Basically If I can’t understand the ingredients I don’t want it. The world of aftershave has dominated my face for as long as shave soap has. I love the smell of the Classic Old Spice, but I can’t stand the burn, and my skin dries out completely. I’m not a fan of Alcohol on my face, so I tried some other aftershave creams, balms, what have you. Looking at the back of these containers left me dumbfounded. What is Dimethicone, or Acryloydimethyl Taurate Copolymer, just to name a couple of ingredients listed on the back of the packages. Take a look and see if you understand that stuff.
What Does The Face Really Need?
So I began to think, what does my face really need? Well I need something to moisturize, something to work as a mild antiseptic for the nicks and cuts, and something that smells good. So I did a quick Google search on these criteria and I came up with a bunch of ingredients and this combination of ingredients became the recipe for my aftershave. Here’s the ingredients, and they can be mixed in any portion you want depending on how much moisturizer, astringent, fragrance qualities you’re looking for.
- Shea Butter
- Coconut oil
- Astringent – Tee Tree oil, Witch Hazel, if you like alcohol etc.
- Fragrance – any assortment of essential oils ( look up men’s essential oil combinations)
That’s it, four ingredients and you have an all natural moisturizing aftershave. A little bit of this concoction goes a long way. To make, heat the Shea Butter and Coconut oil in a double boiler until melted. Remove from heat and place in an ice bath and start whisking. Continue mixing until the oils take on the consistency of a thick lotion, hand cream. Add your astringent and fragrance and keep mixing until it’s well mixed. Put the mixture into a container and let it sit until fully set. Mind you this isn’t for everyone it takes a bit of time and energy to make it, and it can be a hefty shock to the pocket book. Shea butter alone can cost up to $10-$15 for an 8 oz container in your local health food store, and the essential oils aren’t cheap either. The coconut oil can have a dual purpose thought as a cooking oil (try making some popcorn with it). You can pick up witch hazel at CVS or Walgreens.
If you’re looking for the most natural, homemade aftershave go pick yourself up these ingredients and happy mixing.
Related Posts:
A 3 Ingredient, DIY Aftershave
3 Aftershave Balms From The Drugstore
Brilliant article. Thank you for this very useful information. Wanted to know the research you’ve outlined here for a while.
I understand someone wanting to understand the ingredients in the products they use. But the idea of not picking something simply because you can’t understand the name of the ingredient seems a bit odd to me. Look up the word. Learn about the ingredient. Then make an informed decision on whether you want to use that product. Rejecting things based solely on their names seems strange to me.
As for “natural” products, I do get a desire to use minimally processed food and ingredients. But let’s not fool ourselves,. Almost all ingredients are man-made, to some degree, as they require some processing to make them useful/safe. And, again to some degree, all products are natural, as man is a part of nature so anything we can create is, by definition, natural.
I’m not suggesting you use any product you aren’t comfortable with, but I think using a product that works for you, and has minimal negative impacts, is the best approach for most people.
And, if Mantic is reading this, when did the annoying Sunome apps start invading this site? The Highlighter (which pops up when highlighting text to copy) is very annoying. I thought my computer had picked up an adware infection and spent some time analyzing my browser add-ins, Is there anyway we can turn that stuff off?
Actually I started experimenting with the Sumome stuff yesterday and I’m still tweaking settings so they’re not intrusive. Personally I like the highlighter as it makes sharing a ton easier! 🙂 But thanks for the feedback, it’s very useful.
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