# Ugh, my soap is drying out my skin



## MatthewDM (Sep 15, 2014)

My handmade CP soap has been drying out my skin.  I realized that I was using too much coconut oil (30%) so I reduced it to 20% but it is still drying out my skin. What oils should I add to address this problem?  Should I reduce the coconut oil even more?

here is my current recipe:
30% Pomace Olive Oil
25% Palm oil
20% Coconut
10% Advocado
10% Shea butter
5% sunflower seed oil


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## holistichonnies (Sep 15, 2014)

I dont have an answer for you but ALL soap does this to me 
believe it or not I dont actually use soap myself for this very reason.


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## Obsidian (Sep 15, 2014)

What is your superfat and how long ago did you make the new soap? I have dry skin, use 20% coconut oil but I have to SF between 8% and 10%. I also have to let my soap cure for at least 2 months, longer is better.

You could always try another recipe, could be you are sensitive to coconut. Here is one I quite like

50% lard or palm
40% OO
10% coconut
SF 8%


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## CanaDawn (Sep 15, 2014)

I have lots of questions:

What is your superfat level?  What is your water like?  What did you use before soap?  When you say drying out your skin, is it making your skin feel tight temporarily after you wash, irritated later on, or is it causing redness flaking or a rash over several uses?  Do you use any fragrance in your soap?  How long have you cured it for?

I use a far higher coconut oil soap (80%) and have no problem at all but generally have very sensitive skin.  It's all dependent on your own preferences and results.  It may not be the coconut oil specifically...you may be reacting to another ingredient.


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## shunt2011 (Sep 15, 2014)

Yes, questions...what superfat how long of a cure.  Soap needs a good cure to become gentler and milder.  I've made a 100% Coconut soap and it's not drying at all but it depends on the superfat etc.  As previously stated it could be the fragrance your adding or perhaps your skin just doesn't like coconut.   So, there are many variables that could be causing your issues.  You may need to try a bastille or castile without coconut oil and see how that works.


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## MatthewDM (Sep 15, 2014)

1.  I superfat with 3% shea butter at light trace
2.  I use goat's milk instead of water
3. Before soap I used old spice body wash
4. My skin actually feels fine, not irritated at all but is ashy after I dry off after the shower
5.  it cured for about 18 days before I used it



CanaDawn said:


> I have lots of questions:
> 
> What is your superfat level? What is your water like? What did you use before soap? When you say drying out your skin, is it making your skin feel tight temporarily after you wash, irritated later on, or is it causing redness flaking or a rash over several uses? Do you use any fragrance in your soap? How long have you cured it for?
> 
> I use a far higher coconut oil soap (80%) and have no problem at all but generally have very sensitive skin. It's all dependent on your own preferences and results. It may not be the coconut oil specifically...you may be reacting to another ingredient.


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## MatthewDM (Sep 15, 2014)

Oh and, I did not use any colorants, fragrances or EO. 



CanaDawn said:


> I have lots of questions:
> 
> What is your superfat level? What is your water like? What did you use before soap? When you say drying out your skin, is it making your skin feel tight temporarily after you wash, irritated later on, or is it causing redness flaking or a rash over several uses? Do you use any fragrance in your soap? How long have you cured it for?
> 
> I use a far higher coconut oil soap (80%) and have no problem at all but generally have very sensitive skin. It's all dependent on your own preferences and results. It may not be the coconut oil specifically...you may be reacting to another ingredient.


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## MatthewDM (Sep 15, 2014)

I only let it cure for 18 days... I am starting to think after seeing peoples responses that this could be the culprit. 



shunt2011 said:


> Yes, questions...what superfat how long of a cure. Soap needs a good cure to become gentler and milder. I've made a 100% Coconut soap and it's not drying at all but it depends on the superfat etc. As previously stated it could be the fragrance your adding or perhaps your skin just doesn't like coconut. So, there are many variables that could be causing your issues. You may need to try a bastille or castile without coconut oil and see how that works.


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## Ellacho (Sep 15, 2014)

I would try to make a castile or bastile soap using goat's milk or/and aloe vera juice as liquid. I would also cure it for 4 ~ 6 months.  It did wonders for some of my friends who have dry skin.


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## Obsidian (Sep 15, 2014)

Yeah, its most likely that the lack of a cure is the problem. Try your soap again at 4 weeks, then at 6 and again at 8. Next batch, raise your SF to at least 5%.


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## CanaDawn (Sep 15, 2014)

MatthewDM said:


> 1.  I superfat with 3% shea butter at light trace
> 2.  I use goat's milk instead of water
> 3. Before soap I used old spice body wash
> 4. My skin actually feels fine, not irritated at all but is ashy after I dry off after the shower
> 5.  it cured for about 18 days before I used it



I personally dislike shea in soap, but that's just me. 
You can't choose your superfat oil unless you HP.  Lye will not leave one oil alone just because you intended it to superfat.
I personally would die of itchy skin and fragrance overload if I used old spice body wash, just saying to illustrate the individual differences! 
I don't really know much about the term "ashy" but if it feels fine, why do you think it is dry?
18 days is a fairly short cure, but I have used soap younger than that with no problem.  It definitely improves with longer cure, but it may be a factor for you.


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## shunt2011 (Sep 15, 2014)

3% superfat may not be enough for your skin.  I superfat at 7%.  Also, you can add all your oils and butters together.  Unless your doing HP there is no guarantee the Shea is what's going to be your superfat as the lye takes what it wants.  Using GM will up your superfat some.   I would start with just letting it cure 4-6 weeks and try it again.


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## CanaDawn (Sep 15, 2014)

another thought:  sometimes if I change what I use on my skin, I find I need to exfoliate, because it almost seems like the new product changes things enough that my skin's outer layer of cells comes off.  Not in a bad way, just like the dead skin that got "used to" the old product comes off with the new product.  Generally I just rub off that layer, and it's fine.  Could that be part of the "ashy" effect?  

Also, if you have hard water, it could be leaving a film on your skin as the soap mixes with the minerals in the water.  Do you get much soap "scum" in the tub?


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## DeeAnna (Sep 15, 2014)

Are you sure it's the soap that's causing the ash? Or is it the body wash AND the soap together? Honestly, washing up with 2 separate products seems like waaaaay overkill to me -- one or t'other, but not both. As far as the ash, I agree with CanaDawn -- you might need to exfoliate. Not sure where you are located, but the heat and humidity are dropping here in Iowa as fall comes on. The simple change of seasons also affects the appearance of the skin.


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## lionprincess00 (Sep 15, 2014)

MatthewDM said:


> My handmade CP soap has been drying out my skin.  I realized that I was using too much coconut oil (30%) so I reduced it to 20% but it is still drying out my skin. What oils should I add to address this problem?  Should I reduce the coconut oil even more?
> 
> here is my current recipe:
> 30% Pomace Olive Oil
> ...



Ok. So I'm new, green new, but I've studied a ton load for a couple months before diving in. I'll do my best to help. So from my experience, 20% co can be drying to some, and definitely can be drying to many at such a low superfat. Second, palm is a hard oil with NOT an awesome conditioning number. It's hard, low on cleansing at a 1 (@ 100% usage), BUT also 49 on conditioning factor (@ 100% usage). My overall conditioning I try to keep at a 58ish total conditioning at the lowest; if using tallow, and if palm/animal fat free appx a 60 plus on conditioning. You are currently at a 56/conditioning and 14 cleansing with avocado butter, and 58/conditioning with 14 cleansing if using avocado oil EDIT, you said avocado but I don't see if it was oil or butter.....end EDIT hehe.(if I did that correctly....my arm brace is on and I'm typing on a screen the size of a gnat :-/ makes it hard to maintain accuracy lol!). I'd raise the conditioning to appx 60 and keep cleansing where you're at now.


finally, I've read pomace olive traces faster than regular... and though the numbers look the same, I can only assume the qualities felt are different. I'd stick to regular ole olive.


So. I'll offer my "green experience" opinion...

Superfat  it's above and beyond what you leave on your skin in way of _un_ saponified oils. You sap the oils and fat with lye, and excess gets left behind to moisturize. You're leaving 3%, and the basic recipes for beginners recommend 5%, and finally I've found between 7-9% rocks on silkiness. If using goat milk, try 7% superfat at the least if you're dry, and the goats milk will raise it to almost 8% because of the fats in milk being saponified. Just a suggestion  

second, yes!!! You can't add anything at trace for superfatting because lye take what lye wants and it continues to do this for at least 24 hrs, and up to 72+ hrs. If you try to superfat at trace, it means nothing for the lye is still active. lick the batter at trace and see if you get zapped :-/ if you do, it's active and is taking what it wants when it wants...lol. (no don't really do that. It'll probably hurt. A lot. Bad.) So superfat by adding into the lye calc, but don't assume the Shea or the xyz butter is what superfatted your batch. It will wind up a combo of things. 

Third, I'd offer advice as to lowering the palm some, leaving the co at 18- 20% and upping the superfat to 7-8%. I'd say keep conditioning to 58-62 and cleansing to 12-14 since you're dried out, and adjust within these ranges. I'd keep Shea, maybe try tallow in place of palm (up to 30-40% tallow, or palm to 15-20% tops), and consider adding rice bran oil or sweet almond. Both have a better shelf life than sunflower and are very conditioning. I think my fave oil, so far, is sweet almond. Love it!!

Rambled I fear, so apologies!! Good luck with it!


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## lionprincess00 (Sep 16, 2014)

Oh, and yes! A 4-6 wk cure minimum for optimal usage...or so I've read ;-)


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## CanaDawn (Sep 16, 2014)

DeeAnna said:


> Are you sure it's the soap that's causing the ash? Or is it the body wash AND the soap together? Honestly, washing up with 2 separate products seems like waaaaay overkill to me -- one or t'other, but not both.



I asked what he has used in the past, before he used soap, and that's where the wash came into the discussion.  My question was to see what the skin was "used to" being washed with, and how things felt with the previous products.  I see where it was a bit confusing.


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## MatthewDM (Sep 16, 2014)

Good call! Thanks!



Obsidian said:


> Yeah, its most likely that the lack of a cure is the problem. Try your soap again at 4 weeks, then at 6 and again at 8. Next batch, raise your SF to at least 5%.


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## Susie (Sep 16, 2014)

Are you completely opposed to using lard?  If not, i have another suggestion.  But, cure time will help tremendously.


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## MatthewDM (Sep 16, 2014)

Exactly


CanaDawn said:


> I asked what he has used in the past, before he used soap, and that's where the wash came into the discussion.  My question was to see what the skin was "used to" being washed with, and how things felt with the previous products.  I see where it was a bit confusing.


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## CanaDawn (Sep 16, 2014)

lionprincess00 said:


> Ok. So I'm new, green new, but I've studied a ton load for a couple months before diving in. I'll do my best to help. So from my experience, 20% co can be drying to some, and definitely can be drying to many at such a low superfat.



But the skin reportedly feels fine, not tight or irritated, which is what I would consider "drying" - so I'm still wondering if we're barking up the right tree.




lionprincess00 said:


> Superfat  it's above and beyond what you leave on your skin in way of _un_ saponified oils. You sap the oils and fat with lye, and excess gets left behind to moisturize.



Picky point maybe, but soap is to clean, and will not moisturise.  Oil doesn't moisturise either.  Moisture (water) does.  Oil prevents evaporation, and provides lubrication.  You can either leave the natural oil on the skin with a low cleansing soap, or leave a residue on the skin with a superfat.  (or both, I suppose, but for me that feels awful - I know some people love a highly conditioning soap, though.)  That's called "conditioning", but not "moisturising".  

I think I would still suggest the same things though.  Exfoliate to see if the ashiness is just dead skin sloughing off rather than the soap drying you out, try a slightly higher superfat, don't worry too much about the coconut percentage right now, since your skin isn't tight or uncomfortable, and change one thing at a time in your soap (make small batches) until you like what you are producing.  

Just my thoughts as we explore the situation!


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## MatthewDM (Sep 16, 2014)

Thanks so much!!!




lionprincess00 said:


> Ok. So I'm new, green new, but I've studied a ton load for a couple months before diving in. I'll do my best to help. So from my experience, 20% co can be drying to some, and definitely can be drying to many at such a low superfat. Second, palm is a hard oil with NOT an awesome conditioning number. It's hard, low on cleansing at a 1 (@ 100% usage), BUT also 49 on conditioning factor (@ 100% usage). My overall conditioning I try to keep at a 58ish total conditioning at the lowest; if using tallow, and if palm/animal fat free appx a 60 plus on conditioning. You are currently at a 56/conditioning and 14 cleansing with avocado butter, and 58/conditioning with 14 cleansing if using avocado oil EDIT, you said avocado but I don't see if it was oil or butter.....end EDIT hehe.(if I did that correctly....my arm brace is on and I'm typing on a screen the size of a gnat :-/ makes it hard to maintain accuracy lol!). I'd raise the conditioning to appx 60 and keep cleansing where you're at now.
> 
> 
> finally, I've read pomace olive traces faster than regular... and though the numbers look the same, I can only assume the qualities felt are different. I'd stick to regular ole olive.
> ...


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## jade-15 (Sep 16, 2014)

Agree with what's been said about the cure time.
I read some suggested recipes blogs and wonder if these people have ever TRIED their soap - eventually I realised it's probably just my skin.  I like a 'cleansing' value of 14 or less (in soapcalc).  Usually getting this sort of level means I have low bubbles and hardness (depending on the mix I'm using) so I usually add some sugar for bubbles, and sodium lactate for hardness.
One soap I'm loving more and more is Canolive (... or is it Canolive II... ) from millersoap.
http://www.millersoap.com/soapallveg.html#Canolive

Otherwise, my standard recipe has around 20-22% coconut oil.


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## cmzaha (Sep 16, 2014)

jade-15 said:


> Agree with what's been said about the cure time.
> I read some suggested recipes blogs and wonder if these people have ever TRIED their soap - eventually I realised it's probably just my skin. I like a 'cleansing' value of 14 or less (in soapcalc). Usually getting this sort of level means I have low bubbles and hardness (depending on the mix I'm using) so I usually add some sugar for bubbles, and sodium lactate for hardness.
> One soap I'm loving more and more is Canolive (... or is it Canolive II... ) from millersoap.
> http://www.millersoap.com/soapallveg.html#Canolive
> ...


I love the Canolive II it is a great feeling soap. I also keep low cleansing numbers in many soaps and superfat between 2-3 depending on what my coconut oil percentage is. To low a cleansing and a 5% or above just does not feel like it rinses off. I hate washing with oil and my plumbing like the lower superfatting much better. 
I have one customer that finds her dark skin becomes ashy with products the contain clay.  I just learned that one a few weeks ago


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## lionprincess00 (Sep 16, 2014)

CanaDawn said:


> But the skin reportedly feels fine, not tight or irritated, which is what I would consider "drying" - so I'm still wondering if we're barking up the right tree.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I meant condition. When not selling a slip of words is easy, what with not needing to label as soap or as cosmetic based on claims or make zero claims and label a soap, and moisturizing I _think_ is a cosmetic claim etc etc etc.

 Yes, condition is what I intended last night


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## lionprincess00 (Sep 16, 2014)

And I would like to say, some soaps feel drying and I experience an ash like thing several minutes after washing. It doesn't feel tight nor itchy, but _does_, for all intensive purposes, feel drying. It is to the point I need a little lotion when I experience this. Not itchy or irritated, but drying. But that's just me.


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## LazyUmbrella (Sep 16, 2014)

interesting points made about how with CP you can't really control what gets superfatted!
In the past I have tried to add my desired superfatting oil at the last possible minute thinking I could fool the lye - but i guess you can't fool the lye!


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## seven (Sep 17, 2014)

LazyUmbrella said:


> interesting points made about how with CP you can't really control what gets superfatted!
> In the past I have tried to add my desired superfatting oil at the last possible minute thinking I could fool the lye - but i guess you can't fool the lye!



it's quite logical, with CP, even if you try to add your SF oil at trace there is still lots of active lye present. there is no way one can dictate the lye to pick and choose which oil it is for SF. different case with HP, after the cook (and after passing the zap test) one can assume that no active lye is present, therefore oils added afterwards can act as SF.


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## CanaDawn (Sep 17, 2014)

lionprincess00 said:


> And I would like to say, some soaps feel drying and I experience an ash like thing several minutes after washing. It doesn't feel tight nor itchy, but _does_, for all intensive purposes, feel drying. It is to the point I need a little lotion when I experience this. Not itchy or irritated, but drying. But that's just me.



I would say up the superfat level then.  It would act somewhat like a little lotion, ime.


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## sagehill (Sep 18, 2014)

MatthewDM said:


> My handmade CP soap has been drying out my skin.  I realized that I was using too much coconut oil (30%) so I reduced it to 20% but it is still drying out my skin. What oils should I add to address this problem?  Should I reduce the coconut oil even more?


I used palm oil at first many years ago, because I fell for the "veggie oils are best" line; then I switched to lard and liked that much better. I also used to use a lot of shea and other butters, but despite the label appeal of butters, those who use my soap much prefer the simpler "regular" soaps. My skin doesn't like butters in soap either, so I've since decided it's much better and more cost effective to use them applied directly to the skin like in whipped butters, etc.

My customers' favorite soap, nen especially, is 30% lard, 30% coconut oil and 40% pomace, at 6% superfat and 30% lye concentration, per SoapCalc: http://soapcalc.net/calc/SoapCalcWP.asp 

My women users seem to prefer 30% lard, 20% coconut oil, 30% pomace, and 20% avocado, 7% SF and 30% lye concentration. Replacing just 2-3% of the avocado with jojoba can make a difference too and looks good on the label. I charge a little more for these soaps to cover the more expensive costs.

I've also made 50% coconut and 50% pomace at 15% SF that customers say is quite nice and conditioning, but that recipe is quite fast-tracing so I tend to avoid it; pomace tends to be fast-tracing, anyway. I mention this recipe only because high coconut does not necessarily mean drying.

What IS drying and can really make your skin feel itchy and dry even without soap, is hard water, especially high calcium water... and upping the superfat won't make much if any difference.  When I first started making soap years ago, friends and customers raved how my soap felt like  lotion was applied after washing. I never could feel that effect myself until I tried my soap in softened water at a friend's house. The difference was quite eye-opening.

Lastly I should point out that if you are washing your hands with different soap 20 times a day to compare recipes, as even I still sometimes do, even the best soap is going to be drying!   
	

	
	
		
		

		
			






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


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## judymoody (Sep 18, 2014)

You also might want to try a recipe with no coconut oil at all.  Some people are skin sensitive/allergic to it.

But before that, as has been already mentioned, I'd up the SF to 8% and give it 6 weeks' cure.


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## Rathi (May 30, 2018)

I have been switching over to lot of brands since years , finally my searching option ends when I started using Verdura skin care soap. A good solution for my sensitive skin, Can anyone suggest the ingredients of that soap , which I can add for my soap making.


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## DeeAnna (May 30, 2018)

Rathi said:


> ...Just pay a visit to (website deleted)....



This is an old post and your message seems suspiciously like a coy ad for a business. 

If you have a legitimate question, start a new thread and introduce yourself. If you want product help, then provide a _direct link to the product_ you want to know more about, not just a link to the main website.


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## shunt2011 (May 30, 2018)

I’ve removed the link.  Please read the forum rules.


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## Pjclark1 (May 31, 2018)

I use 50% coconut oil and superfat at 20%. All the fats are in at the start.


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## shunt2011 (May 31, 2018)

Pjclark1 said:


> I use 50% coconut oil and superfat at 20%. All the fats are in at the start.


This post is 4 years old.  OP's not been here since 2014. Your soap would leave way too much extra oils on my skin at 20% SF and only 50% CO.


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