Movember is over...

...Yet my husband's moustache continues to grow! He's decided to go for the 1980s heavy metal handlebar look for the holidays! This is seven kinds of awesome!

I would not normally post this kind of gratuitous exploitation of the male form on my blog, but I could not find a picture of the band ManOWar in which any of them were fully dressed! And in case my wonderful Raymond looks at the blog today, you're much cuter than any of these oiled up, fur clad, mustachioed misogynists! (You should have seen the pictures I found before this one. I'm so glad we live in a more enlightened era!)

I'm embarrassed to note that I didn't mention Movember once in Movember! (Although in my defence, I didn't make note of any specific women's health days either, so I guess I just plum forgot about everything in 2011!) If you'd like to read the posts on men's products I wrote last year, click here to start at the beginning, then hit "newer post" at the bottom of the page to get to the next entry!

Here are some posts on shaving products you might like to make for yourself or the man in your life (or both!)
Modifying conditioner into shaving lotion
Solid conditioner becomes shaving bar (my favourite recipe!)
Modifying conditioner into shaving lotion - updated, part 1
Modifying conditioner into shaving lotion - updated, part 2
And a pre-shaving product contributed by Dave!

Are you continuing to grow your mighty 'stache? Kudos to you! Let's bring the moustache back as an option for men!

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Men's products: 3-in-1 products wrap up

So we've taken a look at a few versions of a 3-in-1 product. So you aren't out there buying a ton of ingredients, check out the surfactant posts or the chart to see which ones will work best for your needs.

Here's the basic skeleton of the recipe I've been using for the last few days...

BASIC RECIPE FOR 3-IN-1 PRODUCTS
HEATED PHASE
water to 100%
10% cocamidopropyl betaine
15% a surfactant
15% another surfactant
10% aloe vera
3% cationic polymer of choice
2% hydrolyzed protein of choice
3% glycerin or other humectant
up to 5% water soluble oil or moisturizing ingredient

COOL DOWN PHASE
4% dimethicone
2% panthenol
1% fragrance or essential oil
0.5% to 1% preservative
Crothix (as needed)

As I mentioned in the first post on this topic, you can play around with a variety of ingredients and surfactants in this product, but the cationic polymer is not optional if you want to have something conditioning for your hair. And I definitely recommend some kind of moisturizing ingredient. There are tons to choose from - water soluble esters, PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate, cocamide DEA, myristamine oxide, glycol distearate, and more - and you want this in the product to give you that hydrating action!

Join me tomorrow for some thoughts on selling your products before we get into our Christmas crafting!

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Men's products: Another idea for a 3-in-1 product

Let's re-build this 3-in-1 product from scratch to see how we can obtain the same goals with completely different ingredients!

Let's take a look at our surfactants first, because this is the place I start every surfactant based product. I always want to include cocamidopropyl betaine at 10% or higher, and I think I'll use polyglucose/lactylate blend for someone with dry skin (I find this surfactant too much for my oily hair and skin). Let's use that at 15% and throw in some SMC Taurate at 15% as well.

I know I want some aloe vera in there - 10% for thickening and moisturizing - and I think I'll go with a little chamomile hydrosol at 10% to reduce irritation and soothe skin.

I know I need to use some conditioners - let's go with 3% polyquat 7 and 4% dimethicone in the cool down phase - and I want some humectants, so I'll use 3% glycerin as well. I need my hydrolyzed protein and panthenol, so I'll use those at 2% each. And I want to include something moisturizing, but what to pick? I love myristamine oxide, but it's hard to find, so I think I'll go with PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate (if you don't have this, you can use cocamide DEA or an oil soluble ester or two).

Let's put this together!

ANOTHER VERSION OF A 3-IN-1 PRODUCT (for dry hair and skin)
HEATED PHASE
22.5% water
10% cocamidopropyl betaine
15% SMC or SMO taurate
15% polyglucose/lactylate blend
10% aloe vera
10% chamomile hydrosol
2% hydrolyzed protein
3% polyquat 7
3% glycerin
3% PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate

COOL DOWN PHASE
4% dimethicone
2% panthenol
1% fragrance or essential oil
0.5% to 1% preservative
Crothix (see note below!)

Use the instructions from yesterday's product!

Join me tomorrow for more fun with multifunctional products!

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Men's products: Recipes for a 3-in-1 body wash & shampoo

Yesterday we established our goals and ingredients for making a 3-in-1 body wash with a 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner, so let's take a look at different ingredient combinations!

I've chosen SCI as the basis for this product. If you have dry hair, consider using SCI with stearic acid. If you have oily hair, consider using SCI without stearic acid (usually the granules). If you don't have SCI, check out tomorrow's post for a variation without SCI! And take a look at yesterday's post to figure out which surfactant you want to add!

3-IN-1 BODY WASH, SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER
43% water
10% cocamidopropyl betaine
10% SCI
15% C14-16 olefin sulfonate or other surfactant for your hair/skin type
10% aloe vera
3% glycerin
2% cetrimonium chloride (optional)
0.5% polyquat 44
2% hydrolyzed protein
4% PEG-7 olivate or other water soluble oil

COOL DOWN PHASE
3% honeyquat
4% dimethicone
2% panthenol
1% fragrance or essential oil
0.5% to 1% preservative

up to 2% Crothix (do not add until the mixture has cooled - see disclaimer below)

Weigh out the SCI and cocamidopropyl betaine and melt them in a double boiler with the SCI until the noodles or granules have melted. Now add the rest of the heated phase and heat until it is very liquidy and melty.

When the mixture reaches 45˚C, add the cool down phase. After adding your fragrance, mix it well and let it sit until it has completely cooled down so you can check the viscosity.

If you like the viscosity, pour it into a bottle and rejoice. If you find this is too thin, add up to 1% Crothix and mix well. If you like it, stop adding Crothix. If it's still too thin - which can happen with vanilla based fragrance oils - then add up to 1% more Crothix. That should be enough! If it isn't, keep adding liquid Crothix 0.5% at a time until it reaches the consistency you like.

Join me tomorrow for more fun with 3-in-1 products (which, by the way, can be used as just a body wash or just a 2-in-1 or just a shampoo after which you might use conditioner).

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Men's products: Formulating a 3-in-1 body wash, shampoo, and conditioner

Patrick asked in this post: Dumb question, tho, would there be a way to change up the shampoo/conditioner and/or the body wash, to make it an all in one wash that can be used on both hair and body parts?

It's not a dumb question! It's a great one! And the answer is yes (with a sort of, kinda, mostly attached to it). If you take a look at how to make a body wash and take a look at how to formulate a shampoo, you'll see the ingredients are fairly similar. We have ingredients for moisturizing, conditioning, and cleansing in both products, but we'll have to choose our surfactants carefully to meet the needs of both your hair and skin type. Fortunately, most people with oily hair tend to have oily skin and most people with dry hair tend to have dry skin, so if your skin and hair types are similar, we can make a great product. 

But what about the conditioning part? We can include a ton of lovely conditioners in the form of cationic polymers and dimethicone in our body wash and shampoo, and we can increase it slightly to ensure the conditioners will stay behind on your hair. The sort of part comes in here - if your hair is slightly longer or dry, you might want more conditioning. As someone with really long hair, married to a man with long (to the middle of his back) hair, this recipe will not be conditioning enough for someone who might have dry hair or tangles. But if you're someone with short hair in fairly good condition, then this could be a great product choice! 

So let's take a look at how we could formulate such a thing! 

Consider your surfactants first. I'd use 40% to 50%, and I'd choose gentle and mild surfactants. I definitely want my 10% - 15% cocamidopropyl betaine in there to increase the mildness and thicken the product. I'd go with SCI (with or without stearic acid) as it feels lovely and creamy on your skin and hair, but you can choose any of the surfactants that work well with your hair or skin type. I'll use 10% SCI because I love the creamy feeling and moisturizing after feel of the product. And finally, I'll choose something C14-16 olefin sulfonate or disodium laureth sulfosuccinate (DLS mild) for oily hair and skin or something like SMC Taurate (or SMO Taurate) or polyglucose/lactylate blend for dry skin at 15%. 

Okay, so we've chosen our surfactants. Let's add about 10% aloe vera to the mix. This will increase the moisturizing and will thicken our surfactant mixture nicely. If you don't have aloe vera, or don't want to use it, you can leave it out, but ensure you thicken the product properly when you're done. 

What else do we want? Conditioning agents. This is where the cationic polymers come in! You can choose from a variety of cationic polymers, such as polyquat 7, honeyquat, polyquat 44, polyquat 4, or polyquat 10. Since polyquat 44 is my new Saturday night thing, I'm going to include it at 0.5% in the heated water phase, and I'm going to throw in some honeyquat at 3% in my cool down phase to act as both a conditioning agent and a humectant. You can use 3% polyquat 7 or 0.5% polyquat 4 if you like - it's up to you. But you will want a cationic polymer in this product to make your hair feel nice. 

We also want to add dimethicone at about 4% to the mix. This will act as a nice moisturizer and conditioning agent. And we can add up to 2% cetrimonium chloride to the product to act as a detangler and softener. 

Humectants! I mentioned I'm using honeyquat at 3% in the cool down phase, but I'm also including glycerin at 3% in the heated water phase to act as a bubble enhancer and humectant. This will offer moisturizing to our hair and skin. Aloe vera also acts as a humectant. I'm also adding 2% panthenol in my cool down phase as this is a great addition for hair and skin. 

I'm adding my hydrolyzed protein at 2% in the heated water phase as well. If you have dry hair and skin, consider using silk or Phytokeratin. If you have frizzy hair, consider using oat protein as it won't penetrate the hair strand. 

How can we add moisturizers to the mix? If you have dry hair, consider adding some water soluble esters to the mix. PEG-7 olivate is a lovely inclusion in a shampoo or body wash. If you have oily hair, this might be too much for your hair type, but give it a try if you like. There are many different water soluble oils to consider - I just like PEG-7 olivate and have a ton of it in my workshop. Cromollient SCE is another good choice at 3% (here's a recipe for a shampoo containing this ingredient). And myristamine oxide is a great moisturizing ingredient, as is PEG-7 glyceryl cocoate. (Here's a recipe containing both these ingredients in a body wash, which has become my favourite one!) 

Oh, and you could use glycol distearate at 2% in the heated phase to increase the moisturization and pearlize the final product. 

As an aside, I've been experimenting with Caprol Micro Express in my body and hair care products. It can be used as a solubilizer for oils in body sprays or primarily water based products, but it can behave as a water soluble oil as well. I'm enjoying at 3% in my toner right now, and I'm find it to be a nice addition to a body wash at 3% to 5% (I haven't decided which I like more yet). If you have this available, you can try it in this recipe. 

Okay, so we might take some time choosing our moisturizing ingredients...hmm, perhaps we need a few posts on this topic! Let's continue this tomorrow with a few recipe ideas! 

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Men's products: Body wash

If you've read this blog for more than 5 minutes, you'll know how much I love body washes! I have a number of different recipes (which you'll see as a list below) and I think it's safe to say this is my favourite product to tweak! The only real difference I've been able to find between men's and women's body washes is the fragrance! They both contain surfactants, moisturizers, humectants, preservatives, and fragrance. There's really nothing special about that "hydrating" body wash when it's compared to a "moisturizing" body wash.

Your basic body wash is a mix of gentle surfactants (about 40% to 50% of the total recipe), water, preservative, and fragrance. (Click on the link to find out more about why I'm using the various ingredients I've used.)

BASIC BODY WASH RECIPE
HEATED PHASE
37.5% water
15% cocamidopropyl betaine
15% second surfactant
15% third surfactant
5% aloe vera
3% glycerin
2% cromoist or other hydrolyzed protein

COOL DOWN PHASE
2% panthenol
3% cationic polymer
1% fragrance or essential oil
1% liquid Crothix
0.5% preservative
Colouring, if wanted

Here's the surfactant chart to choose your surfactants or you can check out the various posts in the surfactants section of the blog. 

In a container, mix the surfactants together well, then add the water. (You can heat the water slightly to make it easier to mix). When the surfactants are mixed together, add the rest of the ingredients - EXCEPT THE CROTHIX - and blend well. Try not to get a ton of bubbles at the top. Let it rest until the mixture is clear of the bubbles and check the viscosity. If you are happy with it, bottle it! If you want it thicker, start at 0.5% liquid Crothix and stir well, ensuring you have blended it completely. If you still want it thicker, add another 0.5% Crothix. You can go up to 2% Crothix if you wish.

If you want to tweak the body wash, here's a list of the various versions I've made so far...

• Formulating for different skin types (with tons of suggestions for ingredients)
• Body wash for dry skin
• Modified body wash with oils
• Formulating with white willow bark (great exfoliant!)
• Body wash with SCI
• Using water soluble esters in body washes
• Clear body wash with esters
• Cloudy body wash with esters (my most moisturizing version yet!) 

So let's say you want to make a product that will work as a body wash and 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, something you can take to the gym or beach in one handy bottle. Can we do that? Yes, we can! Join me tomorrow to tweak our body wash to become a moisturizing, conditioning, shampooing power house of fun! 

As a bit of fun, I thought I'd link this great Old Spice Body Wash commercial to this post. Watch it, then this one, then this one with Grover, my favourite monster! He's so cute! 

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Men's products: Scented body sprays

If you believe the ads, choosing the right body spray can cause women to become hopelessly enamoured by you or improve your career, so this might be the most important product you've ever made!

If you're looking for an anhydrous product that will also moisturize your skin, I'd suggest starting with this body oil with esters recipe. I love this recipe - it feels really silky and sinks in very well. It's suitable for all parts of your body, including your face as the ingredients are all non-comedogenic. And if you include the C12-15 alkyl benzoate, you'll have a fragrance fixative as well, so the fragrance will remain all day long (and into the morning, because I can smell it on my pillow in the morning when I use my hand lotion!)

BODY OIL SPRAY WITH ESTERS
30% cetearyl ethylhexanoate
23% C12-15 alkyl benzoate
45% capric/caprylic triglycerides
1% to 2% fragrance oil (I used white tea & ginger!)

Get a spray bottle. Add all the ingredients. Use. Rejoice.

If you don't have all these fancy esters, then consider making an oil based body spray (click the link for ideas on modifying this product).

BASIC APRES BATH OIL MISTER
98.5% light to medium oil
1% fragrance oil
0.5% Vitamin E

Get a spray bottle. Weigh the ingredients into the bottle. Label, use. Rejoice!

If you're looking for a water based fragrance spray, this one is a good place to start and it's super easy!

BASIC WATER BASED BODY SPRAY
1% fragrance oil
1% polysorbate 20
97.5% water
0.5% to 1% preservative

Note: Because you're using polysorbate 20, paraben based preservatives are not appropriate in this mixture as non-ionic ingredients can de-activate them.

Mix the fragrance oil and polysorbate 20 together. Pour into a bottle. Add the water and preservative and rejoice!

If you want to make the fragrance stick around longer, consider adding some dipropylene glycol at up to 2%! It'll act as a humectant and a fragrance fixative!

Join me tomorrow for fun making body washes!

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Did you know November 19th was International Men's Day?

I didn't, so this series on men is just a coincidence! 

It was lovely to see all the dads come out to make chocolate with their kids on Saturday in Yarrow (which was also National Child Day), and I'm so happy to see so many men turning to DIY bath & body products, as evidenced by the comments and e-mails I've been receiving about this series. I love seeing the boys and young men in my craft group enjoying making their own products! It's time men did more crafting!

To learn more about this great day, check out the wikipedia entry!

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Men's products: Pre-shave formula idea from Dave!

Dave has been sending me great ideas for men's products, and here's one he suggests!

MEN'S PRE-SHAVE FORMULA FROM DOW CORNING
75.6% grapeseed oil
2% jojoba oil
15% capric/caprylic triglycerides or fractionated coconut oil
4% C12-15 alkyl benzoate
1% cyclomethicone
1% fragrance
0.1% grapefruit essential oil
1.3% clove bud essential oil

You don't need to heat this or use preservatives as it's an anhydrous mixture. Just pour it all into the bottle of your choice and you're done!

I'd include up to 1% Vitamin E in this recipe as the grapeseed oil has a really short shelf life! (Although part of me wonders if you want clove bud essential oil on your face? I've been using it in a pain relief balm at 0.5% and it really stays on your hands!) Feel free to change the essential oils for a fragrance of your choice, or just leave it unscented.

Instructions for use...

1. First wet face and beard with warm water. This saturates the skin and opens pores allowing the oil to begin good absorption. 
2. Then rub in oil until it's completely absorbed. 
3. Last use a hot towel or steam and hydrate skin until it is supple and pliable. 
4. Lather up and shave as usual. 

So there you go! I think this would work well as a women's product, although I'm a little leery about including that much clove bud oil!

Join me tomorrow for body sprays!

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Men's products: Formulating a drier feeling lotion with esters

Esters are a quick and easy way to reduce the feeling of greasiness in our lotions. Most of them spread very well - better than oils - and will feel lighter on our skin. So let's take a look at which ones we can use in an after shave moisturizer for men!

There are three esters I love in my products - ethylhexyl palmitate, cetearyl ethylhexanoate, and C12-15 alkyl benzoate. All of them are considered non-comedogenic and light, and each will impart less greasiness than a similar weight oil. C12-15 alkyl benzoate offers occlusion without heaviness, whereas cetearyl ethylhexanoate can help reduce transepidermal water loss, something that can be increased by nicks and cuts after shaving. You can substitute the ethylhexyl palmitate for dimethicone, if you're not a fan of the silicones, or use it at up to 5% to increase the silky feeling of the lotion. I'm not using it in this recipe because I'm looking for the barrier protecting and repairing qualities of the C12-15 alkyl benzoate and cetearyl ethylhexanoate, but you can use it in place of either one.

IPM or IPP is a great choice in a non-greasy after shave lotion as it reduces the feeling of greasiness even further, but if you have issues with pimples or acne, leave it out. I'd use it at 2% in a non-after shave product in the oil phase.

So let's take a look at putting together a light feeling lotion with esters! You'll notice I increased the esters or oil phase by 10% - I did this because I want maximum protection for after shaved skin and because it will feel quite light with 20% esters.

LIGHT-FEELING, LESS GREASY FEELING LOTION WITH ESTERS
WATER PHASE

51% water

10% aloe vera (optional)

2% sodium lactate or sodium PCA

2% polyquat 7 (or 2% honeyquat in the cool down phase)

0.5% allantoin

2% hydrolyzed protein

OIL PHASE

10% cetearyl ethylhexanoate

10% C12-15 alkyl benzoate

3% cetyl alcohol

6% BTMS-50

COOL DOWN PHASE

2% dimethicone

0.5% salicylic acid or white willow bark

0.5% to 1% preservative

0.5% fragrance (if you're using it just as an after shave)

Use the general lotion making instructions for this product.

If you want this to feel even lighter, consider removing the cetyl alcohol (and increasing the water amount) or replacing it with cetyl esters. You can make this thicker by adding stearic acid in the place of the cetyl alcohol. 

Join me tomorrow for fun formulating a pre-shave product for men or women! 

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Men's products: Formulating a drier feeling, light lotion

So let's say you made yesterday's recipe, but still consider it too greasy or heavy for your tastes. It's easy to make a very light feeling, dry lotion by taking out a few things or adding a few things. If you leave out the thickener - stearic acid, cetyl alcohol, cetyl esters, or cetearyl alcohol - you'll have a thinner lotion. If you leave out the butter and substitute more oils, you'll have a thinner lotion. If you substitute esters for all the oils, you'll have a much thinner lotion that gives you more time to rub it in but it will feel very light.

Let's make an after shave type lotion filled with all kinds of things to soothe irritated skin and moisturize (although it's really a facial moisturizer). We'll base this recipe on my cationic moisturizer recipe, which you can find here. (I've already made up an after shave moisturizer recipe in this post, but I thought I'd make another!) You can use this as a moisturizer on all parts of your body - it's not intended just for the face, but it is thin enough to use on your face and I'm leaving out ingredients that might feel very heavy or might be comedogenic.

BASIC CATIONIC FACIAL MOISTURIZER RECIPE
WATER PHASE
77.5% water (you can replace 10% to all of the water with hydrosols or aloe vera)
2-5% humectant of choice
0.5% allantoin
2% hydrolyzed protein

OIL PHASE
8% oils
4% BTMS-50
2% cetyl alcohol

COOL DOWN PHASE
0.5% to 1% preservative
2% panthenol
0.5% extract
0.5% another extract

So what would we include for men's skin? To be honest, it won't be that different from formulating a product for women.

We could include white willow bark or salicylic acid as an exfoliant, and use sodium lactate or sodium PCA as our humectant that will also offer some help with possible acne or blackheads. I like to add a cationic polymer to the mix because it offers moisturizing and conditioning, so polyquat 7 or honeyquat at 3% would be a welcome addition. We can use glycerin in this recipe, but it can feel a bit sticky at 3%, so try this recipe with it before you go using all kinds of exotic and expensive ingredients! I know I mentioned above that leaving out the thickener will create a thinner lotion, but I like the moisturizing of the cetyl alcohol, so I'm including it here.

As a note, IPM is considered comedogenic, so you don't normally want to include that in a facial moisturizer. IPP is a better choice if you want to add an ester at 2%! If you want to use esters, C12-15 alkyl benzoate is considered non-comedogenic and has decent spreadability, and cetearyl ethylhexanoate has been shown in studies to help prevent transepidermal water loss from wounds, which is a great addition in an after shaving product!

And don't forget those barrier ingredients. I'm including 0.5% allantoin here, and you could add 2% dimethicone if you wanted. Cocoa butter is right out because it's very comedogenic, but if your skin can handle it, up to 5% would make a nice barrier cream for the outdoors!

Oh, and our oils. We'll choose some non-greasy oils - I think I'll go with borage oil in this recipe as it contains a lot of gamma linoleic acid, which is fantastic for helping with skin's barrier repair. You can choose any oil you like, but I'd suggest using less greasy feeling, high linoleic or gamma linoleic acid oils to feel light and help with your skin's barrier repair.

So let's put this all together - first, the recipe with oils and tomorrow with esters!

BASIC MOISTURIZING AFTER SHAVE RECIPE
WATER PHASE
63% water
10% aloe vera (optional)
2% sodium lactate or sodium PCA
2% polyquat 7 (or 2% honeyquat in the cool down phase)
0.5% allantoin
2% hydrolyzed protein

OIL PHASE
10% borage oil
3% cetyl alcohol
4% BTMS-50

COOL DOWN PHASE
2% dimethicone
0.5% salicylic acid or white willow bark
0.5% to 1% preservative
0.5% fragrance (if you're using it just as an after shave)

Use the general lotion making instructions for this product.

When I make after shave moisturizers, I like to package it in an aluminum pump bottle to look very manly. I labelled my last batch with pictures of Godzilla to make it feel more masculine, and I used a very light fragrance (Green Bamboo for some, Wasabi from Brambleberry for others). I quite liked it, but for some reason I didn't take any pictures!

Join me tomorrow for making an after shave recipe with esters!

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Men's skin!

The chemistry of men's skin is just slightly different enough to be interesting and relevant when we're making products for men. (Click here to see an overview of our skin's chemistry.)

Men's skin tends to be thicker than women's skin and they experience more gradual thinning of the skin over their lifetime, whereas women's skin thins quickly after menopause. Men have about 20% more elastin and collagen than women, and they have less subcutaneous fat than women (they tend to gain fat under their muscle, which explains why they don't tend to get cellulite). Because the ratio of skin collagen to skin thickness is higher, they seem to age less quickly than women. Men's skin is more resistant to sun exposure, but you still need to use sunscreen!

And because they tend to have higher levels of sebum over their lifetimes, they are more prone to acne and pimples, larger pores, and blackheads. (Although this sebum production drops after 40, like it does with women, men tend to have higher sebum production at all ages). This might sound like a hardship, but oily skin tends to experience aging slower than dry skin, so again they appear to age more slowly than women!

Men tend to sweat more than women, which can increase the hydration of the skin, but it can also encourage skin cells to remain on the skin instead of shedding.

So when we're formulating for men's skin, we'll want to lean towards ingredients for oily skin and hair. (This isn't to say that all men have oily skin and hair, but if you don't know his skin or hair type, oily is your best bet!) Surfactants like C14-16 olefin sulfonate and disodium laureth sulfosuccinate (DLS mild) are good choices for gentle removal of sebum.

Men will likely want to exfoliate their skin more to help with the removal of skin cells and reduce acne (when skin cells don't desquamate, they can build up and cause more pimple problems). This can be done with a poofy scrubby thing in the shower or by using ingredients like salicylic acid, white willow bark, or AHAs. You don't want to go overboard with the exfoliation - scrubbing skin until it's stingy and pink is a bad idea - but you will want to do it regularly.

And finally, consider the impact of shaving on a man's face. Men's faces tend to be dehydrated because of all that shaving and they can experience increased transepidermal water loss because of the nicks and cuts daily shaving can cause. Although an astringent after shave splash - much like a toner - might feel good, using ingredients that will last longer on the face is a better idea. Humectants and cationic polymers are your friend in this situation! And an after shave lotion is an even better idea, and one filled with oils with loads of linoleic acid or gamma linoleic acid, like sunflower, soy bean, borage, or evening primrose oil will help increase skin's barrier repair abilities.

Join me tomorrow as we formulate a drier feeling lotion especially for men!

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Manly products for manly men - an overview

My dad was a manly man. He liked manly things like plumbing and/or pipefitting, hockey, drinking alcoholic beverages, and bubble baths. Whaaaaaat? Yep, almost every man I know enjoys a good bubble bath from time to time, and why shouldn't they? It's an enjoyable experience!

I didn't get to share any of the products I make with my dad as he died 9 years ago, but I do get to share my products with my husband, my best friend's husband, and other men in my life. So let's take a look at what differentiates a manly product from a non-manly product.

In commercial products it's about the name and fragrance choice and calling things other things to make it more manly. Apparently men have "man-hides" instead of skin, use pouffy scrubby things called "detailers", and they "hydrate" rather than moisturize their skin.

Creating products for men isn't really all that different than creating products for women. Men tend to like drier feeling lotions, like "hand cream that won't make you break out if you accidentally touch your face or cause you to wreck from the steering wheel slip" (love that comment, Patrick!), and they tend to like multifunctional products, like 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner or 2-in-1 body wash and shampoo products. I've heard from men they want more products for shaving, and they want things that don't sound girly.

Here are a few ideas for products men might like to use...

• Solid shaving bar
• Shaving lotion
• Another shaving lotion
• After shave lotion (and moisturizer!)
• Beard conditioner
• After shave spray (like a toner)
• 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner (liquid)
• Body wash (do a search for other ones, I have tons of recipes!) 
• Bubble bath! 

So let's see how we can modify a few of our products for manly men who want manly products over the next few days! But first, let's take a short look at the differences between men's and women's skin!

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