Homemade Bay Rum

[Neurotopia]

I know there are other threads on this. I'm giving my own a shot. I had refilled my spices and was left with a huge excess of bay leaves (I know, the cooking bay leaves aren't best for making Bay Rum aftershaves) and figured "what the hell". I'm using cloves to try and approximate that authentic scent, and I've added some other spices (allspice, some cinnamon, rosemary, and cardamom). I got a pint of vodka and dumped half out, put in an airplane bottle of Captain Morgan, and I'm going to fill the rest up with witch hazel when I get some. I also tossed in some peel from a clementine to give it a touch of fruit.

Note to anybody who tries this admittedly rough recipe- a whole clementine peel is sufficient to overwhelm all the other scents in about 15 minutes of soaking. I decided to pull the peel out after a couple hours and beefed up the spices, now it smells really good and balanced. Even my girlfriend likes it and she doesn't like bay rum.

I can't wait to see if it turns out ok in a few weeks. If it does, I might try messing with some other formulations, higher quality ingredients, and do it a bit more seriously. If that works, I'll try dishing some out to interested parties so they can compare it to other stuff they've used and provide some feedback on whether it sucks or not.

 

[CCMphysician]

I know there are other threads on this. I'm giving my own a shot. I had refilled my spices and was left with a huge excess of bay leaves (I know, the cooking bay leaves aren't best for making Bay Rum aftershaves) and figured "what the hell". I'm using cloves to try and approximate that authentic scent, and I've added some other spices (allspice, some cinnamon, rosemary, and cardamom). I got a pint of vodka and dumped half out, put in an airplane bottle of Captain Morgan, and I'm going to fill the rest up with witch hazel when I get some. I also tossed in some peel from a clementine to give it a touch of fruit.

Note to anybody who tries this admittedly rough recipe- a whole clementine peel is sufficient to overwhelm all the other scents in about 15 minutes of soaking. I decided to pull the peel out after a couple hours and beefed up the spices, now it smells really good and balanced. Even my girlfriend likes it and she doesn't like bay rum.

I can't wait to see if it turns out ok in a few weeks. If it does, I might try messing with some other formulations, higher quality ingredients, and do it a bit more seriously. If that works, I'll try dishing some out to interested parties so they can compare it to other stuff they've used and provide some feedback on whether it sucks or not.

I'll test! I'll test!

-CCM

 

[Neurotopia]

Don't get too excited, it's gonna be a few weeks.

 

[mmack66]

All of these homemade bay rum recipes make it sound as if folks should just go ahead and use Captain Morgan's as an aftershave.

 

[Neurotopia]

I cut it with about 1/3 witch hazel. It is probably about 30-35% alcohol at this point. I know it's still gotta stabilize the extracts for a couple weeks, but I decided to use it tonight just to see if it even works.

My face was still irritated from a bad DE shave (razor bumps and irritation on the neck, which I haven't had since I gave up Mach 3 and started shaving with a straight), so I was a little worried. I shouldn't have. Some T&H preshave oil and cream, shave, and then apply my special homebrew. Absolutely no burn, my face felt really toned and it didn't dry my skin out, which is a miracle with the cold dry winter we have going on.

I almost forgot to put on my Mama Bear moisturizing aftershave balm, which is a necessity these days!

So I think I'll wait til I strain it in a couple weeks, then maybe up the alcohol concentration a bit with perfumer's stuff (I mean there should be some burn, right?). Then I can see about sending out a bit to anybody interested, get some feedback, and try again for real. This is kinda fun!

And my girlfriend, who hates Old Spice, bay rum, or anything clove-y, said this was actually ok in the bottle and better on my face!

 

[DSFC]

All of these homemade bay rum recipes make it sound as if folks should just go ahead and use Captain Morgan's as an aftershave.

I know a guy that does it, although I'm not sure he's using it as an aftershave. Definitely smells like rum, though.