Thread: Making My Own Aftershave - or Witch Hazel PLUS Splash

Aloha!

I'm sure this has been covered many times before, but this is my method of arriving at a post shave splash that I truly love and one that truly loves my freshly razored skin.

Net, net;
I take 8 oz Dickenson Witch Hazel, 1/2 oz Tea Tree Oil and 2 oz Aloe Vera Liquid. Then, as a final kicker, I also add 1/2 oz White Willow Bark extract. You all no doubt know what the Witch Hazel, Tea Tree and Aloe Vera are for. White Willow Bark extract has properties similar to Aspirin as it contains Salicin. It is a natural anti-inflamatory agent.



PLUS



Nice combo that makes my skin feel great. It's theoretically a "Cosmoceutical". I splash it on just after shaving.

There was a thread on another Forum discussing REAL Witch Hazel and how ONLY REAL Witch Hazel has alcohol (14 percent by volume). Some switched back to Dickinsons after a debate by a chemist that other brands with no alcohol were not real Witch Hazel. I don't want to open that can of worms so I am not taking sides. But I like the alcohol content in Dickensons and I like the way my extra additives work with Dickensons better.

So this is my concoction. After this I can put on anything I want on my shaved skin. Scented Aftershave, non-scented balm and cologne, whatever I like.

I put everything in a glass pump bottle I got from Amazon, shake it up, and I'm good to go for a month or so;




-Zip

This seems really cool to me. I have been toying with the idea of making my own aftershave and soap/cream for a little while, but I feel the pain from trial and error may not be pleasant lol


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Do a search on the site for aftershave recipes. There was a long thread of them a year or so ago.

I don't think I've seen willow bark extract in my area, but I'm going to actually look for it next time.

Originally Posted by animeist

This seems really cool to me. I have been toying with the idea of making my own aftershave and soap/cream for a little while, but I feel the pain from trial and error may not be pleasant lol


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For years I went super-simple. I just took your standard Walgreen's Wintergreen Alcohol (70 percent) and mixed in distilled water to cut it down to around 30 percent alcohol. Served me well as a very basic aftershave, and the Wintergreen was slightly cooling. Nothing like Menthol, but not bad. I still have a pump bottle of this in my shaving den for use once in a while.

Then I decided to try experimenting with Witch Hazel mixes as many of us do. This most recent concoction really is nice for my skin.

I've never thought about making my own soap or cream, but I'm sure that some day I'll probably give it a try.

-Zip

Originally Posted by ZipZop

For years I went super-simple. I just took your standard Walgreen's Wintergreen Alcohol (70 percent) and mixed in distilled water to cut it down to around 30 percent alcohol. Served me well as a very basic aftershave, and the Wintergreen was slightly cooling. Nothing like Menthol, but not bad. I still have a pump bottle of this in my shaving den for use once in a while.

Then I decided to try experimenting with Witch Hazel mixes as many of us do. This most recent concoction really is nice for my skin.

I've never thought about making my own soap or cream, but I'm sure that some day I'll probably give it a try.

-Zip

That seems like a good idea. I am not sure if we have access to wintergreen in Australia, I'll have to look into it.

It is probably a lot cheaper to make your own too as opposed to buying things that everyone else recommends haha. And you can tweak it here and there.

I think the only reason I have been considering it is because a friend of mine makes soaps with goats, and camels milk.


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Originally Posted by animeist

That seems like a good idea. I am not sure if we have access to wintergreen in Australia, I'll have to look into it.

It is probably a lot cheaper to make your own too as opposed to buying things that everyone else recommends haha. And you can tweak it here and there.

I think the only reason I have been considering it is because a friend of mine makes soaps with goats, and camels milk.


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Here in the US Wintergreen Alcohol (green in color as opposed to regular clear white alcohol) is fairly common at large chain drug stores. The 8 oz bottle can sometimes be had for around $1.00 on sale. Most of it is 70 percent alcohol. Cut this with distilled water to get 16 oz or more of aftershave (depends on how diluted you want the alcohol content) and that really makes for a very inexpensive aftershave. It doesn't have all of the medicinal properties of the Witch Hazel mix, but for a very inexpensive and simple to make aftershave, it served me well for a very long time. As I posted, I still have a pump bottle of it in my shave den, and depending on what I'm applying ot my face post shave, I sometimes still use it.

The nice thing about mixing your own Witch Hazel brew is that you know what's in it. Some of the pre-mixed cosmoceuticals are very expensive and do you really know what's in them? They list the ingredients but you don't know the quality nor the exact ratios.

-Zip

Oh ok. I am sure we would have something similar here, although in Australia we do try and drink everything so may be a bit harder to get lol sounds like really good value though and pretty inexpensive to give it a try at least

I have not tried any witch hazel yet. I have to wait until I have some money stashed away, or add it to my birthday list lol

Cheers
Mark


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Cool-I love making my own aftershave recipes from vodka or over-proof white Jamaican rum, various essential oils, menthol and glycerine.

Been using straight Witch Hazel for a few years now. Recently I acquired some lemon essential oil and added a few drops to a small 1 oz. bottle of Witch Hazel and have some nice refreshing Lemon scented after shave. Going to try some other recipes as soon as I acquire some more small bottles.

Originally Posted by DoughBoy68

Been using straight Witch Hazel for a few years now. Recently I acquired some lemon essential oil and added a few drops to a small 1 oz. bottle of Witch Hazel and have some nice refreshing Lemon scented after shave. Going to try some other recipes as soon as I acquire some more small bottles.

Aloha!

I never thought of adding essential oils to my Witch Hazel homebrew. Probably because I like it "Neutral" scented so I can then use any aftershave or cologne I want without it clashing. However, I can see how this may be nice. Especially lemon or lime or any citrus. I recently have been using Stirling Soap company's Grapefruit and Menthol and that leaves a really nice scent after the shave, especially with matching aftershave with the same grapefruit and menthol. The menthol quickly fades and you are left with the grapefruit scent.

I may experiment with small batches of my Witch Hazel Brew with some essential oils. Sounds like a great idea to me.

-Zip