An Observation ... and an experiment ...
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free skin care · Wed Dec 14, 2005 6:58 am

Sure enough, when I got home and checked the label on my bottle of 100% pure Crisco vegetable oil, it said “soybean oil.” Lord, talk about feeling foolish! I probably burned up around a 1/4 tank of gas driving all over town last Friday, getting stuck in huge traffic jams because most of the health food stores in Austin are situated near major shopping malls/centers, trying to find a stupid bottle of soybean oil – I even got caught in part of the power blackout that happened on the SW side of the city that knocked out all of the traffic signals and backed up the roads for miles....

So, Mary, how often are you needing to shave your legs now that you’ve been using the soybean oil regularly? I can totally relate to the stubble re-growth that looks like millions of blackheads all over your legs, or like someone dotted your legs all over with a black felt-tipped marker! I bet you also have problems with most self-tanners that you use on your legs because it’s hard to get a smooth and even application – even if you apply it immediately after shaving – because of those horrid little black dots all over your legs. Anyway, I’m curious to know if you’re still able to go a week before you start to experience any stubble and need to re-shave, or if you’re able to go for even longer periods of time?

Hey, if we all get positive results for the great soybean oil shaving experiment, y’all need to remind me to go back and update my DIY recipe for homemade shave oil so that the soybean oil is the primary ingredient. And – remember – if you’d like to make it a nice aromatherapy experience while you’re shaving your legs next time, feel free to add a few drops of your fave essential and/or perfume oil to your Crisco oil so your legs smell all glorious and sexy, rather than like the french fry deep-frying vat at your friendly neighborhood McDonalds!

I had to wrap Xmas gifts for all of my co-workers when I got home last night (we’re having our office Xmas party and “White Elephant” gift exchange during lunch today) so I was too tired to go through the hassle of exfoliating my legs with my Bare Escentuals ‘Body Polish’ so I could shave them, but I’ve put a fresh battery in my Gilette Mach 3 Turbo (men’s) razor and put a brand new Venus blade on it and will be trying out my Crisco soybean oil when I take my long bubble-bath this evening – hey, since tonight’s episode of “Lost” is a repeat, I figure I won’t be missing anything good on the idiot-box while I’m lounging in the tub....

ETA: just found out that power outage I mentioned above was caused by a squirrel up on a power-line who tried to gnaw his way through the wire! How do they know it was the squirrel’s fault, you ask? Because apparently his poor little cooked carcass was still up on the line, with his little rodent hands clutching it while his little rodent teeth chewed through the protective outer-coating and down into the live wire beneath it. Poor little thing! I never really gave much thought to blackouts, beyond the minor annoyances that they cause, but it makes you wonder how many power outages are actually wildlife-related? Was it some poor woodchuck, possum or raccoon that caused that massive blackout up in the north-eastern U.S. over here a summer or two ago that “cascaded” down from a power-plant in Ontario, across Lake Ontario and then through several U.S. states, causing widespread panic of another terrorist attack?! Shock

free skin care · Wed Dec 14, 2005 4:35 pm

Hi Carekate!

Gee if I'd known that Crisco had Soy Bean Oil in it ... I'd have told you to save you driving all over Austin! Laughing

Honest I would have! Anxious

However, I still just shave my legs once a week ... although I can notice just the fainest bits of stubble around day 4 or 5. If I'm going out to somewhere special ... where my legs will actually be visible ... then I'll shave then.

Oh ... and I should mention that after I use the oil and my very own Mach 3 razor [I didn't dare get the vibrating one ... heck ... that's just asking for trouble with me! Laughing

] ... I then give my legs another "coating" of the soy oil ... this time for the moisturizing effect. Very Happy

So ... Carekate ... I am awaiting your own results on this one. I must say it's saving me a fortune on shower gel ... which is what I used to use for shaving ...

As for the "self tanners" ... well ... I've never tried a self tanners. There are some things which I just know are a bad idea in my hands. Laughing

I just know that with a self tanner I'd end up with ... um ... a mess!

So ... I just go around looking extremely pale. Laughing

I have, to go along with my very black/brown hair, very pale skin. Laughing

So ... when my "pale" legs are really pale!

Mary

free skin care · Sat May 26, 2007 9:22 pm

OMG!!!!!

Crisco?!! Crisco?!! I have never given up on this idea....didn't realize until now that it was so 'mature' a thread, but have been keeping my eyes for Soy bean oil ever since!

Double dog damn!! I should have keep current on this and would have seen ...CRISCO???!!!

Great Googly-moogly! I can't tell you how many times I've checked, double checked for soy bean oil in stores....grocery stores, Health food stores, weird Vitamin stores, etc.

I didn't think anyone could find it so just kept looking on my own (rather passive I admit, but kept I it up). I even found a product and planning on writing a review!! I thought I was hot poop! Come to find out ---CRISCO!!! I've had the same 'blinkin' jar in the pantry since I posted this in 05 for goodness sakes!!

I can't get past CRISCO!! GOOD GRIEF!

<SIGH> Well, my question is this: Any updates? People using <grrr> veg. oil with luck?

If so, I may have to compare my product with Veg. Oil.

Well, I DID find a product with SOY oil in it. It is NOT crisco (can I get a big Loser sign passed this way, please?)

Bottom line: It works and I've been using for a couple months....just needed time to write a review (which I now have). I'd love to hear others results with soy and shaving.

free skin care · Thu Aug 23, 2007 12:13 am

Are people still using this method? I am keen to try it - i used olive oil (i was hoping it would prevent shaving rash but alas ... it didnt)

free skin care · Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:49 pm

mjlover wrote:

(i was hoping it would prevent shaving rash but alas ... it didnt)

Remember: 95% of shaving irritation is caused by razor "drag" which can be caused by 1) using a dull-bladed razor, or 2) using a shaving cream/gel/foam that contains ingredients that buildup on the blades so they never rinse completely clean.

Here's some info I shared in a previous post regarding extreme razor irritation:

carekate wrote:

Have you ever tried the men's Gilette Fusion? I know it sounds ridiculous to use a razor w/ 5-blades but IT REALLY DOES MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE! Here's the link to my prior review of it: http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=10969&highlight=gilette+fusion to find out more about it.

As I've previously mentioned in other threads regarding shaving, the primary culprit in causing irritation from shaving is razor drag -- check this thread for more info on how to minimize razor friction and irritation: http://www.essentialdayspa.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=20582&highlight=razor+drag

I know you'll soon be using a shave (minimizing) oil Wink

but if you'd like to try the Gilette Fusion razor and it's not available in Oz, I'd be happy to pick one up and include it in your latest parcel -- just let me know!

free skin care · Thu Aug 23, 2007 4:04 pm

lol, i remember using crisco in my teens, with some iodine for tanning, i know how terrible but when your young you dont care and i had a great tan.lol

Thu Aug 23, 2007 4:58 pm

A few years ago it seemed that the growth of the hair on my head had ground to a halt. It was just sitting there, never getting any longer. Weird. Then these shave-minimizing creams started coming out, and I noticed that they all were based on soy protein. I check my bottles of shampoo and conditioner, and what do they contain but soy protein! Well, I stopped using them and have been careful to check for this ingredient ever since, and my hair's been growing like normal.

It's pretty funny, though, isn't it? That the shampoo/conditioner manufacturer was inadvertently using a hair growth retardant?

free skin care · Thu Aug 23, 2007 5:41 pm

wow, thanks for the info, i will have to check my hair products Shock

free skin care · Thu Aug 23, 2007 6:39 pm

I first read about soy having an effect on hair growth on the hair removal forumswww.hairtell.com

I dint however go too much detail into this, but apprently some companies are using soy as an ingrediant to minimize/retard hair growth somewhat and are promoting their products based on it contains soya bean!.

I dont no much about the science behind this ingrediant, need to read more on this Laughing

but it is really quite interesting Exclamation

free skin care · Thu Aug 23, 2007 6:54 pm

thank you Carrie - you are the best! I cant wait to pay you for my package - not sure if you are getting my emails. I really want to get the lavender seafoam and overnight treatment (cant remember what i asked for!).

I will try a new blade and see how i go.

free skin care · Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:43 pm

Hey guys,

Just to weigh in, I remember reading in some magazine years ago that they had done a study that showed results of soy inhibiting hair growth, and that's what prompted Aveeno to roll out their soy-based "shave minimizing" line of products. (Or maybe the Johnson and Johnson line - I'm pretty sure J&J owns Aveeno either way.) At the time I was skeptical, plus I figured it had to be really minimal results-wise, so I kind of rolled my eyes and ignored it. I don't remember anything about the scientific basis for the study - I don't recall them even mentioning it - but I do remember something like 20% improvement being cited, I think. (Improvement in... lack of hair growth? Confused

Not sure.)

And now, look at the results you are getting! I'm TOTALLY going to try this! But, despite Carekate's tip about most cooking oil, I hesitate to use the stuff already in my pantry - corn and soy are the two most commonly genetically modified crops in the USA, and I tend to be of the school of thought that GMOs have fewer nutritional benefits than natural non-engineered stock, so I'm going to search for natural, organic, non-GMO, expeller-pressed soybean oil for my experimentations. I'll letcha know how it goes. Smile

And either way, I'm thrilled to hear someone saying this actually works! And I bet it works much better than the lotions on the market, as they would be so diluted and polluted with other ingredients. I tend to oil up my skin after or during my shower a lot of the time anyway, so it'll be great to have an added benefit. Thanks, Mary, for posting about this!

free skin care · Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:10 pm

I wanted to say that I personally didn't experience any lessening/slowing of hair regrowth when I used the soybean oil as a shave oil and after-shave moisturizer (and I kept up the experiment for about 6 months so surely I should have seen SOME results), but A) I was using my ordinary veggie (soybean) oil from the grocery store and not anything organic, and B) I think there's a possibility that I'm "immune" to the benefits of soybean products.

The reason that I say this is because most of the shampoos and conditioner that I've used over the years have included hydrolyzed soy protein oil (which is, in fact, a water-soluble "silicone" which means that it's easy to shampoo out and doesn't stay on the hair like dimethicone or other similar 'cones used in hair shine styling products). Both the hair on my head and the hair on my legs (prior to beginning to use the clary sage EO + capislow shave minimizing oil, recipe in DIY Recipe thread) grows as fast as Georgia kudzu (look it up -- it's an ivy-like weed that can grow up to 14-inches PER DAY)!

Seriously, my (head-)hair literally grows 1 1/2 to 2 inches per month and always has and my leg hairs grew nearly as quick (I could feel/see stubble within 24 hours of shaving or waxing). Even my eyebrows and lashes grow hyper-fast (i.e.: when I enter the 90-day synchronized "shed cycle" caused by the lash growth serums, it only takes about 7 days for the new lashes to complete sprouting) so I have to conclude that I personally am immune to the hair-growth inhibiting properties of soybeans.

That said, I do want to add that when I make my shave minizing oil (either for myself or others), I *do* use soybean as one of the carrier oils in the recipe just in case it's more effective for others than it is for me....

Anyway, GinnieLiz, if you find a source for organic soybean oil, please let us know where you got it -- maybe the "good stuff" will be more effective for me than my Criso oil. Smile

free skin care · Fri Aug 24, 2007 6:24 pm

Ah, I was at Whole Foods today and totally forgot about it until I got home - but I'll definitely keep my eye out. Great, just what I need, another impossible ingredient quest! Very Happy

free skin care · Sun Aug 26, 2007 12:56 pm

Well you girls got me curious about this - fortunately my momma also discouraged me from shaving above the knee, but unless I shave every day, I get a slight stubble.

I was able to find organic soya oil with NO hydrodenated fat, but it was expeller pressed rather than cold pressed. I tried it this morning and will have to wait for a few weeks to see how effective this really is, thanks for the tip!

BTW, I located organic, COLD PRESSED soybean oil at this website. They carry a lot of other carrier oils, well worth a checkout.

http://www.newdirectionsaromatics.com/soya-bean-organic-carrier-oil-p-1414.html

free skin care · Sun Aug 26, 2007 11:48 pm

Very interesting thread!

Keep posting your results people!

Actually, what interests me the most is the oil in shower as a moisturizer. I've tried it before - with some random oil product - and it didn't work for me (it made me greasy), but I'm always looking for something else. I really just want to achieve ridiculously soft skin, without lotion. I hate hate hate lotion. I am too lazy to apply it all over every day, and I live in a very humid climate and my skin seems to have an aversion to absorbing lotions. I feel like a sticky mess for a good hour after I put on lotion, regardless of the type. I want something that just glides on in the shower, and I never feel it again.

free skin care · Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:25 pm

Ch79 wrote:

Very interesting thread!

Keep posting your results people!

Actually, what interests me the most is the oil in shower as a moisturizer. I've tried it before - with some random oil product - and it didn't work for me (it made me greasy), but I'm always looking for something else. I really just want to achieve ridiculously soft skin, without lotion. I hate hate hate lotion. I am too lazy to apply it all over every day, and I live in a very humid climate and my skin seems to have an aversion to absorbing lotions. I feel like a sticky mess for a good hour after I put on lotion, regardless of the type. I want something that just glides on in the shower, and I never feel it again.

You gotta be real careful using oil in the shower or tub because -- obviously -- it can get REAL SLIPPERY REAL FAST and you can slip and bust your *ss! To that end, I want to say that I *think* that Candessence makes a body oil BAR that you can use in the shower that is somewhat safer than using liquid-y oil straight out of the bottle. I don't know if this body oil bar is one of her regular products, but I remember that she sent one to me as a sample and I gave it to my mom. Anyway, you mignt check her website to see if she still offers the oil-bar.

free skin care · Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:36 pm

Ch79 wrote:

Actually, what interests me the most is the oil in shower as a moisturizer. I've tried it before - with some random oil product - and it didn't work for me (it made me greasy), but I'm always looking for something else. I really just want to achieve ridiculously soft skin, without lotion. I hate hate hate lotion. I am too lazy to apply it all over every day, and I live in a very humid climate and my skin seems to have an aversion to absorbing lotions. I feel like a sticky mess for a good hour after I put on lotion, regardless of the type. I want something that just glides on in the shower, and I never feel it again.

I'm the same way - I like nice soft skin, but I really hate applying body lotions/creams. Carrie is totally right about the bust yo' *ss factor with applying oil in the shower, but it's still my favorite method for getting nice and soft - and I find a sugar or salt scrub with oil is my very favorite method, plus then I just use the oil to shave so I don't need a shaving cream. There are definitely some other similar bars - Lush makes a few, though I'm not a huge fan. And while I can't speak to this product at all since it's not a brand I much like, I do recall having seen some sort of Oil of Olay in-shower lotion that you put on your skin and then rinse off, so maybe that would help? Lastly, manslayerliz had raved about some Shea Terra Organics products here, including an oil spray that's supposed to feel like a dry oil spray, but without the silicones. So maybe that would help? Hope you find a lotion solution! Smile

Liz got me hooked on her descriptions of the Shea Terra products so I placed an order which included an oil spray, so I'll update in that thread to let y'all know how I like it.

free skin care · Mon Aug 27, 2007 4:33 pm

ginnielizz wrote:

And while I can't speak to this product at all since it's not a brand I much like, I do recall having seen some sort of Oil of Olay in-shower lotion that you put on your skin and then rinse off...

Oh yeah, I remember that stuff -- apparently I was underwhelmed by it because it didn't immediately spring to mind!

free skin care · Sun Oct 21, 2007 10:54 am

Hey, so I've kept in the back of my mind that I wanted to try using unrefined, organic, cold-pressed soybean oil for this experiment, but MAN is that hard to find! In fact, this is the only link I've found whose product meets all those qualifications:

http://www.zooscape.com/cgi-bin/maitred/GreenCanyon/questp428374

Has anyone else been able to track down soybean oil? I'd get even the refined organic stuff by Spectrum if I could ever find it, but no natural markets I've checked seem to carry it at all!

free skin care · Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:23 pm

So I finally tracked down some organic cold-pressed unrefined soybean oil from Athena's link above, and I tried combining it with a bit of avocado oil based on this thread and using that as a shave oil.

I also combined these two oils, plus a bit of macadamia for moisture/absorbability and some sandalwood EO, for a nice after-shower body moisturizing oil.

The combo has been awesome! I was a little skeptical as to how effective this whole soy thing would be for hair minimizing, but I'm totally wowed. And my boyfriend noticed too, so I know it's not just in my head (that's the trouble with this sort of thing; it can be so hard to tell whether you're noticing a difference because there IS one, or because you're looking for it, you know?). It's not quite as easy to measure as eyelashes in mm, for example, but I think I have the same amount of stubble every third day that I would normally have after just one day.

Either way, I can't complain about the effect -- only some minor side effects. Namely, the oil clogging my razor and leaving a film in my bathtub. For those of you who are oil shavers, do you do anything in particular to make the cleanup less annoying? I flush my razor with hot water, but it still gets kinda gunked up more easily. And the tub thing is gross, even if I try to rinse it well -- and I hate having to scrub it out EVERY time. We have kind of an older crappy bathtub that just seems prone to getting scummy quickly, like every other appliance in our 60s-era apartment, so I may just have to suck it up, so to speak. But I figured some sharp EDS gal might have a tip.

Oh, and the other thing is that unrefined soybean oil is kinda stinky -- nothing on par with neem or anything, but it's certainly no rich, buttery macadamia oil. The after-shower moisture blend I made smells lovely, thanks both to macadamia oil and sandalwood EO, but the shave oil doesn't have any fragrance yet. I think I'm going to have to do something about that, because as it is, it's not my favorite thing to smell in the AM.

And LAST tip: lately I've been combining the shave oil with my JMO Citrus and Neroli detangler to use as a shave cream on my legs, since that conditioner never did anything for my hair. It works well -- keeps the oil from being too runny and, well, oily, and it seems to be less annoying on both my razor and my tub. I don't plan on repurchasing that stuff, so I will have to come up with another long-term solution perhaps, but for now that works great.

free skin care · Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:12 pm

To combat the runny/oiliness, maybe try using a shortening type product, like Crisco? I have no idea how to fix the tub scum, that sounds bad. Sad

free skin care · Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:17 pm

Eek, I'm afraid of Crisco and other hydrogenated oils -- after all the hype about how bad they are for your heart/arteries, I started looking into the process more, and as I understand it, they're more apt to generate free radicals than other non-hydrogenated oils. So maybe not a big deal for body skin, but I'm still freaked out by it. I may not have the best understanding of this, though -- can anyone else chime in?

free skin care · Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:04 pm

sounds like great idea but the cleaning afterwards sounds a mess Confused

free skin care · Tue Dec 11, 2007 11:49 pm

Hi ginnielizz,

I totally know what you mean by your old crappy tub that's prone to soap scum. The last apartment I lived in had a tub the same way- it either needed to be re-enameled or replaced it was so bad. I never had to worry about putting a shower/tub mat to prevent slipping ha ha. The only thing I found to help was to first clean it really well with Scrubbing Bubbles spray foam cleaner, let dry and then "seal" it with Gel-Gloss (it's in a magenta colored can). With both of these I had to wear a mask when I used them. I also found that I had to use the Scrubbing Bubbles as a maintenance cleaner. Soap scum just built up so fast with a nearly non-enameled surface. Rolling Eyes

The days that I shaved with oil I always had to clean up my tub (I tried using soybean oil for a while but got tired of the clean up... it just took too long to wash the oil away from my hands, razor and legs and especially the tub).

I think you are heading in the right direction though when you mix your oil mixture with your conditioner (but waste the Citrus and Neroli conditioner? Shock

I love that stuff. But whatever floats your boat Wink

. Conditioners have emulsifiers in them which makes them slippier or whatever. I'd think this would help a lot with your tub scum problem. Whatever the case it will help thicken your mixture.

free skin care · Wed May 20, 2009 5:17 am

I wanted to bump this thread and see whats going on with everyone who is using soy bean oil? How are your results??

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