Thread: Sadistic Suds (Soaps to Avoid for Those with Sensitive Skin)

Originally Posted by onimaru55

I wonder if that batch was not cured long enough leaving it somewhat caustic ?

The sample was sent by rezdog to BobH and myself.

Rez said it did not bother his face.
BobH said it was a bit irritating.
It really irritated my face.

Different people with very different reactions to this soap.

YMMV for sure.

Both la Poire Française and the Douleur to Regret contain castor oil. Castor oil is known to cause skin irritation. It is added to soaps as a moisturizer. Our bowels don't like it either and spit it out if you like. That's why it is used as a laxative.

I feel sorry for those with sensitive skin. I'm fortunate that La Poire Française, and any other soap, doesn't irritate my skin because it's one of my favorite scents and it performs reasonably well. I have a wonderful pear tree in my back yard that I've nurtured for the past thirty years, and love the scent (and flavor) of ripened pears.

Originally Posted by GreenRipper

Artisan soaps are always a gamble [...]

That depends on which jurisdiction you live in. The FDA regulates "soaps" far less than its EU counterpart (incidentally, the reverse is true for perfumes, if memory serves).

In the US, you can basically go ahead, whack some stuff from Taobao or worse together in your bathtub, whack a label on it, make it go viral through shills and fake reviews, and you're off to becoming the next artisan shaving kit juggernaut. Case in point: Anything to come out of Phoenix. Don't believe me? Take samples to your trusted perfumer, ask them what the scents are. Would I put any of that on my skin? No. Way.

That said, I have never got along with Martin de Candre. It dries my skin. Does that make MdC a bad soap? Nope. It works for enough people, so the problem is mine.

Hence, the slightly nonsensical nature of this thread, as well as Obie's

Based on my experience, here are the most likely culprits and and some ideas.

The biggest culprit are the fragrance/essential oils. It's really hard to get the right amount. Too little and folks will complain. Too much and people will get burned. If you really like a soap and are getting burned, you might try melting it in a double boiler, low heat or a crock pot on low. If hard enough, grate it with a cheese grater. You may need to add a small amount of water. This will usually cause the fragrance oils to evaoporate.

The next culprit is shaving technique. I've had soaps that used to burn me, yet don't do so now. It took me a while to get a handle on 'shave the cream only and the whiskers will take care of themselves'. Proper shave prep figures in here as well.

The next culprits are things you can't control and can't use the soap. First, you may be particularly sensitive to an ingredient, usually a fragrance or essential oil. I have great luck with alcohol based after shaves. I can't use the ones that have witch hazel and aloe added because they burn me.

Finally, The basic action of making soap is combining fat/oil with lye. Every batch needs to be ph tested to ensure that there was enough fat/oil to completely saponify the lye. It gets ugly quickly if this step is missed and there is a problem.

A large part of my thoughts behind this thread is simply to gather information on the soaps that those of us with sensitive skin have had trouble with and see if there is any correlation. I have heard numerous theories (normally stated as fact) of what it is that causes our reactions but I have yet to see any proof. To be clear, I think each of us tend to have issues that are as individual as we are but I don't know that for a fact. This is an attempt to build something of a pool of information so that maybe we can draw some conclusions beyond the soaps I have tried myself and the theories that are already floating around.

Take fragrances, for instance. If most issues were caused by the fragrances used then most of us probably would have an adverse reaction to individual scents within a product line but experience no discomfort from others. What I've evidenced personally is that while that holds true for some product lines it is hardly universal. This fact alone makes me question the belief that the fragrance oils are usually the issue.

To be clear, my background is in science and I like data, even if it is largely anecdotal. It costs me nothing but a little time to post my experiences with soaps that cause me irritation. It costs me even less to simply ask other members of this great community to post their experiences. If I'm lucky I might learn something that I can actually apply to my shaving routine, and thereby deepen my love of our hobby. If I'm really lucky maybe I'll help someone else identify a problem and keep them from wasting money on a product that is destined to cause them the pain and irritation that some of these soaps have caused me. If nothing comes of this then all I've wasted is a little time and effort, a sacrifice I'm more than willing to make.

I haven't found any. Caveat is I don't use many artisan creams or soaps. The only one I do use is Green Mountain soap and I find that very good soap. I find some soaps more drying especially those mainly using a predominantly coconut/stearate base. When it comes to Top Tier and best. That's all YMMV. Most soaps in those lists I don't use. I stick to commercial products because I feel they have better batch consistency both in lathering and scent.

Most of the top tiers are commercial, that's what makes them so good, a long history and better ingredients in most cases, even the low cost ones like Arko is very good, a commercial soap. Tc

Originally Posted by GreenRipper

...I have heard numerous theories (normally stated as fact) of what it is that causes our reactions but I have yet to see any proof. To be clear, I think each of us tend to have issues that are as individual as we are but I don't know that for a fact. This is an attempt to build something of a pool of information so that maybe we can draw some conclusions beyond the soaps I have tried myself and the theories that are already floating around.

Take fragrances, for instance. If most issues were caused by the fragrances used then most of us probably would have an adverse reaction to individual scents within a product line but experience no discomfort from others. What I've evidenced personally is that while that holds true for some product lines it is hardly universal. This fact alone makes me question the belief that the fragrance oils are usually the issue.

To be clear, my background is in science and I like data, even if it is largely anecdotal....

There are a few tings in this post I don't agree with and will share some more detail to explain why.

Consider fragrance for a moment. I make and scent a lot of soap, alcohol based aftershave, pre-shave oil and after shave balm. I also study essential and fragrance oil.

There have been many times the that the base, which are the ingredients excluding fragrance, work well. I'll then work on various scents, keeping the formula and results in a spreadsheet. So, the only variable is the fragrance oil or essential oil. Some burn and some don't. Due to there being only one variable, I'm confident that my assertion is correct.


As an example, I recently developed what I though was the perfect Bay Rum, though it set me on fire. It had several fragrances, such as black pepper and cinnamon, which I suspected to be the problem. I reformulated it, with the only changes being in the fragrance/essential oil and it worked perfectly.

The ability of of scent oils to cause problems is sufficiently known that manufacturers advise when to keep an eye out for this.

Along the same lines of sharing accurate information, consider soap. One of the two key ingredients in soap is lye. One use of lye is to dissolve animal carcasses. It is nasty stuff. One of the basic rules of soap making is to test every batch to ensure all of the lye saponified. Either forgetting this step, or failing to mix the soap sufficiently can lead to lye being in the soap.

Keep in mind that most shaving soap companies are small mom and pop shops - it isn't only the artisans. Many aren't sophisticated enough to have industrial controls like larger companies. Castle Forbes, which I consider the best shaving cream of all, started in 1996 in a converted dairy barn. Not sure if they have moved or not.

Unrelated to the post I quoted, though commenting on what some others in this thread have said, I find many of the artisan's to have awesome soap.

GreenRipper,

Thank you for this thread.

It hits especially home for me with my ultra-sensitive skin. Through the years, I have eliminated more soaps and creams than I can remember. The one soap that absolutely destroyed my skin was Boellis Panama 1924.

This stuff, which comes in a fancy container and is pricey, fried my skin like Napalm. I don't think I even finished my first pass before scrubbing the lather off my face and changing brushes. OY! A day or so later, a friend from Chicago called and expressed the same reaction to this soap.

Yet, many people love this soap. And so it goes . . .

With a few exceptions, I generally keep away from the swarm of artisan-made soaps and creams: they lack comfortable skin properties and their fragrances are medical or synthetic. For instance, smell Castle Forbes' lime shave cream and then smell all the other limes made by artisan soap makers — miles apart.

As time goes on, my soap and cream comfort level keeps shrinking. As I finish some, I know I will not replace them. Eventually, I think I'll trim my lineup to soaps and creams that give my face sweet smooches: Castle Forbes, Martin de Candre, Baum.Be, Mitchell's Wool Fat, Czech & Speak, Wholly Kaw's Jamestown Gentleman, Oleo's Irving Park, and a few others I can't recall right now.