Shaving Soap - Want to Make It?

[AndroiDad75]

Lee, or anyone really...

Have you run across a Sandalwood scent that is the same as the Art of Shaving Sandalwood?

I like the idea of an Irisch Moos scent, even though I haven't ever smelled SIM.

 

[LBussy]

I have not, I've actually never tried AoS. I just won't spend that kind of money for soap.

I have been thinking of having SiM duped. Not done it yet. It's not available that I know of.

 

[AndroiDad75]

It's one of the best Sandalwood scents I've ever had. I got into wet shaving with an AOS Sandalwood cream kit from my wife.

Are you talking about getting the scent duped? I am not sure what that entails, but if so I'd be interested in helping get that done. Let me know...

 

[IrishLass]

You've got me curious as to what this particular sandalwood smells like. I may have to pop in at my local AoS shop and request a sample (there's one in my local mall).

I recently made 2 sandalwood blends for my son that he's totally in love with. I haven't made them into aftershave for him yet (will be doing that this week), but he loves how they smell OOB. He came up with the idea for the blends himself after smelling a bunch of my FOs.

Blend 1:

6 parts The Perfect Man from Nature'sGarden
1 part Sandalwood FO from SaveOnScents (extreme concentration)
1 part Bay Racemosa EO from Mtn. Rose Herbs
1 part Cedar & Saffron FO from Brambleberry

and

6 parts Barbershop 1920's from Rustic Escentuals
3 parts Christmas Tree FO from Majestic Mountain Sage (he wanted pine in it, and it was the closest thing to straight-up pine I had on hand)
2 parts Sandalwood FO from SaveOnScents (extreme concentration)

Anyway- they've been steeping/blending for about 3 weeks now and they both smell real nice. Even though the sandalwood is a small part of both blends, it's pretty weighty and makes its presence known in no uncertain terms, but it in a really pleasant, mellow way.


IrishLass

 

[AndroiDad75]

Well let us know how yours turns out and also what you think of the Art of Shaving version when you smell it.

 

[IrishLass]

Well, I was able to smell the Art of Shaving sandalwood this evening. Hubby and I went out to eat at the mall and we made a quick stop in at the AoS shop on the way to the restaurant. I ended up squirting a couple of pumps of the sandalwood lotion on my hands from their sample bottle and have been sniffing it all night (it's been a few hours since we left the mall and my hands still smell of it). As an aside- I couldn't believe how expensive everything was in there! I was thinking of buying a bottle of the sandalwood lotion, but when I saw the price I nearly had a conniption. lol

Anyway, when we came home (empty-handed except for the smell on my hands) I got out my bottle of Sandalwood FO, Sandalwood Vanilla FO, as well as a few other scents and commenced blending while I could still smell the lotion on my hands to compare. To my nose, the AoS sandalwood smelled strongly of sandalwood mixed with something pine-ish or woodsy.

For what it's worth, the best blend I have going right now is 6 drops of my Sandalwood Vanilla from TSW and 1 drop of Christmas Tree from MMS. Wow- it smells pretty dang close to both me and my hubby, but it's still early yet. I'm going to let it stew overnight and see if it smells as good to my nose tomorrow.

IrishLass

 

[AndroiDad75]

Thanks IL! I appreciate your trying to dupe it. Was it a scent you and your hubby liked? The expense part is what keeps it out of my range. If I hadn't of gotten the starter kit as a gift, I wouldn't have ever known... Lol

 

[LBussy]

Thanks for sharing IL. It's a popular scent for sure. I'd like to try it but I can scent pounds and pounds of my soap for that price.

 

[snappyllama]

It's a really nice sandalwood. At those prices, maybe they are actually using the EO? That's what it says on their site. At $125+ an ounce, it's out of my league. Also, I wouldn't feel right about using it - considering the several species of the trees are endangered.

 

[AndroiDad75]

Hey Lee, didn't you have a cherry scent too? What scent did you use for that one?

 

[LBussy]

Hey Lee, didn't you have a cherry scent too? What scent did you use for that one?

That was Soapalooza Almond Cherry I think. Was definitely them and was definitely cherry/almond. It was nice because it tempered both scents and gave them a little something extra.

If I still had some I might even be tempted to mix that with almond to temper the cherry just a little more.

 

[AndroiDad75]

I thought it was something other than almond and cherry. I thought it was double cherry something... I saw it on B&B. It was a while ago, so I'll try to find it.

 

[LBussy]

I thought it was something other than almond and cherry. I thought it was double cherry something... I saw it on B&B. It was a while ago, so I'll try to find it.

I called one "Cherry Bomb" but it was not a straight cherry. Unless you find I said something else and then that's what I did. I hate getting old.

 

[AndroiDad75]

Yeah, that was it. Cherry Bomb. So, was that the soapalooza scent?

 

[LBussy]

Yeah, that was it. Cherry Bomb. So, was that the soapalooza scent?

Yes sir. Almond really enhances it - not sure you would know it was in there by just smelling it.

 

[AndroiDad75]

Awesome. Thank you sir. I am thinking about doing a couple of scents. I'd like to find a scent my wife would like, and get her using the shaving soap too. I thought maybe that would be a good one.

Also, remember if you explore duping the Sir Irisch Moos, let me know if I can help.

 

[LBussy]

I thought I would report on a refinement I made. The basic recipe was just that - basic. This time I used TiO2, SL, and EDTA.

1. 3.96% Sodium Lactate
2. 0.79% EDTA
3. 0.50% Titanium Dioxide

All percentages of oil weight.

The SL, EDTA, and the 11% glycerin already in the recipe were added to the lye water. The TiO2 was mixed in with the superfat at the end. The Ti smoothed out the color quite a bit. It's not white but definitely more opaque than it was previously.

I have to say the SL really made a HUGE difference both to the soap hot and cooled. While hot it was cream of wheat consistency and flowed very nicely. When cooled it was a lot harder - easily as hard as a puck using Sodium Hydroxide. So there's that if someone needs it.

I did some tests after cooking and there was no soap film, I always have some with my water with my regular soap. so that worked.

I have not shaved with it, will do that in a few weeks.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

I've been using the Haslinger Schafsmilch and I notice a lot more scum than with my soap with sodium citrate added. With the lather we generate, that can end up being a lot of scum

 

[mymy]

I added Citric Acid into my lye solution and it reacted and formed 'salt' like residue resided in the bottom. 5.5g of CA with extra 3.84g extra NaOH were added into lye solution. Is it normal? I strained the 'salt' out though.

 

[LBussy]

I added Citric Acid into my lye solution and it reacted and formed 'salt' like residue resided in the bottom. 5.5g of CA with extra 3.84g extra NaOH were added into lye solution. Is it normal? I strained the 'salt' out though.

Maybe DeeAnna or someone else more versed in chemistry will chime in here on this, but here's my hypothesis. Sodium Citrate is ridiculously soluble in water at an almost 1:1 ratio. Your precipitate is almost assuredly not citric acid.

What can it be then? It depends. I see two possibilities:

1. If the source of Citric acid you are using is impure, calcium citrate may be a contaminant.
2. If you are using tap water then you are causing the citrate to do what it is supposed to do and chelate the calcium and magnesium in the water creating calcium and magnesium citrate.

Calcium citrate is not all that soluble in water at 0.85 g/L so this is likely your culprit. In order to assure you have all of the citrate you intend, use distilled water to make soap and/or get a more pure form of citric acid.

If for some reason you cannot use distilled water and/or a better source of citric acid, you can make some measurements to account for it in an exact manner. The process should seem obvious if you are familiar with how it would be done. If not, it's likely not something you should attempt. You can continue to filter out the crystals and maybe add a touch more citric acid to the solution (with the corresponding addition of lye) in order to make up for the "loss."