As you know, talc as an ingredient is not healthy, especially when you use it in loose form such as a dusting body powder that you could inhale due to traces of asbestos. Of course, you can buy talc-free body powders but I found making my own Natural DIY Body Powder is simple and fun to do when trying to keep healthy.
The wonderful thing about this Natural DIY Body Powder is all the different variations that you create from this basic recipe. If you grow a garden, you can add some fresh herbs like basil, lemon balm, chocolate mint, spearmint, peppermint, thyme, etc. that once dried can be added in a mix with any flowers that you also grow. Rose, lavender, lilac smell divine or use a blend of the dried flowers that you favor the most. Creating your own Natural DIY Body Powder gives you freedom to constantly change and evolve the customized fragrances of your body powder, which is the beauty of trying this recipe at home over just buying a commercial product.
If don’t care for floral fragrances or the herb aromatic scents, you could always go the gourmand route and experiment with ingredients in your kitchen. Baking extracts are delightful to work with such as vanilla, orange, lemon, dried fruit peels, unsweetened cocoa, ground coffee along with spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg can make a delicious addition to any batch of this Natural DIY Body Powder.
Before considering what you want to add to scent, I always start with two basic ingredients, cornstarch and rice or oat flour, depending on what is in my pantry at the time. You can also use the white kaolin clay if you prefer, but I have been using flours since I use them more often.
To keep the fragrance as fresh and fragrant as possible, I don’t like to make a big batch of my Natural DIY Body Powder at once. However, you can double the recipe without harming the integrity of this body powder.
If you plan on using your herbs or flowers, I have another coffee grinder that I save just for working with my herbs and flowers. You also use a food processor or blender to grind them up, but this is how I like to do it, grinding smaller amounts at the time. Cleaning my electric coffee grinder is easier than washing the larger bowl and blades of my big Cuisinart or blender. Furthermore, it is handier grabbing the smaller electric coffee grinder than my heavier Cuisinart food processor.
Make sure that you pulverize your herbs and dried flowers into a fine powder before adding the essential oil and mixing the cornstarch and flour together. You can match your choice of dried flowers with your essential oil to bring out that specific scent, but it is not necessary. Most often, I use about ten drops of essential oil. Lavender essential oil is the one that I use more liberally because it doesn’t seem to have as many essential oil risks as some others.
I find mixing the essential oil scents gives this recipe even more beauty. I even like to add some cinnamon, basil with my dried roses along with some geranium or bergamot essential oil. What I’m getting at is that you have so much creativity at your fingertips each time you customize a new Natural DIY Body Powder blend.
Though you buy one of those short, squatty mason jars that you clean to store your Natural DIY Body Powder, I use a covered crystal candy dish that I wash to keep mine in. You can save and clean an old body powder container to fill up with your blend.
Natural DIY Body Powder
3/4 cup of cornstarch
5 tablespoons of rice or oat flour or white kaolin clay
3-1/2 tablespoons of dried herbs or flower petals or dried orange, lemon, lime peels
10 drops of your favorite essential oil
½ teaspoons of cinnamon or nutmeg (optional)
Measure out the cornstarch and your flour or clay and keep in another mixing bowl or container and set aside until ready to incorporate with the scent ingredients.
Use your electric coffee grinder or food processor and process your choice of herbs as fine of a texture as powder.
Add your essential oil and any flavor extract and/or cinnamon, etc. that you want to use. Mix thoroughly and then pour carefully into a clean container of your choice.
This is a very clever recipe. I’ve never seen one for DIY body powder.