15% sf still drying out my skin!

[Soul_Healthy]

Hi. I started with 6-7% superfat months ago and have moved all the way up to 15%. None of it makes a difference. It still dries out my face. I do the HP method, and I wait until my ph paper is the color of 8-9. I use essential oils for fragrance, and even when I lower the coconut oil down to 20, it still dries me out. It makes my skin itch and the nether regions burn slightly. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Do I need to go up to 20% or start using INS? I never even look at that number. HELP PLEASE! Thanks.

 

[DeeAnna]

20% coconut oil for a face soap is pretty high. It's too high for me even as a regular bath soap, but this much CO would be fine for other people in a bath bar. Bear in mind that soap can be drying to some people's sensitive skin regardless of the recipe, so a non-soap cleanser is their only option.

Coconut oil soap is a strong cleanser and can be especially irritating for face and nether regions, so you may need to formulate a recipe without any CO whatsoever. Some people say that palm kernel oil is not irritating for them even if CO is, so you may want to consider switching to PKO and give that a try. Or formulate a recipe without any of the strong cleansing fats -- CO, PKO, babassu.

This issue gets discussed fairly regularly -- you might search for other threads for more information. For example:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=50304
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=48662
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=31610

 

[Dorymae]

I agree cut your coconut oil down to 10% or less. Use a nice heavy conditioning oil in its place. Olive oil is nice, or I prefer avocado oil. Try that at 6% SF and I think you'll see a difference.

Keep in mind that some people are very sensitive to coconut oil and even 10 percent maybe to high. If it is eliminate it completely and add a bit of sugar to your water solution.

 

[Seawolfe]

pH papers are largely useless for testing pH, and all that matters is that the soap isn't lye heavy.
How long are you curing your soaps? Even if you HP you really do need to wait 4-6 weeks and let the soap cure - lots more happens during cure than just water loss.
+1 on lowering or eliminating your Coconut oil, 20% is a lot, and your skin may be sensitive to it.
I would concentrate on increasing your conditioning numbers and aim for under the scale on cleansing - even a cleansing number of zero will still clean.

 

[new12soap]

What is the rest of your recipe?

How long are you curing your soap?

What essential oils are you using, and how much?

Throw out the pH paper (or use it for a fish tank or a pool or something, not soap), use a good reliable lye calculator and a good scale. HP your soap until it is done, that's it.

 

[PinkCupcake]

I can't use any soap on my face, regardless of sf. My skin is just too delicate and sensitive. Have you ever heard of or tried the Oil Cleansing Method?

http://wellnessmama.com/7569/skin-oil-cleansing/

 

[IrishLass]

Like Pink Cupcake, I don't use any soap on my face. No matter what kind of soap I've ever used on my face, my face was always left feeling horrible and dry and flakey......so, for the past 20 years or so, I've used nothing but water and a facial cloth to wash my face, and my face loves me for it.

It's funny, but the rest of my skin can tolerate high amounts of coconut oil soap just fine. lol

One day I'll have to try out that oil cleansing method. It looks intriguing!


IrishLass

 

[Saponista]

I have extremely sensitive skin, but can use soap on my face. However I can't use CO at all. I have to make zero cleansing bars for my face. If you say it burns your nether regions too, you sound like you definitely have a sensitivity to one of the oils you are using. I would make some different recipes with different oil mixes and hopefully by the process of elimination you will be able to work out what is bothering you so much.

If you aren't averse to using animal fat, you could try a bar with lard in it. I love the creamy conditioning it brings to a bar, especially for facial skin.

 

[Dahila]

I was using oil cleansing but my skin felt very oily and I was getting outbreaks all the time. I used Gennie shampoo bar for sometime but I had not have the feeling that my face is clean. Then I made face wash with surfacants (swift monkey) and it is the best I had ever used. no drying, rather the opposite, my skin feels moisturized, kind of )

 

[BubblesnBears]

I have very sensitive skin too.. I'd never go as high as 20% CO in soaps I make for my own use - and rarely in any of my recipes as I personally find it very drying even as a bath bar, never mind on my face.

More expensive - but I like to use a bit of cocoa butter and play around with oils that impart good conditioning qualities - castor, apricot kernel, almond ... depends a bit on your individual skin type and quality too to find what suits you best. My "personal soap" is a big blend - but also important to bear in mind that sometimes "less is more"....if you're finding your soap irritating it's often best to go right back to basics and start out with just a couple of oils so it's easier to narrow down what might be causing the issue.

Laura

 

[Rowan]

Everyone has given amazing advice. I would just add that if you find a soap recipe your skin is happy with, it's worth giving ithe soap a long cure. I find most soaps really drying until they are at least 3 months old (hp and cp). I often find 6 months is better! They get milder as they age. I had to do a great deal of trial and error to find out which type of soap my skin is happy with. Good luck finding something that works for you.

I love the sound of the oil method for facial cleansing and the surfactant cleanser. I can feel a couple of new experiments coming on!

 

[Obsidian]

Its odd, I have dry skin and can't normally use more then 20% coconut on my body and much less on my face but my best face bar is 80% lard, 20% coconut with a 8% SF. I guess its something to do with the lard, I also never use a wash cloth or poof to wash with, just my hands.
Others that do well on my face are 45% OO, 45% lard, 5% coco butter, 5% castor with a 8% SF or a salt bar that is 80% coconut, 20% OO, made with beer, 50% salt and 20% SF. If using store bought soap, Mrs Meyers hand soap is really nice.

 

[Soul_Healthy]

What is the rest of your recipe?

How long are you curing your soap?

What essential oils are you using, and how much?

Throw out the pH paper (or use it for a fish tank or a pool or something, not soap), use a good reliable lye calculator and a good scale. HP your soap until it is done, that's it.

I used 20% CO, 20% EVOO, 20% lard, 15% avocado, 10% castor, and 15% shea.

I used 1 ounce grapefruit EO.

 

[Soul_Healthy]

This particular soap is about a month old.

 

[Obsidian]

Thats not very old, cure it for another month or two then try it. It really does improve with age.

 

[DeeAnna]

I understand some folks are sensitive to shea. If you have a latex allergy, you may be sensitive to shea too. No expert on this ... just passing on what others have shared.

 

[Dahila]

Like Bubblesnbears i like cocoa a bit of cocoa butter in my soap too. ten% is too much but 7 is just perfect. Avocado oil is nice and gentle too

 

[seven]

my face can't take saponified coconut at all. it just can't. my facial bar always come w/o co at all. the rest of my body can take co to a pretty high amount w/o a problem.

 

[HoneyLady]

My skin isn't dry, but it is sensitive. And when it gets irritated, it's prone to both cystic acne, and oily rosacea. Add Irish/Polish ancestors for the red-head/freckle/I'm-not-sick-or-a-goth pale-fair coloring, and I look like a blotchy lobster on bad days. And that's without a sunburn.

I've had the best luck with 100% lard soaps, and a 50-50 soap of OO and Palm. (aka Palm-Olive)

I'd cut back the CO to 15%, AND cut back the castor to 5%. Too much castor can be drying for some.

I also took a tip from both grandmothers -- one born in County Cork, and one born in Krakow -- and use either plain old baby oil or Pond's Cold Cream to remove makeup. That boils down to the same thing -- mineral oil as a makeup remover. Then I follow up with my soap. Clean skin, not too dry, not oily. If I *do* wind up needing moisture, I use either straight grapeseed oil, or straight evening primrose. Once a month, I use straight rosehip oil overnight. I also do a monthly facial of pure honey for 20 minutes. Simple seems to be the key word.

Everyone's skin is sooo individual! I'm continually amazed. My eldest has skin like me and my Dad. My youngest has skin like my husband and his Mom. Go figure.

~HoneyLady~