Thread: Making your own aftershave?

I was reading various articles in the wiki today, and came across the entry for Shaving Soap. At the end, Bill (bshank66) states that he likes to make his own aftershave, also listing the components he's using. This has me intrigued! Do any of you make your own AS, and more importantly; would you mind sharing your recipies?

Hmm...not much interest in this, is there?

I've now been scouring the web for info, and it was both enlightening and sort of funny. It seems ALL recipies for aftershave are made by women. You would've thought that more men would be interested in producing the ultimate aftershave, but...oh well. I don't know if this is a good or a bad sign...


Anyway - it seems that home made aftershaves fall into any of three categories (most of the time); Alcohol based, Witch Hazel based, and Vinegar(!) based. Some are based on both witch hazel and alcohol - and of the alcohol based ones, there is a lot of variation on which sort of alcohol to use.

Here are a few picks of my findings:

Apple Cider Vinegar Aftershave
By Erin Huffstetler

Ingredients:
Apple cider vinegar
Water

Directions:
Fill an empty bottle or container with equal parts apple cider vinegar and water. Shake to
blend. Then, splash on your face after shaving just as you would with any other aftershave.

Benefits of Using Apple Cider Vinegar Aftershave:
* inexpensive
* fragrance-free (once it dries)
* dye-free
* all natural


Witch Hazel Aftershave
By Pioneer Thinking

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons witch hazel
5 tablespoons cider vinegar
5 tablespoons orange flower water
15 drops bergamot essential/fragrance oil
10 drops lemon essential/fragrance oil
8 drops neroli essential/fragrance oil

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients into a bottle, shake well. Set aside for 1 week.
Shake once a day. Store in a cool dark area.


Spicy And Citrus Scented Bay Rum Aftershave
By: Charishma Ramchandani

4 oz.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vodka or gin or witch hazel
2 tablespoons jamaican rum
2 dried bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick
1 small orange, zest of (orange part only)

Directions:
1. Mix everything together and pour into a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid.
2. Place this jar in a dark and cool place for 2 weeks.
3. After 2 weeks, strain off the liquid and pour into a clean container.
4. Discard any zest and other remaining solids.

There was a good thread on home made Bay rum just recently, you may look for it if you wish, it had some very interesting recipes.

quite interesting recipes here :-)

Wow this sounds really cool, seems like you could do it very cheaply too!

This is something I posted awhile ago about making Bay Rum and applies to most of the homemade after shaves. There is a little more to making after shave than randomly mixing "things", even if they smell good. People go to school and often obtain postgraduate degrees before they start formulating cosmetics. It does not mean that you cannot make your own after shave but it does mean that first you need to know what you are doing... ;-) Before anybody starts, a good reading on the subject (ingredients, techniques, etc...) is strongly recommended. Remember, you only have one skin, do not damage it by trying to save a few bucks.

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Only Pimenta racemosa leaves would produce the Bay Rum smell. Laurel leaves smell good too but they do not smell like Bay Rum. One thing that you may want to try is buying the essential oil directly instead of attempting to extract it yourself. From what I have seen in this forum about different recipes to make "Bay Rum", there seem to be several problems with the methods of extraction used by people. Maceration is definitely not the best method of extraction. When maceration is used to extract natural products, in this case an essential oil, you are also left with many other, sometimes undesirable, chemicals. Needless to say, some of these chemicals may not be good for your skin (salts, tannins, etc...). If the idea is making your own, which is something that I really like to do whenever possible, try to use the correct materials and methods for good results. If the idea is to save money, I am afraid that the savings would not be as much as you may think. For once, you may use rum or other heavily taxed spirits to extract the aromatics. If you add the price of the leaves, your time, gas to buy all the stuff, etc.., you may end up spending close to the price of a bottle of Great Bay Rum (costs less than $20) for a mediocre product, that is, if you do not use the proper method and ingredients. In any case, the decision is ultimately yours.

Al raz.

Originally Posted by Sunbane

I was reading various articles in the wiki today, and came across the entry for Shaving Soap. At the end, Bill (bshank66) states that he likes to make his own aftershave, also listing the components he's using. This has me intrigued! Do any of you make your own AS, and more importantly; would you mind sharing your recipies?

A while ago I posted a lye soap recipe on teh forums. Fer some reason it seems to have disappeared, but a GIS might reveal it.

I don't get the whole wiki thing, so I never put it up, but it's around somewhere.

I make my own aftershave though:

-witch hazel
-jojoba oil
-alum powder
-aloe vera juice
-misc scents.

as far as ratios goes... it depends on the time of year. Overall approx 1 cup witch hazel, 3 tbsp jojoba, 1/8 tsp alum, 1 tbsp aloe, and the scents depends.

I thought about making my own a.s. but i'm too cheap. The cost of making ones own a.s. easily racks up. Granted you probably could make a better a.s.... I get my o.s. knock off at the dollar store and it smells better than the real one.

I make my own out of very inexpensive Walmart stuff. Back when I was getting razor burns with DE's, it was quite effective - more soothing and healing than any of the commercial stuff I tried, at any price. Here's my recipe:

2 parts Corn Huskers Lotion
2 parts Aloe Vera gel
1 part Witch Hazel (Thayer's, the brand in Walmart smells funky) You can add or subtract quantity depending on how the consistency you want.

Add whatever scent you want. I have a small bottle with peppermint EO, one with eucalyptus EO, and some where I dumped sample vials of Floris and Penhaligon's EDT in. In fact, this is a good use of those free EDT sampler vials.