DIY Shaving Soap Recipe – Rich Lather and Skin-Soothing

If you’ve ever struggled with store-bought shaving foams that leave your skin dry or irritated, it might be time to whip up your own homemade shaving soap. This DIY shaving soap recipe is packed with castor oil for a creamy, thick lather and cosmetic clay that purifies while providing slip for a smoother shave. Perfect for both men and women, this old-fashioned cold process soap transforms your daily shave into a little luxury ritual.

Unlike harsh commercial products, a handcrafted bar allows you to choose every ingredient. The castor oil ensures stability and bubble-rich foam, while the clay gives that gentle glide we all crave. Plus, you can customize the scent with essential oils—think energizing peppermint, calming lavender, or a rugged cedarwood blend for him.

Whether you’re making this recipe for yourself, as a thoughtful Father’s Day gift, or to stock your bathroom with something truly nourishing, it’s a rewarding project. Beginners can also try the melt-and-pour version for an easier first step into soapmaking.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

Creates a luxurious lather with natural oils
Gentle on sensitive skin
Customizable scents and additives
Makes a beautiful handmade gift

Find the instructions here. The page also includes a link to a melt and pour shaving soap recipe for those who don’t know how to make CP soap.

For years now Berroco has been releasing a tiny set of Christmas ornament knitting patterns, often modeled on human-sized clothes, called Minutia. The ones for this year haven’t come out yet, but somehow I missed last year’s so I wanted to share them, as well as a fun little twist they offered.

The general 2025 Minutia patterns include a circular yoke sweater, a two-color stocking and a ribbed earflap hat. They’re super cute and perfect for using little (or should I say minute?) amounts of yarn left over from other projects. Make them in Christmas colors or whatever you have on hand. Even if you don’t have exactly the same yarn weight, you can still make these cute additions to your holiday decor.

But what really caught my eye while I was on the Berocco site was the Team Colors Minutia, which are actually different patterns so I’m not even sure when they were released, but they are definitely worth talking about.

These patterns include a little raglan sweater with stripes and a stocking cap with contrasting pom pom.

They call for sport weight yarn, but again you could use sock or DK if that’s what you have in the right colors. And here the right colors are important because you’re stitching your team colors.

Or anyone else’s team colors.

I immediately thought that this would be an amazing holiday gift for someone who you never know what to get but who also happens to like sports. Or has gone to a university that has colors.

Another option would be to leave off the stripes and add a number in duplicate stitch if you or the person you’re knitting for has a favorite player. Or stitch a letter or a tiny version of the team logo on the front. There are lots of options!

If you make these, I’d love to hear what you did with them!

[Photo: Berroco]

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