin. Eucalyptus oil is too strong to be applied directing to the skin, may cause irritation or burning. The oil, however, can be used as a skin remedy for pain, burns, and wound… also to sooth the respiratory tract–I doubt I will be using the oil for those. I would rather let my wounds heel naturally than irritated with an oil.

Moody from Mosquitoes

I haven’t been writing because I’ve been moving back and forth from home to dorm, but now I’m finally home. Already I’ve gotten three mosquito bites, two on my legs and one on my arm. I rarely get mosquito bites at my dorm in the city, but back home, the puddles and trees in the backyard really make for a nice mosquito environment. A swarm of dragon flies sit on the laundry line every day as well–it’s a great wild life in the backyard. My back door is also missing an insect net, which I account for the many indoor mosquitoes–I feel one flying around me as I write. Once bitten, I get irritated, pissed, scattered. I can’t focus on anything else but how annoying the itch is or how stagnant I was to have been bitten in the first place, as if somehow I could have avoided it. Once in class I was bitten and I talked and brushed my legs at the same time. I also have very long legs, which gives them more surface area to bite. I used to flip out after a bite and get my whole family upset, but it’s time to take steps to repel those mosquitoes. I had a bottle of Off! from 5 years ago, it had a huge fresh chemical smell. I saw the Off! sprays that people could wear around their pants that fanned out Deet and create a force field around the body.

The beginning of this year, I went to Malaysia and didn’t bring any repellent with me. I went to a pharmacy and they only had this natural roll-on with Citronella oil. Since I was told a mosquito needed to have at least 60% Deet (from what I can remember) in order to actually repel mosquitoes, I was not satisfied. It later ended up being a pretty good purchase. I put it on my skin daily and it had a strong Citronella scent, and though it worked most of the time, sometimes I still got mosquito bites. I figure I have to get a product that is pure Citronella oil and not one that mixes in with other unknowns.
Yesterday, when I went to an organic store to get coconut oil for a deodorant, my aunt also got eucalyptus oil as mosquito repellent. She told me a friend recommended it. I did some googling and found that the lemon eucalyptus oil repels mosquito, so I don’t know if regular eucalyptus does the same. I also found some other oils that might do the trick: rosemary oil and lemongrass oil, and oils I’m not too familiar with: cinnamon oil, castor oil, cedar oil, peppermint oil, clove oil, and geranium oil.

I’ve applied the eucalyptus oil earlier. It’s been about two hours and not bites, guess it’s working. Will keep you posted.

Also, I heard placing a plant on your table as you work also repels mosquitoes. I’ve yet to try basil, rosemary, and lemongrass.

Coconut oil concoction

Currently looking for places that sell cheap coconut oil–I’ve looked and it’s like $13 for a 12oz bottle! And it was all white with coconut meat in the jar, didn’t look anything like oil.

I’m planning on making a natural deodorant with coconut oil, corn starch, and baking soda. So far, I’ve only been putting baking soda on my underarms every morning, but it doesn’t stick very well throughout the day. I also need a natural moisturizer for my underarms especially after I apply some lemon juice every night after the shower to lighten the dark creases. I also exfoliate with a natural loofah (vegetable) daily. I’ve been doing that for about 3 weeks now, but I don’t know if it’s my hope for it to work doing the lightening because I still see the dark creases. The skin there does feel much smoother and cleaner since I give it so much care. It must be getting better because a few months ago, I was wearing a sleeveless and I raised my arms in excitement for something, and someone thought I had a lot of hair under my arms when it was actually just shadows and natural skin tone. Today, a friend told me it isn’t bad, not too dark by her standards. We’ll see if I can get it to be light as my skin color. Time will tell.

And the seed grows: Olive oil

Jump to a year later, I’m trying to do everything the natural way. I also have sensitive skin, so I’ve been reading many research saying that the best way to have smooth, sexy skin without the bumps and rashes is to use natural products to moisturize it. This post isn’t about my skin, but about my hair. My hair simply sits on my head without much body or volume. Some research say increasing circulation to the scalp will increase hair growth, i.e. massaging the next, doing inverted yoga poses, even washing your hair with your head down.

I also tried to massage my scalp with olive oil and waited more than 30mins until I took a shower. I did that two days ago, and my hair still feels nice today. The first time I did it, I put a little too much, and my hair was very oily and a bit stiff. I didn’t have to put it on the second day because I felt some were still on my head. I will continue the routine tonight. The second day, my hair felt light and shiny–the ends also bounced and wasn’t dry at all. I need to get a trim soon anyway.

Ongoing research: Yesterday, I also got a mani/pedi, and as the huge cotton ball of nail polish remover go into my nails and seep into my school, the alcohol dried with a cooling feeling. I couldn’t help but imagine all the chemicals seeping into my body and wondering what I could change about my nail/toe routine. How can we make this process more natural? My nails and toes look so nice! Give up nail polish? I will miss it…

A seed is planted

A little more than a year ago, I was at home and had just woken up from my long slumber after many sleepless nights in college. I walked absently to the family couch and propped myself there. The morning news was on–it’s always on at my house–Ann Curry or Natalie Morales learned how to cook something delicious, a band played, etc. etc. What caught my attention was the findings they had on store-bought household cleaning products raising Breast Cancer risk. My mom went through surgery for her Breast Cancer but I’m still worried about her current health. Some studies say the risk of getting Breast Cancer is higher if you have a family history. The news had a specialist talk about how companies have marketed the idea in our heads that we have many germs around us and thus must kill 99.9% of them. Those harmful chemicals that kill germs around us are also harmful for our own healths–we are a bacteria after all.

Images of oozing smoke from the stovetop as I cleaned it with a green liquid Clorox surface cleaner that kills 99.9% germs or having cleaning products left over on our dish rack and then eating some of the products that get on our dishes popped into my head.

I looked up natural ways to clean and found my new favorite products: baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar, and water. To start, I replaced the surface cleaner with a fresh home made concoction. Have a container with lots of room for the air to escape. I once put baking soda and vinegar in a bottle and it bobbled out like a shaken coke. I would mix in the water first to dilute the baking soda, then vinegar later to dilute the smell, and then lemon juice to freshen things up. Too much vinegar and it will smell bad, and might tear up some nice wooden surfaces, too much baking soda and you’ll leave a layer of white waxy baking soda on the surfaces. Do mix it in so that the baking soda is fully diluted and doesn’t leave a layer on the bottle. This solution is also good for keeping ants off your surfaces, for ants hate the smell of vinegar!