I found this interesting Facebook page on making shave creams. Looks interesting. https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150446271390242
Great array of recipes. I would say that the first one would be easiest for someone who lacks experience with making soaps.
Yes please do let us know how it goes. I've dabbled in the soap making arts myself and it can be really rewarding..especially if your a fussy fancy shaver. If you play around a bit, you'll be able to get exactly what you want and it doesn't get any better than that..
Well, I made recipe #1. It started with such promise. It was easy to mix & got all nice & foamy, when I used the mixer. But it didn't stay that way. Within 2 hours is was back to being a liquid again. It has a nice texture (for a liquid soap) and is probably good for your skin. But I really don't think it will work for shaving.
Be aware that the emulsification of beeswax and borax is not shelf stable. I tried adding some water and some shea butter to a premade liquid soap once and it ended up like snot! Beeswax might harden, but you will loose lather.
I have just made some shave cream from a recipe I found in a book that I recently bought, I don't know if it is any good as I haven't used it yet, anyways recipe is as follows... 4 tablespoons of sunflower oil 1 1/2 cups of water 1 teaspoon of baking soda 4 tablespoons of grated glycerine soap 2 tablespoons of honey 2 tablespoons cocoa butter Few drops of essential oil Melt the cocoa butter into the oil on a low heat over a double boiler, heat the water in a stainless steel saucepan, stirring in the soap, honey, and baking soda until completely dissolved. Pour into a blender along with the oil/cocoa butter mixture, add a few drops of your preferred essential oil, and blend in short bursts. Once completely cool the cream is almost in a half set state and is ready to use. Decant into and store in an airtight jar.. I plan on using it tomorrow, will let you know what it's like!!!
Let me know if it reaches a desired texture and if it holds together, for more than a day. My concern is that there is a lot of water in that recipe.
at the moment it has the texture of a soft marshmallow, I will keep an eye on it to see if it starts to seperate out, saying that it feels very creamy when rubbed between the fingers, and once rinsed off the skin feels very soft and moisturised!!! Had my shave with my homemade shave cream this morning, and I have to say it was a very good result, the lather was not as thick as say body shop maca root shave cream, but was very slick and moisturising,(must be the glycerine soap and cocoa butter) and easily enough for three passes, the end result was a DFS with no irritation, at the moment there is no sign of it splitting or separating, but will watch it over the next couple of days!!. I might make the next batch with some menthol crystals dissolved in the oil and see how that turns out..... Sorry, quickly writing this as I'm just off to work, so pictures to follow later on tonight if I get chance!!!
I thought that as well, but it has been made and in the jar for nearly three days now and it dosen't show any signs of splitting, I took some into work yesterday and gave it to a colleague to try, he said he will and give me some feedback!!!
Picture as promised, the shave cream is very good, the only bad point I can see is that the lather is not as thick as some others, but does the job and is very moisturising
