Photographed by Mike Garten; Styled by Ali Nardi.Some beauty products are best straight from the department store counter. Others, though, are better from your kitchen counter. It's true: Many of the ingredients you need to whip up effective, luxurious skin care are right in front of you. That's the fundamental belief behind our latest collaboration with small-batch skin-care brand Mullein & Sparrow , in which we'll be rolling out a series of DIY recipes created just for you by the brand's founder, herbalist and holistic esthetician Anit Hora.
Just because summer's over doesn't mean our need for armpit-odor control is gone. In fact, if there's one product we use all year round, it's deodorant. But, at the same time, deodorant is probably the number one product we feel nervous about experimenting with. After all, if it doesn't work, everyone around us has to suffer, too. According to Hora, though, everything we need for all-natural, effective deodorant is right at our fingertips.
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You'll need:
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
3 tablespoons cornstarch
5 drops tea tree oil
10 drops lavender oil (or any essential oil you prefer)
Mix the baking soda, arrowroot powder, and cornstarch in a bowl. Add in the coconut oil, mashing it with a spoon for even consistency, then finish by adding the essential oils. Pour the mixture into a couple of small jars, then store them in the fridge to prevent the coconut oil from melting. (Or, add some beeswax to the mixture to ensure it stays intact.) Once the mixture is solid, rub the deodorant cream into each armpit using your fingertips.
So, what makes this recipe so good? As our expert explains, coconut oil is both anti-fungal and anti-bacterial. Meanwhile, the baking soda helps to absorb odor. Lavender and tea tree oils are both anti-bacterial, and cornstarch actually has some antiperspirant properties. The arrowroot is mainly there to create a good consistency.
Stay tuned for more original DIY skin-care recipes, and let us know what you'll be whipping up at home.
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