Whew, what a weekend! My best and oldest friend, Jenny, is getting married in a month (!!!!), so I flew out this past weekend to join the bachelorette party.
This was my first bachelorette experience, and it was so much fun! Jenny’s local friends planned it (it’s been hard to be a good maid of honor from 800 miles away), and it was fabulous. We got to know each other really well, and it’ll make Jenny’s wedding that much more fun! We went out to breakfast, went to Jenny’s final dress fitting, watched Frozen (I’m obsessed), and went out on the town. If you’ve been reading awhile, you may remember that I have a severe dance phobia (no, but really), but I somehow rallied myself to shake my groove thang. Anything for my girl!
I probably won’t have a traditional bachelorette party, but something fun with friends would be nice… maybe wine tasting? I’m accepting any and all ideas
On to more wholesome news, I’ve been making small changes in my daily health + beauty routine that I wanted to share with you.
Disclaimer: I’m a clean person. I shower daily (although I wash my hair only every 2-3 days; more on that later), shave even in winter, and am not quite enlightened enough to think that body odor is “beautiful.” Still, I don’t like the idea of putting unnecessary chemicals on my body via bath and beauty products, just as I don’t like to eat a lot of processed food. I’ve tried “natural” deodorants in the past, but I found they either didn’t work, smelled horrendous, or still had weird ingredients in them. I was really skeptical about ditching my tried-and-true Ban stick; I have, on many occasions, ducked into a bodega for emergency deodorant after getting to work and realizing I’ve forgotten to put it on. However, I felt like I was being a bit of a hypocrite. If I read my food labels and buy as much organic produce as I can, how can I justify slathering on aluminum zirconium tetracholorohydrex GLY (what?!).
After doing a bit of research online, I came across a recipe for homemade deodorant that, quite literally, changed my life. It only has three main ingredients, all of which I had on hand: coconut oil, corn starch, and baking soda.
HOMEMADE DEODORANT
adapted slightly from this recipe
- 1/4 c. baking soda
- 1/4 c. corn starch
- 6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 3-4 drops lemon extract* (optional)
Mix all ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. Pour into a glass jar and keep at room temperature or in the fridge (see notes below).
*I’ve seen other versions of this that use different essential oils, so I thought I’d use some of my yoga mat spray which is made with eucalyptus and rosemary oil. It ended up smelling like alcohol. I let the mixture air out with the top off and the smell evaporated away, but the second time around, I had no problems with lemon extract.
Note: Because coconut oil is liquid at room temperature, it changes consistency depending on the weather. When I made my first batch, it was 60˚ outside (sigh) and I actually put it in the fridge to get it to solidify. Now, since it’s cold out, the deodorant is solid. It warms up on skin, so I just dig out a small pinch with my finger and it rubs right in.
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I’ve been using my homemade deodorant for a few weeks now, and so far I’ve noticed:
-I don’t smell. At all. I was a little worried about wearing this through tough workouts like spin and warmish yoga, but I literally smelled like nothing after class.
-No pit stains! Did you know that the yellowing you get on your clothes is caused by antiperspirant, not sweat? Nothing to be embarrassed about!
-I don’t need to reapply. If I’m not showering directly after a workout (life happens), I often make a little precautionary deodorant swipe. No more!
-No excessive sweat. I applied the deodorant at 8 AM the morning of the bachelorette party, and didn’t end up coming home until after 3 AM. I wasn’t sweating all over the place, and still didn’t smell. (I was also definitely pushing my fellow bridal party members to try it!)
-It travels well. It’s still really cold out, so I had a feeling the small container I brought to Indianapolis with me would be fine, but I wrapped it in a plastic bag just in case. It was rock solid throughout the whole trip. I’ll have to reevaluate this packing technique in the summer; maybe wrap it in a small dish towel and put the whole thing in a bag?
Did you have a bachelorette party? Would you? Have you been to one?
Do you make any of your own bath or beauty products? I just made my own dry shampoo… I’ll report back!
