Creamy shaving soap

Difficulty: Beginners
Time: 30 minutes
Yields: 1 pot (150g)

This is a recipe for a wet shaving soap with a rich, creamy lather that prevents razor burn. Added bentonite clay will give the soap extra ‘slip’ allowing the razor to glide smoothly over the skin, and the benefit of adding a little extra castor oil is to soothe and calm the skin.

I created this tutorial especially for Father’s Day, and my son is making his shaving soap in a special mug for dad (who’s a huge Star Wars fan!). If a mug is not your cup of tea (pun intended!), you can use aluminium 150g pots, which you can buy from Pure Nature, or use any other suitable container.

The other ingredients you will need are bentonite clay, castor oil and of course a melt and pour soap base. You can choose any soap base, although I would suggest something with extra conditioning, like the shea butter soap base, or the triple butter soap base. You will also need a fragrance or you can use one of the essential oil blends that I blogged about earlier (see here).

ONE: Measure out the amount of melt and pour soap that you need. I am using 150g of white melt and pour base. Cut it in small cubes and add it to a heat proof bowl or Pyrex jug.

TWO: Heat in the microwave for about 30-40 seconds until melted.

THREE: Add 2 teaspoons of bentonite clay and stir well. Note that, this time, I’m not pre-mixing the clay in water or alcohol. This is because bentonite is a swelling clay and would absorb the water, and we want to prevent that.

FOUR: Add 1 teaspoon of castor oil and again stir well.

FIVE: Add your fragrance or essential oil blend. I’m adding 1 ml of Driftwood soap fragrance from Pure Nature, which has a lovely light woodsy scent. If the man you are making this for has sensitive skin, I would add only half this amount (0.5 ml). Remember, this is a shaving soap, so you want to prevent irritating the skin. You can also leave the shaving soap fragrance-less, but I have found a little fragrance, even if it is only a few drops is usually better received by the men. For example, you can use this very nice and fresh essential oil blend for sensitive skin: 5 drops lemon essential oil and 5 drops peppermint essential oil (in 150 g of melt and pour soap base).

SIX: For the last time, stir the soap thoroughly to mix everything and get rid of any clay clumps still present in the soap. Pour the soap in the container (mug or pot) and leave to cool down completely before wrapping or placing the lid on it.

Happy Father’s Day! And happy shaving!