Just curious?
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Just curious?
I had a go at Bay Rum, the results were underwhelming.
Poke around this forum. There are some threads with decent recipies and advice. I found a decent Bay Rum on here that my wife loves and I am playing with a whiskey based AS. It's kind of fun and not that hard.
I made a Rubbing alc, dark rum, aloe, cinnamon, vanilla mixture that came out pretty nice. Not too harsh not underpowered. Curious to see how many others were making vs. buying.
I'm fortunate enough to actually own a Pimenta racemosa tree. It's small, (3 1/2') in a pot on my balcony. I've harvested a handful of leaves and macerated them in rum. It turned out well enough that I realize that essential oils are not absolutely necessary if you have the fresh leaves. It did not make a powerfully strong solution but one that was very pleasant to use and aromatic enough to please me with the results.
Pimenta racemosa - is bay rum not one of the best smelling things on the planet! Must be a guy thing.. You're lucky you live in sunnyville... we're still down to 9 hours of light around here.
Easier to make witch hazel balm-like things for me. I've got some eucalyptus, mint, menthol and some straight up pine (pinus silvestris). Diluted some Aqua Velva "Musk" with witch hazel, came out to be a very viscous, pearly balm-like consistency, mixed with menthol that's pretty good (the "Musk" from AV definitely needed to be toned down).
Seems you can make alcohol solvent extracts with powdered spices or whole, as long as you strain them properly (I would probably use a coffee filter). Haven't gotten that far yet.
I made a simple attempt once that went horribly wrong. Used some drug store witch hazel and added some menthol crystal. Actually I added way too many menthol crystals. Left me with a physical burn thats lasted close to two weeks.http://www.websmileys.com/sm/violent/sterb075.gif
Wow. Reminds me of the time someone used too much of a mint extract and I think there were methyl salicylates in it or somethin' because he wound up hurt, too. Yes, there are many paths to pain in our traditional wetshaving endeavors... muah ha ha ha ha ha! You may have put the blade down but are you ever really safe?
I just infused some Corn Huskers with a sampler vial of GFT sandalwood. Does that count? Poor man's GFT skin food.
151 proof rum infused with some herbs from the garden + witch hazel = poor man's Summer AS. For winter, I adjust the rum/WH ratio more towards WH.
I'M trying it from the inside out, by ingesting large amounts of alcohol. Once that's done I'll start eating bay leaves and hibiscus flowers.
I predict I'll smell just lovely by about Easter ...
I've made a couple batches of homemade witch hazel based bay rum aftershave and loved it. If anyone is interested I can share the recipe.
I'm a convert and will not be going back to store bought aftershaves. I also love the idea mentioned in this thread about using garden herbs, I'll have to try that when things are actually growing in our garden here...:)
I make all my AS splashes myself. I wrote a small how-to on making your own home made aftershaves.
I have a lot of fun with them.
Best of luck.
MattQuote:
Originally Posted by MattW
Please share
Brian
Ok here's the recipe I've used which works very well (for me at least).Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianF
Bay Rum with Lime Aftershave
1/2 cup witch hazel
2 tablespoons Jamaican Rum (not dark Rum)
1/4 teaspoon whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick
zest of 1 lime
8 drops West Indian Bay essential oil
1/4 teaspoon glycerin (optional)
6 drops Vitamin E (optional)
1. Roughly crush cinnamon sticks and allspice (I use a mortar and pestle), zest lime and add into witch hazel and rum in a air tight jar
2. Put jar in a cool dark place and let sit for 2 weeks
3. After 2 weeks, strain the liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a clean container
4. Add Bay oil, glycerin and Vitamin E, mix thoroughly
5. Enjoy!
[QUOTE=MattW;909047]Ok here's the recipe I've used which works very well (for me at least).
Thank you sir