Thread: Homemade Pre-Shave

I had tried making up - with some success - an after shave balm. I decided to apply the formula to a pre-shave. It woks for me.
I apply it after my shower and before each shaving pass. If anyone wishes here is the formulation:

Mix 2 parts Shea butter with 1 part of Coconut oil by volume
Add about 4 Table spoons of Glycerine for each 1/2 cup of the above mixture
Melt in a double boiler.
Add Stearic Acid in the above liquid until it equals about 20-25% of the volume
Add about 1 Table spoon of grape seed oil per 1/2 cup of the mixture.
Pour into a container and let cool.
It forms a salve that you rub into your beard before each shave pass.

As I said seems to soften my steel wire beard and added to the glide of the razor.

Thanks for sharing the formula. I make pre-shave oil, but I am going to try to make your pre-shave balm. What did you mean by "double boiler"?

Double boilers are used in cooking. It is simply a container over boiling water. What I did was use a Pyrex measuring pitcher partially placed in a pot of boiling water - the mixture heats from the boiling water rather than directly from the pot. A common method for the melting of solids that prevents burning of the mixture.
I would be interested in your results - I am very pleased with the results I have obtained.

Originally Posted by jeffzeitlin

Double boilers are used in cooking. It is simply a container over boiling water. What I did was use a Pyrex measuring pitcher partially placed in a pot of boiling water - the mixture heats from the boiling water rather than directly from the pot. A common method for the melting of solids that prevents burning of the mixture.
I would be interested in your results - I am very pleased with the results I have obtained.

Thanks, I thought that is what you were referring too. Anyway, I have a tough beard also and am leaving now to get the stearic acid. I have everything else.

Where do you get steric acid? I can't find it locally?

I purchased mine off Ebay - It is an ingredient for soap making and I believe drip less candle making. I hope that helps. About $8.00 - $10.00 a lbs delivered.

Goes nicely on toast also...with some olives.

I skipped the Olives but did my mad scientist act this morning and cooked this stuff up. It is cooling as I type. I did change one ingredient because I mistook Coconut oil for Cocoa. Well I used Almond oil instead since I already had some. I'll keep you posted. I was wondering if placing into a refrigerator would be OK to speed up the cooling.

If I screwed up, I have plenty more ingredients to make another batch. One thing I can say is that I did my math correctly. The amount I made fit perfectly into a empty Stephan's Shave cream tub.

This sounds very interesting, has anyone come up with volume formula for a "normal" batch?
I've been using a Proraso Pre-shave and glycerine blend, mixed in the palm, as a Pre-shave and between shave treatment, but this sounds "meatier"....
Thanks for posting it.