This recipe is pissing me off.

[Haven]

My husband has this horrific rash on his stomach. I've got like, 13 bars of soap in the shower, and he lets me know which ones bother it and which ones don't. I thought I would try something with really high numbers on soapcalc on the conditioning, and not care about the cleansing. Here's what I came up with.


Tallow 15 oz
Lard 15 oz
Olive Pomace 10 oz
Sweet Almond 5 oz
HO Sunflower 2.5
Castor 2.5
Lye 6.62

It called for 19 oz of water, 14 of that I used cucumber and the rest distilled water. I added powdered goats's milk after the cook (I do OHP), sugar in the lye water, 1 tsp PPO, and a 1 inch square of silk. No fragrance.

The soapcalc numbers are

Hardness 34
Cleansing 3
Condition 63
Bubbly 7
Creamy 36
Iodine 66
INS 127


Out of all the bars I have made, it's the ONLY one that dried me out. My skin was "squeaky clean" and my face felt horrible afterward. And it's making me mad because it's supposed to be so conditioning! My husband said it didn't do that to him, but it felt awful to me.

Maybe I'm missing something. The only thing I can think of is that the pomace was a new brand I tried, and it didn't smell right. Like some of the chemicals they used to process it came through.

Any thoughts?

 

[BubbleBitch]

I'm no expert, but having done some extensive research on Olive Oil pomace, I found out that some brands use chemical additives to maintain shelf life. Maybe this new brand ur trying is one of them?

 

[Haven]

That's all I can think of. And that I'm reacting to it.

Serves me right trying to save 5 bucks. :roll:

 

[BubbleBitch]

I know how you feel. Right now, I am working on a rather stringent budget and I cannot afford (literally!) any mistakes or disappointments from any of the products I will buy online...I am trying hard to save a buck here, a couple bucks there...only after I'm through, will I know if I should have sucked it up and spent more on certain things...

Based on what ppl. on here have suggested...is there a way you can re-batch the offending soap and make it more moisturizing?

 

[Haven]

It should be moisturizing as hell, so I wouldn't know how.

 

[scorpiofire]

Maybe its the cucumber, its knowed to be an astringent and usually used in products for oily skin. Just a thought.

 

[carebear]

how much cure time have you given it? despite what some think, I've found that at least 2 weeks cure is necessary for maximum mildness.

and are you sure your scale is measuring properly?

 

[Haven]

I've used cucumber before and it was ok. But my next try I'll remember that.

It only cured about a week, I'll give it a little longer and see how it is. I just got a new scale and it seems to be fine, but I'll check it.

I think it's the pomace. I couldn't figure out what it smelled like, and my husband smelled it and said it smelled like a room that had been painted with oil base paint. Ick.

Thanks for your help!

 

[carebear]

I dunno about the pomace. Yes it's extracted using solvents but heck, so are coconut (in most cases) and many other oils.

There's the potential for ANY oil to be adulterated, especially olive these days, but pomace is already low end so it isn't likely IMO.

Did you get it from Columbus Foods? Cause if you did Mike runs tests on his oils to check them and you can call and talk to him about it. Don't know about other suppliers though.

And if you got it from a store I'd triple check the label.

MY experience with CF pomace is that it speeds trace, does not give me quite the stark white of their regular OO, but otherwise behaves identically.

(oh and did you zap-test it? are you sure all the free lye is gone?)

 

[Haven]

I got it at Grocery Outlet.

I went online, checked the distributor and brand and they looked ok. I am going to take it back if I can. I've used pomace for awhile with no problems, but none of the ones I used smelled like this.

I did tongue test it, and it was fine.

Live and learn, I guess.