Making Homemade Shaving Cream
This month I was inspired to hunt for a shaving cream recipe. Mostly because I’ve started breaking out under my arms and am trying to figure out why, but for now I wanted to eliminate shaving cream so that led to experimenting which led to success! With this recipe, I used some naturally made soap flakes I found online here. They’re made out of vegetable glycerin and palm and coconut oils.
I melted them down on a double broiler and added the rest of the ingredients, whipping them until I had a fluffy white mixture that really does resemble shaving cream. It made a really big batch so I put half of it in a pump dispenser bottle and the other half in an old cool whip container. It doesn’t take much to shave, just a tablespoon or so, and the texture is so smooth and silky feeling all you need is a little bit to give enough slide for a razor. This left my skin feeling very soft. I just wish my husband would be willing to try it! I’d like to know how this shaving cream works from his perspective. Maybe someday….
Here’s the recipe I used:
Tea Tree Shaving Cream
1 / 2 cup soap flakes
3 / 4 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable glycerin
1 / 8 to 1 / 4 tsp tea tree oil (you can find this at Wal*Mart in the vitamin section)
1 1 / 2 cups hot but not boiling water
Stir all ingredients together in a double broiler, leaving the hot water until last and slowly adding while stirring.
For a double broiler, I actually used a mixing bowl set onto the top part of a small vegetable steamer. You could also use a saucepan with foil crimped around the edges, then place a smaller mixing bowl snuggly into the foil, just above a little water. This has worked for me when a recipe called for a double broiler.
Whip the ingredients together over medium heat until the flakes melt and everything is combined. It’ll look really fluffy and white and may seem a little thin, but it’ll thicken as it cools.
Once flakes are melted, remove from the heat and let the cream cool or pour into pump dispenser. Stir every few minutes or so to help cool evenly. Scoop into a container. To use, dip fingers into the container and spread cream over shaving surface to create lather. |
