Oh no! Could I be allergic to goat's milk?

[SoapEh]

A while back I made a small batch of soap - here's what went in (sorry for no exact recipe, I can look it up if it's important):

50% olive oil (organic, extra virgin)
50% coconut oil (organic, virgin)
8% superfat
Sodium hydroxide (from a soap supplier)
Distilled water
1/4 tsp goat's milk powder ppo (from a soap supplier)
1/2 tsp colloidal oatmeal ppo (from a soap supplier)
Sodium lactate (from a soap supplier)
Cosmetic grade micas (from a soap supplier)
Anjou Pear FO (BeScented) @ 3% (I tend to scent very lightly when I'm making soaps just for me; I have a super sensitive nose)
Titanium Dioxide (from a soap supplier) in distilled water (very little)

The only things I used in the recipe that I haven't used before are the fragrance oil and the goat's milk powder.

I haven't had any issue with other fragrances, even at full strength, and I've used other 50/50 bars and both of these oils in other recipes before without a problem.

These bars are fully cured -- I made the batch November 19th, so they're nearly 10 weeks old.

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED:
Tonight I thought I'd try out one of these bars. I ran a bath, bathed as usual, enjoying the soap for the most part (the lather is only so-so, but it smells lovely and feels nice to use) and as I was rinsing off I started to feel itchy. I just thought the recipe was too drying for me and I'd have to soak myself in cream. By the time I'd grabbed the towel I had hives breaking out on my legs and arms - oh, not dryness, this is some kind of reaction to something. I grabbed the Benadryl, called my husband (allergic reactions can be a big deal for me since I'm epileptic; they can trigger a seizure) and fortunately everything was fine after that.

But I want to know what caused it in the first place. I'm not allergic to milk but I am lactose intolerant (very much not the same thing). I have never eaten goat milk cheese or had goat milk, so I don't know if I react to something specific to goats -- I know I can interact with the animals and not have an issue, I've taken my son to fairs, farms, and petting zoos and met many goats!

I suppose it could be the fragrance oil, but I've handled the bottle quite a few times and never had an issue, and nothing happened when I made the soap - for some reason I feel that if fragrance was the issue, smelling it directly from the bottle, pouring it out, washing the dishes afterward, and even smelling the soap all ought to evoke some kind of reaction.

I'm hesitant to test myself but I was thinking I could try diluting the FO in some carrier oil and putting it on my skin, and try reconstituting some of the goat milk powder and dripping that on my skin (not at the same time obviously) to see if either one makes me itchy.

Anyone else had a reaction to FO in cured soap, or to a goat milk soap? Or is there maybe something I'm missing here? Just to cover all the bases the tub was clean (I'm pretty obsessive about clean bathrooms), I'm not using new shampoo or detergent, hadn't eaten anything just before, there are no smokers in the house, no plants in the bathroom... trust me, I racked my brain.

Thanks for any input everybody

 

[Nevada]

85% EVOO 15% and 15% Coconut would be less harsh / drying on the skin. The other details are minor.

 

[BattleGnome]

The itchyness could be from the coconut oil. How much do you normally use?

While coconut oil is great on skin, coconut oil soap is very stripping to your natural oils and can make you run towards a bottle of lotion. To contrast, a high olive oil soap needs a longer cure and may need a few more weeks to come into its own.

I’d suggest keeping the coconut oil under 20% in future batches without a large superfat to buffer (I use 20% in a 100% coconut oil bar)

 

[penelopejane]

The thing with allergies and intolerances is that you might tolerate a tiny bit of something once a day on your skin or internally but use that same thing three days in a row and suddenly you have a severe reaction.

I can’t tell you what you’ve reacted to. You could skin test each ingredient and not get a reaction. It could be a combination of some of the additives you’ve used.

Personally, as someone with intolerances and a family with allergies I make soap so I can avoid all the unnatural stuff and use minimal ingredients. I react to some things quickly but it can take me 2 days to react to something I’ve eaten and then the reaction is severe. It’s been a pain to work out what I’m allergic and intolerant to.

If I were you I’d stick with a good basic recipe with no additives and then add small amounts of other oils. Keep CO to below 10% until you work out a good recipe your skin is happy with.

You soap is not “fully cured” at 10 weeks old. It should get better and better. Although CO in such high percentages in soap is problematic for a lot of people.

 

[Susie]

Sorry about the following information, but allergies can be life threatening, so I am going to take an opportunity to give a mini health lesson for folks reading this.

Hives are from something you ingest or take as an injection. It can occur at any time to anything. It looks like this:
http://www.hives.org/hives-pictures.php

Skin reaction to an allergen (dermatitis) is this: https://www.healthline.com/health/contact-dermatitis#73300.

It is extremely important that you figure out what you ate or took that caused the hives! The next reaction to that could be life threatening! Do inform your doctor that you had the hives so they can help you figure out what it was from.

 

[SoaperForLife]

I think that you should make a test batch using all the same ingredients but omitting the fragrance oil. Don't scent it with anything and if you have a reaction to the new soap then you can definitely rule out the fragrance oil and assume it's the goat's milk

 

[Snowbell]

You could also mix up your powdered goat milk with water as per the manufacturers directions and do a test spot on your body. A contact rash/allergy usually happens within an hour. Same with your fragrance oil diluted of course. As others have said look at what you ate for the last couple of days. Something new? Or new products. Also have your changed your laundry detergents/ fabric softeners lately? In my case with rashes it wasn't until hubby came out of the shower and I could draw the outline of his shirt with the rash. Last thought some meds also can cause rashes.

 

[SoapAddict415]

If the only new things to your recipe were the GM and the FO, then I'd suggest making another small batch of the same recipe without the GM. My thinking is that if am soap goes thru chemical changes then the GM and FO in the soap may too and just testing them on your skin may not cause the same reaction.

Sent from my Z828 using Soap Making mobile app

 

[SoapEh]

Hmmm.... Thanks so much everyone for all the info and things to think about!

I didn't realize 10 weeks isn't fully cured -- I was under the impression that most people consider 6 weeks a full cure, unless it's Castile or Aleppo soap? I know it's not a mature soap, by any means, but it's safe to use, no?

The reason I tried a 50/50 soap is (maybe this is silly) as an experiment; I like experimenting. It's my favourite part of most hobbies. I watched a video from a favourite YouTuber and they mentioned that 'recipes don't have to be super complicated; even 50% OO and 50% CO can make a great soap' and I thought 'oooh, let's try that and see where we get!'

Hives. Hives are a histamine reaction, pure and simple. You do not have to ingest or inject something to get hives -- cold/heat induced urticaria is a thing. It's rare, it's horrible, but it's real. I know a little boy who has it; all he has to do is get too cold and he can have a life-threatening reaction. People who are allergic to nuts can breathe in molecules of the protein that triggers their allergy when someone else chews a peanut, or touch a surface that had nuts on it, and have a reaction.

Unfortunately for us, both my son and I are *super* reactive to things - my mother is, and apparently her mom was as well; must be a dominant gene in there somewhere for stupidly overreacting to things.

It's entirely possible I ate something, touched something, maybe it's not the soap at all... I hope not because a) I like goats and b) pears smell nummy.

Thanks again guys

 

[dixiedragon]

With your health history and with the severity of your reaction, I think you need to see an allergist.

 

[earlene]

I agree that the 50%CO with only 8%SF is extremely harsh. And I also agree with the advise to see a doctor.

As to only getting hives from ingesting something, that is not my experience. I get hives on my face, neck and even below the neck from latex dental dams and from some commercially sold hair conditioners. Hence I have 'latex allergy' written on my dental & medical charts & NEVER use conditioners on my hair.

I have had a skin reaction to a fragrance oil once when I used too much in the deodorant I made. I had spilled it while measuring and wasn't sure how much ended up in the deodorant. Talk about a painful area to have red inflamed skin! I learned my lesson about careful measuring as it relates to safe for skin use amounts. I have since used the same FO in the proper amounts without any issues whatsoever, so it was simply a problem of going over the amount safe for use on skin and not an allergy.

 

[cmzaha]

I am another that can react quickly to allergens and landing me in emergency. Problem is it may not happen with the straight ingredients but happens after the ingredients have reacted with the lye. I would make a tiny sample batch adding each new ingredient separately then sample the soap inside the elbow and keep the Benadryl handy. For me I am more allergic to EO's than synthetic FO's. Unless someone has an actual allergy to CO the % of CO would not really cause hives, just dry skin

 

[Kittish]

Sorry about the following information, but allergies can be life threatening, so I am going to take an opportunity to give a mini health lesson for folks reading this.

Hives are from something you ingest or take as an injection. It can occur at any time to anything. It looks like this:
http://www.hives.org/hives-pictures.php

Skin reaction to an allergen (dermatitis) is this: https://www.healthline.com/health/contact-dermatitis#73300.

It is extremely important that you figure out what you ate or took that caused the hives! The next reaction to that could be life threatening! Do inform your doctor that you had the hives so they can help you figure out what it was from.

I have to disagree with part of what you seem to be saying here. Hives can be the presentation of a contact allergy, they're not JUST triggered by ingestion or injection. My sister in law is allergic to mesquite (bit of a bugger around here, in the desert, where you can barely swing a cat without hitting one). Brushing up against one is enough to see her breaking out in hives all over.

I thoroughly agree with see your doctor and get a referral if you can to an allergist. Just because you didn't USED to be allergic to something doesn't mean you can't BECOME allergic to it down the line. I didn't used to be allergic to artificial fragrances, but now I am, and the reaction is becoming more severe over time.

 

[penelopejane]

Hmmm.... Thanks so much everyone for all the info and things to think about!

I didn't realize 10 weeks isn't fully cured -- I was under the impression that most people consider 6 weeks a full cure, unless it's Castile or Aleppo soap? I know it's not a mature soap, by any means, but it's safe to use, no?
D

It is safe to use, it has cured to a degree but it is not “fully cured”. Handmade soap gets better over time so the curing continues. Try the same soap at 1 week, 1 month then every month for a year and see the difference.

You might find that you don’t react to the same soap when it’s a year old. Or your reaction might be completely unrelated to the soap.,