Thread: Anyone have any recipes for DIY pre-shave oil?

I'm a DIY sort of guy. Just curious if anyone has any good pre-shave oil recipes that they would care to share.

Consider a mixture of glycerin, mineral oil, aloe. If it is too thick, add water to taste. Proportions are up to your imagination.

I would also recommend a double hot towel treatment to soften your beard. Works for me quite well.

A very good preparation is grape seed oil and myrrh. The grape seed oil is a light carrier oil which will not feel greasy on the skin, does not clog the pores and is absorbed quickly. Myrrh helps to heal micro cuts rapidly and has antiseptic properties. Use one drop of myrrh essential oil to every 5ml of grape seed oil maximum. If you find the scent of the myrrh to be a little heavy, add frankincense which compliments myrrh beautifully. But remember not to exceed the limit of one drop of EO per 5ml of base regardless of how many essential oils you use.

I use either jojoba or grape seed oil as a base, jojoba supposedly being better for the skin, but more expensive as well (although nowhere near the price of a bought pre shave oil). Just this oil on its own can be used for pre shave, what you add to it in the way of essential oils is up to you. My personal choice is sandalwood for aroma and tee tree for its antiseptic qualities. The only problem with using this combination is that I can't stand still until the aroma runs out. If I do, my wife and daughters dig their noses into my neck and start sniffing deeply until they pass out! Just one more thing, I find the oil more useful as a post shave application. I do two passes, one up, one down and then rinse, dry and apply the oil. I then feel around for anything I may have missed and clean it up with just the oil for lubrication. After that, I apply the oil to the hinge and blade of my razor as a rust preventative. Works well for me and good on ya for wanting to make your own. Commercial shaving oil must be the biggest ripoff related to our hobby.

Originally Posted by mrsell63

Consider a mixture of glycerin, mineral oil, aloe. If it is too thick, add water to taste. Proportions are up to your imagination.

I would also recommend a double hot towel treatment to soften your beard. Works for me quite well.

Mineral oil? That's interesting. I tried doing my final cleanup pass tonight with nothing but a petroleum-based lip balm and had great, soothing results. Before I did it I was a bit apprehensive about shaving with a petroleum-based product, now I'll be giving mineral oil a go.

This sounds simple enough. Many thanks for the great info. I need to go shopping, now, but first... I need to hit up the "Soaps and Creams" section of this forum with the same question for recipes. Might as well fill my shopping basket with 'all' of the needful goodies!

I found that a mixture of coconut oil and olive oil works really well, zapped in the microwave for a few seconds to melt the coconut and your ready to go,
FYI, it really helps with my eczema too