I Enjoy Making Healthy Changes and Money Saving Ideas and So Who Wouldn’t

verschiedene Deodorants (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For years we have foolishly used deodorants that are filled with harmful chemicals like aluminum, parabens, phthalates and who knows what else is mixed in those deodorants.

Our excuse for continued use of them was because we couldn’t trust anything else to be effective to keep our underarms dry and odor free. We didn’t want to risk offending others by walking around smelling like skunks if you know what I mean.

Well I am learning over time how to make healthy changes in the way I live my life and I am so happy with the changes we are making to reduce the amount of harmful chemical being put in our bodies via the food and water we drink on down to what we put on our skin and bodies.

Body powder being applied to foot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We eventually made a few successful changes and have saved so much money! One way we have saved is by totally eliminating our antiperspirant/ deodorant usage and foot powder usage that is an expense that really adds up over time.

At one time I did try letting them go by making my own homemade deodorant with baking soda, cornstarch and coconut oil but the baking soda irritated our skin and plus this mixture wasn’t long lasting nor was it effective in keeping down odor over time. I also tried using the pastes too but over time my body became used to it and so over time the paste no longer kept me dry and odorless. So we basically had given up for a while on making changes in this area.

Then I found information on mineral salt deodorants. I tried the crystal body stick and was amazed at how long these sticks last. I was shocked to find that one stick could last for a year or longer. So I tried it but still had the problem with it lasting all day long alone.

Vinegar as a cleaner (Photo credit: Sweet One)

Then one day I came across a recipe of white distilled vinegar and orange peels and so I make it and we use it for green cleaning the house and I love it because the oranges help so that the strong vinegary smell disappears. I absolutely do not like the smell of vinegar at all. LOL! So now it has a slight orange smell in it and is much more pleasant smelling.

Crystal Body Stick And Orange Peel Vinegar

One day a light bulb went on in my head. IDEA! To combine the use of the orange peel vinegar or plain white distilled vinegar (there is no need to buy expensive apple cider vinegar for this, the cheap store brand white vinegar works just fine) and the body crystal stick. So I put this orange peel vinegar in a small spray bottle and sprayed a few squirts of it liberally underneath my arm pits just before stepping out of the shower one day then I applied the crystal body stick too while my under arms was still soaking wet. I let my underarms air dry and found that my underarms smelled absolutely delicious.

English: Fresh orange peel Русский: Свежеочищенная апельсиновая цедра (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Surprisingly it WORKED! I must tell you that I am the happiest person alive today because I found something that is without harmful chemicals that works to keep me dry and odor free under my armpits! Also it has saved me so much money.

I have a pair of plastic flip flops that I wear in the shower and so then I thought after washing my feet and toes to spray the orange peel vinegar on my toes, soles of my feet and on my flip flops (before stepping out of shower) and it WORKED too by helping to keep my feet odor free all day long and it works against any foot fungus when I put some in water to soak my feet when I do my own pedicures. Hooray!

I have to tell you that the slight vinegar smell does wear off quickly and so you do not risk smelling like a salad. Yes really! LOL! There’s only the smell of clean freshness underneath your arm pits and your feet. Just a clean freshness that is so amazing.

I went a step further and experimented by allowing myself to go for two days without washing underneath my arm pits to see how long this vinegar and crystal combination could last. And so for two days there was no odor only that clean freshness. WOW!

So I let my husband smell under my arms and he loved the fresh clean smell and so he tried it that weekend to see if it will work for him and lo and behold it worked for him as well.

Big Savings

So my cost was three dollars ($3) on a gallon bottle of distilled vinegar, two dollars ($2) on a small spray bottle and six dollars ($6) on a crystal body stick.

One gallon bottle of vinegar can last about six months and the crystal body stick lasts for and entire year or longer before I have to buy more.

So where we used to spend over a hundred and thirty six dollars ($136) a year on chemical laden deodorants and over a hundred and thirteen dollars ($113) a year on chemical filled foot powders we are now saving over two hundred and fifty dollars ($250) a year now on not having to purchase these two items alone.

essential oils lavender, lemon and sweet orange (Photo credit: How to be Sustainable)

So I like to keep stocked up on vinegar and the crystal body stick. I also added a little twist to the vinegar by putting a few drops of different kinds of essential oils in it. So I have one bottle with tea tree and another with orange and lemon essential oils added. Sometimes I also mix essential oils with coconut oil or almond oil and apply a dab under my armpits too so to soften the area a bit, but only after they are bone dry after applying the orange peel vinegar/or plain white vinegar and crystal body stick.

So now when I am at home all day I don’t use the crystal stick at all but I spray on the vinegar then apply a bit of almond oil mixed with a few drops of essential oils. I read somewhere that frankensense essential oil fights cancer when applied to your under arms…it goes into those lympnodes and your blood stream. So that is great news for me so I also add a few drops of it and a few drops of lavender essential oil in my almond oil bottle.

So hay if anyone wanted to try doing this for themselves let me know if it works out plus you can play around and have fun with it as I do by adding the essential oils and putting on a dab of some coconut oil or almond oil if you like.

Be Gentle

But I must tell you that I am very gentle as I wash with Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap my armpits because you don’t want to be too rough on that gentle area then apply the vinegar because then it will sting a lot if your too rough. If I feel any irritation I go a few days without using the vinegar to let it heal. But so far I haven’t had any irritation which is so wonderful. Plus I usually shave my armpits with my lady finger shaver or keep the them closely trimmed and so does my husband so that it can be more effective. So be gentle when shaving too. It does not have to be perfect. Just a light shaving will do the job.

So my husband and I are two happy souls as we put those savings right back into our pockets or put the cash into a savings account this year and perhaps next year too.

I enjoyed reading about the crystal body stick at this blog below:

crystal body deodorant stic