BS-Free DIY Deodorant and Sidekick “Freshen-Up Spray”

I have a working theory about how to determine the exhaustion level of a mom of young ones.  Three things that I’ve determined are giveaways, but only when used together.  Here’s my tells:

1. Length of leg hair.  

2. Length of text response time, or for texts requiring a quick response: # of errors, abbr. and autocorrects.

3. Give her a hug and sneak a whiff.  Smelliness level.

These must all be used together because, say, she went to a wedding, so she just shaved her legs, after 5 weeks of not.  Or her phone was just stolen by a midget and hidden in a couch cushion for 3 hours.  Or maybe she doesn’t wear deodorant?  

My tells, if tried on me, would equal high exhaustion.  This is me admitting to my long leg hair (I’m blonde, so that’s nice) and smelliness.  Let me be the first to say that sometimes, more often than not, I get smelly.  I’m not afraid to say this, but I won’t say I don’t have moments of insecurity due to my "natural" scent.  Do I enjoy smelling sexy or delicious or fresh?  Of course.  But my daily activities prohibit this, often, for a few reasons.  I chase, weight lift, comfort, wear & play with two mini-heaters while cleaning, cooking & working in between 10-minute naps.  “Yeah, yeah, welcome to the club” you say, except that I live on a (beautiful, and it’s totally worth it) very hot and humid tropical island, and unless you’re rich and fabulous, we don’t do central AC over here.  I can’t take off anymore clothes to cool off unless naked-in-public becomes legal.  Especially this past summer (record setting heat…and being 8-9 months pregnant didn’t help), it was treacherous.  Not just the heat, but the sweatiness & the stinky-ness.  

…And it probably doesn’t help that I gave up conventional deodorants (years ago). I did this because I no longer wanted to expose my pits to a daily dose of aluminum and other unnecessary (dangerous) chemicals, not to mention this location is right next to my hard-working & frequented boobies (sorry for the smell, baby!).  

Thus began my quest for natural deodorant options.  There’s some pretty terrible natural deodorants out there.  And they’re expensive! WTH?  The best one I’ve used so far is Weleda deodorant spray, but even that one has it’s downsides.

I also have concocted my fair share of DIY deodorants.  They have mostly been failures.  A lot of recipes have baking soda (BS) which many people (myself included) are sensitive to.  As if smelling under your pits isn’t enough, lets add a nasty looking rash from baking soda.  No thanks.  However I came upon a recipe, and with a few little twerks, and some essential oil scents (along with my trusty spray side-kick) I have managed to create one that works for my bod - that is, when I remember to put it on.  

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Shalohamama DIY Deodorant

Ingredients:

-5 Tbsp Arrowroot Powder*
-1 Tbsp Bentonite Clay* (don't use metal to mix while using bentonite! wood/plastic/ceramic ONLY)
-1 tsp Bees Wax (pellets melt fast!)
-2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
-2 tsp Shea Butter
-8-10 drops Essential Oils (I use 5 Purification blend, 2 Tea Tree, 3 Stress Away blend) 

Directions:
-Put coconut oil, bees wax & shea butter in glass bowl and heat over boiling water
-Stir until melted 
-Mix arrowroot powder and clay in a separate bowl.
-Pour oil mix into powder mix and stir until smooth.
-Drop in and stir EOs
-Pour into empty deodorant container and let cool.

    

(It's gray due to the bentonite, but it rubs right in, no color rub off that I've noticed).

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So the sidekick…You know how you have that travel size deodorant in your glove compartment for emergencies?  The spray is not a deodorant replacement.  It’s meant to work in collaboration with your already applied, slightly fading deodes.  It’s your all-natural travel size.   After you just dragged your tantrum-ing toddler out of Safeway while trying not to drop your infant, as your diaper bag is sliding down your arm and a sippy cup is spilling smoothie on your dress and infant and shoes... once the kids are finally trapped in their car seats and you have a moment to fix your hair (haha! just kidding, no time for that), or at least smell yourself and see if you need to “freshen-up”, that’s what the spray is for.  

Aim, spray, be fresh.  I also use it as a spray for around the house if it seems a little "stuffy" (aka just changed a stinky diaper).

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Sidekick “Freshen-Up” Spray

Ingredients:

- 2 oz colored glass spray bottle (EO’s need protection from sun & they break down certain plastics)

- 1 part Witch Hazel

- 2 part Vodka (I only had Stoli Vanilla Vodka on hand…so mine has a hint of vanilla)

- 7-10 drops of Essential Oil (I used Purification and Lavender but you can use any mix you enjoy smelling!)

Directions:

-Mix in bottle

-Shake before use

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Now I at least smell fresh with my hairy legs and terrible return texts.

Shaloha!

*Notes:

Bentonite Clay is great for facials, acne, clay baths, foot soaks, body wraps and insect bites too if you’re into that.  I also use it in my toothpaste recipe, blog on that coming…eventually.  

Arrowroot powder is a great starch alternative, and here’s some other uses: 

The All Encompassing Internet Health "Man": Your guide to our Sick-House Protocol

Ah, sick week in our house.  Or two, or three.  It comes around holiday season when everyone generously passes the gift of germs to the people closest to them.  Some people even pass it out to total strangers at work or the grocery store...so thoughtful of them, right?!

First thing I do is diagnose my sick children with the help of the All Encompassing Internet Health "Man".  Usually they have Small Pox or Meningitis and even if it's only a cold, by the time I walk away from the computer I'm sure that they're the .001% that is going to have serious complications, because the cough sounds "just so".

Then I pull myself together and try again.  I stop searching the first sites that pop up when you type in your ailment, because they're usually like "It could be heebiegeevinitis - you need drugs and hospitalization" because they're in bed with pharmaceutical companies one way or another... I swear they play on our mom-fear like John Mayer plays the guitar.  Really well.

I hardly ever went to the doctor as a kid that I remember.  I mean, yes, we went for sure.  But I don't remember going for every little thing.  My mom usually threw alcohol and vinegar in our ears and vitamin C and Zinc down our throats and said "you'll be good" (in so many words).  

Too, I find reassurance that God made the world (I think so anyway) and has lots of good plants that do good things for all kinds of ailments.  So I type in my search "natural remedy for [pick your poison]"

Suddenly we're going to get through this.  Nobody is dying today, God willing, and I'm going to use garlic to cure everything!

Well, at least some things.

In all seriousness, I was pretty sure that they had Whooping cough and freaked out after watching the youtube videos and reading the usual articles.  That was until my second round of searches where I found this article  that calmed my heart and put things back into perspective.  In the end it wasn't whooping cough after all, but as a side note, if your kids are dealing with it, please read the above article for some peace of mind.

Natural remedies aren't for the faint of heart, it's usually a bit more time consuming than antibiotics or try-to-say-that-name-pill poppin'.  It takes dedication, consistency, wizardry and often, force-feeding.  But in my opinion it's generally a better option for your health.  Are there exceptions? Absolutely!  I'm not saying don't go to the doctor.  It can be very relieving to get a swab and have an actual diagnosis, thus settling your nerves.  But we live in a world where "First, do no Harm" is dissipating in the medical field.  I've been prescribed antibiotic ointment for a hemangioma (a mole caused by a cluster of blood cells), and once the hospital tried to give my husband a spinal tap before giving him stitches on his head?!...come on.  I swear our country is on a drugs-cure-all kick, and it's pretty much going to cause our destruction.  That is, unless we get on the "natural remedies" train and learn how to work with our bodies instead of killing everything inside them -good and bad- with drugs.  Not all docs are bad for the record.  Our pediatrician is great.  I'm just saying some are all too happy to scribble on a little note pad and send you on your way  -_- Sorry not sorry.

I digress.  

Anyway, in my house we always first do no harm.  This week was RSV week (a cold virus, basically).  I'm going to share our sick-house protocol.  Pretty much nothing can straight kill this germ, so the best thing is to boost your immunity so it can do its job against those damn germy demons.

Shaloha Mama Sick-House Protocol

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The Greenest Green Smoothie of All 
(we actually do these almost everyday!)
*1 time in the morning, daily*

Ingredients:
-Heaping handful of "power greens" (kale, chard, spinach, whatever dark greens you have)
-heaping spoonful of peanut butter (unless you're allergic, then obviously not)
-2 tsp Hawaiian Spirulina
-half-thumb nug of raw turmeric
-pinky-nug of ginger 
-1 Tbsp Chia
-2 bananas
-a cup of whatever other fruit you like.  We usually do organic frozen strawberries or mix fruit.
-1/2 c. almond milk
-4-5 ice cubes
-water until you get desired consistency

Directions:
-Put in blender and mix.

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The smoothie is not, like, "wow! amazing!" but it is certainly tasty.  My 1 1/2 year old chugs it, so it can't be that bad.

Next I do a GSE Shot.  If you haven't heard of this stuff, do some research.  Here's one article about it..  This link will tell you about it's amazing-ness, but if you're not satisfied, do your own research and decide if it's right for you.  However it's always one of my first go-tos when I'm feeling even the slightest possible sickness coming on.  It is a great immunity booster and often kicks an incoming cold's butt before it starts, but even if it doesn't a time or two, it's wonderful to provide help to your little germ fighters in there.

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Grapefruit Seed Extract Shot
*Up to 3 times daily, see directions for dosages*

Ingredients:
-Correct dosage of GSE
-shot or glass of water (or any drinkable liquid).  

Directions:
-Stir (otherwise it sticks to the bottom)
-Drink

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Since it's so full of goodies and my toddler doesn't drink it anymore, I disguise breast milk with almond milk and add a couple drops in there.  If you don't have breastmilk, or boobs, no need... that's just my additional booster.  The GSE itself doesn't need to be disguised, it's just kind of...citrusy? 

This time around I made serious use of my new essential oils.  So much so that I ran out of some.  I constantly was diffusing Thieves oil, also diluting it and putting it on mine and the babes' feet to support our immune system.  I also took a drop on my thumb and stuck it on the inside of my cheeks every now and again.  It burned so good.  This is the one I ran out of.  It's really amazing stuff, not just for your body, but for keeping your home clean.  As the story goes, it kept grave robbers from getting the bubonic plague.  So much so that the King threatened their lives unless they told their secret to staying alive.  Do read about it in the link above.  It's intriguing.

I used the allergy trio (peppermint, lemon and lavender) when I felt the sniffles coming on.  

I made a chest rub with the R.C. blend, lemon, lavender, frankincense and coconut oil for cough relief.  

I rubbed Purification (also a blend), peppermint and lavender on my throat and behind my ears when I felt a sore throat coming on.  No joke, it was almost insta-relief.  It didn't last all day, but I reapplied every so often and the impending sore throat kind of just "went away."

On top of all of these things, I definitely force fed myself and my girl plenty of garlic, lemon juice, turmeric, grapefruits, ginger and honey.  We didn't do noni this time, but that is also really good for you, and generally easy to come by here on the islands.

When my 2 month old started coughing, we did go to the doc.  It was actually my husband that pushed for it, but we both figured it would be good to know what we were dealing with before it got worse.  He gave us a prescription for a nebulizer which we used a couple of times when each of them got wheezy to open the lungs a bit, but mostly we just stuck to these remedies.  No over the counter syrups or chewables (Not that I judge you if you use them.  I have used them before). 

Yep.  And keep the tissues (or TP) handy, because all that mucus has to come out eventually.

Shaloha!

Disclaimer: I'm not here giving medical advice.  Go to a doctor for that.  This is just what our family does, if you're interested. 

PS. Don't use essential oils internally unless they state they are ok for internal use.  For what I use, read halfway down this blogpost.

EmoMama: The Taboo Topic

For all you mamas out there, and empathetic non-moms.

Personally, I don’t ask for sanity hour enough.  My husband works a ton and when he comes home asking to surf on occasion, although I am often one hop away from jumping the couch, I let him.  Unfortunately I don’t always see him off with a great attitude.  Mainly because I’m jealous that I didn’t get to go have me time too, and with our lack of free time and being on boob demand, I always feel…almost a sort of guilt for even thinking to ask.  It’s not a pretty scenario and it’s caused some recurring arguments.  

We’re fine, we’re just in this “work hard while you’re young” phase and it’s freaking exhausting.  And the thing is, I suspect if you’re a mom, you’re feelin’ it too, you just aren’t saying it.  

Lets talk about the negatives and end with the positives.  Nobody ever seems to ‘fess up to the troubles of life, so I’m sharing mine here so you know that you’re not the only one.  This “Taboo” topic is going to be discussed right here, right now and we are then going to cover solutions.  Here goes nothing.

I have mommy brain, badly.  I can’t seem to walk through our 1 bedroom rental without forgetting 5 different times something from the other rooms.  My conversations are frequently halted by a fleeting thought, and the topic at hand is completely forgotten.  Sometimes spurting out a sentence that makes sense can seem like a challenge.  Honestly, I feel like I’ve lost a 10th of my brain.  

I, too, have emotional breakdowns on the kitchen floor, or wherever I’m standing (generally cooking in the kitchen) after gradually the screaming baby and whining toddler and ridiculously annoying DJ boombox toy and musical car overwhelm my being and I. break. down.  Personally, I can only calmly say “use your regular voice, I don’t understand when you talk that way” so many times.  This is a new thing for me, because I never used to lose it.  At least very infrequently.  Now it’s just like a weekly stress reliever.  If you haven’t experienced these yet, they will come, during one of the many stages of parenting I’m sure.  For me it took two kids for them to set in.

As mentioned above, my guy and I have “discussions” about why he needs to go _____ing (surfing in our case) for his “sanity”.  I try to relay that he works with adults.  Adults.  I repeat: Adults.  We are in two different “work” worlds and it’s difficult to relay what being with an infant & toddler all day everyday can do to your nervous system.  When he gets home, my work isn’t over, but at least there’s one of us per kid (you 3 and 4-kid mamas, I commend you.  You 5 & 6er mamas, you crazy!). 

If you’re in a similar stage as us, you may have mounting responsibilities and issues to address like a mortgage or insurances, demanding neighbors…I don’t know.  But it all adds to the stress.

My point in all this, is the only way to make it through with all your screws screwed in tight is to *share* and *release*.  

I just learned this, yesterday.

Here comes the positive.

We are battling sick in our house this week, and as you know the all encompassing internet health “Man” who writes on the internet about child sicknesses plays into our fears and suddenly we’re sure our kid has the Spanish Fever that hasn’t been around since the 1900s.  Not literally, you know, but you’re worried the cough is their lungs shriveling up, or the blister is a skin disease…the internet sucks in that regard.  Not only that but you’re reading these articles worrying the life out of you while your baby is crying and coughing in your arms and your daughter just sneezed out snot the size of China.

Anyway, after a really terrible morning and my weekly breakdown session yesterday, I had some attitude when my guy came home and I told him, rather than ask, that I needed to go out for a while.  I could’ve been more tactful and kind, he wouldn’t have denied me, but in that moment I didn’t want to explain why, I just wanted him to know this was something that I needed to happen -_-  

I don’t generally have “me” time.  Honestly.  I say I want it sometimes, but don’t end up doing it.  I would much rather hang out with him for the short times that he is home than “go out” by myself, but I listened to my gut in this instance, and off I went.

I had no idea what to do with myself and it was raining.  So I went to the post office and drove in a big neighborhood circle.  I knew I wanted to sit down and look at some type of beautiful scenery.  I finally decided on the beach, figuring I could look at the water from my car if it was still raining.  

Fortunately it was perfect weather where I went.  I sat on the sea wall in a semi-shady spot and stared at the ocean.  It was seriously the perfect amount of windy, the perfect amount of sun on my skin, and the perfect amount of shade for my face.  I decided no phone, and I sat there doing nothing for an hour.  Just let the thoughts skitter around in my brain until it calmed down.  My body relaxed and my posture and outlook changed for the better.  My thoughts started moving away from me instead of toward me…like “I need to give _______ a break from her kids so she can try this out…this is freaking amazing”.  In fact in that moment I was ready to give all my mommy friends gifts of “free time” (watching their kids with mine) so they can have this moment without having to ask their hardworking husbands to take the kids…I actually still want to do this.  Anyway, the time I spent doing nothing really did something good for my soul.

I also realized us mamas need to make an effort to find other mamas to relate to and spend time with.  Like…a mama support group.  An evening a month of childless wine drinking, tears, crazy lady laughter and mommy-brain conversation.  Prayer too if you’re into that.  I am.  Once I started to admit to these things, it was crazy how many moms responded in kind.  We aren't in it alone unless we choose to be.

Our lives changed big time when we became mamas.  As one of my girlfriends confessed to me once, when I was still childless and wanting to chat about “deep” things while her kid was running around, she said something along the lines of “Just know I’m listening and trying to focus on what you’re saying, but it’s like half of my brain is permanently fixed on [said kid].”  I wasn’t offended (I don’t offend easily, and I know that wasn’t her intent), but what she said stayed with me and brought some light to what motherhood is, and now, it definitely rings true.  I talk about a screaming baby and whiny toddler (which happens, frequently) but when my girl is singing “A B He Be” and “Twinka Twinka Twinka litta” and my son is giving me his grand & toothless grin, I melt.  Being their mom is the most stressful, wild, exhausting, sweetest, joyous most rewarding gift.

So lets admit to our failures, not be so hard on ourselves, don’t let fear take hold.  Lets take breaks (even if you have to fight for it), relate to and help one another.  Not because we necessarily want to (we probably do though), but because we need to.

On that note, my next post won’t be so serious.

Also we’ll be talking about the all-encompassing internet health “Man” soon(ish).

Shaloha!

Steadfast & Fresh Laundry Detergent

I make laundry detergent.  Been doing it for a while now.  It's SUPER easy, pretty cheap and not bad for you like certain "other" detergents.  It takes about 15 minutes (or less, depending on your grating skills).  Nowadays I add my super oils for a preferred scent (although Fels Naphtha has a nice scent already), but it has always remained faithfully effective, time and time again.

It's a powder.  I tried to convert it to a liquid once - don't try this.  I didn't want to waste it, so I suffered through a batch of failure.  It did the job, but it was a nightmare to work with.  Save yourself the trouble - for real.  I will never try to convert my detergent again.  Liquid or powder, Christian or Jewish...  if detergents were religions, what would yours be?

...a late night thought.

Anyway, it was a bad day today, but I can say with enthusiasm that I DID make laundry detergent successfully, and that's 1 win at least.

Ingredients:

-1 Fels Naptha Bar - grated

-2 Cups Borax

-2 Cups Super Washing Soda

-2 Tbsp Baking Soda

-20 drops Essential Oil of choice (I used 10 Purification, 10 Lemon - mm, mm fresh - Lavender is great too)

It looks like cheese!

Directions:

1. Grate Fels Naptha bar

2. Add in other dry ingredients & mix

3. Add EOs of choice and mix again.

4. Store in glass container.

5. Use 1/8 cup per regular size load

***DO NOT store washing soda in a moist environment.  Once opened it will turn into CONCRETE if left in humid or moist area.  Then next time you try to make detergent you will be outside with your washing soda concrete block wrapped in a dish towel, hammering it into smaller pieces small enough to process into powder in your blender.  Just learn from my mistakes (I did this twice).  Just put the freshly opened powder in a labeled gallon ziplock in the first place.

Thanks for joining me on this journey today in finding the true path to DIY laundry detergent.  

  When in doubt, hide in the cupboards in your underwear, or diaper.

  

Things you need to (or maybe don't need to) know about this blog(ger).

Welcome!  My name is Stasia.  As a campaigner for wellness, wisdom, goodness & truth, it's my goal to learn and share alternative perspectives rather than those of the run of the mill.   I love to challenge, push limits, and open perspectives.  

I'm not a very experienced writer (except possibly with musical things...we'll get there), but I've been inspired to do this because I'm into some cutting edge stuff that everybody wants to know about, so I figured I'd share all my deepest secrets and best paleo recipes on a blog.

But for real, maybe it's time to let it all out into a vast black hole of information, right?  Maybe I'll even be pinned.

Here's the basics of what you'll need to know about me as you navigate this blog and it's contents:

This is who's writing this BK (before kids) 

This is who's writing this AK (after kids) (PC my husband):

I hope someday to re-get my act together.

-Blessed to be married to an epic husband and a mama of two ridiculously cute kids (don't we all say that?  Maybe, but mine is true).  Also can I brag for a second?  Their names are Abel and Willing.  Yes, we did that.  

-Kauai, HI is my home (that's the little island that isn't "Honolulu" aka "Oahu" or Maui) - but I'm from San Diego, CA.  However Hawaii has rubbed off on me over the years and I have forsaken my "California Girl" - Katy Perry version - roots and now consider myself "from Kauai." God willing, I'm a Kauai lifer.

-I am a Certified Permaculture Designer as of May 2015 (chee!).  If you don't know what that is, this blog is sure to get you there.  Permaculture will save the world.

-Oils are epic.  Essential Oils.  It's kind of a new thing for me, but it's like when you meet someone and you just know you're meant to be.  You know that feeling right? Also, I will shamelessly admit I am a Young Living fan & user & you can bet your bottom side I will share my member number with you if you ask for it - and maybe if you don't.  But I'm not gonna sell you a darn thing.  I'm a terrible salesperson.. 

-Falling along the lines of EOs and permaculture, you can probably guess we are a mostly organic household (a couple of cheats when the option isn't available).  We are so organic we used to have chickens.  Too much right now, but we'll have some again.  Also I am over GMOs, pharmaceuticals (unless all natural options fail), vaccines (probably just lost some of you right there)  and if we went out to lunch and you suggested McDonald's I would try not to make you feel bad, but probably look at you unintentionally with disgust and say "No thanks."  It's not you, it's me.  

-I probably believe a lot of things different than you religiously, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends, or blogger and bloggee.  I might talk about the Torah and the Feasts of the Lord (Passover plague pranks for kids, anyone?) and not eat pork or other "unclean" animals, but I still like you if you do.  Just don't ask me to buy a Christmas tree.  And also I'm not Jewish, so don't think that.  You could say I'm on a "faith journey," so lets just leave it there.  

-I'm a musician together with my husband (aren't we so cute).  We are a little bit (lot-a-bit) set back on the music writing lately (diapers take up most of my creative time), but we have a couple of original albums you can listen to here and here.  Sometimes you can hear us in the overheads at Safeway.  If you're really clever you might even be able to find a few youtube gems.  I won't be linking you to those.

-I really like Israel. 

-If you ever come to Kauai, google or yelp "Dark Roost Coffee" and visit our cute coffee trailer.

I think I covered the important things.  Here's to hoping I do a second post! Cheers!