topcat said:
Hey IrishLass - your soaps are divine! I can honestly almost smell them through my computer screen
I read that you have one there made from CO superfatted at 17%. May I ask is this really a one oil soap and how does it wash/feel/lather? I have been thinking hard about CO (which I love) and superfatting to help reduce its drying factor in CP so I really will appreciate feedback on your gorgeous soap especially which skin types you recommend use it.
Thanks! :wink:
Tanya
Hi Tanya!
Yes, it's only made with Coconut Oil and it feels awesome.
C.O. can be quite drying to the skin because of it's enormous cleansing power when it has been saponified, but un-saponified C.O., on the other hand, is quite a lovely and moisturizing oil. Many soapers have found out that if you increase the superfat level of the C.O soap- say anywhere from 15% to 20%- the excess non-saponified C.O. in the soap counterbalances C.O.'s normal skin-stripping effect and leaves you with a quite bubbly and mild soap.
Some people have voiced their concern (and rightfully so) over whether or not this kind of soap will get DOS, but since C.O. is actually pretty shelf stable (I know of another soaper with 3 year old coconut oil on her shelf that has not turned rancid yet), they hold up wonderfully. The first C.O soap with a 20% superfat I ever made is now one and a half years old and has never come down with DOS. (I save one bar from of all of my batches to check on periodically.)
Besides using 100% C.O., I've also made variations of this highly superfatted-type of recipe with excellent results using 70% C.O. along with cocoa butter, and/or PKO, and/or mango butter, etc. making up the remaining 30% difference.
If you ever make this kind of variation, just make sure that the other oils/fats you use to make up the difference have a strong and stable shelf life with a low % of linoliec acid. For reference, the fat with the highest linoleic acid % that I've used in this type of soap so far has been mango butter. It has a linoleic % of 7, and my soap is still holding up great at 8 months old.
As far as skin-types go, I shy away from making recomendations due to individual skin sensitivities one might have, etc.. The most I can say is that so far, I've had no complaints from among my guinea pigs, er, I mean testers. :wink: Some of them have dry skin and some of them don't, but all of my feedback with this kind of soap to date has been positive.
HTH!
IrishLass