Shaving can cause a number of issues, including razor burn and itching to name a couple.
However, many shaving creams contain added chemicals that can actually do more harm than good!
If you are after a natural shaving cream that is made from healthy ingredients, the simplest way to achieve this is to make your own.
This is because you will know exactly what is going into it, and it is far less likely to irritate skin – especially those who have sensitive skin.
To help you create your moisturizing and amazing-smelling DIY shaving cream, we have listed quite a few recipes that contain coconut oil and shea butter.
These are sure to keep your skin feeling soft, hydrated, and irritation-free!
Shaving cream saves your skin from a lot of pain and rough textures while you are removing your hair.
It essentially creates a barrier between the sharp blade of a razor and your skin.
This protects you from razor burn, irritation, small bumps (called pseudofolliculitis barbae, otherwise known as razor bumps), and the usual cuts and nicks.
Since using a razor goes against your body’s natural function, you are forcing the removal of hair that isn’t necessarily supposed to be taken away.
Having a protective barrier to help this process along, and save your skin some pain and irritation afterward, is always a good idea.
Why Is Coconut Good For Your Skin?
Coconut as an emollient (a preparation that softens the skin) is great for your skin because it helps to lock in moisture.
In doing this, it will reduce dryness, which is very common after shaving. It is also exceptional at soothing irritated skin and calming inflammation.
Coconut oil reduces dry skin because it is actually made up of fatty acids that, when placed on your skin, create a barrier to retain moisture.
This barrier helps to protect your skin from cold weather, environmental toxins, and also the signs of aging!
One of its best features is the fact that it contains antioxidants and phytonutrients (plant compounds).
These physically add nutrients to your skin (which contributes to the reduction of aged skin).
While coconut oil isn’t recommended for everyone’s skin type, particularly those who are more partial to oil build-up, coconut oil is definitely perfect for everyone in the form of shaving cream.
What we will say is when you build your shaving cream, you may want to stick to virgin coconut oil rather than refined coconut oil.
This is because it has a larger amount of antioxidants that can reduce inflammation and irritation of the skin.
Why Is Shea Butter Good For Your Skin?
Like coconut oil, shea butter is made up of fatty compounds and nutrients that are brilliant for skincare.
It is made from Shea tree nuts, that actually originate from West Africa.
Because of its fatty make-up, it is brilliant at keeping your skin soft and retaining moisture under a thin barrier.
It is also great at healing dry skin, and it has the bonus of inflammatory properties.
The main inflammatory symptoms it helps to reduce are swelling and redness, both of which are fairly common after shaving.
Its soothing properties are brilliant for making your skin appear smoother, and like coconut oil, it can also help with the appearance of aging.
However, you should always try to use shea butter mixed with other components (and in small quantities) if you are going to use it as a moisturizer.
This is because the large fat content can be quite thick on your skin, which could potentially lead to breakouts.
This won’t be a problem when using it in a shaving cream though!
DIY Shaving Cream Recipes With Coconut And Shea Butter:
This first recipe is probably the simplest to make. This is because it only contains three ingredients – shea butter, coconut oil, and essential oils.
While we haven’t specified which essential oils to use (we believe that is up to your personal preference), we have listed the best essential oils to use on your skin later on in this article!
These oils will all soothe your skin and leave you smelling lovely.
What you will need:
½ cup shea butter
⅓ cup virgin coconut oil
10 drops of essential oil
1. Place your shea butter in a medium-sized bowl and whip it with a hand-held or standing mixer.
2. While the mixer is still going, add in pre-melted coconut oil. Do this process slowly, so the mixer can whip the ingredients together at a steady rate.
3. The last thing to do is turn off the mixer and add your choice of essential oils.
Turn the mixer on for one more minute, making sure all the essential oil has been combined with the shea butter and coconut oil. Then you’re finished!
Second Shea Butter And Coconut Recipe
While the core of this next recipe remains the same as the DIY shaving cream above, it adds a couple of other ingredients that will make your mixture even smoother and fluffy.
What you will need:
⅔ cup virgin coconut oil
⅔ cup pure shea butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons liquid Castile soap
10-20 drops of essential oil
1. Place the coconut oil and shea butter in a saucepan that has been pre-heated to a very low temperature. Keep stirring until they are both fully melted!
2. Next, you will need to add olive oil to the heated mixture. Stir this until it has been completely mixed in with the coconut oil and shea butter, then you can take it off the heat.
3. Put this mix into a bowl, and pop it into the refrigerator until it solidifies.
Once the oil is no longer liquid, take it out of the fridge and whip it with a mixer for around 3-5 minutes.
4. Now, you can add the Castile soap and blend it until it is fully incorporated.
5. Finally, add your choice of essential oils, whip it again, and watch as your shaving cream mixture turns beautifully fluffy!
If You Don’t Have Shea Butter:
Since shea butter isn’t a completely common household product for most homes, it could very well be the case that you don’t currently have access to it.
This isn’t a problem! Here is a recipe that still uses coconut oil for shaving cream, but it has been adapted to work without shea butter.
What you will need:
1 oz Castile soap
1 cup water
2 tbsp virgin fractionated coconut oil
10 drops essential oil
1. You will need to shave your soap into thin pieces. Place these shavings into a saucepan with a small amount of water, and heat this at a low temperature until all the soap has melted.
2. Take the pan off the heat. Slowly add your coconut oil to the pan and stir it in, then add your essential oils.
Mix this for a minute or two to make sure everything has been incorporated!
(Optional) Find yourself a foam pump to place the mixture into. This will make it easier to keep your shaving cream in good condition, and it will also make it easier to dispense it whenever you are shaving!
Second Shaving Cream Recipe Without Shea Butter
This recipe uses mango butter as a replacement for shea butter. However, because mango butter has such a wonderful fragrance, you won’t need to add any other essential oils!
What you will need:
2 ½ oz mango butter
2 ½ oz coconut oil
3 tbsp Castile soap
2 tbsp sweet almond oil
1. Pop your coconut oil and mango butter into a pre-heated saucepan (this should be at a low temperature).
Keep stirring it until both ingredients are melted, then let them cool for a short amount of time.
2. Add the soap and almond oil to your pan, and stir them until they are fully combined with the rest of the mixture.
3. Now you need to transfer your mixture into a medium-sized mixing bowl and place it into the refrigerator to harden completely.
4. Set up a hand mixer or a standing mixer. Take the mixture out of the refrigerator and start whipping it with the mixer!
This should take around three minutes, and it will end up looking like whipped frosting.
5. All that is left to do is transfer the mix to an airtight container and use it whenever you want a beautifully smooth shave.
What Are The Best Essential Oils To Add To DIY Shaving Cream?
Rosehip Oil
Rosehip essential oil is known to be brilliant for skincare. This is because it contains vitamin C, which helps to encourage new collagen production.
Collagen is what slows down the aging process of your skin, so it will essentially help to reduce signs of aging.
It also protects the collagen that you already have in your skin.
As well as this, it actually contains retinoids, which are brilliant for fighting acne and breakout!
Neroli Oil
Neroli essential oil is a huge game-changer for saving your skin. It has a huge amount of benefits, including antifungal properties and antimicrobial properties.
As well as this, it has plenty of antioxidants to keep your skin from showing signs of aging and dehydration.
Because of these benefits, it is perfect for calming irritated skin.
This makes it a brilliant choice to add to DIY shaving cream.
Lavender Oil
Lavender is commonly used in a massive range of skincare products because of its ability to help with irritated skin.
This is because it has is very calming, and one of the gentlest oils out there. This will prevent adding extra irritation to your skin!
It can also help to limit the presence of scars and spots while cleansing your skin to soothe any inflammation as much as possible.
Tea Tree Oil
This is quite a strong essential oil, so you will need to watch your dosage of tea tree oil.
However, this also makes it one of the most effective choices for fixing any skin problems!
Tea tree oil is antimicrobial, which is why it is often used to lessen the effects of acne and dandruff.
Adding one or two drops of tea tree to your DIY shaving cream will help to calm any spots on your skin, which will, in turn, limit the amount of irritation the spots could cause when shaving over them.
Do You Use Your DIY Shaving Cream?
You should only use your shaving cream on your armpits, legs, and face.
Once you want to start the shaving process, you should first fully soak the area of skin that you are shaving to ensure your skin won’t get irritated.
Next, you should apply the cream over the skin you are shaving, making sure to not leave any spots out.
You shouldn’t need to use too much of the cream, because a small amount will stretch quite far due to the large oil content!
Then all you have to do is shave away and rinse off any excess hair afterward.
How Should You Store Your Shaving Cream?
You should aim to store the cream in an airtight container for up to a year.
You will need to avoid placing it in direct sunlight as this could cause all of your hard work to melt – then you would need to blend it up again!
We would also suggest putting it in a glass container rather than a plastic one.
This is because essential oils are known to cause the plastic to slowly disintegrate.
This will leave a huge amount of toxins (from the plastic) in your shaving cream, which wouldn’t be good for your skin.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is A Good Substitute For Shaving Cream?
The best substitutes for shaving cream are products that have a high oil content.
This includes baby oil, coconut oil, and olive oil. However, using a hair conditioner also works amazingly well!
This is because most hair conditioners already contain a number of oils to help moisturize hair and prevent environmental damage. It will do the same for your skin!
Conditioner is also very handy because you will already have this to hand in a bathroom, so you won’t need to worry about rooting around your home for other types of oi.
Is It Okay To Shave Without Shaving Cream?
While it isn’t recommended to shave without shaving cream or another form of shaving alternative, it is possible to just shave with water.
This is best to do with a new razor, as you are less likely to get razor rash and cuts with sharper blades.
You will need to keep applying water to your skin as you shave, and you can’t let it get dry at all.
However, we will reiterate that you are far more likely to experience irritation and cuts if you shave without shaving cream!
To Sum Up…
There is a range of DIY shaving creams that you can make with coconut and shea butter, most of the ingredients of which are normal household products.
Coconut and shea butter are brilliant in shaving cream because they help your skin to retain moisture, which will cause less irritation after shaving.
You can also add a variety of essential oils to your DIY cream to further soothe your skin, and prevent redness and itchiness.
Hi, my name is Hannah Shiftle, and I started using essential oils 15 years ago. At first, I was dubious of them, much like a lot of people. However, as I began to use them on a daily basis, I quickly discovered how much of a difference they had on both my physical and mental health.
Through Oil Health Benefits, I will be sharing my knowledge and passion for essential oils with you, providing readers with all the information they need to know. From the best oils to use for illnesses, to understanding what makes essential oils pure, I have covered all these topics.
