Homemade aftershave - has anyone else tried it?

I realise I'm re-reviving a topic that's gotten a fair bit of coverage here before but I'll go ahead anyway!

I just put together a nice smelling aftershave with witch hazel, dark rum, cinnamon, bay leaves and orange and now have to wait for a few weeks before I get to try it so I was wondering - has anyone else done it? How did it work out? I thought I'd re-revive the topic as I hadn't seen many 'recipes' - just ideas - so the exact one I'm using is -

125ml distilled witch hazel
125ml dark rum
3 bay leaves (the non-traditional kind!)
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 large stick cinnamon
Peel of one orange

The list actually called for orange oil. So I made a tiny 2tbsp test batch and stuck a bit of peel in with it for an hour and the liquid took the scent really well, so I'm hoping it gets nice and strong and lasts. I think I'll change the peel once or twice a week over the next few weeks to help it along

I tried making some with ethanol (undenatured, which is pretty expensive stuff as you can drink it without problems), water, glycerin and one or two drops of lime EO; but I disliked the result. The ethanol evaporated much too quickly, yielding an unpleasant-feeling skin. If I ever attempt to make a new aftershave, I will at the very least add a few fatty acid esters (like isopropyl myristate, which would result in TOBS aftershave, which in itself is a pretty harsh product) and some oils and/or thickeners to keep the volatile ethanol under control.

I'm not familiar with the properties of witch hazel you used in your recipe (as in, does it feel fatty or greasy, does it evaporate quickly, etc.) but if it doesn't contain any of the compounds I mentioned I would add to my homebrew aftershave, then I'm afraid I would not particularly like yours, although I'm sure the fragrance is perfectly okay.

I'm not sure I'd use ethanol - it's medical grade and extremely high percentage (above 90% by volume) which would no doubt irritate and dry your skin? Witch hazel's commonly used in aftershaves along with aloe vera. It's a natural astringent and not greasy at all. I picked up a bottle of it distilled for very little, supposedly it has numerous benefits to your skin! I might add some aloe gel to it once it's 'brewed' and maybe some powdered alum and some glycerine for moisturing properties

I have a batch working -- rye whiskey, witch hazel, glycerin, plus a bit of lemon peel, a pinch each of cinnamon and clove, a pinch of tobacco, some calendula, rosemary, and myrrh. So far, it's coming along nicely.

Check this forum under "Bay Rum recipe needed" for my post. Mine has been brewing a bit now - perhaps ten days at the most. Smells good but different than the two store bought BR's.

I followed a very similar recipe but with a few other additives that I got from what was supposedly the "Original" recipe from the islands.

I've experimented with a homemade balm

YetiDave said:

I'm not sure I'd use ethanol - it's medical grade and extremely high percentage (above 90% by volume) which would no doubt irritate and dry your skin?

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That's what the water is for, to bring down the ethanol content to a more manageable 60 to 70%.

You could use rotgut Vodka too, you know, the stuff no one would ever drink without lots of mixer. It'd be fine for topical use.

BrianK said:

You could use rotgut Vodka too, you know, the stuff no one would ever drink without lots of mixer. It'd be fine for topical use.

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I'm sure you could I used a fairly cheap dark rum (but still good enough for a few rum and gingers with the leftovers!) I'm just not sure I'd trust ethanol unless using a tiny, tiny quantity. Even then it lacks the right scent as I'm going for bay rum

And on a side note - bay essential oil STINKS

I use a mix of witch hazel, filtered water, Dr. Tichenor's, and menthol crystals. It's nice and cold and makes my skin feel great. The scent is light and short-lived so it doesn't clash with other stuff I may be wearing.

YetiDave said:

And on a side note - bay essential oil STINKS

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Are you sure you got the right one? The bay used for bay rum is not the same as the bay you use for cooking. Bay rum should be pimenta racemosa and smell spicy.

I've got a mixture of vodka, WH, glycerin, rosemary, and mint steeping away right now.

mretzloff said:

Are you sure you got the right one? The bay used for bay rum is not the same as the bay you use for cooking. Bay rum should be pimenta racemosa and smell spicy.

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That's the one! I ordered a bottle of essential oil and it's extremely potent. I put just 4 drops into my mixture and it immediately overpowered everything else. Although I checked on it earlier after letting it sit for a few days and it has definitely blended in and mellowed I think I could actually get away with adding more to it now. It was just the initial overpowering blast that took me by surprise


Rosemary and mint sounds like an interesting combination. I've got enough witch hazel and unscented aloe gel to easily make up another batch so I'll have to experiment!

BrianK said:

You could use rotgut Vodka too, you know, the stuff no one would ever drink without lots of mixer. It'd be fine for topical use.

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You"ll find a lot of people asking you what part of Russia you're from!

super interesting...

i wonder if i could pull this off

So after reading some threads when I first found B&B on home made Bay Rum, I decided to try some of my own. While making that first batch, I also decided to wing it on a few other concoctions, so I made one bottle of vodka, dark rum, pepper, allspice, and a cedar wrapper from a cigar, and another that was just vodka, dark rum, pepper, and allspice, but with copious quantities of pepper. After 2 weeks of soaking, I decanted and filtered the pepper/allspice/rum/vodka mixture and used it after shaving this morning, and was pleasantly surprised. It didn't burn as much as I expected, the smell was (to me, SWMBO has had a sequence of colds for about 6 months thanks to our daughter) fantastic, and overall I was very pleased. The smell wore off pretty quickly, which was a concern, but I'll see if I can't make it a bit more powerful next go-round. My biggest "issue" with this was that I used black peppercorns, which bled into the mixture and turned it a very VERY dark brown - to the extent that I'd be concerned putting it on, then wearing a white shirt, so I will be trying the same mixture with white 'corns next. But all in all, quite a good scent without being overpowering.

I haven't made a bay rum but have made a citrus blend with EO's Witch Hazel, glycerin, aloe vera, alcohol and water.

Just use Everclear for ethanol. It's 190 proof, and about $14 for a fifth.

EucrisBoy said:

I've experimented with a homemade balm

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details?

Peppercorns sound like a great addition, it's interesting to hear what other people are putting into their own 'brews'. I think I'm going to try something with a ton of lime next (to go with the Vulfix lime I just ordered!). Lime peel, aloe, witchhazel and vodka probably... but which spices?