# Getting Benefits of ingredients in soap?



## divyadinesh07 (Mar 16, 2015)

Hi,
I just started making soaps and was wondering how much benefits of the ingredients do you actually get from the soap? 

Example:Like tomato soap claims to remove tan. But does this benefit of tomato actually survive the saponification for us to reap it from the soap? Or are these just plain claims to sell the soap?


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## navigator9 (Mar 17, 2015)

Soap is on the skin for a very short time, and then washed off. It's hard to imagine that any particular ingredient, in itself, can have much affect. I have no scientific evidence to back it up, but in my experience, I believe that good, handmade soap improves the skin by cleansing it gently, and allowing it to return to it's normal, healthy state. IMHO, fancy ingredients, used in small amounts, are good for label appeal, but probably not much else.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Mar 17, 2015)

There are some that do - oatmeal and milks being an example. To what extent things survive, that is another question - for example herbal teas being used, I would say very little there would survive time spent with the lye. 

If in doubt, ask here as there is a lot of experience. Many of our eastern members swear by ingredients that lighten the skin.


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## divyadinesh07 (Mar 17, 2015)

What additives & pulps/teas are good to use which actually show some results?


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## jnl (Mar 17, 2015)

if you want to "save" any ingredients from the harsh lye, then you can add them to hot process soap after the cooking as finished and the lye is done its work.

adding EO's after HP reduces the amount of EO you need to add



divyadinesh07 said:


> What additives & pulps/teas are good to use which actually show some results?


 
calendula petals are one of the few botanicals that keep their color in cold process soap.


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## navigator9 (Mar 17, 2015)

As EG mentioned above, oatmeal and milks make wonderful soap. They are my favorite additives. They make a mild, creamy, gentle soap. Again, I'm not sure that individually, they have an affect on the skin, or would "show results",  but they make a wonderful soap that most anyone's skin would love.


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## biarine (Mar 17, 2015)

This is just in my own opinion, I don't have evidence this claim. But using your own handmade soap is more beneficial because you know what's on your soap. First no paraben, SLS and detergent.


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## tbeck3579 (Apr 23, 2015)

*Honey*

I've been using honey (I have bees) added with EO after trace (CP), and honey does seem to work well.  I have also been using many of the early spring flowers such as dandelions, wild violets, daffodils, etc.  I made teas and used infused OO -- I do get pretty, soft colored soap.  This is just a guess but if the color is surviving, some benefits other than the color survive as well -- probably no many though,, but maybe it has some benefit for my skin??  Many nasty chemicals are absorbed through the skin, so good things probably are too.  Anyone with knowledge regarding the science of this???  I'm looking for posts on the subject.  My Google searches haven't yielded great results on this topic.


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## Chefmom (Apr 23, 2015)

I only have my own personal experience to pull from.  Last year I bought a basic pendant and chain.  Not gold, as I can't afford it and I wore my pendant a lot.  I have never had any reaction to metals in jewelery in my life...so when hives began appearing on me I didn't pin it to the chain right away.  By the time I finally figured out the chain was the problem my entire body from my chin to my ankles was covered in hives, and as the itching became maddening...the hives became bloody, scabbed over....itched even more.

In the past if I had scrapes I would use my tea tree soap, but this time...it didn't help me for very long.  I was showering twice a day and losing sleep from itching.  Once I figured out it was the chain, removed the chain I was then dealing with the scabs and the itching from scabs that burned day and night.

I didn't have enough comfrey oil to slather all over my body...so I did the next best thing, I made soap and added my comfrey oil after the cook.  Nope.....don't flame me...I didn't cure it one bit, but started using it immediately.  Within two days, two showers a day the burning subsided.  I cut my showers down to once a day....and then every other day.  I was able to sleep the night through and the burning stopped.  The itching stopped, and the scabs softened and started to heal.  

15 months later I still have pretty intense scars on my back and legs.  But the only thing that helped me was my comfrey oil soap.  I won't let myself run low again, I infuse a lot more these days.

Before anyone tells me all about steroids and benadryl etc....basic over the counter benadryl is a heavy sedative to me.....even a half dose knocks me flat on my back and I'm knocked out and asleep.  I've had steroids and have had some really crazy side effects from them.

I have done loads of experiments with my soaps, my herbs etc.  always on myself...so I'm not passing on something I've read or heard someone else talking about, but my own personal experiences with what works for me.  I believe that soap does make a difference, even if it gets washed down the drain.  I hot process so I can control what is put in afterwards and I swear by it.


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## Obsidian (Apr 23, 2015)

tbeck3579, daffodils are toxic and shouldn't be used in bath & body products. If you want a nice yellow, try calendula petals. Probably not much survives the lye but better safe then sorry.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Apr 24, 2015)

Chefmom said:


> I only have my own personal experience to pull from.  .... .......so I did the next best thing, I made soap and added my comfrey oil after the cook.  Nope.....don't flame me...I didn't cure it one bit, but started using it immediately.  .....




You did add it after the cook in hp rather than at trace in cp, which is a different kettle of fish all together. I am totally on board with the idea of adding after the cook = benefits that would be lost in cp. 

As for flaming for using it right away, if you had come here saying that it was harsh or drying or didn't last long, THEN we would say you have to let your hp soap cure 

Regarding the point made about colour surviving cp soap, it is fair to say that not all colours do, so clearly the lye does something to all colours and some don't change or don't change much. But that does not mean that the benefits would survive, especially because we would have to consider that the benefits survive in things where the colour doesn't change but don't survive where it changes colour, which I think would not be true at all


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## Cindy2428 (Apr 24, 2015)

You are asking a question that remains one of the ultimate mysteries in soap. Over the course of the past year, I've spent many hours researching this. I even had the opportunity to ask Dr. Kevin Dunn how to do my own testing. (Figured out pretty quick that I'm not smart enough to do it).

Right now I'm satisfied with the answer biarine gave you - no detergents, I control my ingredients and I love my soap. Every shower is a spa day.

Good news though - Kevin is planning on starting with research on EO's in soap. Hopefully we will finally get some quantitative answers.


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## Cjchrissy (Apr 24, 2015)

*Daffodils toxic*

Interesting you should mention that daffodils are poisonous, I just saw a recipe online for making a daffodil salve. My first thought, since my son brings me all sorts of flowers home from the garden shop that he works in, was not to use them. Thanks for mentioning it although I always do my research first!


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## Dahila (Apr 24, 2015)

Chefmom no one is telling you to use benadryl it should be used only when serious allergic reaction occurs. Plantain weed is the best (I infuse it in oil) for the hives, or scabs or whatever is torturing you.  Add some lavender and camomile,  peppermint EOS it will help you a lot.   Stinging nettle is absolutely the best for skin allergies 
I am allergic to so many things is easier to say what I am not allergic to)  Still with the epi pen in my purse I go everywhere and do not use meds.  Epi pen is just in case if I bang into honey bee.  We have a whole lot of herbs that help, and no need to use over counter meds.  Because you can get them without prescription it does not mean that they are safe


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## tbeck3579 (Apr 25, 2015)

Obsidian said:


> tbeck3579, daffodils are toxic and shouldn't be used in bath & body products. If you want a nice yellow, try calendula petals. Probably not much survives the lye but better safe then sorry.



Daffodil BULBS are great, and a gardeners (me) friend .  They survive a long time because they are poisonous to the critters who like to supplement their diets with my bulbs: deer, ground squirrels, gophers, etc. I certainly wouldn't pick one and eat it like an onion  

I think of botanicals like mushroom hunting -- pick or use the wrong one for the wrong purpose, or eat the wrong one without using the correct process, and I'll be sorry (or possibly dead).  Interestingly, cashews, which I love, are toxic until processed -- even the process can be toxic.   

There are many sources on the botanical benefits of daffodils.  I would probably do a Google search before I decided to use them or not use them.


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## Chefmom (Apr 25, 2015)

Dahila said:


> Chefmom no one is telling you to use benadryl it should be used only when serious allergic reaction occurs. Plantain weed is the best (I infuse it in oil) for the hives, or scabs or whatever is torturing you.  Add some lavender and camomile,  peppermint EOS it will help you a lot.   Stinging nettle is absolutely the best for skin allergies
> I am allergic to so many things is easier to say what I am not allergic to)  Still with the epi pen in my purse I go everywhere and do not use meds.  Epi pen is just in case if I bang into honey bee.  We have a whole lot of herbs that help, and no need to use over counter meds.  Because you can get them without prescription it does not mean that they are safe



I agree about the plantain!!  This issue happened to me in the middle of winter, and I had no plantain oil left to use....no calendula, no yarrow.  My homegrown stores of chamomile never seem to stretch over the winter enough, so I now back them up with purchased chamomile when I run out.  I only had a small amount of comfrey oil.  I now buy stinging nettle tea, so that I have it on hand when needed and I also now use it in soap as a powder as well.  I have learned a big lesson to infuse more than you think you need.  

I mentioned the benadryl because it seems like the first word out of everyones mouth when I mention any kind of reaction is benadryl, cream or pills.  It hits me hard.  I took it once a long time ago before I learned about herbs and it knocks me out.

I usually use lavender, tea tree, rosemary in my herbal blend soaps and salves.  They work great with my skin and the combo smells lovely.  

http://www.soapmakingforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/



Cjchrissy said:


> Interesting you should mention that daffodils are poisonous, I just saw a recipe online for making a daffodil salve. My first thought, since my son brings me all sorts of flowers home from the garden shop that he works in, was not to use them. Thanks for mentioning it although I always do my research first!



Are you sure it wasn't Dandelion salve?  It's spring and its all the rage everywhere to be making salves and soaps with dandelions, as well as wine.


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## Cjchrissy (Apr 25, 2015)

Hi chefmom, no it was definetly daffodil, I was drying dandelions at the time and was thinking that it was strange. Maybe a spellcheck error


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## tbeck3579 (Apr 27, 2015)

Cjchrissy said:


> Hi chefmom, no it was definetly daffodil, I was drying dandelions at the time and was thinking that it was strange. Maybe a spellcheck error ��



I should begin this with one of those stupid "kids don't try this at home" warnings, hehehe.  Really, unless you are sensitive to them, or eating them like onions...  Oh well, never mind.  

Daffodils have many beneficial properties, along with toxic, and have been used to heal wounds by generations past.  They do contain antiseptic properties, antibacterial properties, and antifungal!  I can't think of another flower that does that.  Researchers are CURRENTLY performing cancer studies, and alzheimer studies.  BTW, the toxic properties survive the heat from cooking -- just an FYI.  You can buy daffodil oil and it is used in several high-end perfumes.  Just do your research and be willing to live with your decision if you use them.  I certainly am not advocating for anyone else to try it.  I'm not using them for their color -- color is nice but very low on  my priority list when it comes to my soap.


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## Cjchrissy (Apr 27, 2015)

Did a quick check in my botanical book and daffodils cause extreme vomiting and attacks the central nervous system. Like any herb one uses, they must do their research and use in moderation.


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## topofmurrayhill (Apr 27, 2015)

Cjchrissy said:


> Did a quick check in my botanical book and daffodils cause extreme vomiting and attacks the central nervous system. Like any herb one uses, they must do their research and use in moderation.



Sounds like whiskey.


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Apr 30, 2015)

xiddo said:


> No matter there has how many benefits, soap bubbles only stay a short time on our skin. So you can add anything you like and the premise is harmless.



While I think that soap bubbles are indeed on the skin for so short a time that benefits from things are hard to come by, I think it is rather dangerous to take that to mean that anything bad can be added because it will also not react.

That is just plain wrong, as we know from people reacting to EOs or FOs, lye heavy soaps and so on.


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