Homemade Shaving Cream

How to Make Your Own Shaving Cream

Well, I was hoping to get this in earlier today, but there has been no rest for the weary and we are weary! The highlight of my day was for sure getting to meet our newest niece. My sis and her family finally welcomed their bundle of joy into the world yesterday evening. Oh my, her cheeks and her lips are adorable and you don't even want me to get started about that amazing new baby smell! I could enjoy an entire lifetime of just sitting and holding a newborn baby. I know babies are a lot of work but as we approach the teenage years with out oldest daughter, the baby stage is looking like a piece of cake compared to some of our preteen challenges! ;) Yikes, that could be a whole other post on it's own!

On to the shaving cream, I am off to try this as soon as I am done posting so will have to update the result. This first batch I am trying is from Homemade Mommy's site which was actually a guest post from Naturally Mindful. I wasn't able to find the homemade shaving cream post on Naturally Mindful's blog but she had a lot of other great posts in general and will definitely be checking back to her page. 

Homemade Shaving Cream

4 tablespoons shea butter

3 tablespoons coconut oil 

2 tablespoons sweet almond oil

10 - 12 drops of essential oil (see this link for suggestions, I used rosemary and rose geranium)

Melt shea butter and coconut oil in a double boiler (I use a saucepan with stainless steel or glass bowl that rests on top of the saucepan). Remove from heat. Add almond oil and essential oils. Place in refrigerator to cool and solidify. Once in solid form, remove from fridge and allow few minutes to warm up. Beat mixture for 2 to 3 minutes or until whipped. Transfer to an airtight container. Good for a month. 

While working with this, I have noticed your body temperature softens and melts the cream. I am very curious how this will compare to the typical store bought shaving cream. Worse case scenario, I try a new recipe in a month. The good for one month is because it loses its whipped consistency, I was wondering this myself so a read through some of the comments on the post I linked above and discovered the reasoning. 

Cost Comparison: approximately $2 for a 8 ounce jar VS. $1.50 to $3.00 per can depending on size (typically 7 ounces), type (cream or gel), and brand

Updated 6/13/2015: Call it chance or I might just be blessed, but it has been two days since I shaved with my homemade shaving cream for the first time and I am hardly even noticing a stubble. Does this stuff really make for that much closer shave? Now that it's shorts weather and I will be shaving more often :) and  am curious to see how often I will need to! As I mentioned in my original post, your body temperature does soften and melt the cream, so you don't really see the cream on your skin like you do store bought. This leaves to feeling where you haven't shaved rather than seeing where you haven't shaved. I do however like the fact I could shave while letting the water run over my legs and it didn't wash the cream off. Also, as with my sugar scrub, I'm not sure if I am loving the feel of the almond oil, but I really don't have any other oils to compare it to, so it just may be it's different than what I am used to. Until the next shave, we will see how things go!