Kind of a scary question for a CP soap lover

[SudsyKat]

Does anyone find that CP soap is just drying to your face - period? I know that sounds weird. I've only been soaping for a few months, but I've made tons of soap with lots of different balances of oils. I like them all fairly well for the shower, but I have yet to find one - even 100% Olive - that doesn't dry my face. I have never had issues like this before using CP, so I know it's the soap. I actually have really good skin.

Just to reiterate, I really like my soaps for the shower - they are generally very creamy and lather well and they don't dry out my skin (on my body). I've tried everything from CO at 20% superfat to pure Olive oil. I've tried a high olive content mixed with avocado and a few others (keeping coconut under 20%). I've tried charcoal as an additive, scented, unscented, oatmeal and honey. I'm not sure what else to try.

Another thought I had is that maybe it's not drying, but maybe just not removing the dead skin cells. In other words, I get a lot of flaking in certain areas of my face. Maybe it's not really dry, but just lots of leftover skin? Just a thought.

Is this odd? Am I nuts? Does anyone else have this problem. Is there anything else I can try to improve my CP?

 

[c.a.p.]

Wow. That's too bad. My skin has been the best it's ever been since making my own soaps. I use GM for water and my base oil/fat is lard. Have you tried one with lard?

 

[Deda]

Pretty much soap cleans, it's not meant to moisturize.

My soap doesn't leave my skin dry, but then my skin isn't dry to begin with.
Have you tried drinking more water? Do you moisturize? If you do, what do you use?

Sometimes a person just can't use soap on their face, but I doubt it's the (properly made) soap. Probably just their particular skin type.

 

[SudsyKat]

I wasn't expecting the soap to moisturize necessarily, but when using other (commercial) face cleansing products, my face was fine. It was never dry before. I do moisturize, but since using CP, I have to moisturize several times a day to keep the flakes at bay. I'm disappointed, because I really want to formulate a good facial soap. Maybe it's like you said, Deda - maybe I'm just one of those people who can't use soap on my face.

 

[fionab]

I find that I have sensitive skin aswell. I found that an olive and almond bar with a superfat of 15% worked very well for me.

 

[jarvan]

SOunds like you need the soap to clean the face and then you need a new hobby...lotionmaking...to add the moisture! Haha! Just here to enable!

 

[Half Caper Farm]

My homemade GM soap is the first soap I have ever been able to use on my face without it drying up. I rarely get cracks in my fingers now, which used to be an ongoing problem every winter - and I'm in and out of water just as much if not more, with milking the cows as well as the goats. I use the soap on my hair, too, and have a lot less flakiness on my scalp.

 

[paillo]

i still have oily skin in my 50s, but find that the only soaps i can use on my face without breakouts are my salt soaps made with clays and eo's. any of the others, even facial bars with carrots and other lovely ingredients make me break out but the salt bars are AWESOME for my face! yes, i need to moisturize, but i would anyway. and i make my own facial Vitamin C moisturizer, so i never mind

 

[SudsyKat]

I think you may be right, Jarvan! Time to take up lotion making - seriously!

 

[cerelife]

Sudsy Kat, I know what you mean about the dry, flaky areas on your face! I have fairly normal 40 year-old skin..but sometimes my skin gets irritated and I have those pesky problem areas...
Since I'm so new to soaping, I've never tried to make a facial soap (LOL, I'm still working on making a great shower soap)!
I've always been something of an Aveda whore...LOVE them! But when they started disco'ing items from my beloved Tourmaline facial line, I picked up a CP soap on a whim from a shop in St. Augustine, Florida while we were on vacation. It's called "brightening soap", and I love, love, love it!!! I can't say it's moisturizing per se, but it makes my face feel sooo good and takes care of those dry, flaky areas like nothing I've ever used before. AND my skin looks wonderful...some day I will attempt to make this soap, but for now I'm just happy to know where to get it, LOL! Not to mention that this wonderful soap is $7 and works better than my $32 Aveda product that is no longer available.
Here's a link to the website, and they list ingredients on the labels of the soap (but not on the website), so you experienced soapmakers could most likely make it yourself.

http://www.hickoryridgeorganics.net/uns ... soaps.html

 

[Relle]

I've never used soap on my face, just stand under the shower and let the water clean, but do use a moisturizer as I have dry skin and I drink plenty of water which helps from the inside.

Relle.

 

[Zhuliya]

SudsyKat, how much do you superfat your facial soap?
I have made some very good facial soap (7% lye discount) which is mainly olive, with some rice bran and wheat germ oils, and I love it. It took a long time to cure and become hard enough to be used, but now it's one of my favourites.

I also suggest not to put anything scrubby on it, especially clay or other drying ingredients.

Good luck with it, I'm sure you can find a good recipe even for your very sensitive skin!

 

[TessC]

I usually don't use soap on my face (I'm a big fan of the oil cleansing method) but I made a batch of carrot-honey-buttermilk bastile (95% OO, 5% castor) and let it cure for over a year by accident (as in I put it aside for a long cure and forgot about it), and it's really nice on my face.

 

[heartandsoap]

I love CP soap but do find it will leave my face dry if I forget to moisturize afterward. Although, it does not leave my body feeling dry.

 

[tespring]

I can only use a few soaps on my face, some cause me to break out horribly. I made a special facial soap which was rebatched with carrot butter as a super fat and essential oils of rosemary, orange and grapefruit and a little bit of amazing grains which is a mixture of a few different grains for scrubbies and I can't use it...yet. It smells amazing though. I am going to let it cure a while and see if that helps, I think that I have it a little too oily. I don't have a problem with it making my face dry at all, it makes it too oily. I can use my soaps that I have let cure for a long time, the Bastille works really good.

 

[Healinya]

ph of soap is 9.5 (ish) ph of skin is 4.5-6.. Your skin is supposed to return to its normal ph shortly after, but you always need a moisturizer. It sounds like you are stripping your skin raw, I agree to try again with very mild oils and a high sf - or start making lotions lol.

(eta - it isn't necessarily the soap that makes you break out, but rather your bodies own natural defense after losing its skin's protective sebum)

 

[see]

Do you wear makeup? I ask b/c if you don't, you really don't have to wash your face w/ soap every day. I wash my face w/ soap 2-3 times a wk at most unless surfing and have to wear sunscreen.

if i wash my face w/ soap more than twice a wk, it is dry no matter what product i use.

your face is exposed to the elements more than any other part of your body, it needs all of its natural oils it can keep.

peace

 

[SudsyKat]

Wow - such great input from all of you! Thanks!

Someone asked how much I superfat my facial soap. I've tried different formulas, from a high (18%) superfatted 100% coconut to a 5-8% superfat in a variety of soaps. Maybe I need to try a higher superfat with an oil/soap that's moisturizing to begin with (rather than the coconut oil). So maybe a nice high olive content bar with high superfat to boot?

The strange thing is that my 100% olive bar (though admittedly, it's only 2 months old), gave me more of a drying problem than a lesser olive content bar that contained charcoal (it was maybe 50% olive, with avocado, coconut, palm and...I forget exactly what - I'm not at home with my notes). I really wanted to try the castille bar and actually, it was quite hard and pleasant to use even after only 2 months. But again, surprisingly, it dried my face more than the other bar. Go figure.

In any case, I don't wear makeup, but I have been washing with soap once every day (just splash with water in the am, but do use soap in the pm). Maybe I can cut down on my soap use. I'm also going to try exfoliating (separately from the soap).

Thanks again for all your help and for the input - it's nice to know I'm not the only one that has experienced this!

 

[nattynoo]

Sudykat - I know I'm a little late responding... been MIA a bit.
I too had this problem with the soap on the facething.
What I've been doing lately is...
Grate up a gentle soap, for me I use honey soap
Its not exact measurements but it seems to work
2 part grated soap
1 part shea butter
short bursts in the microwave to melt & combine
Then I add stuff like ground oatmeal/almond meal
camomile extract
ground botanticals (like lavender or cammomile flower)
& EO's like cammomlie or lavender.
Plop it into a mould & voila.
Kinda a rebatched facial bar.
Soap with all the goodies added.
They look reeeaaaallllyyyyy ugly but seem to work quiet well.

Edited for typos

 

[Zhuliya]

Wow - such great input from all of you! Thanks!
The strange thing is that my 100% olive bar (though admittedly, it's only 2 months old), gave me more of a drying problem than a lesser olive content bar that contained charcoal (it was maybe 50% olive, with avocado, coconut, palm and...I forget exactly what - I'm not at home with my notes). I really wanted to try the castille bar and actually, it was quite hard and pleasant to use even after only 2 months. But again, surprisingly, it dried my face more than the other bar. Go figure.

Uhm... I can recommend a facial soap that I use and love, it's a little expensive to make, but you only use a little for the face so it's gonna last long. I make it with 80% olive, 10% rice bran, 5% castor and 5% wheatgerm or jojoba (to add at trace or after cooking for HP). I generally superfat this at 7% and add very little tea tree eo to give it a bit of an antiseptic function, but you could just leave eo. As for the mild scrubbing effect, I generally add 1 tablespoon of rice flour PPO.