Soap Labels and your Skin

Soap is great! It gets us clean, itmakes bubbles, it smells nice... But have you ever bought a bar ofsoap that just didnt agree with your skin type? Maybe you broke outin acne or had a reaction... Well, the best thing that you can do foryour skin is to read!!

But wait... what am I looking for?

Well, first lets start out with thefront of the label. Does your “soap” actually say that it issoap? Some commercial “soaps” are actually “detergent bars”,which contain more synthetic ingredients that can cause irritations.

Next, lets look on the back at theingredients. If you are looking at a commercial bar of soap (andyou've determined that you are looking at real soap!), it may lookkind of confusing... sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate or sodium palmkernelate... sounds like a nightmare chemistry test! You're actuallylooking at the names for the natural oils that have been effected bysodium hydroxide, or lye. For instance, sodium palm kernelate is thegeneric name for Palm Kernel Oil after it has combined with lye. Manylarge soap making companies will have the generic names on theirlabels, but smaller soap makers may just stick with “tallow,coconut oil, palm kernel oil, sodium hydroxide.” Both are the same!

Now, what about your pores?

Some oils used in soap making can beclogging to pores, which can lead to break outs of acne. Some oils,such as cocoa butter, coconut oil (in large amounts), and wheat germoil are very prone to clogging pores. Other oils, like sweet almondoil and castor oil, have a low probability of clogging pores. You canfind a great list of oils here:(http://www.soapnuts.com/noncomo.html)

Once you determine your skin type, youcan work towards finding great skin products that work well with yourskin to keep it healthy, supple, and firm!

***

Wow, this is our 50th blog post! I am so proud of this milestone... And I want to celebrate!!

As a special gift to you, my sweet blog readers, when you make a purchase in my Etsy shop, use the coupon code "50BLOG" to get free shipping on your order, and you'll also receive a free surprise gift!! (Valid through May 1, 2012)