I found both of these recipes unintentionally. Having sensitive skin and an aversion to irritating ingredients, I was thrilled to find the deodorant and body wash that I had been using for a few years in the small commissary at our overseas base. But after a few months, my family curse kicked in - if it’s a product we use and buy, it’s sure to be discontinued. 

Within a few months of being overseas, both my baking soda deodorant and my body wash were discontinued as soon as the announcement came that our base was closing. My alternatives were to order them online or switch to the more mainstream products still carried by the commissary, almost definitely resulting in an irritating result. So I took to experimenting with different recipes to figure out a better, long-term substitute.

By mixing honey and olive oil, my body wash serves as a great moisturizer, fighting the drying effects of the hard German weather. It turns out that it also works as a fantastic shaving cream, which I discovered one day when I ran out of homemade shaving cream.

Honey Lemon Face Wash

Honey Olive Oil Body Wash & Shaving Cream

• 1 C liquid castile soap

• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

• 1/4 C olive oil

• 1/8 C honey

• 1-2 drops tea tree oil

Mix all ingredients together and pour into bottle and enjoy.

Shea Butter Deodorant

via Wellness Mama

Shea Butter Deodorant

via Wellness Mama

My deodorant recipe was a little bit trickier to find - the first few recipes I used created a terrible rash after a few months of use.  I finally found this recipe and after about a year of use I can’t report any irritation.  The shea butter is expensive, but it also doubles as a full body moisturizer and scar reducer. I use tea tree oil as the essential oil for its antibacterial properties.

What do you do when the commissary stops carrying your favorite personal care products?