Last week I decided to make my own shaving soap and aftershave. The aftershave was easy to make, but the soap was….quite an adventure. Why did I do this you ask…’cause I get bored and it’s better than trying to make rockets or something along those lines that usually end in disaster.
I made the aftershave because I wanted to be able to tailor the scent to my liking, and make it mild, not really bold like some of them out there. In addition I wanted to know what was in it unlike some of them out there that have all sorts of chemicals probably used in the taxidermy business. For my first try I ended up using a recipe I found off of the internet, and it turned out pretty good. I like the scent, and it works well after the shave. I use a DE razor so it’s rough on the skin unlike those mach 5 (or whatever number they’re on) razors that have slick strips and rubber pads on them. I’ll have to admit I nick myself all the time too so it’s good to have something afterwards that will heal and cleans the skin from infection. Here’s the link to the recipe…I used the cedarwood/juniper one at the bottom: AFTERSHAVE LINK
The aftershave done I decided to make some soap. I did this for similar reasons and was hoping to turn out a product that would have cost me top dollar commercially. I could also alter the scent and its intensity if I wanted (I went with a vanilla/sandalwood-cedarwood mixture…turned out alright).
So back to the story…the soap was where it really got exciting. The aftershave was just pour and shake, but the soap uses lye (Sodium Hydroxide) and it’s some nasty stuff. After mixed with water, the solution turns boiling hot. The lye itself (aside from temperature) will severly burn your skin, is bad to inhale, and can cause blindness if it comes into contact with the eye.
So there I was at 10pm in my apartment with big scrubbung gloves, sunglasses, and my cooking pots trying to make soap. One detail I overlooked is the part where you mix it to produce “trace.” The little detail was that with a high speed mixer, it would take about a minute to work…hand stired…an hour or more. It definitely took more than an hour, and I had soap all over the kitchen by the time it was done. It was still a fun experience, but I think I’ll do things a little differently next time. Here is the recipe I used: SOAP INSTRUCTIONS
I poured the soap into some cheap cups I found at Walmart. In hindsight I think I should have poured it all in a pipe and cut it into pieces later…the cups are too full to whip up a lather very easily.
I cant decide if I like the lather or not. I’m used to creams by now that whip up with my brush into really thick coats…this isn’t worse, just different I guess. With the oils in the soap, and clay, it provides a really soothing slick finish, and I think that more than makes up for the thin-ness of the lather. All-in-all I’m pretty happy with the end product of the soap and aftershave. In the long run I’m going to save a lot of money this route, and can with time, perfect the scent and characteristics of each…which is right up my ally…more fun to play with things than just buy them sometimes 
Above is the stained walnut stand I made for my shaving kit. I bent a walnut dowel over steam for the twig effect, put a border inlay on the base, and stained it all with a walnut/colored stain. My badger brush hangs over my homemade soap. The blue bottle contains the aftershave I made, and the far right is my Gillette DE razor. It’s a 1957 Gillette adjustable 195 (because new at the time it cost $1.95) or more commonly known now as the Fat Boy because of it’s short fat design. It is the old butterfly model and can be adjusted for aggressiveness of shave.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything to my site. I would post more often if it weren’t for the fact it is such a graphics intensive site. With every post I have to create/edit two display pictures to exact pixel dimensions, and it’s become a pain to do. I might end up changing the layout of this site later on because of that.
Anyway, a couple weeks ago I spent an absorbent amount of time on a new project; setting up an HTPC. This is a Home Theater PC for those who don’t know. I have an old desktop I wasnt doing much with, so I decided to try it out. An HTPC is basically a beefed-up TiVo that requires no monthly service. Depending on what software you’re using, the posibilities are limitless. The most familiar one would be Microsoft’s version we know as Media Center. This was released on it’s own in the 2005 XP version, and recently in a couple of the Vista versions. Of course you need to either have purchased a pc with it, or buy an OEM version which can only be used once, and can cost a pretty penny. I’m not a fan of being locked down to an expensive route that is limited by good ol’ Microsoft so I went with MythTV…the Linux version. There are many ways to go about this. You can add MythTV to an existing distro such as SuSE, Fedora, Ubuntu etc… or run something like Mythbuntu that runs almost solely for the purpose of using MythTV (although you can expand the distro later on)….BTW…I want to stop here and mention I am NOT in ANY WAY an expert in this stuff so don’t count on this article covering all posibilities or being completelyh correct..this is just my experience with it. Ok then…with that out of the way…let’s carry on…
So back to MythTV…it was complicated and I couldn’t get it to work. I tried Mythbuntu, MythDora, KnoppMyth, and Ubuntu with MythTV running inside of it. I’m just not that great with Linux, and frankly don’t want to spend my life trying to figure out command lines to get a simple task running. I’m a very patient person and did truly spend a lot of time with this, but it just didn’t work for me. Next—> Run software in Windows XP.
My first experience here was MediaPortal. Now this program is awesome…but not polished enough, and I’ll explain why. It is a memory HOG, and just wouldn not cooperate with my old PC (not even that old). ——-BTW, ti should have mentioned this earlier…the desktop I keep refering to is a Dell Dimension 4500. I’ve upgraded it to 1GB RAM, 60GB HD for OS, 500GB slave HD for storage, 500W power supply, Nvidia GeForce PVR 6200 256Mb graphics card, two (2) Hauppauge PVR-150 TV cards w/one remote, and a P4 2.4Ghz processor. Ok…again back to the HTPC battle… ——–I also couldn’t get the channels to upload for the TV guide, or my IR remote to work. I spent a rediculous amount of time with this software but just couldn’t get it to work…and from the forums and posts I ran across, I didn’t seem to be alone in my struggle. I do want to say however, if you have a powerful enough computer and can get through the initial setup, this program is really top notch and with the plugins and skins out there, the posibilities are truly endless. They claim to be working on a completel re-build of the software and should be relasing it Christmas of 09…I will be sure to check it out…althought again I don’t have high hopes with the hardware I currently have.
Up next, I tried SageTV (trial version). I would recommend this one for anyone who wants it all, and wants it simple…but can afford the $100 cost to purchase it. This program really does a great job (although I couldn’t get some of the channels to load…Discovery is my favorite and it didn’t show up…negative check here). It is simple, easy to set up, and runs well on my machine. It is however, unlike my previous recommendations not free, and therefore the user doesn’t have as much control over its capabilities. I would also like to recommend BeyondTV. I haven’t used it, but this too is a program you have to purchase and I hear it is up there with SageTV.
About to give up, I finally ran across the winner; GBPVR. This program is free, easy to set up, and runs extremely well with my hardware…in fact, it’s pretty much built for my PVR-150 TV tuner cards. Within the hour I had this up and running. Forums are very helpful, and there are a number of plugins to add whatever you want it to do. Right now I can see a TV Guide for a few days in advance, record two shows at once, and look them up with descriptions and other info. I have a weather forecast, commercial skip, and a very visual skin (I’m using an analog TV so the best I can get is S-Video quality…not that great for txt…ok for video though). You can add other things such as NetFlix instant play and other such things but I haven’t played with those yet. My remote also worked instantly, and without trouble (I’m not using the IR Blaster though so YMMV). I should mention however, Miscrosoft did a security update last night, and upon restart I can’t get the remote to work…have tried a number of things and still no luck. Not sure what the deal it, but for weeks I’ve had no trouble…I can watch M.A.S.H. after work now!!!
*Sigh*……it’s been a long stressful road but I finally have something working. So to sum it up…if you’re good with linux, go with MythTV, have a powerfull computer, go with MediaPortal, want free simple functionality GBPVR, simple and reliable but costs money SaveTV (maybe BeyondTV…again haven’t tried it).
As a last note, I forgot to mention. I tried making my own wooden cast for the computer too, but it didn’t work out that great and I ended up ditching it. I have pictures on my camera but can’t find the cable to upload them…oh well, it was fun anyway…although I’m sure my neighbors didn’t like me sawing and grinding in my apartment
It’s rewarding and a good use for an old PC but it takes patience so if you’re going for it, good luck….for now I’m done with it…it’s time to go outside!
*UPDATE: I figured out the remote problem and it was simple. I was so focused on the software end I didn’t even think about the hardware. After installing the second TV tuner card I had the remote connected to the lower card’s input. Aparently it uses the first PCI slot however so it wasn’t seeing the IR reciever…after I moved it one card up we were up and running!
