could my soap be breaking me out?

I have been making soap for about 6 months now. I recently started breaking out in a rash all over. Im curious if anyone else has had this problem with their soaps. could it be the fragrance oils?

It could be. Stop using them and see if your rashes disappear.

Ok I have a couple unscented soaps. Maybe I will try those for a week or so

Castille soap makes me break out in little bumps. It almost feels like it clogs my pores. It happens on about the third day of consistent use and then clears up a couple days after I switch to something else. This is with unscented soap. I'm not sure about the fragrance oil though.

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it could be anything. FO, EO, any of the additives you use in your soaps, or even a particular oil. did you just switch to a new soap recently?

Although I am not a doctor, and therefore am not giving medical advice without a license, I can make a guess.

If a rash is "all over", it usually can be tracked to a change in one or more of the following:

Body soap/shampoo/conditioner/lotion/some other "all over" body product. Have you changed anything starting anywhere from 24-72 hours before the rash showed up?

Laundry products-again, even a change to a "New and Improved" version of an old faithful product can cause issues.

Food/medication allergies-eating anything new, or at least have not had in a few months?

The real problem with identifying possible allergens is that you can develop an allergy to anything at any time. The body develops allergies after repeated exposure. Indeed, it is impossible to be allergic to something the first time you have ever been exposed to it.

Indeed, it is impossible to be allergic to something the first time you have ever been exposed to it.[/QUOTE]

This I would have to disagree with. In my lifetime I have come across many substances and products I have been allergic upon first time use. You could be allergic to the lye soap and will really only know if you use a soap made with all water, no color, additives, fragrances eo/fo's added. If still having a problem it would be best to test run some small single oil batches to see which oil may be the culprit and if it is one of the oils causing the problem. Some people just cannot use lye soap and I wonder if it is the ph that causes some problems. My daughter can only use her sls free m&p soap base and she can use fo in her base. Handmade breaks her out and we have tried the single oil soap method.

I also have to disagree, as would many who have been exposed to poison ivy for the first time... Not everyone is allergic to poison ivy.

There are different types of allergies and they respond in different ways. For example environmental allergies typically get better with controlled exposure. This is what they do in allergy shots. I'm allergic to a lot of environmental things, and animals. I'm also an animal nut. As a kid I'd have quite extreme reactions today they are mostly mild due to desensitization from repeated exposure. I still do react to new animals, such as someone's pet I never met or a new foster animal.

Now food allergens work the complete opposite, the allergy gets worse with repeated exposure and attempting desensitization is dangerous. For another personal example, I'm allergic to melon. As a kid it made my mouth and throat itchy and sore feeling all over, as I got older and kept trying to eat it now and then it developed into causing throat swelling which can be deadly.

Many of the allergens to ingredients in personal care products work like food allergies, getting worse over time. I became allergic to my hypoallergenic Soap and moisturizing cream prior to switching to handmade Soap and simple oil and butters to moisturize. I do react to certain soaps, including ones that were scented with just EOs. So I generally use unscented soap the majority of the time, though I do enjoy making scented soap.

actually, i just remember, a similar thing happened to me a few weeks ago. out of the blue, my whole body was itchy beyond belief. i can't sleep coz my legs and arms were itchy all the time and i gotta scratch it, and when i scratch i did it till it bleeds. it was even painful to let water touch my skin.

btw, i have a sensitive skin heritage from my grandma, and this wasn't the first time my skin was doing funky stuff.

i always keep a handful of various soaps in my bathroom, and lately i was using my homemade lotion. i seriously can't pinpoint which one that caused it. all i know is my health was a bit down at that time (throat infection, bad flu, you name it), so perhaps all of the above contribute to my skin suddenly acting out. now, i'm no longer sick and my skin is back to normal.

my point is, just maybe your health was a bit down lately, and that can triggers all sorts of things.

I know I break out when using a soap with cocoa butter in it. It can also be a lotion or body butter or any leave on or wash off product. I love cocoa butter but it give me pimples. I get rashes from commercial laundry soap. Once I started making my own laundry detergent no more skin rashes. I wish you luck in finding the culprit that is causing your rash. I tend to go with my gut feeling and if you think its your soap stop using it for a while. Then try it again and if you break out again I would assume it is an ingredient in the soap. Some people are allergic to coconut oil and most recipes contain it.

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodAllergy/understanding/Pages/allergicRxn.aspx
"What Is an Allergic Reaction to Food?
A food allergy occurs when the immune system responds to a harmless food as if it were a threat. The first time a person with food allergy is exposed to the food, no symptoms occur. But the body has been now been primed, and when the person eats the food again, an allergic response occurs"

http://www.stallergenes.com/en/unde...ction-mechanism-of-the-allergic-reaction.html

"An allergic reaction is the result of an inappropriate immune response by the body after exposure to a foreign substance (the allergen).
The mechanism of allergic reactions is broken down into two successive phases: a sensitisation phase during which the immune system identifies the substance as an allergen.Then when the organism comes into contact with the allergen again, the allergic phase is triggered."

I am a registered nurse. I was taught about allergies in college.

You can have a true allergic reaction on your first known exposure to something. But never on your true first exposure ever. And there are known cross allergies for many things, so those can "prime the pump", so to speak, for you to react faster to a particular allergen.

And here is where we need to separate out the semantics.

Not all skin reactions are true allergic reactions to a particular compound or ingredient. Some reactions can be eczema caused by something completely different. And don't even get me started about people's "allergies" to medications!

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/understanding-poison-ivy-oak-sumac-basics

Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac are all plants that can cause a temporary, irritating rash when they come in contact with your skin. This rash is a form of allergic contact dermatitis. Dermatitis simply means an irritation of the skin. It's called "allergic contact dermatitis" because the rash is caused by contact with a substance to which you're allergic.

Who Is Allergic to Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac?

Have you ever wondered: Do I have poison ivy? What you're really asking is: Am I allergic to the plant? Not everyone is. About 85% of Americans are allergic to poison ivy, leaving about 15% resistant to any reaction.

If you are allergic to poison ivy, you're more likely to be allergic to poison oak and poison sumac, because all three plants contain the same rash-triggering plant oil called urushiol (pronounced yoo-ROO-shee-all). You're also more likely to have an allergic reaction to other plant resins, such as the oil from Japanese lacquer trees (used on furniture), mango rinds, and cashew shells.

Sensitivity to poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac varies from a mild to severe reaction, and may not cause any reaction at all the first time you're exposed. Some adults who reacted to poison ivy as children may find that they are now less sensitive. Some may even lose their sensitivity altogether.

What Causes the Rashes of Poison Ivy, Oak, and Sumac?

Many people break out in a rash when urushiol touches the skin. And even if you don't recall touching the leaves of poison ivy, oak or sumac, you may have unwittingly come in contact with their roots or stems.

Urushiol quickly penetrates the skin, often leaving red lines that show where you brushed against the plant. Symptoms appear 24 to 72 hours after exposure. Scratching the itchy rash doesn't cause it to spread but can prolong skin healing and cause a secondary infection. The rash isn't contagious, so you won't spread it to others by going to school or work.

I don't understand the point of posting a bunch of information on poison ivy that says the same thing I said when I was merely using it as an analogy and it isn't the main topic. I've also studied allergies as pre med.

I get horrible pink lumpy dots on my cheeks if I use a product that contains FO that I have a sensitivity to. The floral ones, especially rose seem to break me out.

My apologies!

Lin said:

I don't understand the point of posting a bunch of information on poison ivy that says the same thing I said when I was merely using it as an analogy and it isn't the main topic. I've also studied allergies as pre med.

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I read this, "I also have to disagree, as would many who have been exposed to poison ivy for the first time... Not everyone is allergic to poison ivy." and thought you were disagreeing with me. My sincere apologies.

these are like dry patches of skin, they almost look like ringworm in some spots. They are itchy and super dry. look like little bumps. My daughter has skin colored bumps on her legs. my husband and son had some red bumps. it seems we are all having some sort of allergy to something. If I use a steroid cream on the spots they will go away but after a few days seem to come back. Im so confused because I dont know what to avoid. I at first thought it was my homemade lotions preservative because my rash broke out a day after using it but I no longer use that lotion and Im still breaking out

corrine025 said:

these are like dry patches of skin, they almost look like ringworm in some spots. They are itchy and super dry. look like little bumps. My daughter has skin colored bumps on her legs. my husband and son had some red bumps. it seems we are all having some sort of allergy to something. If I use a steroid cream on the spots they will go away but after a few days seem to come back. Im so confused because I dont know what to avoid. I at first thought it was my homemade lotions preservative because my rash broke out a day after using it but I no longer use that lotion and Im still breaking out

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Are you all using the same soap? The same lotion? It would be pretty unlikely that you all developed the exact same allergy to the exact same thing at the exact same time I think. If you all used a lotion that wasn't properly preserved or may have been contaminated, you could be sharing a skin infection. Or possibly ringworm. Was your soap perhaps lye heavy and is causing irritation? You may want to check w your doctor and have them take a look, they should at least be able to give you an idea about whether it is an infection or environmental, and you can start narrowing it down from there.

Good luck to you, it sounds miserable

I am going to strongly suggest that you at least take the children to a pediatrician, and tell him/her that everyone has it. The list of possible causes are endless, but a doctor can at least test for some of the more common non-allergy causes.