Homebrewing?

pjgh

pjgh

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Halifax, Republic of Yorkshire
Hi folks, second post here ... but I'm intrigued.

I've homebrewed all manner of things, from beer to wine to car wax.

I see some really good looking blends here, but there does seem to be a focus on grapeseed, olive oil and groundnut.

How about avocado oil?

It's widely used in the beauty industry. I'd like to start with that as a base ...

So, let's guess around 50ml as the amount and make up a fantasy blend with essential oils ...

What next?

I love mint. Peppermint would be in. Ginger, anyone? What about chilli?

I have an awful cartridge razor burn face at the moment (yes, a 23C and some gear to accompany on its way to me for my first DE shave) and managed to get chilli all over my face this evening eating. I liked it!

Is chilli an irritant or a soother? The difficulty is getting capsaicin in an amount that is not nuclear to start with. Maybe soak a chilli in the base oil to start with?

What else would you drop into this mythical perfect pre-shave oil?

Tea tree? Jojoba? Sandlewood?

I'm keen to make up my own and would really find it fascinating to hear from folks who've done this already and are experimenting with recipes.

Thoughts ...
 
Eucalyptus, Lavender, Tea tree and Rosemary will complement Peppermint.

I make my own pre-shave oil with Sweet almond oil and Apricot kernel oil blend. Essential oils I use in it are Palmarosa, Lavender, Clove and Dark patchouli (to tone down the floral scent and give it a bit earthy notes).
 
After doing a lot of reading and finding decent sources of carrier and essential oils, I think I'm ready to have a go ...

I've ordered:

Castor Oil - reduces inflammation, fights infection and feeds the skin 75%
Coconut Oil* - anti-bacterial and skin feeder 25%
Glycerine - for smoothness ... also useful for later and will go into my aftershave tonic
Witch Hazel
Eucalyptus
Tea Tree
Peppermint
Grapefruit
Lavendar
Lemongrass

* I have refined coconut oil for cooking, but it is solid at room temperature and would be a pain to mix up. I found some liquid carrier oil, which I hope will be perfect.

In my pre-shave oil, the base will be castor oil and coconut oil, touch of glycerine and then a few drops of: eucalyptus, tea tree, grapefruit and lemongrass.

I'm also intending to make an aftershave tonic (outside the scope of this sub-forum), which will be: witch hazel, touch of glycerine and then a few drops of: eucalyptus, tea tree, peppermit and lavender. Later on, I might well pop some other oils in: peach kernel and grapefruit seed oil.

That should satisfy my initial requirement for a fresh, citrus pre-shave and a cooling, menthol tonic ...
 
While waiting, tony4938 showed us this: http://sharpologist.com/2013/10/mentholated-witch-hazel.html

Great! So I bid on some menthol crystals ... and won for the princely sum of 99p.

While waiting, anticipating and all that, I got to thinking ... Olbas Oil?

Ingredients are essential oils: cajeput, eucalyptus, peppermint, juniper, wintergreen and clove. You get a strong peppermint and eucalyptus hit (something like 30% each) backed up with cajeput oil (around 20%) which is a close relative of tea tree; good for anti-infection and anti-inflammation. Clove and wintergreen are both soothing oils, albeit very low in concentration, as is juniper, an astringent.

I reckoned on 100ml bottle of Witch Hazel with five drops of that in and a touch of glycerin, top up with a capful of gin to boost the juniper astringency and help evaporation with the light alcohol.

... and so I made it up, splash some on my face and it felt good. The glycerin does give it a lubricious feel. I don't think the gin added anything at all and five drops, while it smells good, was not immediately the menthol burn I had hoped for. Resisting the temptation to dose up with another five drops, I thought I'd leave it and try again in the morning ... I'm glad I did because once all the witch hazel and alcohol is gone, there is a gentle but quite perceptible tingle which is very pleasant indeed and not at all overpowering. Five drops feels good. When I'm down to the last fifth, I'll pop one drop in and see if I like it double-concentrated.

Fun.

When my haul of essential oils arrives at least I can brew up a pre-shave oil and perhaps add a drop of lavender into my cool tonic ... which I call Sprygg, the etymology of spry: lively, active, brisk.

So, there we go ...

Household aftershave. Ask the Mrs (or your Mum) for some glycerin - they use it in baking. Raid the bathroom cabinet for WH and Olbas Oil. Go wild.
 
I made some cedarwood and cola witch hazel aftershave and a drop or two of tea tree oil which was nice but a bit strong. I use it occasionally. I also made one with the same base that had ambergris in it and something else that turned out very sweet and sickly.
Just now I've just made some more conventional aftershave - water, witch hazel, four drops of eucalyptus essential oil and approximately 1ml of Scent from Heaven 'Cool' fragrance oil. Turned out very nice and I'll use it for today's shave.
 
I've been following this thread with interest, and I've just had a bit of a dabble myself by adding 15ml of Pinus Sylvestris essential oil to 85ml of witch hazel. At the moment, it's quite refreshing, but a little too subtle for my liking. I'm thinking a few drops of lavender may help balance it and make it smell less like a toilet cleaner.
 
You've piqued my curiosity too Paul - I'm going to see how this thread develops and then if some definitive recipes emerge I'll be following suit!

Nice one

Ratty
 
I'm going to put together my pre-shave oil shortly ...

Argan Oil, Jojoba Oil, Coconut Oil and Grapeseed Oil. Essential oils are grapefruit, lemon and sweet orange. Glycerine.

The rationale behind those ingredients is to condition the skin - de-wrinkle, sebum condition, softener and so on, then antiseptic, antifungal, cut, gash and whatever qualities from the essential oils.

... back to my toner. I think a couple of drops of Lavender Oil in will do just right.

FuzzySteve - year, perhaps geranium, too? It blends well with lavender, eucalyptus, rosemary and sage, all of which are also floral. One, or two, of those will no doubt take the edge off the Toilet Duck.
 
... after some deliberation and a couple of trial teaspoons, I've rather settled on the following:

75ml Olive Oil
15ml Avocado Oil
5ml Coconut Oil
5ml Glycerine

Essential Oils (Drops):

Grapefruit (10)
Tea Tree (5)
Patchouli (5)
Ylang Ylang (3)
Olbas Oil (2)

Tea Tree for soothing, Olbas Oil gives just the right tingle without burning while the Grapefruit remains the overriding scent. Base notes of Patchouli and Ylang Ylang give that certain je ne sait quoi and the hopefully the oils transfer some of their medicinal qualities into the mix.

Shake, pour out a small amount and massage in. The Olbas Oil gives you the positive feedback that the oils are penetrating into the skin.

I can't give any absolute claims that this is worth doing; more, I just like it. I do feel that this, combined with an olive oil based soap that I am very fond of gives me well nourished skin that has little need of moisturiser afterwards.
 
I've used it all - avocado, sweet almond, jojoba, shea butter, cocoa butter, wheatgerm, argan, castor, grapeseed, with all sorts of EOs in. One particular blend (using almost all of the above) turned out to be a really decent moisturiser - absorbs without a trace. But in terms of a preshave - i found it only makes the whole thing worse. So I only use Proraso Pre as a neutral rub (doesn't improve the shave, but does somewhat improve the experience!), and that's about it.
 
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