ned help with shave bar pls

[gaerwen]

heres what I was thinking?

coconut 20%
pk 20%
cocoa butter 10%
aloe butter 10%
olive 20%
castor 20%

plus kaolin clay 2 tsp per lb?

I want to use this with boar brushes.
thoughts? I feel like itll be too cleansing?
TIA

if there is a way to use beer in this Id like to also but have had issues using beer in the past. Im a chicken.

 

[DeeAnna]

I have an opinion, but in the spirit of teaching a person to fish, I'd sure like to hear what YOU think of this recipe first.

What do you understand to be the hallmarks of a good shave soap?
Do you think your recipe makes sense as a shave soap?
What background information have you used to guide you in creating this formulation?

 

[gaerwen]

lol, I know its should have loads of bubbles, should be creamy and less cleansing so its not drying. My "instinct" isn't with this recipe. But I don't know what to do. Basically Im guessing. I did look at some recipes online, and kind of "got the idea", but honestly with less understanding than Id like which is why Im here.
I chose the oils based on comments of others in their explanations for their own recipes.

I WANT it to have thick creamy stand up bubbles.

 

[shunt2011]

Do a search on this forum. Shave soap has been the discussion here many times. Even look at the bottom of this page and there are related posts.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...My "instinct" isn't with this recipe...."

Good instinct. This recipe is probably a nice bath bar, but a "real" shave soap it is not.

There is a lot of controversy about whether clay has any place in shave soap or not. From what I can tell, most if not all of the commercial shave soaps do not contain clay, although the handcrafted soaps vary.

A dense, long lasting lather comes from a high % of stearic acid, so you'll want to use a fair amount of high stearic fats in a shave soap recipe. Tallow is the classic, but some use palm, lard, cocoa butter, or even stearic acid itself.

A high-stearic soap is hard to get lathering well, so make it easier to get a good lather going by adding a bit of coconut oil, PKO, or babassu. These fats should not dominate your recipe however -- the stearic should be the centerpiece.

Olive and other liquid oils should be minor ingredients if they are used at all.

See these two threads for a lot of good info:
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=34264
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=47002