A DIY shaving cream saves you the stress of dealing with a ton of strange ingredients and, of course, money because self-care doesn’t have to be complicated.
By Riley E. Carlson | Homesteading.com
How to Make a DIY Shaving Cream Without Soap
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- ½ cup Shea butter
- ½ cup Coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp. Aloe vera gel
- 20 drops Essential oils(your favorite)
- ½ – 1 tsp Sweet almond oilor olive oil, vitamin E oil, sunflower oil
Equipment You’ll Need:
- Heat source
- Medium-sized saucepanfor the double-boiler
- Large glass bowl
- Spatula
- Mixer with whisk and beater attachments
- Plastic spoon
- Jar with lid
Instructions:
- Firstly, add one cup of water to your saucepan and place it over a medium flame and bring it to a boil. Place an empty glass bowl in the saucepan so that the steam from the boiling water heats it.
- Next, add your shea butter and coconut oil into the glass bowl and allow it to melt.
Unlike coconut oil, which is semi-solid in its natural state, shea butter has a more compact solid and will need a little more time to melt. - Once the shea butter and coconut oil mixture completely melts and is safe enough to handle, remove it from the heat and set it aside to cool.
Alternatively, place the mixture in a refrigerator for around 30 minutes or until it firms up. - Here, transfer the firmed-up mixture from the refrigerator to the bowl of your stand mixer and whip it up with a whisk attachment.
Do this until it attains the same consistency as traditional shaving creams. Essentially, the resulting cream should not form stiff peaks but should hold its shape.
Similarly, whip the mixture with a whisk attachment on your hand-held mixer until you get to the right consistency. - Lastly, swap your mixer’s whisk attachment with the beater attachments. Next, add your essential oils, sweet almond oil or substitute any other substitutes and aloe vera gel.
- Now, beat into the cream until uniformly incorporated. Though the cream’s texture will not change too much, it will be slightly shinier and wet.
- Afterward, use a plastic spoon to scoop the cream into a jar or another lidded container for storage.
How to Make a DIY Shaving Cream With Soap
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- 2 1/2 oz mango butter(can substitute shea butter, if desired)
- 2 1/2 oz coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp. castile soap(I use peppermint, but any scent will work)
- 2 Tbsp. jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, or grapeseed oil
Equipment You’ll Need:
- Heat source
- Medium-sized saucepan for the double-boiler
- Large glass bowl
- Spatula
- Mixer
- Plastic spoon
- Jar with lid
Instructions:
- First, place your mango butter and coconut oil in a double-boiler and warm over medium heat until melted. You may also melt the two directly in a saucepan but over a low heat
- Once melted, allow to cool before adding the soap and oil and stir to combine.
- Next, allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, then transfer it to a mixing bowl. Afterward, place it in the fridge until completely cool and hardened.
- Once semi-hard, remove the bowl from the fridge. Remember to keep an eye on it so it is not too firm to beat with a mixer, as you will have to let it sit soften again.
- Next, use your hand mixer to whip the shaving cream mixture for two minutes. If the resulting cream is not fluffy after two minutes, whip for another minute or two or until it resembles whipped frosting.
- Lastly, once sufficiently whipped, transfer shaving cream to a lidded container and store. Keep in mind that this shaving cream will have a foaming effect due to the soap.
Pro tips:
- If you choose to firm up your liquid mixture in the refrigerator, ensure it is cool enough before putting it in the fridge.
- A warm bath before shaving will soften your skin, which prevents irritation and razor burns.
- The more slippery your DIY shaving cream is, the easier the shaving process and the better the protection against irritation, redness, and razor burns.
- If you like exfoliating, do it before taking a shave since the skin gets sensitive after shaving.
- Ensure that your glass bowl is heat resistant to avoid burn accidents.
- Subsequently, add enough water to the saucepan to melt all the solid ingredients in one boil.
- Similarly, fasten the melting process by stirring.
- How long you whip the cream will affect its final volume.
Besides providing a smooth shave, shaving creams should also moisturize, soothe and nourish your skin and these variations of a DIY shaving cream guarantee you that. Moreover, you get to customize these homemade shaving creams to fit your preference.