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Saving Money? Am I Joking? Nope.

I've noticed from reading some of the wet-shaving message boards and forums that people have many different reasons for getting into all this. Many state that their initial inspiration was saving money, yet afterward they admit that they now spend far more on razor collecting and luxury "high-end" soaps, creams, aftershaves, etc. I have not had this problem, partially because money's a bit tight right now, and partially because if I want to experiment with new scents and whatnot I make my own sundries.

Hell, for about the same price of a single tub of many designer shave creams, one can purchase 10 - 24 lbs of soap base online or at your local craft store. From there it's a just a matter of popping some base in a mug into the microwave for thirty seconds and mixing in whatever essential oils, fragrances, etc. you choose and, after waiting a bit for the soap to set up (the freezer can help with this), you're ready to try a new scent of shave soap.

Aftershave's no different. You just need some aloe vera gel, witch haze, and some form of fragrance. Hell, I've even used store-bought, alcohol-based aftershaves for fragrance. The benefit of this type of recipe is that it will moisturize and tone your skin, instead of drying it out like using just an alcohol-based AS will. That's especially nice for those of us with sensitive skin.

As for pre-shave oils? I've yet to try any, but I've been told by many that one can get a good quality pre-shave prep from olive oil, baby oil, or even massage oil scented with the essential oils of your choice.

Expensive shave brushes? I will admit that these are nice, and you do need a good brush. Yet I've found that, while not quite as soft as my friend's badger brush, my boar brush is quite soft since I've treated it a few times with a bit of conditioner (yup, same stuff that goes on my hair).

How about the razor, you ask? Well, you obviously can't shave without one. By doing your homework before purchasing, you can save yourself alot of money, headache, and facial irritation. I started off with a Junjie DE safety razor (cheap chinese crap), and got decent shaves(note: for the price I'd advise going with a Weishi or used Gellette from ebay. If you want new, Merkur seems to be top of the line). Yet I wanted to move to straight razor shaving, as it's always intrigued me. When I was still living in my home town I loved going for a trim and a shave at the local barber shop. There's nothing like it. So I talked with a friend of mine who shaves with a straight and asked him for advice on an economical (meaning cheap, but good quality) razor to start off with. He told me what his barber told him, and sent me to Sally Beauty Supply for a Fromm Hair Shaper razor and box or Personna blades. You simply slide off the comb/guard, slide in a blade and you can get a great shave for about $10.00. Now I will eventually move up to a classice straight razor (maybe Christmas for me, lol), but until then my cheap little beauty works wonderfully.

Now, I apologize for ranting so, and I am still making my point, and it's this: Even with trying many different shave soap/cream/aftershave recipes, since I make my own at the sacrifice of a few minutes, I'm still saving loads of money on shaving products since switching to wet-shaving. I'm not knocking or putting down the guys who enjoy collecting various razors and sundries, I'm just saying that you can explore the vast world of the wet-shave, and even some less-traveled paths, without breaking the bank. The making of my own shave products is even something that my wife can enjoy because she (like many women) loves homemade bath and body products and crafts.

So, if you're feeling adventurous, give it a go. It's a brave new shave.
 
I'm glad I've inspired you. I hope you have as much fun with it as I am.

If you'd like to start small, you can usually get different soap bases at your local craft store such as Michael's or Hobby Lobby. They normally have about 2lbs of base for around $7-$10. My favorite is olive oil soap base, but you can get goat's milk base, glycerin base, etc.

One big thing to remember is that one of the best ways to get a really slipery soap is to include a lubricating agent such as a little clay as in this recipe: http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=77&sid=175cd7715fb1346a16c99e663a642be5
The clay can be a bit pricey depending on how much you buy, but a little goes a long way. Most recipes only call for about 2tbsp. per pound of soap.

I'm actually gonna give lanolin a try as a lubricant in my soap soon. It's a bit pricey to buy in bulk online, but to get an idea of whether I like it or not, I'm thinking about using a bit of DAX 100% Lanolin. It's sold as a hair product like a pomade in most beauty supply stores.

Also, I personally stay away from recipes that use lye. They tend to be a bit complex and lye can be some really nasty, dangerous stuff.
 
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while im not sure a melt and pour with my random addition of scents will be as good as most of the other soaps in my roation, its still a good idea
 
Making my own soap is not a good idea for me...At $10 per 2lbs of soap, I would have so many 2lb soap pucks that I would have to buy another place for the wife.
 
You can buy soap base by the pound on line. Price last time I checked was $3/lb.

My question is whether you need to use EOs to add fragrance, or whether you could use a few drops of an EDC. I have no idea how much to add, whether the EDC would make it lather improperly, etc., etc. I have some T&H West Indian Limes EDC sitting around. It's worthless as a cologne because it dissipates so quickly, but I LOVE the scent in T&H cream.

So I wonder whether I would be able to make a soap that smelled like T&H WIL cream by adding the EDC to a melt-and-pour base. Anybody tried anything like this? MrBeckett, have you tried using EDCs?
 
you can still shave pretty cheaply if you don't go hog wild buying stuff. if you buy the $10 large tube of c.o. bigelow shave cream it'll easily last you a couple of months. heck there's always williams! that stuff is only $1 and it lasts just as long as spam.
 
You can buy soap base by the pound on line. Price last time I checked was $3/lb.

My question is whether you need to use EOs to add fragrance, or whether you could use a few drops of an EDC. I have no idea how much to add, whether the EDC would make it lather improperly, etc., etc. I have some T&H West Indian Limes EDC sitting around. It's worthless as a cologne because it dissipates so quickly, but I LOVE the scent in T&H cream.

So I wonder whether I would be able to make a soap that smelled like T&H WIL cream by adding the EDC to a melt-and-pour base. Anybody tried anything like this? MrBeckett, have you tried using EDCs?

At $3 for a lb, why not just try? Alternatively, you could just use a puck of VDH.
 
I think people blowing gobs of money on shaving are just looking to burn money and if it wasn't shaving it'd be something else. I also think that the people really looking to save money shaving, really do. I've had temptation stare me in the face and I told that @#$% where to go. Sure I may splurge on something once in a while (my splurge is a $7 dollar bottle of pinaude). What drives me nuts is folks come on here and say "how am I doing after X months" and they have 50 friggin tubs of soap,30 razors, 20 shaving creams, 10 brushes. I'm like are you serious, did you even get a chance to try all that yet! I just don't get it. Maybe it's the fact that I have always been living paycheck to paycheck or atleast acting like it, but I see that and scratch my head. I do hope to have an awesome collection myself some day, but like a fine bottle of wine, I'm gonna let it get better with age. I'm in this for the long haul, I looking forward to watching my collection grow over the years of my life and I'm in no rush to get there. I have a feeling most of these people that go crazy buying stuff lose the fire after a couple of months, then they've got a massive collection just collecting dust.

I think most people that say they started traditional wet shaving to save money are BS'ing themselves, I think they truely just found it facinating and decided to try it, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That's why I started!

whew sorry :/rant:

BTW Your home made soaps are badass :thumbup1:
 
I actually began DE shaving to save money because I was tired of spending $20 on a 4 pack of fusion cartridges. And then I realized there were all the new creams and soaps and brushes available and then AD began.
 
I have made my own AS from a recipe I found on the net, now I ned to try making my own soap. Thanks for the idea.
 
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