making your own deodorant

This may sound crazy, time consuming, and not worth the trouble, but I guarantee once you try it you'll never go back!
I found this recipe from girl on bike's blog, and it's really great. But I did add to it...
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=335263.0

Her recipe calls for
*1/4 cup baking soda
*1/3 cup cornstarch
*10 drops or 1/4 tsp tea tree, lavender, &/or your favorite scented oil
(tea tree works best because of it's antibacterial properties)
*1 tbsp+ coconut oil

I also added sea salt, and a little witch hazel. Both of these will control odor because they have antibacterial properties., And the salt will help keep you dryer.
Also, I added a little bit more of every ingredient to get a good consistency, and I ended up with 2 deodorant bars. I melted everything on the stove, whisking. It was so separated and gooey and wet that I added more dry ingredients. At the time I didn't know it would harden so much, but regardless it came out perfect!!

To do the deodorant, I would wait until one of your deodorant sticks run out, (save the empty container) but have a spare, because this homemade deodorant takes about a week to harden and "set." Take your empty deodorant container, screw it all the way down, and tightly pack in the new deodorant mush.(I've also used toilet paper rolls as deodorant containers.

Once it hardens, it works just like any other deodorant. It smells like heavenly tea tree coconut.
This deodorant is all natural, but if you want non-gmo I would recommend using organic or certified non-gmo cornstarch.

*****tip-- if you find your deodorant won't set and harden properly try storing it in the fridge.

*******WARNING: IF PIECES OF DEODORANT FALL OFF, DO NOT LET HUMANS OR ANIMALS INGEST. THIS DEODORANT IS ALL NATURAL BUT TEA TREE OIL CAN BE FATAL IF INGESTED

picking cosmetics that don't cause cancer

Now, like I mentioned earlier, living a holistic lifestyle doesn't happen over night, you WILL drive yourself crazy.
I recommend researching ingredients, and once you eat mostly natural and organic, only then, take it once step further.
At one time I thought, why would I care what I put on my skin, it's not like I'm eating it, how much does it really matter?
Well parabens for example, are used in deodorants, lotions, many cosmetics...If you test someone with breast cancer for parabens, you will see there is a very high amount of parabens in the tissue affected by the cancer. So parabens have been linked to causing cancer. Nicotine patches work so well because your skin absorbs everything! Lotion, body spray, you name it!

So things to look out for,

• Aluminum chloride
• Aluminum zirconium tricholorohydrex glycine
• Aluminum chlorohydrate
• Aluminum hydroxybromide

 These are all antiperspirant ingredients, which are proven to cause cancer. Do some research.

• Any kind or Paraben!
• Diethanolamine (DEA), Triethanolamine (TEA)
• Diazolidinyl Urea, Imidazolidinyl Urea
• PVP/VA Copolymer
• Stearalkonium Chloride
• 1,4 Dioxane
• Formaldehyde
• Phthalates/Fragrance: DHP, DBP5, DEHP, and dibutyl phthalate
• Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)
• Triclosan
• Phenoxyethano
• artificial color
• Petrolatum, propyl glycol and mineral oil - This is a derivative oil, like gas in your car... It clogs your pores, and can cause other organ problems. -Not the worst of the wost, but definietly not good.

So, what should I use?!  You can search for safe chemical free, non toxic cosmetics, and you can shop at health food stores, or buy homemade stuff. Lables and ads are deceiving, unfortunately even whole foods and trader joe's carry products that contain toxic ingredients. That's why you need to be careful to read every ingredient, and search what you haven't heard of.

sources:  

•  http://www.fitsugar.com/10-Toxic-Cosmetic-Ingredients-Avoid-204330
• http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/14/red-alert-on-cosmetic-products-will-they-cause-a-health-disaster-like-asbestos-did.aspx
• http://www.fitsugar.com/10-Toxic-Cosmetic-Ingredients-Avoid-204330

Cleaning naturally, good for you, and the environment

Why you should care about what you clean with?

• Not everyone uses gloves when cleaning, so toxic chemicals even from clorox wipes, seep into your skin.
• Chemicals go into landfills, and seep out going into our water supply.
• And, the chemicals are not good for our earth, or anything on it, (except big business' wallet)
• And finally, It is cheaper to make your own! And simple!

Now, save yourself the trouble, don't throw everything away you were using, you might as well finish it, since its all going to the same place anyway, the landfill.
Let's talk sanitizing wipes. You can keep your old wipe containers, buy a baby wipe container, or use...

I know some people hate the smell of vinegar... So... Pick a citrus that you like to use. Grapefruits, oranges, limes, lemons, clementines. Eat it juice it, whatever. Save all of the peels! cut them into cubes. And put them in a 1 gallon container (I use an old bpa-free apple juice bottle). Pour in vinegar to fill. You should have at least a cup of chopped peels for this. Let it sit, in a cool dry place for a few weeks. And wa-lah! beautiful smelling citrus vinegar! Just strain out peels, and use.

So now,

1. cut a roll of heavy duty paper towels in half, tube and all. Or.. better yet, cut some crappy clothes into 4x4 squares and throw them in the wash after you use them!
2. In a bowl stir together, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol, and 1 cup vinegar or citrus vinegar.You can also add a few drops of witch hazel and/or tea tree oil.
3. squish your half roll into a container, and evenly pour sanitizing mixture over top. 
4. Gently pull tube from center, and pull one wipe up from center. And your done! 

**Use good paper towels, because thin ones will dissolve. If they start to get dry, close lid tightly, and flip upside for a second.

You can use this in spray bottles for cleaning all surfaces also.
You can make baby wipes, and other wipes, this is a video on how this woman makes her wipes...
http://livewellnetwork.com/Deals/episodes/DIY-Wipes/8707415
Although, she uses junk in her wipes. If your going to make your own wipes, get good, natural products to use.

Forget draino, if you have a clogged sink, pour 1/2 cup of baking soda on your drain, 1 cup vinegar, and then about a half gallon of BOILING water.
ta-dah, no more clogged drain!

Taking the first steps to a natural lifestyle

There is an overwhelming of information nowadays about how everything you eat and use is harmful to your body. Now, don't go crazy, just sit relax, breathe. Pick something easy.
Let us start with one ingredient, or two. High fructose corn syrup, and.. splenda / sucralose

High Fructose Corn Syrup 

Now, let's look at why this is bad for your health.

• High fructose corn syrup can lead to insulin resistance
• Scientists have clearly linked the rising High fructose Corn syrup consumption to the epidemics of obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome
• High fructose corn syrup is made from genetically modified corn (GMO), GMO's  can lead to birth defects, allergies, infertility, immune and organic problems. To learn more about GMO, go to mercola.com and search GMO.
• Elevated blood pressure
• Elevated triglycerides and elevated LDL
• Depletion of vitamins and minerals
• Cardiovascular disease, liver disease, cancer, arthritis and even gout

Why doesn't your body like High Fructose Corn syrup?
The corn industry tells us it is completely natural and the same as sugar, and is fine in moderation....
Go on google, search: How is high fructose corn syrup made?
It is poison mutated slop. I don't see any natural high fructose corn syrup dripping out of the trees.. Because it is not natural. It is mutated GMO corn syrup with more fructose than sugar, making it sweeter. Unprocessed sugar that comes from the sugar cane is natural, your body doesn't break down "HFCS" the same way as sugar. It is safe in Moderation? Go in your pantry, read your ketchup, your bbq sauce, your salad dressing, your sodas, your cookies... go in your freezer, read your pre made meals, your ice cream.... high fructose corn syrup is in virtually everything. So unless you were already avoiding it, or make everything from scratch, IT IS NOT IN MODERATION!!!


and even worse than HFCS, is Splenda or sucralose.

http://products.mercola.com/sweet-deception/
This is a video from Dr. Mercola, I get most of my information from him. He has a great website, and this video talks about artificial sweeteners, it is 15 min long.


Now how to avoid it, the best way is to look at the ingredients before purchasing products. This can be time consuming, I would recommend shopping at Trader joe's they don't use it in their products..
Now don't go throwing everything away, simply when you run out of ketchup, buy the one without high fructose corn syrup, many products even advertise 'no high fructose corn syrup," but be careful, it way contain worse ingredients.

So, slowly but surely, do your research, if you see a weird word, sucralose, maltodextrin, fructose, monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrate, food coloring  BHA, BHT, TBHQ.... Take out your phone.... And google it!!!!! you will learn th terrible truth about how the FDA wants us to be sick...
The chemical companies sell their products, the food company sells their products, we eat them, we get sick, pay the dr, take pills made from the chemical companies.... It's all a cycle. They want us to be unhealthy because it makes so much money.

After you weed out 1 ingredient, keep educating yourself about other harmful ingredients.
Then slowly start learning about organic, and why natural free range meats are better for your health...
Then think about how you prepare your food. If you are using the microwave you are zapping away most of its nutrients.
Again, here is a great article from dr. mercola all about the microwave!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/18/microwave-hazards.aspx

gasp! Oh but How will I heat my food??
100s of years ago there were no microwaves and we did just fine.
The next quickest way to heat your food is in a pan on the stove.
Or you could bake it in the oven.
I haven't use the microwave for 3 years. I haven't had any problems heating my food.
Any questions, leave a comment :)
Ah yes, and instead of believing everything I say, go on sweetsurprise.com, and splenda's website and compare what mercola and the company say about the products!