Homemade Brushless Cream
Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 11:04 am
This rather follows from my experiments in which I used a shaving oil after full hydration of the beard. The stimulus was - why am I using your shaving oil, or is there anything better to use the same way?
So I have all sorts of left overs from the last batch of proper shaving soap I made. I took a couple of good scoops (maybe 100g or so) of 76ยบ coconut oil, a couple of lanolin, and then a good squirt of castor oil and nearly as much again of lemon oil, all warmed and mixed, then cooled in the fridge, and then whipped with an electric mixer with nearly a cup of water dripped in, along with a few squirts of lemon dishwashing detergent for the sake of emulsification.
And.....when I sobered up this morning and found the hard set white 'cream' in a fridge, I tried to shave with it. Rather difficult to scoop up much of it, but I got a lovely shave (and yes, I softened my beard with hot water and detergent gel first). It seemed that once it reaches room temperature it might be nice to keep around.
Just as with my comments on shaving oil, this is a different approach to the usual. You MUST degrease, soak and hydrate your beard until it is soft and silky, then lubricate with something that is purely fat or oil, and shave all you like. It works, it's different, it gives a very close shave. I can't say it's better than the best shaves with a traditional prep and soap-based cream or a shaving soap, but it does leave the skin soaked in fats (which I liked to add, some would say perversely, with Eucris Hair Lotion shaken and used as aftershave), soft, moisturised and quite happy.
Having wasted the morning with a 10x8 camera, a couple of monolights and four paper negatives, I came back to the 'cream' to find it has now attained room temperature, and is just like a soft margarine (Becel or Olivina would do, and maybe Flora if it still exists in Britland). Completely useless as a traditional shaving cream, but if you soften and hydrate your beard first, a very nice lubricant for shaving which leaves the skin properly moisturised and protected afterwards. An alternative answer to the problem of shaving well that ought to be on offer to all who have beards and sharp edges.
Chris
So I have all sorts of left overs from the last batch of proper shaving soap I made. I took a couple of good scoops (maybe 100g or so) of 76ยบ coconut oil, a couple of lanolin, and then a good squirt of castor oil and nearly as much again of lemon oil, all warmed and mixed, then cooled in the fridge, and then whipped with an electric mixer with nearly a cup of water dripped in, along with a few squirts of lemon dishwashing detergent for the sake of emulsification.
And.....when I sobered up this morning and found the hard set white 'cream' in a fridge, I tried to shave with it. Rather difficult to scoop up much of it, but I got a lovely shave (and yes, I softened my beard with hot water and detergent gel first). It seemed that once it reaches room temperature it might be nice to keep around.
Just as with my comments on shaving oil, this is a different approach to the usual. You MUST degrease, soak and hydrate your beard until it is soft and silky, then lubricate with something that is purely fat or oil, and shave all you like. It works, it's different, it gives a very close shave. I can't say it's better than the best shaves with a traditional prep and soap-based cream or a shaving soap, but it does leave the skin soaked in fats (which I liked to add, some would say perversely, with Eucris Hair Lotion shaken and used as aftershave), soft, moisturised and quite happy.
Having wasted the morning with a 10x8 camera, a couple of monolights and four paper negatives, I came back to the 'cream' to find it has now attained room temperature, and is just like a soft margarine (Becel or Olivina would do, and maybe Flora if it still exists in Britland). Completely useless as a traditional shaving cream, but if you soften and hydrate your beard first, a very nice lubricant for shaving which leaves the skin properly moisturised and protected afterwards. An alternative answer to the problem of shaving well that ought to be on offer to all who have beards and sharp edges.
Chris