DIY Self-Care: Part 2

So, last week I talked about my endeavor to make my own shampoo and conditioner – which yielded varying degrees of success. This week I will be tackling a different (clay) shampoo, body butter, and deodorant.

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Clay shampoo: – £0.23/wash

I tried baking soda shampoo but with little success so now I am using clay as a shampoo. It is super simple as it also only has two ingredients (one of them being water). Clay is basically just mud and, consequently, completely natural! You can use it on your hair or body and is great for alleviating the symptoms of eczema, psoriasis etc.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 Tbsp of Rhassoul clay
• Enough water to turn into a paste
• Something to mix it in (and with).

You just mix up a little bit of clay with some water and use as you would a normal shampoo. This one has to be mixed every time it’s used otherwise it’ll just dry out and harden. The 1-2 spoons of clay was enough for me, even though I have quite thick hair, as I only wash the roots. I used my hairbrush to ensure the clay mixture was distributed properly. I only bought a small amount (enough to fill this spice jar) to see if it would work, the price per wash reduces vastly when the clay is bought in bulk.

delicious

It works! My hair is clean! I almost didn’t think it would work but it does. After using the clay be sure to use the apple cider vinegar (or other vinegar) rinse to restore the proper pH level to your hair.

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Body butter: – £1.50

I have eczema (which is the medical term for really dry skin) so I am dependent on moisturiser. Without it, I’d look like Spongebob in that episode where he’s too polite to tell Sandy he needs water. I love a good body butter, the ones from The Body Shop are great. BUT they come packaged in a plastic tub AND they contain palm oil (and cost like £15)! In light of this, I decided to try and have a go at making my own. This one probably cost me £1.50 to make.

me

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp Coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp Cocoa butter
• 2 Tbsp Shea Butter
• 1 Tbsp Almond oil (or any other oil you don’t mind slathering on yourself)
• 10-15 drops of an essential oil of your choice (I chose vanilla)
• An empty container

Melt the coconut oil and the two butters in a bowl, over a pan of boiling water. Once completely melted, set aside to cool. Once cool, and creamy in colour, add the almond oil and the smelly stuff. You can use it like this if you want more of a lotion, but I whipped mine to give it more of a buttery texture. It does melt quite easily so, if you live somewhere warm, keep it in the fridge to prevent this.

smells better than it looks

Now, while this recipe doesn’t contain any palm oil, it didn’t really cut down on the amount of waste generated. All of the ingredients came in their own packaging – so it actually made more plastic waste than it saved. I’m gonna let it slide this time, however, as it was my first time making it and I didn’t know how it was going to turn out. If the ingredients were bought in bulk then it would likely save on plastic packing.

Overall, I really like this recipe! It does the job – it’s not exactly the same texture as store-bought body butter but that is to be expected really. It melts on contact with the skin and soaks in really well – my skin is so soft! Also, the vanilla and cocoa butter combo is amazing – I smell good enough to eat! 😉 I read somewhere that adding a teaspoon of cornflour will make it feel less greasy, so I might try that next time.

*Don’t use on your face, it will probably give you spots.*

I adapted this recipe from here.

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Deodorant: – £0.20

There have been a number of studies and claims that deodorants contain a number of substances that can be causally linked to breast cancer (Source). However, these claims cannot be substantiated (Source) but I think it’s probably best not to use quite so many chemicals on my skin anyway. Aside from that, most, if not all, deodorants contain our old friend palm oil and usually come in plastic packaging. So, hopefully, this deodorant will be the answer to my plastic-free prayers.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tsp Coconut oil
• 2 1/2 Tsp Cornflour
• 2 Tsp of Bicarbonate of Soda
• 1/2 Tsp almond oil
• 10 drops of an essential oil (Optional – I chose vanilla, again)
• An empty container or roll-on deodorant applicator

Ensure the coconut oil is liquid. Mix the baking soda and the cornflour together in a bowl. Add the coconut oil gradually, mixing in between until you achieve a smooth cream. Add the essential oil (I added far too much, so be careful not to get carried away!).

I don’t want to say what I want to say this looks like

It works! I wear it to the gym and I still smell good after a hard workout! In between sets I kept thinking “omg I smell so good” – must be a new experience for me. I will say to make you don’t put too much on, otherwise it won’t soak in and will just sit on top of the skin.

I adapted this recipe from here.

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If you have tried these recipes yourself and want to share how they worked for you, or have anything else to add – let me know in the comments.

Jessica xx

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