Thread: Homemade Aftershave Tips

Thanks SW. So far everything's staying together except for the glycerin. I was thinking that since alcohol is a solvent, the EOs would stay uniform throughout the mixture. I'll keep an eye on this issue when I prep the next batch, which should happen this weekend.

I'd like to introduce myself. I'm the friend of MamaBear that made the first aid sticks she had some of you test. I make a bunch of different soaps and lotions and balms and was asked to come up with an aftershave lotion. Mark has been brave enough to be my guinea pig for this venture, it really wasn't somewhere I was planning to go, but what the hey. What's another lotion? I have some samples of the first batch I made up for him to try if any of you are interested. It's all natural, alcohol free and was made with astringent/styptic properties. This original batch needs thinned a little, in my opinion, but you can ask Mark for his take on it. This is not on my website yet, so we'll have to figure another way to handle this. Email and PayPal or I'll just use the smallest bottles and eat the cost of shipping. Less to throw away if you don't like it. lol I'm also going to try to duplicate the Skin Food. My first attempt pretty much sucked, but I'm only working on a description, having never seen or felt it. IF I can master this, I can save you guys a ton of money. All of my products are all natural, with the exception of the preservative and there's really no good way around this. To give this lotion it's astringent properties required essential oils that may not entirely cover with fragrance like Egyptian Musk (yep, mamabear told me), but it's a pleasant scent that will blend in with some fragrances nicely, but I'm sure there will be some that won't blend well at all. If you don't care about the astringent properties, this will not be a factor. I have quite a few scents on hand. I'm rambling. There's a lot of questions to be answered here, so contact me if you're interested. I know nothing about shipping out of the US other than what I've read on the soaping forums I belong to, and from that, it's pretty much a pain in the behind. So, I'd like to stay in the States. You guys from Germany, Canada, EU etc. I can put you in touch with other ladies in other countries that may formulate for you. I understand that customs holds a lot of this stuff up for very long periods of time. Herbs and eo's etc. are difficult to get across borders, even Canada, and then there's the differences in labeling laws. It's just ridiculous and most feel the small crafters are putting too big a bite on the big companies as most of us use way less chemicals. Rambling again. Anyway, if you're interested contact me here or email me at wolfesmith14@peoplepc.com Mention aftershave in the subject line so I can save your message from my spamblocker. Thanks and have a great day.
Soapwolf

One other thing. When you get to using the eo's, don't use more than 1% total in your mix. That's all the eo's combined to equal 1% of batch weight. Essential oils are very powerful. At least you don't have to worry about which ones to use if you're pregnant. lol

Welcome aboard SW! I wasn't considering using more than a drop or two in any case. I'll have to have a slight delay as I start working on restoring my "new" blades that just arrived. I MAY post the pics tonight, if I get some free time. In any case thanks for your input.

You are more than welcome FS. Good luck with your new blades and your formulating.
SW

Hey now, the Trumpers wannabe didn't totally suck, just had more sting than I was expecting. I'll go ahead and ship out the sample I have to you when I get a moment. You can get an idea of what we're working with here that way. Or better yet, let me ask if the guys here would be interested in an all-natural version of Trumpers Skin Food. Right now it has some sting to it, but that's something I'm bravely working out This would also be cheaper than the regular Trumpers skin food and the rosewater scent lasts longer right now.

I'd actually be interested in it if it had a more masculine scent. Not a big fan of roses or their water lol. By the way, they've been murdering me at work, so I didn't get around to buying the necessary EOs to continue my experiment.

Originally Posted by aschaab

Hi,

I primarily use my own aftershave, mixed from the following ingredients:

- 50ml Alcohol (Ethanol), here in Germany for tax reasons I use "Cosmetic Basic Water", but you could use pure Ethanol as well

- 30ml Witch Hazel Exctract

- 3-5 Drops of Glycerin

- a small amount of Allantoin (2-3 x of what fits on the tip of a knife, don't know the english term :-) )

- 5-10 Drops of Alpha-Bisalbolol (this is the main Camomile-Ingredient)

- Essential Oils for scent, what I use is 10 Drops of Bay-Oil (Bay Rum) and 5-7 Drops of Lemongrass

This give to me a very soothing and relaxing aftershave, and as my skin somehow cannot cope with balms I go for the alcohol-based version :-)

-Axel-

I tried Axel's AS after shaving today. I love the stuff. I might mix up a big batch of my own so that I have enouogh for the rest of my life (or something like that anyway).
The smell stays long, it smells nice and is very soothing directly after the sting.
It's a good recipy apparantly.

The new formula seems to be working out well:

-2 drops of pepperming EO
-2 drops of eucaliptus EO
-1tsp of almond oil with vitamin E as a preservative (which is also helpful in an AS)
-40ml of Aloe Vera gel
-80ml of that herbal (mint/sage/chamomile) alcohol

So far it's doing the trick and the scent is fairly neutral. You'd have to get up close to smell it. One thing I will do is add more almond oil, contents of 1 capsule of Vitamin E and try it again tomorrow.

Don't push it with almond oil, though, it will stay on your face all day like oily film, but I think 2 tea spoons per 100ml is OK...