I Need to Dilute my Penhaligons ASB. Suggestions?

[DSB]

After much anticipation, I recently received Penhaligon's Opus 1870 aftershave balm. I love the scent of Opus 1870, but the scent of the aftershave balm is stronger than my wife likes. That's the kiss of death for a product. The good news is she likes the scent -- just not the intensity.

I was thinking of mixing the Penhaligon's with a scent-neutral ASB to dilute it, and hopefully end up with even more wonderful Opus 1870 ASB.

Is this a fool's errand? Will it work to dilute the Pen's, and decant it into another container? Am I just going to ruin a very expensive ASB, and wind up with crud? Should I just sell the Pen's on B/S/T and be done with it?

Any suggestions on which product to dilute the Pen's with, and any special procedures I should use? Blender? Mix by hand? Any bottle suggestions? I am hoping to mix it with another balm or milk that won't separate once I mix the two together.

Thanks for your thoughts!

DSB

 

[Sue]

I looked for ingredients and the only information I could find is that it contains witch hazel. Seems they must be a big enough company to pay for proprietary rights to NOT publish ingedients.

Do you have an ingredient list on the box or on a label? Without a listing of ingredients you are just shotgunning and will probably have a poor result.

Is it a thick balm, a cream, or thin milk consistancy? I could halve it and it would not separate but would not like to do that without knowing what it contains. That may not be cost effective to you and you may just wish to put it on BST. In any case do not dilute it with witch hazel or distilled water.

You may wish to purchase a small inexpensive unfragranced aftershave of similar consistancy and try a very small mix of say a teaspoon each or whichever ratio you prefer, maybe 75/25. If you are happy with the test results after a few days time, mix it all and keep it in any well cleaned (preferably sanitized with isopropyl alcohol) sealed container and decant partially back into the original bottle. Use a small funnel (also sanitized) or a pipette.
Sue

 

[krissy]

Technically you can mix it with another product. But the scent your left with might be iffy, but another thought is the ingredients might not mesh. So you might be left with a mess of a waste or you could be left with something wonderful.

One thing you don't want to do is add water. The reason is because both products already contain the necessary preservative to keep it from going bad. But if you add water it will throw it off and you will get mold and bacteria growing.

If you want to give it a try to mix the two i would suggest using kitchen tablespoons to keep track of how much you mix, So mix 1 tbs of each and use a whisk in a small bowl and test it out. Then add another 1 tbs of either one, and whisk and test until you either throw it out or like it. Then if it doesn't turn out your not out much, and if you like it you know your ratios that you added so you can do it again. What would be better to add is an unscented ASB if you have one since that would decrease the one scent without changing it.

To mix it i would use a bowl and a smaller whisk and blend well. Then any container would work. You don't need any fancy container. There are some classic looking containers in the kitchen department of stores. But even a 4oz ball type jelly jar would work. But if you wanted a bottle you could also look for something small in the kitchen department as well. They make some nifty glass ones.

I've been trying to get this done for a long time now. At last..... but kids have been demanding tonight.......

 

[FLTiger]

Rather than fuss with mixing the whole thing in another container, I'd try cutting it with something else as you use it. Unscented witch hazel is one option. Cutting it with someone else's unscented ASB might also work.

 

[DSB]

Here is a photo of the ingredients list. Sorry -- I should have been more clear in my post. I have no intention of just adding water. If I mix the Penhaligon's with anything, I will mix it with an unscented balm. Thank you for your replies!

 

[Sue]

I see nothing in the ingredients that indicate that you would not be able to dilute with an unfragranced aftershave of similar qualities. You would still retain the antimicrobrial properties and AS effectiveness. If price point is a large factor you may still want to consider BST and replacing it with something more suitable.
Sue

 

[Raffaele]

I think the best choice is to cut the Pen with Aloe Barbadensis, so it lightens the texture of AS and improves its properties.
Note: Aloe Barbadensis is already present in Pen

Test on a small quantity!

Regards

 

[DSB]

I see nothing in the ingredients that indicate that you would not be able to dilute with an unfragranced aftershave of similar qualities. You would still retain the antimicrobrial properties and AS effectiveness. If price point is a large factor you may still want to consider BST and replacing it with something more suitable.
Sue

Any unscented balms you would recommend, given the ingredient list? You can include your own brands in there -- I will view it as helpful information and not shameless self-promotion.

 

[alabamalawyer]

You can also mix in some of the 444 balm. It doesn't really have any scent and it might lighten the aftershave a bit.

 

[Mama Bear]

Oh this should be fun to do! First tho you will need to have a second container for your finished product if you aren't just going to mix it 50/50 with something else that comes in a container.

Aftershave balms are water soluble.. so you can dilute with many things, another unscented balm would work.. or if you want to thin it out really good, my favorite is just to mix with a hydrosol such as witch hazel or aloe vera gel. Both will add skin conditioning properties to the balm while thinning at the same time.

After much anticipation, I recently received Penhaligon's Opus 1870 aftershave balm. I love the scent of Opus 1870, but the scent of the aftershave balm is stronger than my wife likes. That's the kiss of death for a product. The good news is she likes the scent -- just not the intensity.

I was thinking of mixing the Penhaligon's with a scent-neutral ASB to dilute it, and hopefully end up with even more wonderful Opus 1870 ASB.

Is this a fool's errand? Will it work to dilute the Pen's, and decant it into another container? Am I just going to ruin a very expensive ASB, and wind up with crud? Should I just sell the Pen's on B/S/T and be done with it?

Any suggestions on which product to dilute the Pen's with, and any special procedures I should use? Blender? Mix by hand? Any bottle suggestions? I am hoping to mix it with another balm or milk that won't separate once I mix the two together.

Thanks for your thoughts!

DSB

 

[Mama Bear]

Test on a small quantity!

Regards

Excellent advise!

 

[Raffaele]

Excellent advise!

I am honored to have your own opinion!
Regards

 

[Subcutaneous]

would be interesyed to see how you go in the end, just incase this happens to anyone else

 

[DSB]

Okay, I've decided to dilute with an unscented aftershave balm. I am not looking for the cheapest option -- I am looking for the option with the highest chance of success.

Here are the options I have found so far:

Nivea sensitive ASB. Reviews indicate it has a SLIGHT scent, so I'm a little afraid of a conflict. This appears to be the cheapest option. Sometimes cheap is good. Sometimes cheap is stupid. Would I ruin my Pen's with this $6 balm?

Mama Bears Unscented AS. The MB website indicates the milk has a subtle scent. The winter balm appears to have slightly less scent. I'm really looking for a balm with no scent (if this is possible). Any thoughts on how this would go, MB? Would you recommend the summer or winter version for the mix?

Em's place unscented moisturizing AS balm. I don't have any experience with Em's products, so I'm more in the dark here. Thoughts?

Saint Charles Shave. SCS does not list an unscented balm on the website, but I'm guessing Sue starts with an unscented base? Am I showing my balm ignorance? Sue might be busy with Wendy's upcoming surgery, so I might not hear back on this one for a while. Your thoughts, Sue?

QED man aftershave. I don't see an unscented balm on the website, but others here claim Charles does do an unscented balm that's rather good. I have not tried any of the aftershaves from QED, so I would again be shooting in the dark.

TGR unscented balm. I'm reluctant to use this because of price. If the mix doesn't work long term, I've ruined two very expensive products.

Your thoughts will be much appreciated, ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Mama Bear]

DSB, the winter and the summer aftershave balms both have about the same non-scent.. it is pretty unscented.. Where you are going to find your difference between the two is going to be consistancy. and this will have a strong bearing on your final product, I don't know how thick the Opus is.. and not sure how thick of a finished product you want to be left with.

Summer Aftershave Milk has a watery/milk-like consistancy

Winter Aftershave Balm is almost a lotion-like consistancy..

Neither of them have much scent at all.. but think how thick of a finished product you want to end up with.

 

[DSB]

MB -- thanks for the reply. FYI, the Pen's is a pretty thick balm, similar in consistency to your typical sunscreen.

 

[The Nid Hog]

Before you actually get to the cutting, I wanted to jump in as the Devil's Advocate. Don't do it! Reduce the amount of balm that you're using or give the fragrance a chance to die down before you greet the wife in the morning. Personally, I think that you only need a couple of drops of most good balms and the fragrance fades in fairly short order. Unless you have a closet full of Penhaligon's, I would take a cold and sober look at how you're going to feel when you've got a bottle of horrible gook left.

 

[DSB]

Before you actually get to the cutting, I wanted to jump in as the Devil's Advocate. Don't do it! Reduce the amount of balm that you're using or give the fragrance a chance to die down before you greet the wife in the morning. Personally, I think that you only need a couple of drops of most good balms and the fragrance fades in fairly short order. Unless you have a closet full of Penhaligon's, I would take a cold and sober look at how you're going to feel when you've got a bottle of horrible gook left.

I'm going to start out by cutting just a small amount. That way, if the experiment results in useless goop, I will have only wasted a little bit.

 

[The Nid Hog]

I'm going to start out by cutting just a small amount. That way, if the experiment results in useless goop, I will have only wasted a little bit.

I will keep you in my thoughts.

 

[Deltaboy]

Good Luck.