So far all my recipes are drying. Any advice?

[chloe]

I've been soaping since last summer and have yet to find a recipe that is non-drying. My husband included.
I've tried lowering my coconut oil %, replacing coconut with palm kernel, upping my superfat, adding yogurt, flipping my recipes upside down. I've made some soap high in olive oil but still waiting a bit for it to cure.

Any advice? Any moisturizing recipes? Is it possible that CP soap is just drying for some people?

 

[girlishcharm2004]

Do you mind sharing your recipe? What are your oils and what is the percentage of your oils? How much of the additives are you using? What is your superfat?

 

[ClaraSuds]

Any advice? Any moisturizing recipes? Is it possible that CP soap is just drying for some people?

Everyone's skin is different. For me, even 5% coconut oil is too much with a 10% superfat. I can't fathom a soap with say 25% coconut oil, even though plenty of people find that an awesome soap. I now only make 100% OO castille. It's the only soap I truly enjoy. Gotta find what you love.

 

[Susie]

Have you tried lard? My favorite recipe is this:

5-8% Superfat
55% Lard
20% CO
20% OO
5% Castor Oil

Lard solved my dry skin issues for the winter. If you want to drop the CO to 15%, up the lard to 60%.

 

[Obsidian]

Some people just can't use CP but before you give up, can you check what your cleansing numbers are and what is your highest SF? One of my absolutely favorite bars is 80% lard, 20% palm kernel flakes with 8% SF. Its not super bubbly but just feels great on my dry skin.

Its also possibly you and hubby are sensitive to coconut. Have you tried a soap with out coconut or palm kernel? Maybe a 50% OO, 50% lard or palm would work better. I always use minimum 8% SF, any lower and my skin just doesn't like it.

Everyone's skin is different. For me, even 5% coconut oil is too much with a 10% superfat. I can't fathom a soap with say 25% coconut oil, even though plenty of people find that an awesome soap. I now only make 100% OO castille. It's the only soap I truly enjoy. Gotta find what you love.

Another example of how peoples skin differs. I can't use castile no matter what the SF or how long its cured. It dries me out something terrible.

 

[Little-Bits-N-Pieces]

I have a coffee scrub loaf of soap that is 45% CO with a 12% superfat and it was awesome for me, so I ditto that everyones skin is different. If you have dry skin, you need a high conditioning, low cleansing, higher superfat bar. I personally have oily skin, so 5% superfat, high CO is fine for me. I'm playing around with other recipes for my friends and family who have drier skin than me.

 

[girlishcharm2004]

Susie's recipe is very good!

I don't have dry skin in particular, but I didn't find castile soap to be all that moisturizing. I made a 100% olive oil soap with 5% superfat that left my face feeling tight and uncomfortable.

One that I do like is a 100% tallow soap with 10% superfat. I only used tallow because I don't have lard, but I highly recommend getting your hands on the stuff!

 

[Lbrown123]

I also have a hubby with skin like a lizard. I have been experimenting for two years with soaps for him. SO far his favorite bar has been a salt bar. I recently made a lard/ tallow bar with a small amount of olive and coconut. Waiting for the cure. Good luck but it is a great excuse to make more soap!

 

[Dorado]

Let the soaps mature 8 weeks instead of 4, before use, it might help.

 

[Ruthie]

Another vote for lard here! And tallow, too, though not as much. And yes, be sure you cure it long enough. For my skin, 4 weeks is not long enough. 8 is better and 3 months is even better.

 

[chloe]

Do you mind sharing your recipe? What are your oils and what is the percentage of your oils? How much of the additives are you using? What is your superfat?

Here's one recipe that I made using 8% superfat with a tiny bit of cocoa powder, and TD:

 

[chloe]

Lots of votes for lard! I was trying to stay away from animal oils since lots of my family are vegetarians. Anyone selling lard soap? I'll definitely purchase a couple bars to test it!

 

[chloe]

I also have a hubby with skin like a lizard. I have been experimenting for two years with soaps for him. SO far his favorite bar has been a salt bar. I recently made a lard/ tallow bar with a small amount of olive and coconut. Waiting for the cure. Good luck but it is a great excuse to make more soap!

Was your salt bar made with coconut oil?

 

[chloe]

Some people just can't use CP but before you give up, can you check what your cleansing numbers are and what is your highest SF? One of my absolutely favorite bars is 80% lard, 20% palm kernel flakes with 8% SF. Its not super bubbly but just feels great on my dry skin.

Its also possibly you and hubby are sensitive to coconut. Have you tried a soap with out coconut or palm kernel? Maybe a 50% OO, 50% lard or palm would work better. I always use minimum 8% SF, any lower and my skin just doesn't like it.



Another example of how peoples skin differs. I can't use castile no matter what the SF or how long its cured. It dries me out something terrible.

I'm definitely not going to give up. I'm pretty obsessed with soap-making . I try to keep my cleansing numbers low. I'll post numbers tomorrow. And yes, I have cut out coconut oil. Is palm kernel known to be drying as well? I'm going to give the 50 oo and 50 palm oil a shot. Thank you so much!

 

[chloe]

So 40% of your soap is made with a fairly cleansing oil. Do you use similar quantities of palm and palm kernel in all your soaps? If so, it could be what's feeling drying. It's pretty similar to coconut oil in that regard. Maybe knock this back to say 20% and use some more emollient oils.

I see! I'd say my cleansing oils range around 25-40% in my recipes. I'll try to cut back to 20% and let you know how things go! I think I've been keeping palm around that % to keep me happy with my soap calc results. But maybe I need to balance my oils better.
Thanks for the tip!

 

[Lion Of Judah]

Quick Question : how long have you been using handmade soap ? how long do you cure your soap for before using it ?
looking at your recipe there is nothing wrong with it in the way of numbers , the cleansing is low which is good and the conditioning is great as well . i would try taking out either the pko or the palm and use 1 Tspn of sugar ppo for bubbles and 1 Tspn ppo for hardness and up your SF one or two points first to see if that helps any.

 

[chloe]

Quick Question : how long have you been using handmade soap ? how long do you cure your soap for before using it ?
looking at your recipe there is nothing wrong with it in the way of numbers , the cleansing is low which is good and the conditioning is great as well . i would try taking out either the pko or the palm and use 1 Tspn of sugar ppo for bubbles and 1 Tspn ppo for hardness and up your SF one or two points first to see if that helps any.

I've been using handmade soap for about a year. I cure my soaps for at least a month. For the soaps with high OO longer.
Thanks so much for the advice! I'm going to try this next! Will let you know how it turns out!

 

[Lion Of Judah]

when i first started using handmade soap [switching from store bought ] i had a period of time where my skin was dry after showering , i found that upping the SF from 5% to 8% worked , i also lowered my "cleaning" oils some . now i can bring down my SF to 7% and sometimes 5% with no problem depending on the amount of cleaning oils in the recipe .

 

[cmzaha]

if you want to pm me your address I will send you a sample of a 100% soapie made with tallow shortening and a sample made with 100% lard. These have no fragrance added but you will get the feel of the two fats. In many of my recipes I use coconut or pko at 15% with 5% superfat with no drying. These are the few I up superfat
[email protected]

 

[Saponista]

I have real problems with CO and can only use it at 5% or I find it really drying to my skin. I also agree that lard makes a really moisturising bar with great skin feel.