BO Balm
☆ January 16, 2012
Such a hippie. I know. But, if you hate spending cash for deodorant that is filled with synthetics, aluminum (or is “all natural” and does not work), and comes in disproportionate amounts of plastic packaging, read on!
I’ve been making and using this for a year and it’s incredible. It works better than regular deodorant, in my experience, even during extreme activity and stress, like an ambulance call. And it’s so easy to make.
I use a slight variation of Angry Chicken’s recipe. I have followed her recipe precisely and it’s fantastic but somewhat soft and needs to be applied with the fingertips. No biggie, but using a stick is faster and easier. My ratio alterations are noted below, and I use jojoba oil instead of Vitamin E oil because it’s what I have around.
Shea butter in a stainless measuring cup, in which I make the entire concoction:
I hold it near the edge of my woodstove to melt the butters ~ you can use a burner on the stove as well, but I would hold it over the heat rather than setting it on the burner ~ you want to warm it, not cook it.
Adding cocoa butter:
For a firmer BO balm that works as a stick, I use 3 parts baking soda + cornstarch to 5 parts shea + cocoa butters rather than 5 to 5 as in the original recipe. I do keep the same ratios of shea butter to cocoa butter and baking soda to cornstarch as the original recipe. The cornstarch is important; the final mixture will be a bit grainy if you leave it out.
Baking soda + cornstarch:
Stirring the baking soda + cornstarch into the melted butters:
This is also where I add jojoba oil ~ I used about 1/2 teaspoon; I started with 2 ounces of shea butter and measured all other ingredients against that starting point ~ and essential oil for scent.
I have always used organic sweet orange essential oil and find it so lovely, especially combined with the slight chocolately scent of the cocoa butter. The smell is nice alone but doesn’t dominate or “get in the way” on days I wear fragrance.
My mix goes into a deodorant stick thing I saved ~ this was an all natural brand that didn’t do its job whatsoever. I just rolled the original deodorant all the way up and threw it away, saving the container which I can reuse to infinity.
The melted mixture poured all the way to the brim! It cools and hardens in a matter of hours. It can be hard to roll up at first, but a quick run under hot water or a second near the woodstove softens the edges ever so slightly and it rolls up easily from there.
Simple! Cheap! And you smell nice all the time!
I get the ingredients from Mountain Rose Herbs.
Original recipe: Angry Chicken’s homemade deodorant.
UPDATE: if reusing commercial deodorant tubes, do check for holes in the base before pouring your liquid mix in! If you’re looking for an appropriate tube to use, try HERE. I’ve not purchased from this site but it looks like the tube I used and there doesn’t appear to be a minimum order.
Cure For Winter
☆ January 13, 2012
Little Porker
☆ January 8, 2012
A little barnyard joke there, which probably no one finds as hilarious as I do.
But look at that chub!!!
She does not mind the snow, that is for sure.
Such a beauty.
Screenshot
☆ January 6, 2012
happy new year!
I’ve been on a multi-species lovefest, which, combined with budding obsessions with new amazing projects has kept me away from the computer and has also caused me to be way late in starting THIS. But it’s not too late. Who’s doing it with me this year?
Energy Cleanse
☆ December 27, 2011
A new year is just days away {do you have a calendar yet???}, traditionally the time for resolutions, detox diets from Xmas excess, et cetera. I’d like to share an energy cleanse.
This will probably seem kind of out there to some of you, and, to clarify, I’m not down with the whole “I was Mary Queen of Scots in a past life” thing myself, but I do know we all deal in energy, and sometimes we lose our energy to others, and sometimes we take on others’ energy and it drains our own. Positive, stimulating energy interplay between people (and animals) is great. I’m just talking about the negative drains.
To energetically resolve those drains (they’re created with energy and so they can be resolved with energy) I tried a technique loosely called The Blue Room ~ I held no expectation that it would work and no expectation that it wouldn’t work. HOLY COW does it work for me. In amazing and immediate ways. The directions are short and sweet and clearly explained HERE. If you want to start out the new year released from energy drains and compromises, I highly recommend giving this a go!
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