Pine tar soap and EO

[meeplesoap]

Hi all Happy to have discovered the SMF!

Recently my testers have asked about pine tar soap for psoriasis. Obviously I cannot claim on my packaging that it works for psoriasis, but I am certainly open to trying it if people want it. My question is this...

On the video I found about pine tar soap, it doesn't mention the ratio of pine tar to oils. She also includes EO (lime and tea tree if I remember correctly.) However, wouldn't someone with sensitive skin (psoriasis) stay away from fragranced products? Having eczema I tend to avoid fragrance, but perhaps psoriasis doesn't present the same issues.

(About me... longtime crafter, started soaping a few years ago. I've had enough people want to buy soap, that I'm exploring business options. Since I'm in the process of procuring insurance, tax id, licenses, etc, I'm not selling yet, but expect to likely by holiday 2013.)

 

[lsg]

Have you watched this video? It is not necessary to add essential oils to a recipe if you don't want to.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxn9Y4I1kC0[/ame]

 

[Mockingbird Ramble]

I love the pine tar soap I made, I did. 20% and used a green tea/saltwater for the lye.

 

[meeplesoap]

Yes, that is the one I watched! I know you do not have to add the EO, I was just wondering if adding EO/FO to a soap made for people with skin issues is wise. I know the pine tar has a strong smell, so perhaps it smells too gross without some sort of EO?

Regardless, I ordered the lime and tea tree. I'll match two batches, one with and one without and see what my testers say. (Of course, I can do other scents too, but not having made PTS before it seems prudent to "follow the leader" to begin with!)

 

[Mockingbird Ramble]

The thing you need to remember is pine tar has a smoky smell to it, so your scent had better mix well with that. Next batch I want to add pine.

 

[DeeAnna]

If you want to use basic EOs you might have available, rosemary is a good resinous, "piney" scent to consider. Lavender and cedarwood are other common EOs that can also create a spicy, woodsy overtone. The scents, if you do use them, do need to be bold enough to blend with the smoky, heavy pine tar odor. Think of the pine tar as the base note in your scent blend.

Edit: To me, the odor of pine tar is a smoky, hot-rubber aroma, at least the Bickmore brand I used. I'm not a real fan, but DH really likes it. The odor does (thankfully) fade -- I made a batch just over a week ago and it's not smelling up my soap storage area anymore (well, not too much anyway). I am also beginning to pick up the high and middle notes from the EOs I used. I was going for sharp piney, resinous, woody notes to go with the smokiness of the pine tar.

 

[Lucidcat2]

I haven't done a pine tar soap yet, but, it's definitely on the back-burner for the future. I hope you'll let us know how it turns out.

 

[bodhi]

Hi all Happy to have discovered the SMF!

On the video I found about pine tar soap, it doesn't mention the ratio of pine tar to oils. She also includes EO (lime and tea tree if I remember correctly.) However, wouldn't someone with sensitive skin (psoriasis) stay away from fragranced products? Having eczema I tend to avoid fragrance, but perhaps psoriasis doesn't present the same issues.

Synthetic fragrances or anything labeled fragrance should be avoided like the plague in all products used by people with sensitive skin/allergies/any health issues. EO's are another animal entirely. Allergies are possible with anything, but EO's are herbal products and as long as you know what you are doing(which is usually much more than following a percentage rule) they are fine for sensitive skin. For psoirasis and eczema what you need to avoid are eo's that can exacerbate the underlying issue.

 

[judymoody]

I make PT for my sister's friend who has psoriasis and I leave it unscented. Smells like turpentine to me (in a good way). I use PT at 20%