Most men nowadays use industrial creams for shaving of all kinds. However, such products often contain alcohol, which can irritate the skin. Therefore, many probably would like to know how to make environmentally friendly, healthy soap for shaving with your own hands.
Bit of theory
A shaving aid is distinguished from ordinary soap primarily because it foams much better. Very good if it contains vegetable oils. Shaving soap can also be made from animal fats. However, various ethereal plant substances are still added to it.
If desired, soap can be bought in the store. It does not cost too much, and grabs it for a long time. Do it yourself if you can’t find a suitable option in the store or don’t trust the manufacturers regarding the environmental safety of their product.
What ingredients will be needed
There are many recipes for making this cosmetic product. The easiest way is to make it from a ready-made store soap with the addition of natural olive and castor oils. Such a tool will cost the least. But in this case it will turn out not a regular soap, but a creamy one, which is also quite convenient to use. The ingredients for such a tool need the following:
2 pieces of soap (simple and moisturizing);
1 tbsp. l castor and olive oils;
a few drops of bergamot essential oil or perfume cloves.
Soap making
It is better to make shaving soap in some kind of metal enameled bowl. In it you need to grate both pieces of the prepared soap (on a coarse grater). Castor and olive oil should be added to the resulting mixture. Next, in a bowl you need to pour a little spring water (until a homogeneous mass is obtained) and put everything on a slow fire. You can also take distilled water. After the mixture has thickened, add essential oil to it. You can replace it with a pinch of menthol crystals.
The thickened composition should be poured into a small glass or ceramic bowl. After a day, the mixture stabilizes and will be ready for use as directed. By consistency, the cooked cream soap should look like thick sour cream.
Another recipe
If desired, you can make at home and another, no less good shaving soap. To do this, prepare:
olive oil - 360 g;
coke - 270 g;
palm - 188 g;
castor - 72 g;
water - 270 g;
alkali (NaOH) - 130 g.
All these ingredients need to be thoroughly mixed and poured into enameled dishes. Next, the mixture should be placed in a well-heated oven for 30 minutes. The result is a very good shaving soap, reviews of which are just excellent.
DIY soap cream
There is another interesting shaving recipe. In this case, a creamy substance is also obtained. But they do it without using purchased soap. To prepare such a tool you will need:
sodium hydroxide (NaOH) - 17 mg;
potassium hydroxide (KOH) - 96 mg;
olive oil - 450 g;
coconut oil - 90 g;
distilled water - 737 g;
stearic acid - 60 mg;
glycerin - 40 mg;
shea butter (yellow) - 100 mg.
In order to make shaving cream soap, oils are heated in a water bath until they are transformed into a clear, uniform liquid. Stearic acid is added to the mixture . Distilled (or spring) water, glycerin and hydroxides are mixed in a separate bowl. After both cooked compositions are aligned in temperature, they are also mixed. In this case, the oil must be poured into water, and not vice versa. Otherwise, it will be simply impossible to make a good soap. The resulting mixture should be whipped with a conventional mixer for 10 minutes. with short breaks (2 minutes each). Then, essential oil is added to it and mixed again.
The mass obtained in this way must be poured into a glass jar and put the latter in a dark place for two days. Next, the composition should be transferred to a bowl and pour distilled water into it until the desired consistency is obtained. Ready shaving soap is poured into jars and left to ripen for a week. Then you can start using it.
Purchased product
As you can see, making shaving soap yourself is not so easy. And the point here is not even the technological complexity of the procedure, but the rarity of the ingredients used. Therefore, perhaps someone still decides to purchase such soap in the store. When choosing it, you should pay attention to a number of important factors. Firstly, it is better if the soap is natural. On sale there are synthetic options. However, such a tool in some cases can irritate the skin. Of course, when buying, you should pay attention to the brand of the manufacturer. The most popular at the moment is the barber soap, L'Octaine Cade, Tabac.