What's your opinion?

[jenfrat]

I was at a craft fair recently and while looking at the various booths noticed a soapmaker. Of course I had to go and check her stuff out...I not only love making soap, but I love using it whether it's mine or another's!

Anyway, I didn't end up buying any mainly because her top three ingredients were listed as coconut oil, sweet almond oil, shea butter...



There were no other soaping oils listed, so I'm assuming this had to be a pretty coconut oil heavy bar, correct? I can't tolerate anything above 15% or so, so I figured it would dry me out.



I've been thinking though, would the sweet almond and shea counteract that? I've been fiddling with numbers in soapcalc (color me curious) but I can't come up with a combo that doesn't have extremely high cleansing factors yet keeps the oil amounts higher than the water and lye.



Thanks for feeding my curiosity!

 

[Obsidian]

Sounds like its quite high in coconut and would be drying. I generally ask the % of coconut before I buy a bar from other soapers, if its over 20% I don't buy as I can't tolerate high cleansing.

 

[shunt2011]

Superfat and other oils would play part in the whole. I make an 80% CO, 10% Avocado, 5% Shea & 5% Castor at 25% superfat. It's an awesome bar of soap. Then of course there are salt bars that I love most of all with the same type recipe.

 

[Mellifera]

My skin is pretty dry in winter, but I'm finding that I can tolerate a high-coconut oil bar in combination with palm and rice bran. It surprised me. I've made the 100% coconut salt bars, too, with 20% superfat, but these are plain ol' 7% superfat bars, yet they aren't drying to me.

I see plenty of bars on the market that are real soap, but list palm as their first ingredient, and it always surprises me!