Homemade Shaving Cream

[Wiremu]

Has anyone here ever tried making their own shaving cream?
I've been thinking about it quite a lot lately, mainly for the saving money aspect but also control of ingredients. There are stacks of recipes available online, too many to list here.
How about with a DE razor? Anybody had any luck with homemade cream and one of those?

[Tyler]

There's a thread somewhere about homemade shaving oils, but I haven't seen one on shaving cream.

Do you have a favorite recipe?

[chrisphilly123]

Has anyone here ever tried making their own shaving cream?
I've been thinking about it quite a lot lately, mainly for the saving money aspect but also control of ingredients. There are stacks of recipes available online, too many to list here.
How about with a DE razor? Anybody had any luck with homemade cream and one of those?

I've always wondered the same thing. If shaving cream can be replaced with ordinary cheap household products.

Am I correct to say shaving cream only allows the blade to glide?

Can't wait to hear others' experience with this!

[Magoo]

I have shaved with regular bar soap , and found it was just as good as creams and soaps made for shaving. I was surprised, but it worked well. Hair conditioner works as well . Try experimenting see what works . But to make my own seems like to much effort. Tried shaving oil , it worked but made the razor hard to clean as I shaved.

[reddog]

Agreed, Magoo. I have tried alot of shaving soap and creams, but I haven't found anything more slippery than Dial Coconut Water bar soap. When shaving in the shower, I have the bar of soap in one hand and razor in the other. Goes pretty quick. If my scalp starts to get a little dry, I exfoliate and apply some Nivea after shave balm.

[chrisphilly123]

I have shaved with regular bar soap , and found it was just as good as creams and soaps made for shaving. I was surprised, but it worked well. Hair conditioner works as well . Try experimenting see what works . But to make my own seems like to much effort. Tried shaving oil , it worked but made the razor hard to clean as I shaved.

i'm thinking bar soap, too.  haven't had conditioner in my house in a decade. wonder why?  hahaha

[Magoo]

Agreed, Magoo. I have tried alot of shaving soap and creams, but I haven't found anything more slippery than Dial Coconut Water bar soap. When shaving in the shower, I have the bar of soap in one hand and razor in the other. Goes pretty quick. If my scalp starts to get a little dry, I exfoliate and apply some Nivea after shave balm.

Thanks for the tip. Going to try the Dial Coconut .

[Wiremu]

As luck would have it, I found a place in the city that sells homemade natural cosmetics, including shaving cream. I spoke to the sales assistant for a while and left with a sample pot of shaving cream with a promise to go back and give my feedback.

Turns out it wasn't much good. I couldn't get a decent lather with it (don't use a bowl, just my hand) and even with a fresh Elios blade it just didn't seem to cut well at all. Having said that, the rest of that shave was brutal (using Proraso cream) so maybe the blade was cactus?

I think I'll try for another sample pot and will use a new Feather blade with it. That should give a better indication of how the cream works.

I haven't tried conditioner but I once used body wash gel. Won't be doing that again, it hurt like heck. Will give the conditioner a go though.

[Wiremu]

There's a thread somewhere about homemade shaving oils, but I haven't seen one on shaving cream.

Do you have a favorite recipe?

No, not yet. A lot of them use similar ingredients. It seems like the choice of oils is a big point of difference.
I'll probably try one soon.