Made your own ?

C

co pilot

Joined
Tuesday February 9, 2010
Hi

Has anybody made their own aftershave lotion, balm or cologne ?

Have looked at various sites and found a few recipes but a bit reluctant to give it a go.

Any thoughts ?

Regards
Vince :roll:
 
I have.

AS/cologne is easy. Basically a 40% alcohol in water solution of your favourite fragrance. Getting a clear solution, rather than a slightly turbid one, is the trick at that concentration of alcohol -- 80% or more alcohol will give you a clear solution with more sting... Get the alcohol as SD fit for cosmetic purposes.

Lotion is slightly more work, requiring something like witch hazel or aloe vera extracts as basis.

The ASB/milk is the trickiest one; you can try and find a good day hand/facial cream recipe and start fiddling with the oil/water phase ratio to thin it. Or find a cosmetics handbook, preferably one from the 80s, with a good basic recipe. You also may want to add something like bisabolol or allantoin as active ingredient. If you want to make a more modern/elaborate ASB you need to read the labels and study patent disclosures, then find a way to get your hands on the ingredients. You'll learn a lot about cosmetics in the process (don't ask how I know...)
 
Henk's asb is ace.

I made some sandalwood cologne - basically denatured ethanol base (i.e. the same alcohol in most a/s) and just added sandalwood essential oil at 5%.

The result was OK but the only really good homemade stuff I've ever tried is Henk's - a shaving cream, a shaving soap and now the ASB. Really good, better than commercially produced stuff. The guy's an artist.
 
i did

i used Corn Huskers lotion as a base, thinned it down with Witch Hazel (adding some extra skincare goodness) and then add whatever fragrance you like.

my first one was an Old Spice balm which i gave to my old man and i think Ollie got some as well
 
Hi

Thanks for the comments.

I have found a recipe which comes up quite often when searching the net and am wondering if it would be a good start point.

5 tbsp Orange Flower Water
3 tbsp Witch Hazel
5 tbsp Cider Vinegar
10 drops Lemon Essential Oil
15 drops Bergamot Essential Oil
8 drops Neroli Essential Oil

Has anybody tried this ?

I suppose I am reluctant to give it a go as the start up cost could be a little high ie Neroli Oil £15.00 for 10ml.

Any comments most appreciated.

Regards
Vince :roll:
 
None of the fragrances are essential (pun intended), other than for fragrance. You could start without the neroli oil - it is a variety of citrus oil anyway.

What is more problematic is the vinegar -- I would suggest that both from a scent point of view, as from a use point of view, vinegar is undesirable. If you substitute cosmetic alcohol (96%) for the vinegar, it should make a fine, although unrefined, after shave. Due to the 'low' percentage of alcohol in the final concoction, you may end up with an opaque, rather than a clear liquid. This is not a problem in use, but is cosmetically (the AS's cosmetics, not yours...) undesirable.

Commercial after shaves with this level of alcohol are filtered to get a clear formulation.
 
Here's a link from Straight Razor Place http://www.straightrazorplace.com/f...aves-colognes/3150-aftershave-diy-anyone.html

I got some ideas for my homemade ASB which I've been using for the last month. Ingredients for 100ml bottle:

50ml Aloe Vera Gel
Fill almost to top with Sandalwood Floral Water
1 tsp Glycerin
1tsp Almond Oil
1 tsp Olive Oil
Essential Oil of your choice (I'm currently using 7 drops Lavender and 5 drops Cedarwood)

Very soothing and moisturising. I recently bought some Lime EO so looking forward to using that after using CF Lime. Obviously there is a start up cost but in the long run it is incredible value.

I got my bottle from Neal's Yard, which was Almond Oil. After this finished I peeled off the label and used this bottle for the ASB. It keeps out UV rays and so protects your balm and looks awesome on the bathroom shelf.

Enjoy!
 
henkverhaar said:
With that list of ingredients (which is OK for an ASB ) I would seriously consider making it into a real formulation, with an emulsifier to make a stable concoction, and some preservative.
Click to expand...

Would there not already be preservative in the sandalwood water and aloe vera?

Revo, where/how did you get your alcohol? I looked into it, but never got as far as sending the form off to the inland revenue to get a special certificate that was necessary to buy the stuff.

TajK, do you have to shake that up to mix it before use? I'm presuming the oils would float on the top. Also, if you're going to use lime eo, my safety assessor recommends no more than 1% for a leave on product. Revo, 5% sandalwood seems like an awful lot.....I don't put more than 3% eo in anything, and less than that for creams. Any comments Henk?
 
soapalchemist said:
Would there not already be preservative in the sandalwood water and aloe vera?
Click to expand...

Maybe in the aloe vera, but I doubt the total would be enough to preserve those added oils in an aqueous environment.

Revo, where/how did you get your alcohol? I looked into it, but never got as far as sending the form off to the inland revenue to get a special certificate that was necessary to buy the stuff.
Click to expand...

There are multiple sources for SD alcohol - denatured, so that you don't have to pay taxes, or need a license, but in such a way that it can be used in cosmetics. In the Netherlands and Germany, such alcohols are sold under the name of 'cosmetic hairwater' or cosmetic base-water'.

Revo, 5% sandalwood seems like an awful lot.....I don't put more than 3% eo in anything, and less than that for creams. Any comments Henk?
Click to expand...

3% fragrance is usual in CP soap - in soaps that are fully matured before the fragrance is added (as in industrial soap) 1-2% is normal. Creams and lotions usually have about 1-1.5%. Eaux de toillette, which basically is what an alcoholic after shave is, have generally 3-5% fragrance.

My ASB has about 1.5% fragrance.
 
Thanks for the advice Henk and Sopalchemist.

I do have to shake the bottle before use to mix everything. Also, I would like it to be a thicker consistency. Would the emulsifier do this? . If so what can I use? I did a google search and saw that maybe Polysorbate 20 could be used. Is this ok?

What about a preservative, maybe something like Grapefruit Seed Extract?
 
RajK said:
Thanks for the advice Henk and Sopalchemist.

I do have to shake the bottle before use to mix everything. Also, I would like it to be a thicker consistency. Would the emulsifier do this? . If so what can I use? I did a google search and saw that maybe Polysorbate 20 could be used. Is this ok?
Click to expand...

Nope, the tweens are high HLB surfactants, and are not suitable to emulsify oils on their own. They are excellent foam stabilizers, solubilizers and detergents, but in a vegetable oil emulsion you would need to combine it with a low HLB emulsifier to get a mix with an HLB of ca 10. You'd be better off to trying any one of the food emulsifiers available to home and hobby cosmetics makers, like lamecreme or emulsan. A good starting point is to add emulsifiers at ca 25% of the weight of the oil. Less water gives a thicker emulsion. For an ASB lotion, you want about 85-90% water.

What about a preservative, maybe something like Grapefruit Seed Extract?
Click to expand...

No definitely not. Not only is grapefruit seed extract ill-defined, the only true preservative properties it has hail from the chemical preservatives (usually non-defined) added to it.

Get a good cosmetics quality preservative, like Paraben-K or MIT (kathon). Or, if you want a 'natural' preservative, use something like Rokonsal, which is a mixture of terpenoids with bacteriostatic properties. Drawback of this, and other natural preservatives is that they are not scent-neutral (they're usually essential oils), and they are potentially allergenic.

Henk
 
E wax is an easy to use emulsifier which is available in small quantities on Ebay; however, don't believe the seller who says it doesn't contain SLS as it does. It should also thicken the mixture. Would you agree that this should work, Henk? I am still a bit vague about HLB values.
Preservative is harder to source, or at least to source in the small quantities that you would want. But it can be found for example on sites such as soapkitchen. You will need a scales that measures very small quantities very accurately, as it is usually used at .5 - 1%.
I agree with Henk that grapefruit seed extract should not be relied on, and it can also be an irritant. Some people do make their own lotions without preservative, keep in the fridge and use within a week or two. Whether they are in danger of going blind as a result, Henk can no doubt tell us.
 
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