Additives in Shave Soap

[MrsSpaceship]

I'm a bit excited, to get to make shave soap again. I plan on using Songwind's recipe, but I want to color it with activated charcoal and add a bit of yogurt powder with the post cook glycerin.

My question to all the shave gurus, is with a recipe like this for such a specialized purpose, do you have a rule of thumb on what you'll use and where you draw the line at colorants & additives so they don't impede the function? Would AC give a different effect than say an oxide or mica?

Side Story:
Last week DH asked if I could make him something that smelled like black licorice. I didn't have any EO/FO's so had to get some, and I ended up with Candlemaker Store's Black Licorice FO. It arrived yesterday and when I gave it to DH for a sniff, he got positively giddy, like a little boy in a candy store. It's so gratifying to see him get as excited about this as I am.

 

[shunt2011]

I don't color my shave soaps. Though I pour them into low profile jars. I scent them with both EO and FO but no additives other than glycerin. I have tweaked the recipe to my and my customers liking. It took a lot of tweaking but finally got something everyone seems to love.

 

[boyago]

allot of wet shavers stay away from additives like clay, their reasoning behind this is that harder particles will dull their blades. Which if your one of those guys who likes his antique straight razor it seems reasonable. I'm not sure how hard AC is but if it's something you want to research you could try hitting the forum at a dedicated shaving site like badger and blade. With my shave soap I am at a place when I have tuned my fats into what I want from the soap and am moving onto the additives I tweak my regular soaps with to test reactions.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I was thinking about the ac and its scrubby factor, too - not just for the blade, which is a good point, but also on the skin in general.

 

[snappyllama]

The only thing I add is silk, because I just like to add it in everything. My guys only care about performance and scent so I'm banned from colors. Bummer...

 

[boyago]

I was thinking about the ac and its scrubby factor, too - not just for the blade, which is a good point, but also on the skin in general.

How do you mean?
It seems like one of those trendy magic unicorn farts ingedients in soap/cosmetics and the jury (of me) is out on whether it actually does anything other than make soap black and dirty up my lather but I do have a good gut level feeling about it. I like the skin feel after a AC soap but that may just be psychosomatic after thinking of it as a filtering agent and lending some credit. I'm going to use a bunch in my next facial bar and will let you know how that goes.
From Ecosalon: "This super absorbency, plus antibacterial properties, makes activated charcoal an ideal ingredient for oily and acne prone skin types. It is used in acne products to draw out impurities, heal pimples, and prevent further breakouts."

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

On the skin when washing - lovely. On the skin in the lather of my shaving soap on the third pass of the shave..................maybe not so lovely. Anything scrubby in anyway at that point will just be adding more irritation in to the mix.

 

[Seawolfe]

AC would make the lather grey, which might be a turn off. Hubby uses old fashioned disposable blades, and likes the slip of clay, but one of these days Ill try without and see if he notices. Regarding adding milk (yogurt powder) AFTER the cook, I dunno - what would preserve it then?

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

AC would make the lather grey, which might be a turn off. Hubby uses old fashioned disposable blades, and likes the slip of clay, but one of these days Ill try without and see if he notices. Regarding adding milk (yogurt powder) AFTER the cook, I dunno - what would preserve it then?

If you do drop the clay away, make sure you add about 15% glycerine in to compensate - can't just take away the clay today and not replace it with the glycerine

 

[MrsSpaceship]

Shunt2011, I used a silicone mold for my first ones and much prefer the look of a lined pringles can, that way I can slice off pucks whatever thickness I like. and I only have one "raw" edge to deal with.

boyago and EG: I was looking at the AC strictly as a colorant (since I have it and not a black oxide) and it seems so very fine between the fingers, but if you can get me some unicorn farts...um... yeah, no (my jury is still out on some additives). I wasn't sure if it would add any exfoliating factors, but I understand that can change between skin and blade. DH uses a safety blade so not as much damage to be done, but still, I don't want to make this an uncomfortable experience.

Snappyllama: It's starting to sound like I'm off colors too. *sigh* I had a lovely black and white marble in mind.

Seawolfe: I can't say that grey lather sounds at all appealing, I think the AC is out. As for the yogurt, I was of the thought that because it is in powdered form and in such a small amount (1 Tbsp/lb) that there wouldn't be a need for a preserving agent which is why I would be adding it post cook rather than with the lye or at trace like I would with a fresh product.

 

[Seawolfe]

Well you dont have to give up on charcoal and such - one of my favie soaps is colored with charcoal, madder root and morrocan red clay, and scented with Star Anise and Lavender.

Just for a shaving soap it might be a bit much. No reason you cant try it though just to see how it works out. You might even prove us wrong

 

[MrsSpaceship]

Oh that is just lovely!

I may see about trying just a single soap with a bit in, hopefully the worst that will happen is it ends up as hand soap.

 

[IrishLass]

I use colorants in my hubby's shave soap and it has not caused him any problems, but then again I use very little colorant, barely a smidge just to give a hint of blue or green (depending on the scent). Oh, I should mention that he doesn't use a prized straight razor. He uses either disposables or his safety razor with replaceable blades.

I've never used activated charcoal in his shave soap, though. In order to get a good shade of black from AC in my regular soap (instead of 50 shades of gray, lol), I need to use 1 whole teaspoon ppo, which I've always found to be exfoliating in my soap, albeit very mildly so. But for what it's worth, it gives me a nice shade of black soap that lathers white.

You may have better (non-scratchy) success by using just a tiny bit of Black Oxide instead in a small amount of your batter to make a black swirl in your soap. I don't know that I'd color the whole soap with black oxide, though. It's known to make some colorful lather, but I don't think you should have that problem if you do just a swirl with it..... at least that's the way things work with my red colorant- if I color my whole soap red, I get Psycho shower ala Hitchcock, but if I do just a swirl with it, my lather stays white.


IrishLass

 

[BCSW]

additives

I use a/c in a shave soap. it is not a best seller, but those who have tried it like it. It gives your skin a nice feel and is a slight grey tint (no grey lather). its barely scented, for the people who are sensitive to EO/FO. I use it with lanolin and clay in my personal blend using a basic Weishi razor. I have no experience with yogurt.

 

[MrsSpaceship]

IrishLass, Thank you, I only asked specifically about AC because it's what I have on hand and since I just placed an order for colorants, wasn't planning on placing another one soon. Needless to say, black oxide wasn't among the order.
I want to do exactly as you describe, an ITPS using a black with the natural white of the soap. I want it to resemble granite, paired with a licorice scent. I think my husband would quite like it.
He uses a safety blade, so I'm not worried so much about the blade as I am his face. I've grown rather accustomed to it you see. I really like the idea of just giving them a touch of color as well.

BCSW, I think I'm just going to have to try it. If hubby doesn't like it, we can re-purpose or re-batch it. I haven't used fresh yogurt, but I used powdered yogurt in what was going to be my last batch of shave soap before I superfatted it like mad. 10% was a bit much.
As a hand soap though, it's quite nice. It gives a lovely conditioning feel to the lather.

 

[amd]

I do this with French green clay when I want a green color but not the clay particles. I put the clay in my lye water and strain it (non metal mesh strainer with a coffee filter over a second container) before I add my oils. I get a nice color and no grit.

 

[MrsSpaceship]

That's a good idea, I'll have to try that with AC. Thank you.