Maximum Superfat

[Obsidian]

I'm wondering if you are just sensitive to one of your ingredients? My skin hates olive oil, if I use more than 20% I get tight, dry skin. I've actually completely stopped using OO, instead I use HO safflower.

Maybe try a couple test batches, one with no coconut and one a different oleic oil. When I first started soaping, I tried increasing SF to counter the tight skin but it never helped. I even made a 25% SF once, it was slightly oily and lathered weakly. It did leave a oily film on the skin but due to the OO, I ended up with dry/tight oily skin. It was terrible.

I kept playing around with my recipe until I found one that my skin likes. Too bad you can't use lard, it may very well be the ingredient you need.

Its also possible you just can't use lye soap on your face. I can't without it getting dry. I still use it but I know I'll have to use a moisturiser afterwards.
I've actually returned to store bought cleansers for my face. Cold cream to remove make up, Eucerin cleanser for regular washing.
When I do use soap, I do so with only my hands. Any kind of washcloth just makes it more stripping.

 

[earlene]

Remember this is wash-off, so the excess oil isn't staying on the skin even while you are washing. Your skin is not absorbing this excess oil, because while washing you are using friction (if you are washing normally.) It's only there for a few seconds, then down the drain it goes. I really think you would be better off eliminating CO from your recipe if such a low percentage of CO is so drying to your skin.

Or look at the other other oils in the recipe and consider that something else in the recipe is causing that dryness. A couple of folks here at SMF find that their skin does not respond well to OO, as Obsidian mentions above, so it's not unheard of that other oils in soap can cause dryness. It really does depend on ones own skin.

Increasing SF tends to cause plumbing problems for folks who live in houses with very old plumbing or thinner plumbing pipes as reported by a few soapers here at SMF. I prefer to use a low SF in most of my soaps so I am not introducing more stuff to clog the drains. Additionally, the higher SF also creates more soap scum and increases the need to clean the sinks, too. IMO high SF is really more of a waste of oil than beneficial.

ETA: Like Obsidian, I do not use soap on my face either. Some folks facial skin don't respond well to soap.

 

[Dean]

When I first started soaping, I tried increasing SF to counter the tight skin but it never helped. I even made a 25% SF once, it was slightly oily and lathered weakly. It did leave a oily film on the skin but due to the OO, I ended up with dry/tight oily skin. It was terrible.

25% SF = 1/4 moisterizing cream. U made Dove! JK. Thx for sharing. U confirmed my hypothesis that u have to go very high on the SF to get a result, albeit not the one u wanted. Im curious what % CO or lauric+myristic was ur 25% SF soap.

For sometime now Ive been cleansing my face with only hydrosol. Will go back to it. Waiting for shipments to make a gentle facial cleanser/moisturizer.

 

[Obsidian]

25% SF = 1/4 moisterizing cream. U made Dove! JK. Thx for sharing. U confirmed my hypothesis that u have to go very high on the SF to get a result, albeit not the one u wanted. Im curious what % CO or lauric+myristic was ur 25% SF soap.

For sometime now Ive been cleansing my face with only hydrosol. Will go back to it. Waiting for shipments to make a gentle facial cleanser/moisturizer.

Lol, the only moisturizing ingredient in dove is water. Its been a long time since I made the 25% SF and I no longer have the notes but most likely the coconut was 20%-25%
Nowadays, I use coconut at 15%-20%, depending on who the soap is for. I might even go a bit lower if its mostly for me.