Renee’s Shaving Soap 7


Renee emailed in not that long ago asking for some help formulating a shaving soap. Clays are very common in shaving soaps because they create a barrier that protects the skin from razor burn. I also wanted to create a soap with lots of lather. Come join us in  the kitchen while we make Renee’s Shaving Soap!Renee has the following oils in her cupboard. Coconut Oil,Palm Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Olive Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Shea Butter, Sweet Almond Oil, Castor Oil, Kaolin Clay, French Green Clay, and Bentonite Clay. I wanted to keep things simple so I only used a few of the items she has available. You can substitute any of the clays and add fragrance of your choice. I choose to leave this batch unscented. What scent would you like to see in a shaving soap?

Needed Materials

Ingredients
Palm Kernel Oil
Coconut Oil
Castor Oil
Olive Oil
Lye
Water
Bentonite Clay
Scale
Microwave Safe Container
Immersion Blender
Spoons
Mold

Recipe

Recipe in Grams
170 grams Palm Kernel Oil
142 grams Coconut Oil
57 grams Castor Oil
85 grams Olive Oil
69 grams Lye
170 grams Water
2 tsp Bentonite Clay
Recipe in Ounces
6 oz Palm Kernel Oil
5 oz Coconut Oil
2 oz Castor Oil
3 oz Olive Oil
2.44 oz Lye
6 oz Water
2 tsp Bentonite Clay
Recipe in Percentages
37.5% Palm Kernel Oil
31% Coconut Oil
12.5% Castor Oil
19% Olive Oil
Q.S. Lye
Q.S. Water
Q.S. Bentonite Clay

Weigh all of the oils into a microwave safe container. Heat gently until liquid. Add the lye to the water to for a lye solution. Allow the oils and the lye to cool to a lower temperature. We do not want to have the soap overheat and volcano. Mix the oils and lye solution and blend until a light trace is achieved. Add the Bentonite Clay and mix well. Pour into a mold and allow to sit for 24 hours. Cut the soap. Allow the soap to cure. Longer curing time will result in a harder bar. Enjoy!

 

This soap lathered up really well. It’s lather had a lot of volume. It wasn’t tacky under water like soaps with lanolin can be. It was smooth with easy glide. Too bad I don’t have a razor at work I can test it with! I tested this soap before it had much time to cure. Do to that fact, it was very soft. I still enjoyed using it and I can’t wait for it to cure!

Taylor

Finished Soap

Weighing Oils

Mixing Lye Solution

Adding Lye Solution to liquid oils

Mixing Oils and Lye Solution

Adding Clay

Soap in Mold

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Rating: 4.1/5 (14 votes cast)
Renee's Shaving Soap, 4.1 out of 5 based on 14 ratings

About Taylor

I'm a twenty something happy, animal loving, curious experimenter. I love reaching back into history and trying old recipes for cosmetics or foods. I'm constantly asking "Why?" My curiosity has me trying new things. I love taking walks with my dog as well as staying at home to cuddle with the dog and my cats. Some of my favorite scents include Hinoki Wood, Rose Garden, Jasmine and Gladiator.

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7 thoughts on “Renee’s Shaving Soap

  • Traci R

    Hi Taylor – can you tell us a little more about how you developed this recipe? I’m curious about why you chose to use so much palm kernal. Thanks!

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  • Ana B

    This looks like a really skin-friendly soap, with all those yummy oils! I love cucumber & melons for my ladies’ shaving soap, and Somali Rose or Bay Rum (very, very lightly) for the men’s shaving soap.

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  • Kinky Witch

    Great recipe! I also leave my shaving soap unscented. I debated about doing rosemary or mint or a combo, or something else altogether. But I decided to leave it alone since I wanted this to be a unisex soap, especially if men are going to use it on their faces. So far those that have tried it like that it’s unscented, so I’ll likely leave it that way for a while.

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  • Taylor Post author

    Traci,

    Excellent question! I choose to use that much Palm Kernel Oil in order to insure that I had a firm bar. Also, Palm Kernel produces a lighter, fluffier lather, which I wanted to combat the dense lather that Olive Oil, Castor Oil and the Bentonite Clay give to the soap.

    It is okay to use Palm Kernel at higher usage rates. Palm Kernel Oil makes a wonderful bar. If we limit how much percentage wise we can have off a certain oil in our soaps, we have to do it to all oils. Also, we would miss out on some really nice bars of soap! Consider Olive Oil. If we say that you can’t exceed more than 25% of oil in your bar then we wouldn’t have what we know as Castile Soap or 100% Olive Oil Soap. Does this help?

    Taylor

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    • Kathie

      Hi Taylor,

      Could you sub Palm oil for the Palm Kernel? What is the SF % you used?

      Thank you.
      Kathie

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      • Taylor Post author

        Kathie,

        Yes! You can use Palm Oil instead of Palm Kernel. Just be sure to recalculate your lye.

        I typically use 6% excess fat. I hope this helps!

        Taylor

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