You can do searches for how to make your own shaving soap, more from scratch that what I did here. It’s basically soap with some other ingredients added. If you buy all of that stuff and go jump through the hoops, like here, it may come out more cheaply but it’s more time consuming and there’s more room for error.
Here’s what I used.
| 3 bars | glycerin soap |
| 1 tbsp | coconut oil |
| a few drops | peppermint oil |
- Cut the soap up. Might not be necessary but it makes melting faster and it kind of makes it look like candy.
- Nuke the soap pieces in a microwave-safe container (duh). It took about 90 seconds to melt all of this. Now the candy looks like Jello!
- Nuke the tbsp of coconut oil—maybe 30 seconds.
- Add the melted coconut oil and the drops of peppermint oil to the soap, mix, then pour into your mug.
- Let soap sit overnight. It might take less time if your house/weather is dry.
As you can see from the blurry photo, the soap I bought was was all glycerin, so it doesn’t lather up like you’d expect with normal soap. But in the long run that’s better for you since soap with sulfates (sulfates make the lather) tends to dry skin out.
You might also want to add a dab of coconut oil to the top of the soap when you actually shave. I don’t know how well the oil was blended in when I made the soap so I dropped some on top before swishing the brush. The soap might work well by itself but to make sure you have enough lubrication the coconut oil works well. I would swish with warm to hot water when you do that since the oil needs to melt (76 degree Fahrenheit is the melting point) to mix better (presumably).
The peppermint oil is needed only for the smell. If your skin is super-sensitive you might want to skip this or substitute it.
Obviously, the soap was $1 each but you could find them cheaper somewhere. The coconut and peppermint oils are a tad pricey but they will last a long time, even if you use them for other things besides the soap-making.
Besides cost, the other benefit is that you tend to not overuse it if the soap is constantly all right there in your mug. I have a ~12oz Colonel Conk mug
5 Comments
Forgot to mention how the actual shave went: pretty much like using normal foam or cream. Some of the soap under my chin ran off because I made it too thin. Easily fixed. Also, no nicks or cuts. Actually, I did get one but that’s because I was talking when I did it.
I used to make soap, and basically what you’re doing here is super-fatting the soap. I used to do that in the soap-making process, and it gives a rich, luxurious lather. Coconut oil specifically adds a lot of lather. And, of course, add the essential oil.
By “essential oil” you mean add something other than coconut oil? Because I didn’t. What should I have added?
I knew there were one or two things missing but it seems to work fine as it is.
No, peppermint oil is a type of essential oil. Other common types are lavender, rosemary, and eucalyptus. All essential oils have medicinal properties and should be used sparingly. But a few drops of peppermint oil in your soap is fine and adds that special zestiness. 🙂
This is the first time “zest” was mentioned in a blog post about soap. Something’s wrong here.