# Help me with Shower gel please :)



## Foxy3341 (Aug 29, 2019)

Hi,

I would like to make my own shower gel recipe that has specific ingredients without all of the other nasty chemicals found in stor bought soaps. I specifically want to make shower gel/liquid soap and not bar soap since I don't like the thought of bacteria/mold growing on my soap overtime since I have very troubled skin. 

I would like to make a soap that is mildly Keratolytic since I have Keratosis pilaris. I would also like to add in ingredients that have anti-aging/pigmentation effects. From the research I've done it seems that the addtion of goats milk/powder, sodium lactate, and ascorbic acid(vitamin C) would work well in the soap - however; I'm not sure how much to add.

I have liquid castile soap base, vegetable gylcerin, and essential oils but was unsure how much to buy and add to the soap I'd like to make. I would prefer the soap to be more on the acidc side pH 5.5-7 to maintain a healthy acid mantle on my skin. Could someone please let me know what they suggest for amounts of these to add?

Thanks!


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## shunt2011 (Aug 29, 2019)

Can’t help you as I make liquid soap from scratch. Not very often.  One thing to keep in mind is 1. Soap cleans.  Can be more or less stripping of the oils from the skin. 2. Bar soap has a high enough PH that most thing won’t grow on a bar.  2. Liquid soap can get growth as it’s diluted with water, additives can add to the possibility as food.  

I suggest you do more research, most soaps sold as Castile in the stores aren’t actually Castile.  Read through the liquid soap forum here.  You will glean a lot of great information.   Also, true soap will have a PH of 8.5-12 and some higher.


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## Foxy3341 (Aug 29, 2019)

The castile soap I have is true 100% castile soap (bought from a chemical supplier). I've used this soap before (I bought a 5 gallon drum of it) with essential oils; however, I would like to add in extra ingredients.

Yes, soap is stripping - however, lower pH soaps don't strip away the acid mantle on the skin which is why I'd like to lower the pH of the soap compared to "traditional western soaps."


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## Zany_in_CO (Aug 29, 2019)

Hiya Foxy from WA! Welcome to SMF! You are in good company here because most of us, myself included, started making our own home made soap to get away from synthetics, detergents, chemicals, and fragrances that can cause skin conditions rather than healing them.

I've been making liquid soap since 2004. All I can say is that your request is so specific to treating _Keratosis pilaris_ that I wouldn't know where to begin, i.e., you know more about it than I do. That being said, I have a couple of suggestions for you:

First, contact the supplier where you bought the liquid castile soap base to see if they can tell you how to accomplish your goal.

Second suggestion, there are several manufacturers of all natural liquid soap. I would try some of those to see if they help your condition. If you find one that works for you, post the ingredient list and we can help you formulate from there.

Third suggestion, go to this site
*http://alaiynab.blogspot.com/search/label/liquid soap tutorial*
to learn the basics of making liquid soap. Once you get a handle on it, then try adding the ingredients you want in your LS. I know, it sounds like a lot of work, trial and error, but that's about the only way I know of to get to where you want to go.  



Foxy3341 said:


> ... lower pH soaps don't strip away the acid mantle on the skin which is why I'd like to lower the pH of the soap compared to "traditional western soaps."


Unfortunately, soap by its nature is alkaline. If you try to lower it to an acidic range it separates. Believe me, many have tried (myself included) and none have succeeded.  There's more about the pH of soap on the link I gave you above. 

The good news is that lotions are acidic, meaning, applying a homemade lotion that contains _"goats milk/powder, sodium lactate, and ascorbic acid(vitamin C)_" after showering is easy peasy and may be the way for you to go.


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## Foxy3341 (Aug 30, 2019)

I know that 

Has anyone tried to add any of these to liquid castile soap? I don't really mind if the soap comes out awful or if it doesn't work as well as I hope since it's just a thing I'm willing to try and tweak but I just don't know what amounts/percentages of sodium lactate, goat milk/powder, or ascorbic acid would normally be added to soap?


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## BattleGnome (Aug 30, 2019)

https://classicbells.com/soap/soapyStuff.asp

That site may help. You’ll have to contact your manufacturer to see if they have a reccomended % for additives. You’ll have to limit all your additives based on that. 

I’ll also not that i think you’re asking an awful lot of a single product. Many of the “multiple function” products out there achieve so much because of the chemicals you don’t want to use. It’s possible you’ll have to make multiple formulas and rotate when you use the,


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