If you’ve already read a few posts here on Shaver Soaper, you might have asked yourself why you should bother making homemade shaving soap at all. After all, there are plenty of artisans out there selling great soaps already.
What if you don’t do it right? Won’t it be expensive? What should you do with the extra soap you make?
I get it. Those are all reasonable doubts to have – but there are good answers to all of them. It can be intimidating to dive in, but don’t let doubts hold you back from a fun, creative, and productive hobby!
Here are 6 reasons that making your own shaving soap is awesome!
1. It’s Fun
First thing’s first – making soap is fun! It’s the perfect blend of research and sciencey formulation with creative and intuitive decisions.
Plus, if you’re already into wet shaving, it’s going to give you a whole new dimension to enjoy. Because you can make small batches, or split larger ones to test a range of superfats and fragrances, you can enjoy a practically infinite variety of soaps – some of which nobody else has even thought of yet!
You’ll also start appreciating your purchased soaps in a whole new light – looking for unique ingredients and analyzing their lather and fragrance, trying to figure out what makes each one special.
2. Your Friends and Family Will Love It
Have you converted any of your friends to wet shaving yet?
If not, you should try it – the only thing better than discovering a new enjoyable hobby like wet shaving is sharing it with someone else!
If you have, you know how great it felt to improve the life of someone you care about.
Imagine their beaming smile when you tell them, “Here, I made this just for you!”
Or when birthdays, Christmas, or father’s day roll around, you can knock ’em dead with an introductory razor (Merkur Long Handled Safety Razor), brush (Escali 100% Pure Badger Shaving Brush), a good blade sample pack, and one or two pucks of your personal homemade shaving soap!
Trust me – they’ll love it! Not only are you introducing them to wet shaving (which is awesome), they’ll love the thought you put into making soap just for them (even if it’s just left over from a previous batch – shhh!)
3. You Can Save Money
This might surprise you – but making shaving soap can end up being cheaper for you. There are some up-front costs in terms of supplies and equipment – but once you’ve got them, those supplies can last you for a really long time.
Buying in bulk can save you even more money – of course, if you’re making small batches, you might prefer to start small and see how it goes first.
Plus, you can save quite a lot of money on gifts (see #2) and shipping. Many commercial soap sellers – especially artisans – have to factor in shipping costs that are quite high compared to what their product actually costs. It’s not uncommon for shipping to cost more than the product and packaging combined.
4. Formulating Certain Properties
Making homemade shaving soap allows you to tailor your products to certain skin types. For example, shaving soap for dry skin, shaving soap for acne, etc.
This allows you to get specific benefits from your own soaps – and be able to understand what’s actually creating that benefit.
5. Creating Your Own Fragrances
Designing a refreshing fragrance is another beast. This is the most creative, artistic aspect of homemade shaving soap. Blending top, middle, and base notes is an artform unto itself.
It’s a little like becoming a great cook, while soap making is more like baking – it’s formulaic and based on an understanding of ingredients and recipes. Cooking, meanwhile, is more expressive – it’s a way to put your vision out there into the world.
If that sounds too simple, don’t worry – different essential oils can also affect the saponification process, and can cause seizing and other disruptions in your soap if you’re not careful.
6. You Can Turn It Into a Business
Once you’ve really mastered the production of homemade shaving soap, with your own beautiful unique scents and rich lather, you might start thinking about sharing it with more than just friends and family.
If that’s you, shaving soap can be an interesting little venture to run. Although you’re not likely to make a huge amount of money, a great thing about the wet shaving community is the incessant support for artisans.
New and almost entirely unknown soaps will show up on blogs and in reviews all over the place. Just whip up a few samples and you’ll certainly find someone willing to test drive them. If they like them, they will probably want to vouch for you.
If you’ve got a good product and you’re in an advantageous position for shipping costs (i.e., the US), you can certainly make some good money on the side. Alternatively, you can try approaching nearby shops or farmers’ markets and go the local route.
Either way, it never hurts to get paid to do something you enjoy!
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Thanks for reading this article on Shaver Soaper. I hope this post inspires you to keep on researching and begin your experiments with homemade shaving soap. Take action!
What interests you about making shaving soap? Let me know below!
Catch you next time!
Lewis