How to make aftershave| COCOÉCO blog

Bring some peace to your shaving experience!

Do you have a love-hate relationship with your razor? You adore how smooth it leaves your skin, but loathe the initial onslaught of redness and itchiness? Well, enough is enough, we say! It’s time to declare a Ceasefire between your skin and your razor, thanks to the work of your new ally: a homemade aftershave!

To develop this aftershave recipe, we chose soothing and revitalizing ingredients to ease your skin’s discomfort and help it recover from the attack of the blade. We wanted this lotion to have a very fluid texture so that it would be easy to apply and absorb quickly—an important factor for quick relief and so that you can slip into your clothes right away, without waiting for your glistening chin or legs to dry. The end result is a light and pleasant homemade aftershave that will make you gaze at your razor with love once again.

Now let’s declare a Ceasefire with this aftershave recipe!

How to make aftershave

Ingredients

Aqueous phase

81.3 g (81.3%) lavender hydrosol
0.2 g (0.2%) xanthan gum
0.5 g (0.5%) vegetable glycerin

Oil phase

3.3 g (3.3%) glyceryl stearate SE
4.8 g (4.8%) evening primrose oil
4.8 g (4.8%) hemp seed oil

Cooling phase

Tools

Two small stainless steel bowls
Components to make two double boilers
Small silicone spatula
Scale, accurate to 0.1 g
A few pipettes
Two ramekins
A few small spoons
Mini-mixer with frothing attachment (the small wheel)
Thermometer
Two white “airless” pump bottles (50 ml)
Basin filled with water (to make a cold water bath)

Good to know!

Glyceryl stearate SE yields a very stable emulsion with a fluid texture. We advise against replacing it with another emulsifier, as this may alter the product’s effectiveness—particularly its consistency and stability.
True lavender hydrosol was chosen for its soothing properties, which are exactly what you want in an aftershave recipe!
Xanthan gum adds a bit of gel to the texture and helps stabilize the emulsion. It cannot be replaced by another gum.
Evening primrose oil soothes, revitalizes, and helps restore your skin’s suppleness post-shave. It’s the perfect oil for a DIY aftershave lotion.
Hemp seed oil is calming, soothing, and revitalizing. You can replace it with our calendula maceration, which has similar properties.
Aloe vera powder deeply hydrates and helps your skin repair itself. What’s more, it’s also a true nutrient cocktail, full of vitamins and minerals your skin loves.
Vegetable glycerin also hydrates your skin, plus it’s very useful for dispersing the xanthan gum.
Elderberry extract is an aqueous phase preservative that helps prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi. Vitamin E helps preserve the oil phase by preventing oxidation of the oils and butters and is a revitalizing ingredient to boot!
We developed a special blend of essential oils for this aftershave recipe. If you prefer, you could choose to use only spike lavender or Atlas cedar essential oil, up to a maximum of 2.1% of the recipe. You can also modify the proportions of each essential oil, provided that the total does not exceed 2.1%, with one important exception: because peppermint essential oil is dermocaustic, it must make up no more than 0.5% of the recipe.
Spike lavender essential oil has antibacterial and antifungal properties that are very useful in the event of small nicks or irritated skin. It will also help relieve razor burn.
Peppermint essential oil helps boost healing.
Finally, Atlas cedar essential oil has wonderful revitalizing properties.

Steps to follow

Prepare and disinfect your equipment and workspace.
Weigh the hydrosol in a small bowl and put it on the first double boiler to heat to 70–80°C.
Weigh the glycerin and xanthan gum in a ramekin. Mix with a small spoon to form a paste.
Weigh the oil phase ingredients in the second small bowl. Put it on the second double boiler to heat to 70–80°C.
Weigh all the cooling phase ingredients in a ramekin. Mix together with a small spoon.
When the hydrosol has reached 70–80°C, add the gum and glycerin mixture. Mix using the mini-mixer. The aqueous phase will then thicken.
When the oil phase has reached 70–80°C, remove the aqueous and oil phases from the double boilers. Pour the aqueous phase over the oil phase and mix with the mini-mixer. Place the bowl in a cold water bath to speed up the cooling process, all the while continuing to mix.
When the emulsion has cooled to 45°C or less, remove the bowl from the basin and add the cooling phase ingredients. Mix using the small spatula.
Transfer the lotion to the pump bottles.

Use and conservation

This homemade aftershave lotion is formulated for face or body use post-shave, when your skin is extra-sensitive. When made in optimal sanitary conditions, it will keep for at least three months.