Thread: Unscented Lotions??

Originally Posted by fred8785

That is an interesting suggestion.... How much and what type of alcohol would i mix with the witch hazel? I'm looking for something that will just clean up and refresh and lightly sooth my face after a shave. i am also for some reason a big fan of the slight burn that is given by the alcohol

You want to use ethanol (ethyl alcohol). If you are just mixing this up for personal use you can always use vodka, it is just ethanol and water, 80 proof would be about 40%, 100 proof about 50%. Most witch hazels contain about 14% ethanol in the form of denatured alcohol. If you do a 50/50 mix of 80 proof vodka you will end up with a 28% alcohol concoction.

You can go with higher purity ethanol, either grain alcohol or denatured rubbing alcohol (but you might want to check and see what the denaturant is). To get higher alcohol contents. Most scented AS have 60% or more denatured alcohol in the mix.

If you are going to do anything with the mix other than personal use, you cannot legally use alcohol sold for consumption, you will need to go with some form of denatured alcohol.

Alcohol dries your skin.

FYI:
How Alcohol and Caffeine Cause Dry Skin - LoveToKnow Skincare

Hello, Fred:

Try Thayer's Super Medicated Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera as your aftershave. The product has some alcohol and no detectable scent. I use it all the time as an astringent followed by balm and aftershave.

Also, Hoyt's Cologne you can barely smell. You might want to give that a try.

Regards,
Obie

Fred,

I always used a Shisheido men's moisturizer because it was light and fast absorbing, however that soft nourished feeling never lasted more than 10 minutes. And since I ran out of it last week, I decided to try something new.

TwinLuxe Soothing Face Balm....new brand so what the heck right? Let's try it out. I've shaved twice now this week and so far the results are pretty nice. The best part of it is that I only have to use a tiny bit to moisturize my entire face and neck (less than 1 full pump) so I think this bottle will last at least 6 months for me. It is just what you guys posted above --> Non-greasy feeling and suprisingly I think I still feel the moisturizer on my skin hours later. There is no fragrance for this lotion too. Those are my 2 cents.

Originally Posted by Mvcrash

Alcohol dries your skin.

FYI:
How Alcohol and Caffeine Cause Dry Skin - LoveToKnow Skincare

This has to do with consuming (as in drinking) alcohol, not appying it topically.

I agree with most of the previous stuff. I have never been able to wear most after shave scents as they always seem overly strong and tend to make me and my wife gag. But... the two bay rums that I have tried (Barber shop Classics Bay Rum and my homemade (bacardi rum with bay oil) ) are a light clovey type of scent that only lasts for several minutes and I love it. I recommend trying one.

if you just want a non scented "astringent" thats a disinfectant and gives a mild sting and tightening feeling I reccommend a block of alum.

Tried the witch hazel. Found it to be a kind of nothing. prefer the bay rum. tried to scent the witch hazel with bay oil like the rum... mistake... yuk.

I do also sometimes use isopropyl alcohol and do find it tends to dry the skin. isolpropyl will dry your skin more than ethyl alcohol (rum or vodka) simply because its packaged as 70% or 90% and rum or vodka is typically 40%.

Denatured alcohol is simply ethyl alcohol that has had an additive added to make it taste bad so it won't be drunk (usually). Not necessary for your personal use, just to market it without it being considered booze.

Hell ,try 'em all. have fun and good luck!

Totally without any scientific evidence and based only on my own limited experience, but here goes:

Most aftershave you can find in the shops is targeted at the other shaving markets, and not at the straight razor users. It does not need to perform in the fashion we need. In days of old, after shave treatment would be cologne (originally called "water from Cologne") which was a specific alcohol and citrus oil blend containing just a small fraction of scent (1-2%). Store bought aftershave of today often has a higher content of scent oils than these old school colognes. Personally, I find store bought stuff chiefly unsuitable for straight razor shaving. Today, the term after shave might even mean Eau de Toilette, which has a far higher percent of scent oils. Before I started straight razor shaving I would use the regular aftershaves just fine, but when shaving with a knife I want a splash. Using an eau de toilette as a splash certainly might affect your surroundings and upset your better half - I know this from experience
On a side note: I do believe that Bay Rum and the similar old scents are better suited for us, being made from the old recipes and intended to be used as after shave splashes.

Enter my home made solutions.
High alcohol content is nice for us, because it helps close the pores and also disinfects and help us keep healthy. The drawback is that alcohol also tend to dry out your skin.
I solve this by using a shea butter moisturizer after the splash. I made my own, and it is unscented. I've also tried diluting my old after shaves with pure alcohol, it works fine to kick down an overpowering scent. I've also tried using witch hazel, not to my liking and now I just use an alcohol based splash and a moisturizer after, works fine for me.
The thought has occurred to me as well to make an unscented after shave splash - I have not tried yet but if I did I would try something like a spoonful of witch hazel in a cup of alcohol.

Originally Posted by MasterRolf

You can go with higher purity ethanol, either grain alcohol or denatured rubbing alcohol (but you might want to check and see what the denaturant is). To get higher alcohol contents. Most scented AS have 60% or more denatured alcohol in the mix.

are there some denaturants i should steer clear from?

Thank you for the suggestion! i am going to try spicing up my witch hazel with some alcohol!