Ingredients

• Aromatherapy inhaler
• Pre-cut organic cotton pads
• 10 drops lavender essential oil
• 7 drops ylang ylang essential oil
• 5 drops marjoram essential oil
• 1 drop neroli essential oil

Instructions

1. Place cotton pad in inhaler tube.
2. Add drops of essential oils directly in the tube on the cotton pad.
3. Alternatively, you can drop the essential oils into a glass bowl, roll the cotton pad into the oils to absorb them, and then insert into the inhaler tube using tweezers.
4. Remove cap and breathe in for 5 minutes twice a day while resting, meditating or even watching TV.
5. Store in purse and be sure to have one handy at work.

Notes
* Alternatively, this blend could be added to your diffuser to use at night to support balanced blood pressure.

Author: Dr. Eric Z

Total Time: 2 minutes

Serves: 30-90

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces water
• 4 ounces distilled white vinegar
• 15 drops melaleuca (aka Tea Tree) oil
  
• 15 drops lemon
• Glass cleaning spray bottle

Directions:

1. Fill spray bottle with ingredients.
2. Close bottle and shake to mix.
3. Swirl/shake bottle before each spray.
   

With exposure to things like the weather, less than great water, hair care products, and heat tools, your hair can take a beating. I use plenty of homemade hair care products to keep my locks healthy, like this herbal hair rinse. But this strengthening DIY hair mask is a great addition to any natural hair care regimen.


Why Use a DIY Hair Mask?
Shampoo and conditioner may not be enough to counteract everything we put our hair through. Even those who regularly consume nutrient-dense foods like collagen and bone broth might notice their hair needs some extra love. A natural shampoo and conditioner keeps hair clean and moisturized, but a protein-rich hair mask adds strength and shine.

While you can buy a hair mask, the kitchen is full of ingredients with properties that nourish and strengthen hair. Why not just mix a little up when needed? Bonus: You’ll know exactly what’s in your (100% natural) DIY hair mask!

How a Hair Mask Works
Before I delve into what’s in this hair mask to strengthen hair, it helps to know why I’m recommending these ingredients. The hair follicle and root are composed primarily of collagen. This is why consuming collagen-rich foods and a high quality collagen powder helps so much with hair growth and health. The hair itself is 91% protein, so coating it in protein gives it what it needs to rebuild.

DIY Hair Mask Ingredients
Raw Free-Range Egg

The iconic egg shampoo was popular for a reason. While the proteins found in egg are too large to effectively bind with hair, they’re chock full of other vitamins and minerals that nourish hair and scalp. Eggs from less than healthy animals won’t have as good of a nutritional profile, so free range eggs are best.
Raw eggs contain:

• Vitamins A, B-complex, D and E
• Folate
• Pantothenic acid
• Calcium
• Iron
• Phosphorous
• Selenium
• Zinc
• Potassium
• Cholesterol, healthy fats and omega-3s

Gelatin
This ingredient is really the star of the show here. I love using gelatin for so many things, from homemade healthy marshmallows, to vitamin rich fruit snacks. However, it’s also fabulous for hair. The proteins in gelatin readily bind to hair to repair damage and really help this hair mask to strengthen hair. Twelve of the top thirteen amino acids that comprise our hair shafts are also found in gelatin.

Raw Honey
Raw honey is another ingredient that goes into much of our food, DIY beauty tutorials, and natural health recipes. This unique ingredient does everything from clearing blemished skin to soothing a sore throat. While protein adds strength to the hair, too much can make it brittle. Adding honey helps keep the hair soft and flexible.

Essential Oils
These are optional, but really help to amplify the benefits. Plus they help hair smell amazing! Lavender, rosemary, cedarwood, and ylang ylang are all good choices.


Horsetail Herb
This plant is also known as scouring rush, or shavegrass. Because of its rigid nature, it used to be used as a scrubbing tool. It’s high in silica and other hair-healthy minerals like magnesium, potassium, and bioflavonoids that are best extracted in a water infusion. The silica not only makes the plant strong but hair, teeth, and nails as well.

DIY Hair Mask Recipe

This simple DIY hair mask is easy to make and only uses a few ingredients that you may already have in your kitchen.
Hair Mask Ingredients

• 1/3 cup water + 1/4 cup water, divided
• 1 TBSP grass-fed gelatin
• 2 tsp ground horsetail (also known as shavegrass- I opened the capsules to get the powder out)
• 2 tsp raw honey
• 5 drops essential oil (optional)
• 1 egg

Hair Mask Instructions

1. Heat 1/3 cup of water to a simmer. Add the horsetail, cover, and let infuse for 5-10 minutes. Strain and set aside.
2. Add 1/4 cup of room temperature water to a shallow bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over top. Allow this to gel for a few minutes, then whisk in the hot horsetail infusion.
3. In a small bowl thoroughly combine the honey and essential oils, then add the gelatin mixture to the honey. Keep stirring until you no longer see tiny bubbles, as this means it’s mixed. The honey helps to safely disperse the essential oils into the hair mask. If not using any essential oils, then just add the honey straight to the gelatin mixture.
4. Whisk the egg in. You want to make sure that the gelatin mixture isn’t too hot when adding the egg, or you’ll end up with scrambled egg in your hair mask!

​How to Use

1. Apply the prepared hair mask liberally to the hair until all strands are thoroughly coated.
2. Allow the mixture to sit on the hair for 5-10 minutes, but don’t let it dry. A shower cap can be used to keep the hair moist if you want it on the hair for longer.
3. Thoroughly rinse out. Follow up with an apple cider vinegar rinse if needed to remove all of the hair mask.

DIY Hair Mask Tips

• If the hair is a little stiff afterwards, then apply a little coconut oil to your palms, and massage over the hair. Or use a conditioner and rinse as usual.
• This mask can be used up to once a week, or less frequently if hair becomes stiff with once a week use.

Do you use hair masks for healthier hair? Do you have a favorite DIY hair treatment? Please share!

Why Natural Deodorant?

Eating a good diet and drinking enough water can really cut down the odor, but sometimes you need something else. Sure, the conventional deodorant antiperspirants work great, if you don’t mind infusing your armpits with aluminum and other additives!
For those of us who have sought a more natural option, you may have noticed that the pickings are rather slim. There are a lot of natural deodorants out there, it’s just that, well… most of them don’t work well. I say this from experience, as a woman who has been pregnant multiple times in the last few years (pregnancy increases sweat) and worked out through the pregnancies.

So what to do?  Sweat like a horse or slather on the aluminum? Is there no other option?
Fortunately, there is!

Unfortunately, it takes more time than going to the store, but it lasts a lot longer and is a whole lot healthier! In my pursuit of healthy armpits, I finally stumbled upon a natural homemade deodorant recipe that works and is still natural. This is after trying every natural variation I could find (which didn’t work or caused a rash) and after several very failed attempts at making it.

I did find in the process that pure baking soda or plain coconut oil work pretty well, so if you aren’t into making your own, maybe try that. Some people get a rash from baking soda, so test this on a small area of skin first. I’ve also recently been using this pre-made natural deodorant, which is very similar to these DIY recipes and that smells amazing and works well!

How to Make Natural Homemade Deodorant
Both of the recipes below work really well. I prefer the softness of the first recipe, but if you don’t have shea butter lying around, the second recipe works just as well and has fewer ingredients. You can customize your deodorant to your scent preferences with essential oils, if desired or omit them for an unscented version.

If you are looking for a pre-made option that smells incredible, I’d recommend this handmade one from Crunchy Betty.

Homemade Deodorant with Shea Butter

Shea Butter Deodorant Ingredients

• 3 T Coconut Oil
• 3 T Baking Soda
• 2 T Shea Butter
• 2 T Arrowroot (optional) or organic cornstarch
• Essential Oils (optional)

Shea Butter Deodorant Instructions

1. Melt shea butter and coconut oil in a double boiler over medium heat until barely melted. UPDATE: Combine in a quart size glass mason jar with a lid instead and place this in a small saucepan of water until melted. This will save your bowl and you can just designate this jar for these type of projects and not even need to wash it out… This can also be done in the microwave if you have one.
2. Remove from heat and add baking soda and arrowroot (If you don’t have arrowroot, use more baking soda or just omit)
3. Mix well
4. Add essential oils and pour into a glass container for storage. It does not need to be stored in the fridge.
5. If you prefer, you can let it cool completely and put into an old deodorant stick for easier use, though it may melt in the summer!

NOTE: It may take several hours to completely harden and this process can be sped up by putting in the fridge for a few minutes.

If you don’t have all those ingredients around, or don’t want to wash a double boiler, this recipe is faster and easier:

Coconut Oil Homemade Deodorant Recipe
Coconut Oil Deodorant Ingredients

• 6 T coconut oil
• 1/4 cup (4 T) baking soda
• 1/4 cup (4 T) arrowroot or organic cornstarch
• essential oils (optional)

Coconut Oil Deodorant Instructions

1. Mix baking soda and arrowroot together in a medium sized bowl.
2. Mash in coconut oil with a fork until well mixed.
3. Add oils if desired.
4. Store in small glass jar or old deodorant container for easy use.

Why Use Natural Deodorant?I started this pursuit to avoid nasty additives in regular deodorant, but I’m a lifelong convert because it works!

No, really! I was the girl who rejoiced when Secret Clinical Strength came out before prom one year. I’ve had to use regular deodorant a few times since I started the natural, and it doesn’t work as well. Although not an antiperspirant,  it does seem to absorb a lot of wetness.

After a few weeks of using natural, I noticed an unexpected side effect… I wasn’t sweating as much to begin with. Months later, and I notice this even more!

I urge you to try making your own deodorant. Even if you aren’t daunted by the ingredients in your own deo, wouldn’t you feel better knowing you weren’t putting anything on your skin that you couldn’t eat (not that you would want to eat shea butter!) If you do try it, let me know the outcome!

If you don’t want to make it, this is a pre-made natural one I use.

Troubleshooting and FAQs

After years of using this recipe and hundreds of comments from readers who have tried these recipes. If you have any trouble with making these natural homemade deodorant recipes, this may help:

Q. This homemade deodorant is giving me a rash… Did I do something wrong?
A. Some people react negatively to the baking soda and develop a rash or underarm discoloring. If this happens to you, I’d suggest stopping using the natural deodorant until you are able to resolve the issue. Many people cut the baking soda amount in half and notice that the irritation goes away. Also, make sure that you aren’t reacting to any essential oils you use in your homemade deodorant.

A simple clay-based armpit detox can help pull out some of the chemicals from past deodorant use that may store in the underarm and lead to a rash.

Acid-Based Deodorant: Other readers have noticed that if they react to a baking soda based deodorant, an acid-based deodorant works better. Suggestions that seemed to have worked include using diluted lemon juice or apple cider vinegar alone or with essential oils.

Spray Deodorant: A magnesium-based spray deodorant can also be helpful, especially for those who react to coconut oil or shea butter. This is also a lighter option that dried more quickly. If you prefer to spray on your deodorant, here’s a recipe to try.

Q. I’m allergic to coconut oil… can I make this recipe without it?

A. Absolutely!
You can use half as much of a liquid oil like almond, jajoba or avocado oil in place of the coconut oil, especially in the shea butter recipe. This will create a thinner recipe. If you want a formula closer to an actual deodorant bar but without the coconut oil, use this recipe but use 1/4 cup almond (or other liquid oil) in place of the coconut oil.

Q. Can I put this in a regular deodorant container?
A. Yes, though it will work better with the first recipe that contains shea butter. To make an even firmer bar, increase the shea butter to 1/4 cup. These inexpensive deodorant containers work well to store this recipe. I also recommend letting either recipe firm up in the fridge before attempting to use if you are putting in deodorant containers.

Q. This seems to be staining my clothes… How do I fix this?

A. I’ve personally never had trouble with this, but it seems that this can be a result of using too much of the mixture at one time or not letting it absorb into skin before putting on clothing. I use a tiny amount (not much is needed) and wait 3-5 minutes before putting on a shirt to avoid any staining issues.

Q. This stings if I apply right after shaving… how do I prevent this?
​
A. The baking soda or magnesium will sting after shaving. Usually, waiting a few minutes will solve the problem.​

Given that perfume is loaded with chemicals and coupled with a breast  thermography scan that showed something was of concern I decided to ditch the expensive perfume in favor of something non-toxic.  It's been a relatively simple process and I experiment with different fragrances often.   

You need a very good essential oils such as Young Living or doTERRA as they are pure, organic and safe to put on your skin.   I use fractionated coconut oil and essential oils like Passion and Whisper.  I've also used Jasmine.  Basically you just try any essential oil you like the smell of and don't be scared to try a few different fragrances.  You will also find a lot of recipes on line as well.  It's a very good and safe alternative to toxic perfumes.