Who Needs Shampoo or Deodorant?

Okay, so I need deodorant and with hair that is on the oily side of things, my locks have to be cleansed on a regular basis. The One Change Per Month topic for October is making hair cleanser and deodorant with baking soda. This post contains two more changes that are effective and super cost savers. So, who says being green is expensive or makes you greasy and stinky? Although today my hair is a bit greasy because I did an oil treatment on it. I am home all day, so I tossed it into a ponytail and am letting it absorb the moisturizing goodness.

Some months back, I decided to use baking soda to cleanse my hair. I didn't tell anyone, just gave it a try. It worked really well. But my skepticism remained. It just seemed weird. Even weirder than my switch, a few years ago, from regular shampoo to a shampoo bar. But I kept at it, cleansing my hair every other day with baking soda, rinsing with an apple cider vinegar rinse and using my shampoo bar about once a week. This routine is working well. I do still use commercial hair products on my hair after cleansing it and I have no plans to give them up. My hair needs a little something to help it out.

Here is a post that gives a cool video tutorial on mixing up baking soda and water to use for hair cleansing. At this point, I mix mine up each time I use it. I take a cup, shake a little baking soda into it, add water, mix and pour over my hair. Easy. But, I like the idea of mixing it ahead of time and maybe even adding some essential oils or herbs. This post shows the hair of Stephanie, from the video above, one year after making the switch to cleansing with baking soda. This one year later picture gave me hope that I wasn't doing long term damage to my hair.

In less than 3 years I have gone from this to now having 5 items (shampoo bar, vinegar rinse, facial soap, scrub and a bottle of conditioner that I use once a week) that are just mine in the shower. Guess what? My hair is fine and my life is simpler and my budgeted amount for personal products has gone down. Way down.

While on the subject of baking soda...I mixed up my own deodorant. Again, I was skeptical. There is only one brand of natural deodorant that works for me. And by works I mean it keeps me from being stinky. Natural deodorants don't work as antiperspirants. So, if you want to go natural in this area, you have to accept that your body sweats. For a reason. It isn't natural to stop that. If you want to stop sweating, natural deodorant products may not be a good choice. I save my antiperspirants for special occasions.

Here are a couple versions of the deodorant that I made:

• This post shares some initial skepticism about this recipe and a final positive verdict after 12 weeks of use.
• Pretty much the same recipe, but less wordy.
• Nice photo tutorial using the same basic recipe. This version includes 10 drops of essential oils. Any combination of essential oils can be used. I used lavender, a touch of patchouli and a touch of tea tree and a touch of a citrus. I think I used sweet orange.

Call me a coward, but I mixed up the deodorant and stuck it in my cupboard. I didn't think it would work so I was waiting for a day to test it, a day when I wouldn't mind stinking. Finally, I tested it out. It seemed to work. Really well. I kept using it. I packed it when I went to Vegas, used it on a 97 degree day where I spent several hours sight seeing, walking in the heat and followed that with a work out in the hotel fitness center. NO STINK! Honestly. M even did a sniff test after much pleading on my part. I needed a second opinion. What if I just couldn't smell my own stink? He agreed, no stink!

The downsides:

• This deodorant leaves white marks on clothes. Let it sit on the skin a bit to minimize this. Any white can be wiped off with a damp washcloth.
• DO NOT apply to freshly waxed armpits. Just don't. Trust me. It burns like CRAZY. I wait about 24 hours after waxing before using this. If you are new to trying this, test out a small bit to make sure your skin is not too sensitive.