Healthy, natural aftershave?

[Samouraï]

I get a kick out of Aqua Velva, but I was curious one day and took a look at the ingredients. Most were names not pronouncable by me--chemicals that put me off a bit. I began wondering what these cheap chemicals might do to my face in the long run (probably nothing noticable).

My question concerns more natural ingredients in aftershaves. What is the most organic and beneficial aftershave for the skin. I doubt all the chemicals in AV are beneficial.

I understand that Speik lotion has tons of goodies, as do a few others. Can anyone illuminate the subject for me? Seeing as aftershave is the last thing applied (and thus left on the longest), it might be a good idea to take extra care.

Thanks.

ps what about soaps? Wool fat? AoS? Tabac? Which have scary names and which pack the skin food

 

[senorsignor]

AV can't be anything but good! Honestly, if you wrote out the ingredients of 'natural' products in chemical terms, you'd be turned off of them as well. What would you think of splashing a little di-hydrogen oxide on your face. sounds bad, right?

 

[krissy]

the reason why you can't pronounce them is because they are the INCI names. Something the FDA requires, although now i see that they have change it so common names can also be used on the FDA pages for cosmetics. Doesn't make them bad at all. It's just a matter of doing some research to understand what each ingredient is and it's function.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Shaving is not for the faint of heart. Damn the torpedoes and splash on the Aqua Velva. Douse yourself with Clubman--nothing could survive the onslaught of that fragrant goodness. You start worrying about what's in the chunky glass jug and before you know it, you got a beard.

 

[dpm802]

If you want pronounceable ingredients in your ASB ... check out Burt's Bees. They list both the common name and the scientific name, and almost no chemical names.

water, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, glycerin, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, stearic acid, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, glucose, citrus aurantium bergamia (bergamot) fruit oil, citrus medica limonum (lemon) peel oil, citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) peel oil, pogostemon cablin (patchouli) oil, citrus reticulata (tangerine/petitgrain) leaf oil, abies sibirica (fir needle) oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf oil, bisabolol, xanthan gum, sucrose stearate, lecithin, sodium borate, tocopherol, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, glucose oxidase, lactoperoxidase

The rest of Burt's Men's line is made up of similar User-Friendly, recognizable components.

 

[Samouraï]

Well I can't help but believe that maybe AV's ingredients aren't of the same quality of a more expensive aftershave that loads up on the goodies. I am under the impression that certain artificial dyes can cause cancer as well.

Maybe I'm wrong, but can anyone name the beneficial ingredients in AV (besides alcohol and menthol)?

Anyhow, is there a recommendation or two out there?

Edit: okay, I just took
a look at my Ice Blue, and nothing there put me off. I must have been reading the back of the Musk that I have since tossed. I was off abou the AV, but I seem to remember a very long, foreign ingredient list in my recent past--if not AVi am sure they are out there. AV's list is actually very small.

 

[Koss]

AV can't be anything but good! Honestly, if you wrote out the ingredients of 'natural' products in chemical terms, you'd be turned off of them as well. What would you think of splashing a little di-hydrogen oxide on your face. sounds bad, right?

Exactly! +!

the reason why you can't pronounce them is because they are the INCI names. Something the FDA requires, although now i see that they have change it so common names can also be used on the FDA pages for cosmetics. Doesn't make them bad at all. It's just a matter of doing some research to understand what each ingredient is and it's function.

Very good point.

Just because its a synthetic or chemical does not make it unhealthy. And just because its natural or organically grown does not make it healthy.

Plenty of natural poisons and toxins that can kill you. Sometimes something is not poisonous unless an extreme amount or dosage is taken.

We still have a lot to find out about cancers and proteins. Sometimes even studies can be mis-managed, or have screwy results due to improper testing, or even correct results are interpreted wrong. Then we have to have studies replicated and proven.

I'm not necessarily saying anyone here is wrong. I just don't like generalized labels or concepts thrown about that might not meet every case at hand.

That being said, I do not think anyone has the belief that AQ is the best of the best... or in that top tier of nourishing aftershaves out there. And if anything, i would think a moisturizer lotion would be more effective then an aftershave splash. They are mostly alcohol and maybe glycerin. Some balms are vitamin enriched... but what amounts of vitamins you eat probably has more affect then what vitamins you slap on your skin.

Also, AQ has been around for quite awhile. I'm sure there are still men out there nearly four times my age bathing in that stuff... as they have done all their life. You can probably survive using the rest of that bottle before you are forced to find a more satsifying product to replace it with.

 

[tsmba]

IMO, the whole concept of "green" or "healthy" evryday products is overblown....and often a ripoff, too. For some reason, stamping terms like "organic", "natural", etc. on a product are often used as an excuse to increase the cost. Some folks equate these terms with higher quality or just plain better.
My advice is to shop for products that make you smile when you use them, and ignore the hype.

 

[bobbyd]

You could make your own bay rum a/s:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bay-Rum-Cologne/

I have seen quite a few recipies for it other than this. If you want the cooling then add a little menthol, and viola.

 

[ryanl7640]

Witch Hazel is great- only has 2 ingredients- witch hazel and water!

 

[kingfisher]

Maybe I'm wrong, but can anyone name the beneficial ingredients in AV (besides alcohol and menthol)?

.

Hate to burst your bubble, but neither alcohol nor menthol is beneficial for the skin. If anything, it's quite the opposite.


You want to have an aftershave that is simple and does good things for your skin? You should make your own. Combine some witchhazel (which actually IS good for your skin) with some aloe vera gel (which also has some beneficial properties). You can choose the ratio depending on how thick or how thin you want your aftershave to be. That's really all you need to put in it, but you could also add some glycerin if you like, and maybe a little bit of an essential oil if you want to give it some fragrance.

It doesn't get much more pure than that. It's also incredibly inexpensive. I use my own aftershave every day, and it really works great. Feels good, tones and soothes the skin.

 

[RichGem]

+1 on plain ol' witch hazel. If you go with Thayer's, you even get your choice of scents.

of note: some unscented witch hazel brands smell better than others.

 

[bobbyd]

Hate to burst your bubble, but neither alcohol nor menthol is beneficial for the skin. If anything, it's quite the opposite.


You want to have an aftershave that is simple and does good things for your skin? You should make your own. Combine some witchhazel (which actually IS good for your skin) with some aloe vera gel (which also has some beneficial properties). You can choose the ratio depending on how thick or how thin you want your aftershave to be. That's really all you need to put in it, but you could also add some glycerin if you like, and maybe a little bit of an essential oil if you want to give it some fragrance.

It doesn't get much more pure than that. It's also incredibly inexpensive. I use my own aftershave every day, and it really works great. Feels good, tones and soothes the skin.

What Witchhazel do you use?

 

[kingfisher]

What Witchhazel do you use?

Regular old witchhazel. I bought it at WallMart. I can't even remember who made it. It's just witchhazel extract, standard 14% alcohol version. It only cost a couple of bucks.

 

[bobbyd]

I thought you said that Alcohol wasn't good for the face.

 

[kingfisher]

I thought you said that Alcohol wasn't good for the face.

It's not, in large concentrations. Most witchhazel extracts contain about 14% alcohol because of the process they use to extract the beneficial ingredients (there are multiple threads about this).

The amount of alcohol in my aftershave is dwarved by the amounts in Aqua Velva, in which alcohol is the principal ingredient.

If the OP (or you) wanted to make an aftershave like mine but avoid alcohol altogether, that could be done by using one of the Thayer's witchhazel products, as most of them are alcohol free. (Most of them also come scented, so you wouldn't have to use essential oils to hide the scent of the witchhazel.) The only downside is that Thayer's is much more expensive than generic witchhazel.

Now that I think of it, though, a mix of, for example, Thayer's lavender witchhazel with some aloe vera gel would really be a nice aftershave splash, and it would still be cheaper than buying a quality aftershave.

 

[ClubmanRob]

I thought you said that Alcohol wasn't good for the face.

Alcohol is great for the face after a shave. My face, anyway.

That's basically what all this boils down to. Someone gets on a kick about how dangerous the chemicals are in a drugstore aftershave and pretty soon we have frag makers dropping innocuous chemicals like SLS and methylparabens for no reason at all. Then you find out there's nothing to worry about, it's all just dangerous sounding chemicals that are relatively benign, and certainly not dangerous or toxic in the doses we slap on.

I repeat my mantra: 99% of commercial bottled water contains arsenic. And we're worried because lactoperoxidase "sounds" dangerous. Choose your battles.

 

[Obsessed]

Damn the torpedoes and splash on the Aqua Velva. Douse yourself with Clubman--nothing could survive the onslaught of that fragrant goodness.

The only problem with that approach is that killing all those germs could leave us defenseless in the face of a Martian attack.

 

[82R100]

Witch Hazel is great- only has 2 ingredients- witch hazel and water!

Me, too. Dickinson's. Even smells like witch hazel for a few minutes and feels great.

The alcohol level is low enough that it really doesn't sting if you did the shave right. Think of it as a final exam.

- Chris

 

[erdius]

I actually work in the topical formulation department in a pharmaceutical company. Parabens are nothing more than preservatives, I use them all the time. Would you rather use a proven preservative to keep the bad bugs out or would you rather be spreading aspergillus niger onto your skin?

Alcohol is great for the face after a shave. My face, anyway.

That's basically what all this boils down to. Someone gets on a kick about how dangerous the chemicals are in a drugstore aftershave and pretty soon we have frag makers dropping innocuous chemicals like SLS and methylparabens for no reason at all. Then you find out there's nothing to worry about, it's all just dangerous sounding chemicals that are relatively benign, and certainly not dangerous or toxic in the doses we slap on.

I repeat my mantra: 99% of commercial bottled water contains arsenic. And we're worried because lactoperoxidase "sounds" dangerous. Choose your battles.