DIY Deodorant
As I push on through my DIY/natural health madness, I have gotten to a point where skin tags are something that I need to find a remedy for. Some people say, "Big deal! They aren't hurting anything." You're right, usually you don't know they are there until they get bigger and they might get a little sore. But my personal opinion of skin tags is "EW!" And I'm not being all judge-y; I get the most disgusted when they are on me! That's right, I get em. Often.
So what do we do? Until recently, I just cut them off myself. That might be extreme for some people, but it really is quick. The only problem is...IT HURTS SO BAD! You can go to the doctor and pay a lot of money to get it cut off, but the result is the same; pain and risk of infection. Now, however, I know why I get them and what I can do to take them off that doesn't involve bleeding or saying fake bad words (like, "OH PICKLES! THAT HURTS LIKE BANANAS!)
Removal - get some Oregano Essential Oil. Use a Q-Tip to apply a teeny tiny bit directly to the skin tag. You'll need to do this at least once a day for a week or two. The biggest hurdle to this method is staying consistent. You need to do it everyday until that little sucker falls off (usually a week or so.) WARNING- please be careful! Oregano essential oil can burn your skin. Only use a little, and put it straight onto the skin tag. Don't put a band-aid over it - this will spread it to the skin around the tag and it will burn.For children or anyone with sensitive skin, I recommend using Frankincense Essential Oil instead; it takes a little longer, but it still does the trick.
Prevention - You may get skin tags for what seems like no reason at all. One of the biggest causes for skin tags, however, is your deodorant/anti-antiperspirant. That's not just Hazel talking, check out this article from WebMD. The article also says shaving can cause it, but let's not give up shaving just yet. First, try making your own deodorant.What I did - I used this recipe (recipe #2) for a general guideline, then did the Hazel freestyle with it. I replaced the 6 T of coconut oil with 4 T of shae butter and 2 T of beeswax. I didn't want it to melt in the summer, or have to keep it in the fridge, so I thought the shae/wax combo should take care of that nonsense. I bought my containers from here; they are really inexpensive, but the shipping is a little high. There are a few of us that usually combine our orders so that we can split shipping. The essential oil that I used was Melaleuca. It's really great at killing smelly germs, so it's perfect for deodorant. Make sure you don't add the essential oil until the mixture cools a little. Then pour that stuff into your container and you are just a brief cooling period away from smelling not-stinky.
The verdict - I think it's pretty awesome. It is definitely different from store bought deodorant, but it does the job and will (in theory) lessen my occurrences of those strange little skin growths. Hope this helps!
