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DIY Pre-Shave Oil?

I'm thinking about making my own pre-shave oil. I'm guessing plenty of you here have DIY'd it. My favorite pre-shave is Shaveology pre-shave oil, something I never see mentioned around here. I like the performance, and I also like that it isn't a super thick oil.....sometimes Stirling pre-shave almost feels like it drags the razor. But what I really love is the scent....just a very gentle, subtle citrus, perhaps comparable to Lucky Tiger but a bit sharper...a bit more lemon than tangerine...yet not "lemony".

So I like it....BUT at $14/2oz I find it a bit spendy. Even Stirling is more like $13.50 for 3 oz. I have Stirling Coniferous which, as much as I like that in the shave soap I wish I had something brighter for pre shave. I did miz 1/2ox of the Coniferous with some lavender and eucalyptus essentials, and another batch with mandarin essential oil and like those.

So. I have thought making my own pre-shave that might approximate the Shaveology I enjoy. Perhaps a base of castor oil, with some vitamin E oil, jojoba, maybe a little avocado oil. and a mix of maybe 75% mandarin and 24% lemon essential oils. Could do a dash of glycerin for some slickness. I already have avo oil and the essential oils...so I figure I might spend $30ish to end up making 10 or more ounces.

Thoughts? Anyone have success with something they've made?
 
I'm thinking about making my own pre-shave oil. I'm guessing plenty of you here have DIY'd it. My favorite pre-shave is Shaveology pre-shave oil, something I never see mentioned around here. I like the performance, and I also like that it isn't a super thick oil.....sometimes Stirling pre-shave almost feels like it drags the razor. But what I really love is the scent....just a very gentle, subtle citrus, perhaps comparable to Lucky Tiger but a bit sharper...a bit more lemon than tangerine...yet not "lemony".

So I like it....BUT at $14/2oz I find it a bit spendy. Even Stirling is more like $13.50 for 3 oz. I have Stirling Coniferous which, as much as I like that in the shave soap I wish I had something brighter for pre shave. I did miz 1/2ox of the Coniferous with some lavender and eucalyptus essentials, and another batch with mandarin essential oil and like those.

So. I have thought making my own pre-shave that might approximate the Shaveology I enjoy. Perhaps a base of castor oil, with some vitamin E oil, jojoba, maybe a little avocado oil. and a mix of maybe 75% mandarin and 24% lemon essential oils. Could do a dash of glycerin for some slickness. I already have avo oil and the essential oils...so I figure I might spend $30ish to end up making 10 or more ounces.

Thoughts? Anyone have success with something they've made?
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Own mix
1 Argan Oil
1 Castor Oil
2 Jojoba Oil
2 Sweet Almond Oil
1 Coconut Fractionated (liquid) Oil
Tea Tree (5 drops/100ml)
Eucalyptus Smithii (10 drops/100ml)
This is similar to what I use. I use more castor and no coconut though. If you use castor as the base, it will be a thicker oil though.
 
I'm thinking about making my own pre-shave oil. I'm guessing plenty of you here have DIY'd it. My favorite pre-shave is Shaveology pre-shave oil, something I never see mentioned around here. I like the performance, and I also like that it isn't a super thick oil.....sometimes Stirling pre-shave almost feels like it drags the razor. But what I really love is the scent....just a very gentle, subtle citrus, perhaps comparable to Lucky Tiger but a bit sharper...a bit more lemon than tangerine...yet not "lemony".

So I like it....BUT at $14/2oz I find it a bit spendy. Even Stirling is more like $13.50 for 3 oz. I have Stirling Coniferous which, as much as I like that in the shave soap I wish I had something brighter for pre shave. I did miz 1/2ox of the Coniferous with some lavender and eucalyptus essentials, and another batch with mandarin essential oil and like those.

So. I have thought making my own pre-shave that might approximate the Shaveology I enjoy. Perhaps a base of castor oil, with some vitamin E oil, jojoba, maybe a little avocado oil. and a mix of maybe 75% mandarin and 24% lemon essential oils. Could do a dash of glycerin for some slickness. I already have avo oil and the essential oils...so I figure I might spend $30ish to end up making 10 or more ounces.

Thoughts? Anyone have success with something they've made?
It does not have to be complicated at all. Most pre-shave oils are a mixture of castor oil with another carrier oil plus some essential oils for fragrance. Castor oil by itself is quite thick, so it needs to be thinned out. This can be done with olive oil, jojoba oil, grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil, whatever thin, neutral carrier oil you have.

Simple Recipe
-------------------
20 ml castor oil
10 ml olive oil
8 drops lavender oil
4 drops cedar oil

Vary the essential oil amounts to suit your taste.

I would suggest you only make a small quantity each time. You do not need much for each shave.
 
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There are tons of recipes for pre-shave oil. I was headed in that direction given how expensive this stuff is relative to the cost of the ingredients. The only issue is that after you buy all the ingredients you end up with enough to make about 50 years worth for about 50 people. Unless you have some other uses for all that oil, it will go to waste since oil doesn't last forever and can spoil. Instead I decided to test the theory that maybe it wasn't doing anything at all. I had been using it for every single shave for about 4 years. I stopped. And I notice exactly zero difference in my shaves. So I decided to save some money by eliminating pre-shave oil from my routine completely.
 
There are tons of recipes for pre-shave oil. I was headed in that direction given how expensive this stuff is relative to the cost of the ingredients. The only issue is that after you buy all the ingredients you end up with enough to make about 50 years worth for about 50 people. Unless you have some other uses for all that oil, it will go to waste since oil doesn't last forever and can spoil. Instead I decided to test the theory that maybe it wasn't doing anything at all. I had been using it for every single shave for about 4 years. I stopped. And I notice exactly zero difference in my shaves. So I decided to save some money by eliminating pre-shave oil from my routine completely.
Castor oil is quite cheap if you have an Indian grocery store in the area. Indians like to use it for hair and skin care. Olive oil is at every grocery store. You don't need any exotic oils for this.
 
Castor oil is quite cheap if you have an Indian grocery store in the area. Indians like to use it for hair and skin care. Olive oil is at every grocery store. You don't need any exotic oils for this.

True. But too much castor oil is what makes it too thick. My first bottle was Art of Shaving pre-shave oil and I found it to be so thick it would remain all over the inside of the sink after each shave. My own recipe would be equal parts Olive Oil, Castor Oil, Jojoba Oil, Grape Seed Oil and Almond Oil. Olive and Castor is cheap. Grapeseed Oil isn't all that expensive but again, when you buy bottles of this stuff, you may never use all of it. And since I found it to be unnecessary for shaving, I'm way ahead of the game.
 
Since I’m CHEAP I too didn’t like the spendy price of shaving oils. I did a little research and found out most of the oils where already in my kitchen or bathroom. Then I saw we had a massage oil of seven different kinds so I used that as a bade, added some castor oil, coconut oil and a bit of tea tree and vit. E to preserve it all.
I did add a bit of glycerin, which I regret. Grabbed a big syringe and filled an empty Tabasco bottle with it. Cholula bottles have a nice wooden knob on the cap; even better. Since the docs call me “diabetic”, it works great on tired feet also.
Or…… just add a little conditioner to face before shaving 🪒!


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Interestingly, I just searched amazon for the Shaveology Pre-Shave oil and its gone. In fact it seems like most of the brand is gone. When I just google it, the company website is just a front page that says "opening soon" so....maybe the brand went bye bye?
 
I've done this myself using most of the oils (castor, almond, coconut, grape seed, & olive) mentioned above. Whatever you use will be less expensive than the commercial product and probably work just as well. Total the cost per ounce of whatever oils you decide to use and you will immediately see the savings to be had by mixing your own.

Another advantage you have with the DIY version is you can alter the ratios and/or add fragrance as you see fit. My advice (which I didn't follow myself) is to make only a small batch (3 ounces or less) at a time because it will last a lot longer (if it doesn't spoil) than you realize. And if it does spoil, you've lost only a small amount. Good luck...
 
I make my own and it's easy enough (the way I do it anyway). I use about 75% castor oil and about 25% olive oil. Castor oil is available at about any drugstore or grocery store. It's a little thick by itself though. So I thin it out to the viscosity I want using olive oil, which we always have around anyway. Works as well as anything else I've tried.

Sometimes I'll add a little essential oil too but most of the time I'll skip that.
 
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This is similar to what I use. I use more castor and no coconut though. If you use castor as the base, it will be a thicker oil though.

Very true.
Castor and Argan oils are thick so depending on the consistency I want for summer or winter I vary the other lighter base oils.
 
Alot fake argan oil out as well. Jojobo is the one closest to human skin oil. That and olive oil are great, tea tree oil is bad for men's testosterone as well. Kiss. Made a bunch of beard balm with coconut oil, bees wax , jojoba , lavender etc. Too much wax though ,it's almost like soft candles. Works great and seems to heal cuts faster as a hand balm as well.
 
A few drops of tea tree oil and/or coconut oil (anti-microbial) should preserve it. Vitamin E also.


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