DIY Homemade Snake Bite

[jason2]

DIY Homemade Snake Bite

I thought this might be fun. I really like Fine Snake Bite and it has really simple ingredients listed: Alcohol Denatured, Water, Menthol, and Isopropyl Alcohol.

I picked up some Everclear 190 proof (Walmart), Witch Hazel (86%/14% alcohol) Amazon, and 100% Food Grade Menthol Crystals (Amazon).

I used a graduated cylinder to add the ingredients together. I also used a pipette to add the ingredients and to move to a used up snake bite bottle.

First attempt I added 10ml Witch hazel, 30ml everclear, and added crystals till it hit 45ml. That was a LOT of menthol and made my eyes water a ton and lasted a looooong time. I did another batch with enough crystals to increase the volume to 42ml. That was better.

The crystals will then need melted. Or I guess could be melted before added .

Can see the crystals in there.

I used a small space heater and placed the cylinder in front of the hot airflow for a few minutes till the crystals melted. I suppose a hair dryer would work too.

Then it needs mixed and done.

Menthol melted

45ml all mixed together

Added to snake bite bottle

Super easy. Then can be tweaked for amount of alcohol wanted or menthol or other scented oils wanted.

 

[Boti2634]

DIY Homemade Snake Bite

I thought this might be fun. I really like Fine Snake Bite and it has really simple ingredients listed: Alcohol Denatured, Water, Menthol, and Isopropyl Alcohol.

I picked up some Everclear 190 proof (Walmart), Witch Hazel (86%/14% alcohol) Amazon, and 100% Food Grade Menthol Crystals (Amazon).

I used a graduated cylinder to add the ingredients together. I also used a pipette to add the ingredients and to move to a used up snake bite bottle.

First attempt I added 10ml Witch hazel, 30ml everclear, and added crystals till it hit 45ml. That was a LOT of menthol and made my eyes water a ton and lasted a looooong time. I did another batch with enough crystals to increase the volume to 42ml. That was better.

The crystals will then need melted. Or I guess could be melted before added .

Can see the crystals in there.

I used a small space heater and placed the cylinder in front of the hot airflow for a few minutes till the crystals melted. I suppose a hair dryer would work too.

Then it needs mixed and done.

Menthol melted

45ml all mixed together

Added to snake bite bottle

Super easy. Then can be tweaked for amount of alcohol wanted or menthol or other scented oils wanted.

Outstanding! Thanks for the great writeup, jason2! Much appreciated! Cheers!

 

[jason2]

First use this morning after a shave.

I'd say there's still some more menthol in my mix then Fine snake bite. At raising the volume up 2ml seems stronger and lasts longer. Eyes did water up a bit but not like with adding 5ml worth WOW that was strong. I'll try 1ml next batch.

The initial bite was still there just like using the Fine snake bite which is quick and the wonderful cooling of the menthol kicks in. Unless you don't react well to menthol in which case your face will feel like it's on fire.

Using witch hazel did seem to dry out my skin more then Fine using water. I may tweak that out a bit. But if someone has really oily skin this would be the ticket.

Taste... I'm not drinking this mixture and no one should. But it does get on the lips and all aftershaves I've used including fine has a bitter taste to me. Which is probably the denaturing agent used so they can sell the products with out getting hit by liquor taxes and other legal stuff. This leaves none of that we which I like a lot.

I feel successful in my first attempt at this but room for improvement and tweaking to different desires.

 

[APBinNCA]

Using witch hazel did seem to dry out my skin more then Fine using water.

Many artisan aftershave use aloe vera juice in place of water. Maybe a bit of glycerin too.

 

[Juanmosey]

I did that with Vodka and menthol and had good results. What I do now is mentholate the heck out of a 100 ml bottle of Skin Bracer and pour about 6 mls of it into a 10 ml vial and the rest witch hazel. I think when the SB gets to about halfway or 50 mls I'm gonna just add 20 mls of witch hazel to the 100 ml bottle. Good stuff. Real good in fact. BTW I really like Skin Bracer.
Almost there.

 

[NorthernSoul]

It's also easy to add a bit of glycerin and witch hazel to Osage Rub. This makes a inexpensive, yet potent aftershave splash with an additional herbal hit of eucalyptus. Very refreshing on a hot day.

 

[jason2]

Mixed up a other batch tonight to be used tomorrow. The 5ml of menthol was an eye watering experience. 2ml of menthol was still stronger then Snake Bite but felt pretty good.

This time I'm trying another tweak using 15ml of Witch hazel, 30ml of Everclear, and and 1ml of Menthol.

This time I melted a few menthol crystals in a little dish in front of the space heater and dripped some in the cylinder with the pipette then mixed.

Initial no shave usage feels nice. Not a big hit on menthol right away then it kicks in and lasts a decent amount of time. Looking forward to using it in the morning.

 

[JCarr]

I love it!

 

[jason2]

Many artisan aftershave use aloe vera juice in place of water. Maybe a bit of glycerin too.

I'm looking at that. The witch hazel instead of water that snake bite uses I could definitely see drying out someone's face to much. So for them I'd use distilled water and not witch hazel or something like you suggested or other oils or glycerin added.

My face is holding up pretty good though but can feel it tighten up. Will be perfect as summer and a lot more sweat is on the way.

 

[jason2]

It's also easy to add a bit of glycerin and witch hazel to Osage Rub. This makes a inexpensive, yet potent aftershave splash with an additional herbal hit of eucalyptus. Very refreshing on a hot day.

I might try a bit of glycerin next winter. Or aloe. Or eucalyptus oil like proraso green. Or maybe a batch of each. Right now though it's feeling good especially as it's finally warming up outside.

 

[jason2]

Vintage Adjustable April '23

Cream: Cremo Original
Razor/Blade:
Face/Neck/Head - 1958 D4 $1.95 Adjustable w/ Personna Lab
Alum: Omega stick
Aftershave:
Face/Neck - DIY Snake Bite
Head/Neck - Nivea Sensitive

A milder bite but seems like about the same amount of menthol. So, probably back to the 30ml or more of the everclear to 10ml or less of the witch hazel to get more of that initial bite. But I like this milder version with enough menthol to feel for a bit but not to much to cause the eyes to turn into water falls.

 

[jason2]

Vintage Adjustable April '23

Cream: Barbasol 1919
Razor/Blade:
Face/Neck/Head - 1960 F4 Toggle w/ Personna Lab
Alum: Omega stick
Aftershave:
Face/Neck - DIY Snake Bite
Head/Neck - Nivea Sensitive

Second aftershave impressions. Definitely not as strong of an initial bite. It's refreshing actually. The menthol kick after is maybe slightly more but not by much. Feels good with out being eye watering to me at least. .

So, if following and doing. To get more initial bite I wouldn't go more then 10ml of witch hazel to 30ml of everclear. Of course to get more of a bite put in less witch hazel or more everclear then that. Fine also adds a touch of isopropyl so that might give a quick punch too. I haven't tried that yet.

This has definitely been worth it and fun tweaking out my own aftershave. Easy and relatively cheap.

 

[jason2]

I just got some NOW 100% pure vegetable glycerin in.


I wasn't expecting it to be almost the consistency of syrup. It has a overly sweet taste too that's so much so it almost is bitter. Hard to describe. On the fingers its very slick. I can see why some have it in as a pre shave.

I have NO idea how much to add with the next batch to try it out but it's not going to be much.

 

[lasta]

You put 15g of menthol in 30ml of liquid, damn!

I usually just drop 4-5 pieces in my aftershave, I'd guess <2g!

 

[jason2]

You put 15g of menthol in 30ml of liquid, damn!

I usually just drop 4-5 pieces in my aftershave, I'd guess <2g!

lol, I have no idea on weight of it. I first just added enough to raise the volume up by 5ml. For me that was WAY to much. I had to close my eyes and lay down for a while just waiting for it to wear off with eyes watering the entire time.

I dumped that batch out.

Then second batch of raising it up by 2ml was better but still stronger then Snake bite. Would make my eyes water a bit at times.

3rd batch with raising the volume up by 1ml seems very close if not a little stronger then snake bite. I haven't had eye watering moments yet.


For this next batch I think I'll go 33ml everclear, 12ml witch hazel, 1 or 2 ml menthol, and a 3 drops of glycerin. I've read the glycerin could make the menthol linger longer. Don't know.

 

[jason2]

Ok, picked this up today too.

 

[jason2]

I'm going through these pretty quick. I keep splashing it on in the evenings too. Love that menthol feeling.

So,next batch formula before I forget.

35ml Everclear
12ml Witch hazel
1ml Isopropyl Alcohol
1ml Glycerin
1ml Menthol
50ml total

Kinda played it by ear on this one. Seemed like a lot of Glycerin. But I just splashed some on and don't feel it at all which is good. I don't want sticky or balm feeling.

I felt more of a quick bite. There is maybe a little more everclear but not much more vs witch hazel then the 30:10 ratio I used before. I think the Isopropyl is the key to that initial quick bite in Snake bite.

Looking forward to using up this batch.

 

[jason2]

Vintage Adjustable April '23 on King C Gillette Weekend

Cream: Barbasol 1919
Razor/Blade:
Face/Neck/Head - 1920 Old Type Big Fellow w/ Personna Lab
Alum: Omega stick
Aftershave:
Face/Neck - DIY Snake Bite
Head/Neck - Nivea Sensitive

Super efficient shave this morning with a slight twist back on the Big Fellow.

This snake has a bite. I can feel that isopropyl sinking it's teeth in. It's a quick strike though. The glycerin is prolonging a slight effect of the menthol it seems. Don't notice it when sitting down but when I get up and walk around I can feel the coolness from the airflow.

I think I want less glycerin. My skin feels like there was some moisturizer used. Some may like that. Those that like balms would like it I imagine. I like balms on my head and neck but not my face. But for really dry skin this was a good amount. I think. I didn't feel my skin tighten up and like I said feels moisturized. I think I'll try half as much next time for me. Or remove it completely until the winter months.

 

[Juanmosey]

Did the same th

I did that with Vodka and menthol and had good results. What I do now is mentholate the heck out of a 100 ml bottle of Skin Bracer and pour about 6 mls of it into a 10 ml vial and the rest witch hazel. I think when the SB gets to about halfway or 50 mls I'm gonna just add 20 mls of witch hazel to the 100 ml bottle. Good stuff. Real good in fact. BTW I really like Skin Bracer.
Almost there.
View attachment 1629109

Did the same thing with 2 drops added eucalyptus. Better scent overall.

 

[aussietanker]

Great thread guys. Thanks for all the helpful info in regress to DIY Aftershave!