Giving DIY a try

All Natural Deo Spray I've spoken about my allergies to aerosol sprays and as we all know they're no friend of the environment either. As the summer heat has started ramping up I began to feel the need for a good deodorant. I dislike antiperspirants on principle; because sweating is one of the ways in which toxins are excreted from the lymph nodes, and so have always used a deo roll-on; however, since I started turning to DIY, chemical-free products in other areas I thought it would be nice if I could stop shoveling chemicals into my armpits as well.    At this point I should mention the search got disheartening because all the DIY deodorants use either coconut oil or witch hazel as their medium. Coconut oil is all well and good, but I had no desire to risk an oily residue on my clothes; and witch hazel is not at all easily available in Mumbai. When I asked for witch hazel I got looks that suggested I was asking for eye of newt and toe of frog, or some such (I guess be...

Activated Charcoal and Clay Mask As you know the last mask that I tried was an abject failure, for a number of reasons. However, I decided to carry on undaunted and try another mask. This time, taking into accont my oily skin I decided on a clay mask. Since I've been absolutely fascinated with the latest charcoal mask craze I was happier than ever when I found this recipe for an activated charcoal and clay mask.  You can find the full recipe here :  Recipe for the mask I was unable to get my hands on bentonite clay and so substituted that for Multani Mitthi, also known as Fuller's Earth, an ingredient widely used in skin care, most especially masks for oily and acne prone skin. I also added a little water to the final paste as it was too thick initially. The Ingredients Activated Charcoal  - Activated charcoal is well known for its properties of drawing out toxins and impurities. This property of binding to the impurities and drawing them out of the por...