Hi. I'm Leie (pronounced Lee or Leigh); but my mamma calls me Lydia. (I confess, I'm from the southern end of the "Bible belt" and tend to be a bit wordy.) I'm getting into DE shaving due to a MASSIVE allergy. As of last fall, I had given up hope on ever shaving again; then I found DE razors! (The alternate to buying a DE razor is to challenge my Hubby to a leg-hair growing competition; which he's upset that he's currently losing.) I'm planning on a Merkur 1904 solid bar DE razor purchase soon, but I have a issue/question I'd prefer to have answered first. (As I'm sure some of you are wondering: ) Why is this in the Soap forum and not in the nooblet forum? Want to know what's worse than razor burn? Razor burn on top of chemical burn! I'm allergic to coconut in the same way most people are allergic to poison ivy. Coconut solids, acids, and the "natural" oil(s) make my skin blister. I can't even do the "major splits" - anything with laur- or coco- in the chemical list more often than once every 10 days (or so). TBH, I'm terrified of anything with "extra moisturizers" or anything that foams; most of them are coconut-based. As of 3 years ago, I had already transitioned off the common, mass-market gels and creams and had been shaving with a "shaving lotion" - eos: Vanilla, to be specific. I did my research, but I didn't find anything about using a shaving lotion with a DE razor, other than people don't like Alba - but it was unclear if it caused an issue with the razor, or if it was strictly an enjoyment issue. Three questions involving using DE razor with a shaving lotion, such as Alba or eos (evolution of smooth) or jason (as in "beard and skin therapy shave lotion"), or Billy Jealousy: hydroplane. ~How much of a faux paux is it ("socially") to use a DE with a Shave lotion? ~Are there "mechanical" issues with using a shave lotion instead of a soap/cream? ~In the event it is totally unacceptable to DE shave with a shave lotion: Does anyone have any recommendations of soaps (or creams) that are ~NOT~ floral (different allergy) or have coconut based derivites? Leie; aka Lydia
Hi! Welcome to the Den. Be sure to sign up for the May Newbie Give-Away. Is it a faux paux to use a DE with shave lotion? Absolutely not. It's your shave. Enjoy it your way. What do you mean by "mechanical" issues when using a shave lotion? As far as what works for folks with allergies, there are a few here who have them. I'm sure they can give better advice than I can as to what works and what doesn't.
By "mechanical" issues, I mean things like watching for blade clogging, or causing "slippage", or having to be more particular about blade angle that would not normally be associated with a cream or soap lather.
Welcome to TSD, Leie! :wave: It probably feels daunting to find products without coconut oil or your other allergens. In general, hard soaps will have fewer ingredients than shaving creams. For both shaving & bathing, some women with allergies favor Castile bath soap, which is made of only olive oil, lye & water. (Always check the ingredients, true Castile soap does not contain other oils/fats, but some makers add coconut oil for a harder bar). Mike's Natural soaps makes a very good Castile bath soap: link. (Note: MNS *shaving* soaps do contain coconut oil.) Oliveology Shave gel is potential option. Like Castile soap, this gel won't make a thick white lather, which can be helpful as you'll see your blade angle well. Here's a review from both a male & female perspective: Oliveology There are also many recipes online for making your own shave cream, which will allow you to tailor your ingredients to your needs. It will take some trial & error to find the products & techniques that work best for you. Hang in there! Edit: Some of the shaving creams/lotions you mentioned do have coconut oil and/or coconut oil-derived salts & surfactants. Look out for ingredients like: Cocos nucifera, sodium cocoate & sodium cocoamphoacetate
Welcome to TSD, I can totally understand your problem, I have horrible allergies too. Being down south in this humid uber muggy weather probaby doesn't help either.
Short of castille soaps, the "typical" glycerin soap still has 10 to 50% of it's oils from coconut oil. I found a really cool website that has tons of recipe's. One of the easiest (but fairly typical) recipes I found: Coffee Soap Recipe 18oz. Olive oil 6 oz. Crisco 9 oz. coconut oil 4.5 oz lye 12.3 oz water-to this I added 4 T instant coffee, and I used 6T used coffee grounds at trace. ~creation instructions removed After reading through the first dozen, I found the first one I could use as written: Apple Orchard Cider Soap 6 lbs. vegetable shortening 12 oz. can lye 4 cups apple cider 3 teaspoons honey 2-3 teaspoons nutmeg 9 teaspoons MULLED CIDER fragrance oil (from Linda @ Sweet Cakes) ~creation instructions removed ~and just in case you are interested, found this one: Shaving Soap 8 oz. coconut oil 10 oz. olive oil 10 oz. palm oil 2 oz. Avocado Oil 2 T bentonite Clay 4.4 oz. lye 2 cups dandelion tea 2T Fragrance Oil - Bay Rum NOTE: see Lye PSA in post below!
Your face might be up all night from that coffee soap..but it's probably good as a follow up to the cider soap in case the face has a hangover..lol
Mystic Water soaps is the only company I know of that makes a shaving soap that contains absolutely ZERO coconut oil. Michelle at Mystic Waters also makes an amazing unscented soap specially formulated for sensitive skin. Check out her soap ingredients and scents at www.mystic4men.com. Don't be turned off by the URL; women can also make wonderful shaving lathers from these fine handcrafted soaps.
PSA: Just a quick word of caution for anyone new to soapmaking-- Lye aka sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is very caustic. -Always use protective gloves & eye protection. -Add lye to water, *never* the other way around or your solution will quickly boil and may cause burns. (Pls read up on soapmaking rxns.) -Keep small children & pets away from the work area. End PSA.
~greedily reads descriptions of mystic river soaps~ I think I just fell in love! I'll have to find a good hiding spot so Hubby won't steal my new pretties. TYVM Kingfisher! I did look up Oliveology and it does have a coconut alcohol derivitive mentioned in a review on B&B; but thanks for the pointer - I might still try it when I'm feeling "brave"... I haven't tried that derivitive yet to see if it's an issue for me or not. I had noticed that with Alba, I would have only been able to use the aloe mint; but had just used the brand name. The Jason I had listed as another that would be easy to find and kind of "see" what I was meaning; it actually has at least two questionable items in its' ingredients list. Fudge! Edit #2: Thanks for the PSA on Lye. I should have thought of that.
My wife and daughter use "Every Man Jack" fragrance free shave cream. It is non forming shave cream. Here are the ingredients: water, stearic acid, palmitic acid, squalane, hydrogenated polydecene, polysorabate 60, PEG-100 sterate, glyceryl stearate, myristyl alcohol, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, caprylic/capric triglyceride, cetyl alcohol, butylene glycol, stearyl alcohol, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, allantoin, sodium PCA, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, chamomilla recutita (matricaria) flower extract, stearamidopropyl dimethylamine, polybutene, xanthan gum, propylene glycol, triethanolamine, phenoxyethanol, ethylhexlglycerin, titanium dioxide. I have no idea what all this stuff is but my wife and daughter both love in and it works great with a double edge razor. I also use it as a preshave sometimes. I buy it a my local WalMart here in Virginia.
Look online for shavinf soap artisans. Also I am sure you can fibd something in the tsd store to meet your needs. Shop around.
to TSD Leie.....I hope you enjoy it here...... There is "NO" wrong or right when it come to shaving, there is only whats right or wrong for you...As long as whatever YOUR using works for YOU. "then it's the correct thing to do" period!!!
Welcome. With your allergies you might be a candidate for a shave oil or gel. There are some DE shavers that actually have tried these products and prefer their performance to soaps and creams. Ingredients are listed on these products. There are many homemade recipes that are simple and perform quite well. You might want to do a sample test by spot testing on the inside of your arm before lathering with any product. I have some allergies and pre test before using any product on my face. Good luck.
