Shave Oil

Yesterday I shared with you all my recipe for Orange Cleaner, and I realized as I was tagging it that it was one of the only non-food creations I have shared!  Uh-oh!  To remedy that, today you will be presented with...

Shave oil (Ohhhhhh!  Ahhhhhh!)

John has very sensitive skin that gets quickly and easily irritated when he shaves.  He had been using this product for a while, with moderate success:

I was happy that he was happy, but as we continue down this frugal green path, it hasn't been fitting in.  A quick check of the ingredients and some research revealed:

So.. Basically, a bunch of oils, some aloe, some scientific things, and  some artificial color.  Hmmmm...

The grape seed oil is a carrier oil and makes up the majority of the oil.  The aloe is added for its soothing, healing properties.  The rest of the oils are essential oils to serve various purposes.  The rest are just for fun? 

More research has yielded more information about the different types of oils than I will share with you, but here is what I have done with it so far.

I filled a tiny bottle with Grape Seed oil and added maybe 5 drops of tea tree oil.  Why?  Because I had Grape Seed oil in the kitchen and tea tree oil has antibacterial properties.  After John shaves, he is prone to tiny whiteheads. 

He keeps it in the shower and has used it 3 times so far.  He said that it feels great on his skin, like he "isn't even pulling sharp blades across his face."  I guess that is a good thing!  I noticed that the irritation and tiny whiteheads he gets after shaving were gone MUCH more quickly.  

He did have a few requests, and I have some tweaks that I want to make.  He would like some more soothing or cooling ingredients, so I will be adding either some aloe or some soothing essential oils (or both!).  In my research I have found that Jojoba Oil is very good for skin, so now that I know this works (in theory) I will be getting some.  So, the next batch should be SUPER awesome.

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This post was shared on Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS, Monday Mania at the Healthy Home Economist, Your Green Resource at Live Renewed, and Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet!