Natural Shaving Cream

A Couple of Acceptable, Relatively Safe and Natural Shaving Products

Most shaving products made by easily-recognizable brands like Gillette or Barbasol have hazard scores between 4 and 7 (moderate to high) in the Environmental Working Group’s Cosmetic Safety Database. Conveniently, there are five brands out there that make low (0-2) or nearly-low (3) hazard score shaving products which you can find in some regular stores. Here are their products:

• Alba Botanica Unscented Cream Shave, hazard score 2, 81 cents/ounce. One of the cheapest, and good for people bothered by scents. (Unfortunately never seen in stores so far, but it might be at Whole Foods and I just didn’t notice. I’ve seen their scented, higher hazard score shaving products at Target, CVS/Long’s Drugs, and the Navy Exchange.)
• Kiss My Face Fragrance Free Moisture Shave, hazard score 3, 73 cents/ounce (in the larger container). The cheapest, and good for people bothered by scents. (Seen at CVS/Long’s Drugs, Navy Exchange, and possibly Whole Foods and the vegetarian grocery stores.)
• Burt’s Bees Natural Skin Care for Men Shave Cream, hazard score 3,  $1.33/ounce. (Seen at Target, CVS/Long’s Drugs, Navy Exchange, and possibly Whole Foods.)
• Dr. Bronner’s Shaving Gel, hazard score 1-2 depending on scent, $1.14/ounce. Comes in an unscented version good for people bothered by scents, as well as four scents. (Seen at Target, Whole Foods, and the vegetarian grocery stores.)
• Aubrey Organics Men’s Shave Creams and Women’s Shave Creams, hazard score 2-3 depending on scent, $1.16-$1.44/ounce. The definite hazard score 2 scents are men’s North Woods and women’s Orange Cream. (Never seen in stores, but in general Vitamin Shoppe has the best selection of Aubrey Organics products.)

The only ones I’ve tried out of the shaving products listed above are the Burt’s Bees men’s shave cream and Dr. Bronner’s shave gel in the spearmint-peppermint scent. I liked them both, but they’re definitely different from each other. The Burt’s Bees men’s shave cream comes out of the container very much like a shaving cream (only less pressurized), and spreads like a shaving cream (maybe a little bit thinner). The Dr. Bronner’s shave gel comes out of the container like a slightly thick brown liquid, and lathers up like shampoo (not saying you should use it shampoo), but it’s still totally effective for shaving. Which one do I like better? If I only consider effectiveness, it’s a tie, but given the fact that Dr. Bronner’s shave gels are cheaper and have a lower hazard score than Burt’s Bees shave cream, I would probably avoid the Burt’s Bees shave cream in the future and just go back for more Dr. Bronner’s shave gel (in addition to trying the Kiss My Face, Alba Botanica, and Aubrey Organics shaving products, if I can find them.)

Alternatives to shaving cream:

1. What I use most often: shampoo or conditioner that I’ve rejected for use on my hair (conditioner is obviously smooth and moisturizing, and shampoo makes good suds without being drying like soap).
2. What I use second-most often: body oil on wet skin, which requires very frequent rinsing of the razor.
3. What I use third-most often: a heavy layer of lotion on dry skin, which also requires very frequent rinsing of the razor (if I do this, I use my favorite Aveeno Active Naturals Daily Moisturizing Lotion).
4. Using an electric razor (I’m no expert on the world of electric razors, but I’m pretty sure they aren’t used with shaving cream).

The end!

Up next: Salt. It’s okay, I promise.