Sorry if this is a roundabout story, but I need to tell you all of a semi-miraculous substance called squalane.
I first became aware of it last winter, when I had terribly dry and cracked hands. Desperate from the lack of a cure, I dug out a small tin of rose-scented hand salve (Rose Salve Tin - No. 012) that someone in my house probably had gotten as a gift but never used, and put it on my sorry hands before bed. When I woke up the next day, my skin felt awesome and my cuticles were healing for the first time in weeks.
It was such a surprise that I read the ingredients. Petrolatum, lanolin, SQUALANE... I had to look that stuff up. It is a refined product of olive oil that is Identical to a substance found in your skin's natural sebum. It is reputed to be excellent for healing and strengthening skin. I did a quick search on the B&B forums and the results show that it is an ingredient in some expensive shaving products. In the past, people used squalene- which is not as pure and usually harvested from shark liver!
I judiciously rationed the rest of that balm to make it through the winter, but as winter comes around again and my stupid face overreacts to shaving, we ordered a 4 oz. bottle of the pure SQUALANE from amazon (for the price of a moderately dear lotion) to make our own potions. It came in the mail today. It is colorless and very thin. Almost no scent. A few drops can be stretched to cover quite a bit of skin. On my hands- it is SO SOOTHING. I have a new blister on my thumb that almost immediately stopped stinging with the application. Amazing.
So, does it work for shaving? Honestly, unscented soap makes my skin burn. But squalane is so smooth and nice. It doesn't absorb quickly at all but it isn't heavy. It just feels good. I used it after a witch hazel AS splashdown and my skin is super happy; it's hard to describe. It almost just feels like warm water. Also, I'm getting zero irritation from rubbing my one-pass shave ATG (which is highly unusual for me) I believe it'll be good for healing weepers and ingrown hairs and of course, staving off dry skin, especially in winter. It has a very light, but odd smell- like clay I think- but it could be easy to mask with another scent.
I hope this little writeup has gotten you thinking about squalane, particularly if you're looking for a skin-healing salve that can also be used as a post-shave moisturizer for sensitive skin.
TNS
I first became aware of it last winter, when I had terribly dry and cracked hands. Desperate from the lack of a cure, I dug out a small tin of rose-scented hand salve (Rose Salve Tin - No. 012) that someone in my house probably had gotten as a gift but never used, and put it on my sorry hands before bed. When I woke up the next day, my skin felt awesome and my cuticles were healing for the first time in weeks.
It was such a surprise that I read the ingredients. Petrolatum, lanolin, SQUALANE... I had to look that stuff up. It is a refined product of olive oil that is Identical to a substance found in your skin's natural sebum. It is reputed to be excellent for healing and strengthening skin. I did a quick search on the B&B forums and the results show that it is an ingredient in some expensive shaving products. In the past, people used squalene- which is not as pure and usually harvested from shark liver!
I judiciously rationed the rest of that balm to make it through the winter, but as winter comes around again and my stupid face overreacts to shaving, we ordered a 4 oz. bottle of the pure SQUALANE from amazon (for the price of a moderately dear lotion) to make our own potions. It came in the mail today. It is colorless and very thin. Almost no scent. A few drops can be stretched to cover quite a bit of skin. On my hands- it is SO SOOTHING. I have a new blister on my thumb that almost immediately stopped stinging with the application. Amazing.
So, does it work for shaving? Honestly, unscented soap makes my skin burn. But squalane is so smooth and nice. It doesn't absorb quickly at all but it isn't heavy. It just feels good. I used it after a witch hazel AS splashdown and my skin is super happy; it's hard to describe. It almost just feels like warm water. Also, I'm getting zero irritation from rubbing my one-pass shave ATG (which is highly unusual for me) I believe it'll be good for healing weepers and ingrown hairs and of course, staving off dry skin, especially in winter. It has a very light, but odd smell- like clay I think- but it could be easy to mask with another scent.
I hope this little writeup has gotten you thinking about squalane, particularly if you're looking for a skin-healing salve that can also be used as a post-shave moisturizer for sensitive skin.
TNS
