Soy wax soap . . . and your skin

[SoapSisters]

I made my first batch of soy wax soap five weeks ago. I just tried it in the shower and while I really like the hardness of the bar, it made my skin a bit dry. Here's the recipe:

28% Olive
27% Sunflower HO
20% Soy wax
12% Coconut
8% Grapeseed
5% Castor oil

4% superfat // 38% lye concentration

I used boiled down beer for the liquid and 1% citric acid dissolved in some of beer before adding to the lye water.

Fatty acid composition of my soy wax: stearic acid (88%) and palmitic (10%). I used the "soybean, fully hydrogenated" setting in the soap calculator.

My skin and I like high olive oil recipes, so I know it's not the 28% olive oil making my skin feel dry. And I always keep my coconut oil at 10 or 12% because I'm very sensitive to the cleansing effect of CO. Has anyone else had this experience with soy wax? Maybe I just need to give it a longer cure to get milder? Any insights would be very much appreciated!

 

[KiwiMoose]

I use it at 20% in all my recipes and don't find it drying at all. My sister in law loves my soap and she had sworn off bar soap years ago due to her skin issues (eczema and psoriasis). I also use CO, OO and RBO at 20% each. 10% She butter - maybe that's the difference?

 

[SeaSuds]

I use up to 27% soy wax in some of my recipes without butters and I haven't found them drying but I suppose everyone has different skin. I find adding up to 5% KOH makes them feel more gentle somehow and boosts lather especially when using less coconut oil

 

[dibbles]

I haven't used it over 10%. It still adds hardness, so you could try reducing the amount of soy wax and see what you think.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

My soy wax recipe, which is made with 25% GW 415, has 27% stearic + palmitic, 10% Lauric + myristic, 47% oleic, and 13% linoleic + linolenic. The recipe also includes CO, RBO, OO and 10% shea butter. The soy wax FA profile I use for soy wax is one the one I estimated. My recipe is not drying.

 

[SoapSisters]

Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions!! I have a 10% soy wax soap curing now, and I'll think I'll try it with shea butter next time.

 

[Seyrie5025]

I must say im impressed with recommendation to use soy wax..i try to make liquid soap on 20 percent to replace my cocoa butter as i feel the smell is awful and i got complained by my family...i hope that it will replace it and keep my soap still creamy...and indeed it is..creamy, soft in skin and the bubbles is a lot....i dont know if anyone made liquid soap with it..buti feel happy with my result...

 

[Steve85569]

I would go for the longer cure.
I took the time to crunch the numbers and the cleansing number is fairly low (8) and the "conditioning" number is fairly high (59).
The SF number will be changed by the use of citric unless you compensate for the acid.
Conditioning is in quotes because soap does not condition - it cleans.