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Make Your Own After Shave Balm - Modelled on Castle Forbes Lime

I made this and have had tremendous success. I love Castle Forbes but have not tried their After Shave Balm, so I don't know if the comparison is close. I will say that this balm works well and smells great.

http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/making-your-own-aftershave-balm/


A blog reader passed along his recipe from an experiment in making an aftershave balm. The model was Castle Forbes: why not aim high?
He makes only a small quantity at a time:
1. Mix equal parts witch hazel (he uses high-quality witch hazel from a supplies shop) and Aloe Vera gel. He uses 50ml of each, just under 1/4 c each.
2. Add a little glycerin (you can try it with and without to see how you like it). He uses 5-10ml, or 1-2 tsp.
3. Add a little Lime essential oil (or Lavender or what you will) for fragrance.
4. Add a little water to thin it if you want.
His mixing instructions:
When all the ingredients combined, mix very well. I used a egg beater. I guess you could use a blender. Mix until you’re happy with the consistency of the product. It’s the GEL of the Aloe, that makes it thick enough to be balm-like, but you can add water to make it thin/thick enough to come out of a bottle easily. If you don’t add water, then you may need to put it in a tub, where you can easily use your fingers to apply rather than trying to pour from a bottle. You only need a little to spread on your face. It will go a long way—or you can use it liberally since it’s so inexpensive to make.
You could use and compare the consistency of this with your Castle Forbes Lavender you’ve purchased and make it the same.
He says that it’s as close to Castle Forbes Lime as you get without the price tag. In adding the essential oil, add just one drop, shake, let sit, and see how you like it. If not enough, add one more drop—it’s very easy to add too much, so caution is advised.
So far as preservatives are concerned, if you use this balm regularly, the alcohol in the witch hazel may well be enough, or you can use organic ingredients that are natural preservatives.
 
I mixed up a batch using these instructions tonight, I added a good amount of water to help thin it down. The results so far are stellar, the lime scent is great, and my skin feels fantastic after using it. Not only that, but it's cheap and easy to make. Thanks for the info
 
I have no essential oils in the house, so I'm improvising.

So, Aloe gel is actually something I have on hand, so here's what I've got:

-15ml of witch hazel (dickinson's style)
-15ml of aloe gel (roughly)
-a few whole cloves that I ground up with a mortar and pestle

-after a few minutes I added a bit of extra virgin olive oil. i'm not sure why. maybe for moisturization purposes,

(these are all small amounts because I don't want to waste time if it's bad.)

i've got it all in a mason jar and i'm shaking it up occasionally. it's very liquidy, even before I added the olive oil, though the residue doesn't run down the sides of the mason jar very quickly at all.

If I happen to buy a lemon or orange, I may zest some peel in there later.

Any opinions on throwing cinnamon in there? I'd be afraid of it burning, but what do I know?

Also, If I could do it over again, i'd probably use Coconut Oil instead of Olive oil. it would be more balm-like.
 
My simple version of CF Lime ASB is to use Nivea Sensitive ASB (frag free) and add lime essential oil. I also add 100% aloe and avacado oil. It's almost identical to CF lime and may work better.
 
I threw together a batch of this today, but I added some Shea Butter too. It turned out fairly well. Very thick stuff even with some water added.

We have a fragrance shop in town and I tried my hand at making up a fragrance this afternoon. I know I did not hit a home run, but at least its not offensive. Its a Sandalwood base with plenty of amber musk and white pepper, with a hint of vanilla and burgamot to round it out.

It wound up being a wonderful pearl color. My camera work is lacking as always, but here are a couple attempts at showing what it looks like with some Shea Butter in the mix.

$Pear AS No Flash.jpg$Pearl AS.jpg
 
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Here's what I did yesterday and the result was fantastic!! Few drops of lime essential oil in the palm, couple drops of rosemary essential oil, three drops of grapeseed oil, and then a splash of Dickinson's witch hazel. Rubbed my palms together and applied directly to my face. It felt extremely smooth all day, and there was zero burn!

I may try a couple drops of camphor oil in that mix, and perhaps substitute sandalwood essential oil for the rosemary. The grapeseed oil is key, it has zero odor and is almost colorless.
 
I have my own concoction that I quite like. I mix some alcohol AS (like Barbasol Pacific Rush now), plain WH, Thayers Medicated WH, aloe gel and, in smaller quantities, glycerin, castor oil, tea tree oil, crushed aspirins and menthol crystals. I used some alum powder last time too, but did not have it for this last batch an don't seem to miss it.

I will eventually replace the AS with just grain alcohol and some EO, but it works very well as it is.
 
Ive been looking to make an aftershave balm for awhile now, thanks for the great advice! Luckily i have a vitamin shop down the street that carries some essential oils, perhaps ill look there for what i need.
 
For a long time I only used WH and AV gel. Just a month ago I added some lime EO to try to cover the WH scent. I've since moved past to some commercial AS splashes with other ingredients. If this is what CF lime aftershave splash is count me out. It works I think, just nothing special about it. Much better products out there for me
 
And remember chaps, aloe gel is artificially thickened. If raw aloe is squeezed from the plant and left in the open air for awhile it will become quite liquid in consistency. So for those of you(count me here) who do not like thick-ish balms, try pure aloe juice instead. You may have to fiddle with the ratio of the other ingredients. I am not sure. I do know that at one time the best a/s I have ever used came from Australia and was called Vitaman. It was aloe based with a blue cypress extract in it. Whatever it was it worked so well it was amazing. Later they changed it and it was nothing of its former glory. I have added about five to ten percent aloe juice to all my alcohol based a/s splashes for years. Slows the dry down and to me strengthens the scent a bit. This sounds good though so I am giving it a go with aloe juice.

Cheers, Todd
 
I think making an ASB is one of the easiest thing for you to play with. While I don't have essential oils (yet) I use AS or colognes for scent. I don't use water but rely on WH. I use shea butter, a touch of coco butter, aloe and what ever scent. I use the WH to make it as thick or thin as I need. Currently doing a Pinaud Bay Rum ASB and it works great. CC BR gets saved to use straight on the face.
 
I did this last night and tried it this morning. It worked fantastically for me. It'll be great in the winter months. I used 1/4 cup each of Aloe Vera from Wal-Mart and Thayers WH with Aloe Vera added, 1.5 tsp of glycerin, and about 5 drops of lime EO. Thinned it out with a lot of water. Beat with egg beater for while and it worked great, although mine didn't turn any shade of white. It was clear when I put it on this morning.
 
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