Thread: Home made aftershave splash - howto and ideas

Great thread str8fencer. I joined this forum because of this thread.

I'm making my own aftershaves and haven't really made any that I'm just really in love with. Which is the reason I found this thread.

I'm curious. I've been wanting to add vanilla in some of my formulations but have read in numerous places that pure vanilla essential oil is extremely expensive and the vanilla "essential oils" you find on sites like amazon and others are not essential oil at all and are extracts. From my research, vanilla extracts do not blend well at all. It clumps up and settles at the bottom. I noticed some of your formulations include vanilla. What are you using? Is it pure essential oil? An extract? or Synthetic?

Thanks so much for this thread. I've learned so much.

This is great. At the same time I've gotten hooked on str8 razor shaving, I've gotten into essential oils. I'll definitely be trying these formulas.

A good alcohol base is Everclear grain alcohol. You can also use Perfumer's Alcohol, which I found on creatingperfume.com - PERFUME SUPPLIES:. Another great site for oils and supplies is Eden Botanicals - Essential Oils - Aromatherapy - Organic Essential Oils - Wholesale Essential Oils.

Good luck, and thanks for all the great info!

Hello, and welcome to SRP! Good to have you with us.

Re: vanilla. Humm. Big subject.
Yes, vanilla is not the cheapest of ingredients. However, if you want the best, you have to pay for it. Also, just a little goes a very long way. And I really do mean very little.

Vanilla does not come as an essential oil. It can be had as an absolute, which basically just means it is pure natural vanilla that had been extracted in a different way than distilling. Real vanilla can also be had as a CO2 extract. Again, just a different way of extracting the vanilla fragrance from the raw material. A third way to get your hands on some real vanilla is to make your own tincture. It will not be as strong as an absolute or a CO2 extract, but will also work great, and will fulfill your needs just fine.
The major ingredient in vanilla is called vanillin. It can also be purchased as a molecule. It is "real", in the meaning that it is exactly the same definint ingredient as is found in real vanilla. What you loose is all the other, smaller fractions of the real vanilla, the side odors that make up the real vanilla fragrance.

Let me also mention that there is another ingredient that also posess a lot of similarities with vanilla, and that is sometimes confused for it. It is called tonka bean. It too can be bought as an absolute, or you can get the major fragrance in a single molecule called coumarin. Or again, you can make your own tincture from tonka beans.

So how do you best use all this info? Well, the best way to make a high end vanilla fragrance is to use real vanilla. If you just want a hint of vanilla in a male fragrance, perhaps a molecule might work. Often something in between is used, a little vanilla absolute, strengthened with a few molecules and maybe some tonka bean. This basically is what I do. I mix and match a little, the more prominent the vanilla profile is in the end product, the better the ingredient I will use. If you just need a touch in a male fragrance, a touch of vanillin or coumarin (or both) might be enough.

And so the work begins. There is no correct way, you basically make what you want it to be. Experiment, adjust, experiment some more. In doing so, it is easy to think you must get the real vanilla absolute, and it is not cheap. Remember that the major perfume manufacturers use lots of molecules. Chances are very slim that when a perfume says vanilla, it actually contains more than a fraction of real vanilla absolute. And if it says sandalwood, chances are pretty high that they actually mean ebanol, or javanol, or santaliff, or some other molecule. Or perhaps a blend of molecules. They don't put these on the ingredients list, because bar a few hardcore perfume users, perfume makers and chemists, not many know what those things are supposed to mean. You get the picture.


In buying these ingredients, it is a good idea to use honest, well respected vendors. I will point to White Lotus Aromatics.com for absolutes and CO2 extracts, and to Perfumers Apprentice for molecules. I have used both these vendors, they are well respected. Oh yea, Eden Botanicals are also a well respected vendor.

Best of luck, let us know how it goes.

So what I'm hearing is that I can't get "more Bay" in my Bay Rum?

ETA: By "more Bay" I mean "more staying power" or "longer lasting". I use Master Bay rum, cut 50/50 with Superior 70 so it's not so "sticky" from the glycerin. It seems to fade after 2-3 hours.

If you want more staying power in your bay rum, you need to find ingredients that last for a longer period of time than the traditional. Bay leaves themselves have plenty of staying power. Usually bay rum is made from things like spices and citrus, many of these have (much) less of a lasting impact. It is not at all impossible to make a long lasting bay rum, should one wish to do so, you just have to be a little clever when designing your fragrance.

Originally Posted by str8fencer

If you want more staying power in your bay rum, you need to find ingredients that last for a longer period of time than the traditional. Bay leaves themselves have plenty of staying power. Usually bay rum is made from things like spices and citrus, many of these have (much) less of a lasting impact. It is not at all impossible to make a long lasting bay rum, should one wish to do so, you just have to be a little clever when designing your fragrance.

So, I could get some bay essential oil and add it to the Superior 70? (since I'm led to understand that it's basically rubbing alcohol with some bay in it)

ETA: Or, for that matter, add it to my 50/50 mix?

You certainly could. It would change the balance of your fragrance though, which might not be what you want, but yes, increasing the percentage of base notes Will prolog its longevity.

Originally Posted by str8fencer

You certainly could. It would change the balance of your fragrance though, which might not be what you want, but yes, increasing the percentage of base notes Will prolog its longevity.

The Bay part is what I (think I) want to last. Thanks.

Originally Posted by str8fencer

Yes Gags,
as I understand it, those are exactly the same. Seems it sells under the name of camellia oil to the people using it for steel preserving, and the name of tea tree oil to the soap and skincare business. There might be a difference in purity but I'm not aware of any evidence of such. I have to confess I bought the one sold as tea tree oil which I also use for razor preserving.

Best of luck.

This is a great thread, very interesting. There is a bit of confusion regarding tea seed oil though: the tea oil or camellia oil used for preserving carbon steel blades comes from the Camellia plant: there are several varieties that yield oil; one of them is the shrub that gives us black, green and white teas. The oil is pressed from the seeds and is prized as a carrier oil/ingredient in skin care products for its emollient qualities. Tea tree oil is from a different plant altogether, the Melaleuca alternifolia, which is native to Australia. The essential oil is distilled from the twigs and leaves of the tree and is used for medicinal purposes and as an ingredient in skin care for its antimicrobal and antifungal properties. It has a very strong smell, is not edible and you wouldn't want to get a lot on your skin undiluted. It's very common to confuse tea oil and tea tree oil, so the Latin names are helpful if you want to be sure which one you are buying.

I purchased some lime eo (steam distilled) from Now Foods but when used in my formula it doesn't have the lime smell I'd like to get. It smells more like a lime candy sucker. Maybe it's just not high enough quality? str8fencer, you recommended white lotus aromatics and I'm looking at 3 products in particular and would like to get your input:

White Lotus Aromatics

White Lotus Aromatics

White Lotus Aromatics

Also, do you have a source for the lime eo you purchase if other than white lotus?