Thread: A & E Tertius

Originally Posted by JOB15

Just an update.
I tried the A&E Tertius again. This time it really caused itching that lasted for a time afterwards. I tried some balm to ease the itching, eventually it passed.
Has any one any idea why it causes me itchiness?

The list of ingredients in Tertius are: Stearic Acid, Beef Tallow, Goats Milk, Shea Butter, Potassium Hydroxide, Kokum Butter, Mango Butter, Glycerin, Cocoa Butter, Castor Oil, Manteca (Pig Fat), Strangisto Giaourti (strained yogurt), Avocado Oil, Coconut Oil, Camellia Oil from Japan, Sodium Hydroxide, Lanolin, Agave, Bentonite Clay, Beeswax, Sodium Lactate, Argan Oil, Fragrance & EO's.

Do you have any food allergies: dairy products, nuts, etc? Those with food allergies may also have similar skin contact allergies. Some people are allergic to lanolin. Tertius is fairly heavily scented with both fragrance oils and essential oils. It is possible you could be allergic to one of them.

When trying a new soap, you might want to apply some lather to the inside of your elbow and allow it to remain for several hours. The skin there is similar in sensitivity to your face.

Originally Posted by DZEC

Could be you are allergic to one of the ingredients. I think all soaps use essential oils for fragrance. Sometimes artisan soap makers haven’t controlled the concentration of one or more of those oils and that can lead to irritation for those folks with a specific sensitivity. Commercial soap manufacturers have much greater control over the production process and most likely have better overall quality control than small batch artisan startups.

I think this is purely speculation on your part. Yes, commercial soapmakers may be able to afford expensive testing equipment such as gas chromatography to test products. Such equipment would be far beyond the financial resources of most artisans.

The better artisan soapmakers can measure the ingredients going into their process with laboratory precision using electronic scales, graduated cylinders and micro-pipettes. I suspect there are some who are like chefs who add a pinch of this or that, but when there are hundreds of artisans, if is not fair to lump them all into the same category.

We see the same thing in the brewing industry. Giants like Anheuser Busch InBev and MolsonCoors have the technology to produce a consistent product. However, that does not mean that their products are superior to smaller breweries or even award-winning microbreweries that are the artisans of the brewing industry. If the commercial giants had clearly superior products, why is the craft brewing segment growing at a rate of 4% while overall beer consumption is down 1%? Bigger is not always better.