Making your own pre-shave oil

Dear Sirs

Firstly I must apologise if this is posted in the wrong place.

After spending considerably more than was intended on razors, blades, and shaving products I have come to the conclusion that I am forced to be more prudent.

The least economically viable product I use is by far the Body Shop Maca Root shaving oil. Because of this, and because I enjoy experimenting, I have considered making my own pre-shave oil. I am planning to keep it very simple; I will use almond oil as a base and add an essential oil of some sort.

Is this as simple as I imagine or is there something I have overlooked?


I am eagerly awaiting Your replies

Alexander

Hi Alexander!

I just made a batch of pre shave oil the other day. I used 3 tbsp. of Grapeseed Oil, and 5 drops each of tea tree essential oil, peppermint essential oil, and Eucalyptus essential oil.

It smells nice and feels nice on my face. Very easy to make yourself and save some money.

That sounds nice. I am thinking about giving pre shave oil another try. If I do, I will follow this thread and make my own.

Here's an old post from 'LeisureGuy' on a shave oil he concocted...

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LeisureGuy's Shave Oil


Olive oil: This was a big surprise: it was the lightest and most readily absorbed of all the food oils listed above, and it did a terrific job for the Oil Pass. I immediately increased the proportion of Olive Oil in my own mix. Extremely pleasant.

A commenter suggested making one’s own shave oil, so I came up with:

Leisureguy’s Last-Pass Shaving Oil: After an experimental batch, I’m now using the following formula. As noted above, I’m not using Jojoba oil because (a) it didn’t seem to add anything special, and (b) all the other oils are cooking oils—so that if I mix up a little batch and have some left over, I can then just pour the leftover oil into the sauté pan or onto a salad (before any essential oils are added, of course).

2 parts Almond oil
2 parts Avocado oil
2 parts Olive oil
1 part Grapeseed oil
1 part Macadamia nut oil
1-2 drops essential oil(s) (for fragrance)—or however much you want

The essential oils I picked to try: sandalwood, lemon, vanilla, neroli, ylang ylang, and majmua. (One at a time, generally speaking, though I did do a batch of lemon + vanilla, which was very nice.) It’s important, BTW, to add only one (1) drop of the essential oil and then try the mix—you can always add another drop if needed, but removing a drop is impossible.

Useful equivalences for making small batches: 2 Tbs = 1 fluid ounce, and 3 tsp = 1 Tbs. Knowing this, you can readily figure out how many ounces you’ll make if you use regular measuring spoons: for example, if 1 part = 1 tsp, the result 1 1/3 fl oz. If 1 part = 1 Tbsp, the result is 4 fl oz (which is 1/2 cup).

All the oils listed have well established histories of cosmetic use and don’t go quickly rancid (as, say, flaxseed oil would). They are all listed as being good for the skin. And with the Jojoba oil out of the mix, they are all cooking oils.

You could also pierce a few vitamin E capsules and add 2000 IU of vitamin E if you want. (We used to squirt some vitamin E into the cooking oil in the sauté pan so that it wouldn’t oxidize so quickly.) But several of the oils already contain vitamin E, so it’s probably coals to Newcastle.
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-- John Gehman

Recent Thread; http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/241514-Shaving-Oil-in-depth

This can Help you decide what your Blend will contain, there are no hard and fast rules, use oils that aren't pore-clogging and offer benefits & healing properties to your face. I use mine as an overnight moisturizer during the Dry Winter Months, not all oils are created equal.

These are wonderful recommendations; thanks a lot for the recipes. I will go shopping for oils today and post my results when I have finished a batch or two.

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Alexander

Dear Sirs

I began experimenting right away by filling two old medicine bottles (about 10ml I suspect) with almond oil and adding five drops of lavender oil to the first and five drops of cedar tree oil to the second.
Both of them work fine and the strength of the scent is about right. I will try to blend scents when I run out and see what happens.
I do not know how long their shelf life is but if they turn I will make less next time.

Thank you for the recommendations and links; if you have ny special recipes or blends that you enjoy, do share them.

_
Alexander

[FONT=&quot]I use a product from Jason called Vitamin E Oil 5,000 units which also contains almond, apricot, avocado, and wheat germ oil. I use five parts of that oil and to that I add one part each of almond oil, grape seed oil, and jojoba oil, and .5 part of EVOO, and 10 drops of glycerin. For some other recipes for pre-shave oil you can go to the wiki.
[/FONT]

wow
I know that this thread is old but I like doing stuff like this.

Prioritize humectants over softeners in your blend. The major key to softening your beard is hydrating it. I'd go with something like:

3p Vegetable Glycerin
1p Castor Oil
1p Avacado Oil

j-mt said:

Prioritize humectants over softeners in your blend. The major key to softening your beard is hydrating it. I'd go with something like:

3p Vegetable Glycerin
1p Castor Oil
1p Avacado Oil

Click to expand...

You also have to take into account their rate of absorption. Castor oil takes a while to absorb, and leaves your face greasy/oily feeling.
Glycerin can also be oily.


I would favor grapeseed, jojoba, almoond oil, avocado oil, and even olive oil over most others.

MrBaz said:

You also have to take into account their rate of absorption. Castor oil takes a while to absorb, and leaves your face greasy/oily feeling.
Glycerin can also be oily.


I would favor grapeseed, jojoba, almoond oil, avocado oil, and even olive oil over most others.

Click to expand...

Absolutely. This would be for a full on, brush-able beard. It's not something you'd use for a short, close to the face beard.

Edit: To touch on your recommendations and fill in something I forgot to mention, non-comedogenic oils should also be used for anyone curious.

Here's a pretty good list: http://www.soapnuts.com/noncomo.html

j-mt said:

Prioritize humectants over softeners in your blend. The major key to softening your beard is hydrating it. I'd go with something like:

3p Vegetable Glycerin
1p Castor Oil
1p Avacado Oil

Click to expand...

I preferred a simple blend of Olive & Castor oils @~90/10, for preshave application, 3-4 drops is all that's necessary for my whisker growth up to 72 hours. I'd also apply after the shave, prior to switching to 100% Organic Unrefined Shea Butter.

I would apply my first application upon entering the shower, and let the steam do its work while I body lathered. After washing my head & face, another 3-4 drops were applied and left for ~2-4 minutes while I dried and gathered my soap/cream & brush, and I'd face lather over the preshave oil.

I discontinued the preshave oil when I switched to room temp. or cold water shaves, and have had the most comfortable shaves since the switch.

mftoms59 said:

I preferred a simple blend of Olive & Castor oils @~90/10, for preshave application, 3-4 drops is all that's necessary for my whisker growth up to 72 hours. I'd also apply after the shave, prior to switching to 100% Organic Unrefined Shea Butter.

I would apply my first application upon entering the shower, and let the steam do its work while I body lathered. After washing my head & face, another 3-4 drops were applied and left for ~2-4 minutes while I dried and gathered my soap/cream & brush, and I'd face lather over the preshave oil.

I discontinued the preshave oil when I switched to room temp. or cold water shaves, and have had the most comfortable shaves since the switch.

Click to expand...

After reading your post and re-reading the thread topic, I realize I was in error. I was referencing a beard oil, not a pre-shave oil.

These long days are killing me!

j-mt said:

After reading your post and re-reading the thread topic, I realize I was in error. I was referencing a beard oil, not a pre-shave oil.

These long days are killing me!

Click to expand...

Looks like the day was long for both of us, you're correct it was Beard Oil, my mistake and apology.