Allergies and why soap should be labeled

A couple of days ago I was given a soap and asked if I would try it. This is from a vendor at one of my markets. The soap was hp and not labeled, but she wanted my opinion. Yeah right, being nosy as I am I agreed after asking the ingredients. You all will probably remember I have severe eczema. Was told it contained co, oo, castor, palm all the normal with no unusual additives, superfatted at 10%. First off, I do not high superfat but decided it would be fine to try. I woke up in the middle of the night with my face severely itching, really did not think to much about it and fortunetly fell back to sleep. Woke up early this morning face itching more and my throat itching. By then I decided it would be prudent to take a very high dose of predisone which I keep on hand and kept wondering what I had eaten that was new. While getting in the shower it dawned on me I had tried that new soap from her, so I went through my cash box and found her email so I sent a message and asked exactly what was in the soap in case she forgot to tell me something. Oh yes, she forgot a really biggie for me, her 10% superfat added after cooking her hp was Flax Seed Oil. I proceeded to inform her that my allergy to flax can be life threatening and if she is not going to label with all ingredients she better have lots of liability insurance. Fortunetly my 100 mg of predisone saved me a trip to emergency. Please remember Allergies are Dangerous.

Geez. That is really scary. Glad you are ok! Hope that soaper got the clue.

Glad you're ok! That's a pretty interesting reaction. I gift my soaps to many people so it is a good reminder to me too. It's easy to forget as a non-seller that even someone in my relatively small circle of friends could have issues with ingredients that seem so great to me.

:-o Thanks for sharing! It' s good to be reminded now and then, we tend to forget... Glad you are ok!!

Man, I'm glad I'm not allergic to anything. One of my kids is highly allergic to a couple of things though, so I'm used to the problems. Glad to hear you're ok.

Glad you were able to sort it out rather than going to the hospital!

Carolyn, I am so very, very glad you are OK. And that you are smart enough to keep Prednisone on hand! Hope you have a safe and Merry Christmas!

But this is exactly why I have had disagreements with certain folks on this forum. Because reactions like that DO happen with exposure to oils. I KNOW there should be no proteins left in there, but guess what....that is not certain enough to risk someone's life over.

I am relieved you were able to figure out the problem and stop it, Carolyn. Thank you for sharing your story -- it's one I will take to heart.

Susie, you are so very right!

Wow, so glad you are okay and didn't end up in the hospital. Your reaction is exactly why I list all ingredients on my label. Better safe than sorry. I would hate to have someone have an adverse reaction to any of my products.

Glad to hear you are OK. And yes, it's important to remember that people can be allergic to ANYthing. Even something that seems totally benign and may be safe for 99.9 % of the population, can be dangerous to others.

Thanks all, I really did not post for symphony or anything just wanted to reiterate why we need to label even if FDA does not require us to. I am thinking it may not have happened with a cp soap, but since this was a hp soap that she superfatted with the flax I am thinking there was unsaponified flax in the soap. A little extra time labeling can save a lot of grief for some

Whew~~that's scary . I am glad that you are better now. Thank you for sharing.

I would like to learn more about allergies prompted by soap. Did you wash your face with this soap, or did the itchiness go there without direct contact?

Even if Carolyn had washed her face with the soap and got an allergic response to direct contact, she also said, "...Woke up early this morning face itching more and my throat itching...." Unless she washed her throat with soap that's a pretty good sign of a systemic allergic reaction.

Yep, throat itching is the perfect example of a systemic allergic reaction. All she lacked was swelling around the mouth and eyes, hives, and her throat swelling closed.

Carolyn, we know you did not post for sympathy. But you probably just saved some one else's life, because we all just learned the dangers of unlabeled soap. Fear is the best teacher, and you scared me enough to teach the lesson. I just stuck an ingredient list in all the bags/baskets of soaps that are gifts. I called the one person the soap has already gone to to let him know what all is in there and ask about allergies. Fortunately, he has no allergies to anything in there, but I am emailing him a list anyway.

Holy cow Carolyn :shock:

So glad you are ok now...that's some scary stuff.

I will always remember the time my youngest {7 at the time iirc} 'all of a sudden' became allergic to milk..she woke up with massive welts all over her body and face..her eyes were swollen shut..I had to rush her to the ER...they had to keep her there and give her antihistamines and made sure she could swallow before she could go home.

She didnt touch milk or milk products for over a year, and then suddenly she gets up one morning and decides she has had enough and made herself a bowl of cereal...I about freaked out...and made a beeline for the benedryl..but oddly enough, as suddenly as she became allergic to milk products, she also became un-allergic, and hasn't had a problem since...

Needless to say, that was many years ago..but to this day I still keep some benedryl on hand just in case...and I always put all my ingredients on my soaps.

Allergic reactions can happen just that quick.

I have similar problems with cows milk hidden in things. I used some bath salts a while ago without checking the ingredients. When I got out the bath my whole body went red and itched like murder and I developed hives. That was my own fault though for not checking the ingredients on the label! It sucks to have allergies.

Wow! Scary! Glad you're ok. I too have some "weird" allergies, though thankfully none are life-threatening (yet). (Chamomile anyone? Know how hard it is to get skin products for sensitive skin WITHOUT chamomile?!? Know how many ways there are to hide it with funky names?) I am a label reading fiend. So, all of my soaps that are being gifted this holiday are labeled with ALL ingredients.

Thanks for the reminder .

I am allergic to shea, avocado, mango, etc. I have an anaphylactic reaction to those things plus contact dermatitis to other things (rubber, fragrance oils, etc.) It is life threatening and can be really scary. I do wish people would listen and label.

I'm glad you're okay!

I'm running into a lot of resistance in a group I belong to regarding labeling. This is exactly why we need to label and carry liability insurance, even if we're just hobby soapers. Many of the ingredients we use are allergans...milks, coconut, soy and so forth.