Homemade pre and post shave gels/balms/oils

[Mbuckwash]

I was watching a youtube video yesterday from a gentleman who said that he recreated Proraso Pre/Post through Noxzema and added his own essential oils. He also recreated Geo. F. Trumpers Skin Food through the use of Corn Huskers Lotion and essential oils. Further, he created his own pre-shave oils through blending castor/grapeseed/extra virgin olive oils with essential oils. He created a post shave splash by mixing menthol crystals he purchased at a organic health foods store like Whole Foods, smashed them up, dissolved them in Everclear (he said you can use other alcohols too), and then added witch hazel to the mix. His last post shave balm was Aloe Vera gel, mixed with Witch Hazel and some menthol crystals (dissolved in a bit of alcohol).

Has anyone tried these do-it-yourself at-home ideas? I have personally done a pre-shave oil of 3 parts extra virgin olive oil to 1 part castor oil, mixing in lemon and orange essential oils! I like the scent and feeling better than my Dreadnought pre-shave oil! I haven't tried the others, but they all seem viable, especially in the case of the Skin Food, which is quite expensive.

Please post your at home recipes or experiences here! I would love to see if any of the above ideas are common or popular, and how they compare to the real products like Proraso pre/post and Trumpers!

Thanks gents,
Mike

 

[jhadsell1883]

I am interested in making my own shaving products. So far I have found some a few for Bay Rum. Here is the one I'd like to try.

From learningherbs.com

2 cups witch hazel extract
1 oz rum
zest from 1 orange
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
3 whole allspice
.5 tsp glycerin (optional)
.5 tsp aloe vera (optional)
Bay west indies EO

 

[Atalk]

Has anyone tried these do-it-yourself at-home ideas? I have personally done a pre-shave oil of 3 parts extra virgin olive oil to 1 part castor oil, mixing in lemon and orange essential oils! I like the scent and feeling better than my Dreadnought pre-shave oil! I haven't tried the others, but they all seem viable, especially in the case of the Skin Food, which is quite expensive.

After reading through various forums, I created my own pre-shave oil and could not be happier. Great performance at a significant cost reduction. My formula is very simple: 1:1 ratio of Jojoba Oil:Castor Oil with a few drops of lavender and peppermint essential oils. I prefer a higher viscosity so I included more castor oil. Almond and/or Olive are much cheaper than Jojoba and could be easily used instead.

The results are great so I will not replacing either my AoS PSO or RazoRock shave gel when they run out.

 

[Dtown]

I made a homemade pre-shave concoction from oils my wife had sitting around plus some olive oil.

My oil:

Olive oil
Grapeseed oil
Jojoba oil
Castor oil

Works as a great barrier and was "free" from the wife.

 

[Mandina]

My version--which I only use as an after shave, as I've come to prefer to use microwaved moist towels instead of pre-shave oil--is mostly sweet almond oil, together with some castor oil, some olive oil, some grapeseed oil, a few drops of liquid lanolin (sold on amazon.com), fewer drops of glycerin, and some drops of tea tree oil, lavender, and a few others. The addition of lanolin--not much is needed--and maybe the addition of a bit of glycerin as well, make my post-shave skin feel soft and smooth, even if I shave with, say, Williams (which I rarely do).

 

[tiernan22]

On the preshave side, I just use some sunflower oil that I got at Whole Foods for less than $5. I've used Noxzema in the past and it performs admirably. For a post, I think I might try making the below. I can do that one for less than $5 as well!

http://lisasrecipes99.blogspot.com/2012/03/homemade-tend-skin.html

 

[Mbuckwash]

On the preshave side, I just use some sunflower oil that I got at Whole Foods for less than $5. I've used Noxzema in the past and it performs admirably. For a post, I think I might try making the below. I can do that one for less than $5 as well!

http://lisasrecipes99.blogspot.com/2012/03/homemade-tend-skin.html

Thanks for the response. I actually used Noxzema this morning and it was just as good as Proraso pre! I plan on adding some essential oils to scent it beyond that of the normal "Eucalyptus/Camphor" scent of the Noxzema, but the feeling was excellent and the performance was awesome.

 

[FaceScraper]

After reading through various forums, I created my own pre-shave oil and could not be happier. Great performance at a significant cost reduction. My formula is very simple: 1:1 ratio of Jojoba Oil:Castor Oil with a few drops of lavender and peppermint essential oils. I prefer a higher viscosity so I included more castor oil. Almond and/or Olive are much cheaper than Jojoba and could be easily used instead.

The results are great so I will not replacing either my AoS PSO or RazoRock shave gel when they run out.

Mine is similar

1 part Castor Oil
1 part Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 parts Grapeseed Oil
A few drops of Lavender & Peppermint Essential Oil.

Works great and super cheap.

I also created a few Aftershaves by adding some lavender & peppermint essential oil to my Thayers Alcohol Free Unscented Witch Hazel. I may add a little vodka to it to give it some antiseptic properties.

I created a scented aftershave balm by simply spraying my fav EDT into a small bottle of Nivea Sensitive Post Shave Balm. Smells great and works just as before.

Im waiting for my Aqua Velva Ice Sport to arrive in the mail.
Im going to decant some into a 1 oz glass atomiser with 50/50 Aqua Velva/Thayers Witch Hazel.

Its fun to experiment

 

[iGuitar93]

I've seen those videos. I haven't tried them but there has been some concern that regular noxema isn't exactly like proraso pre/post. Regular noxema doesn't have glycerin in it and proraso pre/post does. However there is Noxema Deep Cleansing Cream with Moisturizers that has glycerin. Maybe you could add glycerin to regular noxema. I'm not sure. The homemade pre post is on my list to try.

 

[Dtown]

I made a homemade pre-shave concoction from oils my wife had sitting around plus some olive oil.

My oil:

Olive oil
Grapeseed oil
Jojoba oil
Castor oil

Works as a great barrier and was "free" from the wife.

Updated:
Olive oil
Grapeseed oil
Jojoba oil
Castor oil
Soy oil
Shea oil
Almond oil

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