by solveeczema | Sep 13, 2007 | About Products
As I wrote in an earlier post, I have recently tried dozens of bar soaps. The prospect of sharing that experience is somewhat daunting. I share my own personal opinion; the experiences of others will depend on factors like skin type, individual sensitivities, individual needs, even local humidity. My experience will not be everyone’s.
I have done my best to determine that each of these products is a true soap, but as I recommend on the site, always, always check first.
Because I tried so many soaps, I am going to split this feedback into several posts, and sort the soaps into broad categories only:
A) Bar soaps I liked the best: neutral, relatively non-drying, but still left the skin feeling clean, even soft and neutral.
B) Bar soaps I thought were pretty good and neutral, but didn’t make my A-list for one reason or another, such as leaving a lot of soap residue on sink surfaces, having an overwhelming perfume, etc.
C) Bar soaps I found moisturizing that perhaps didn’t leave the skin feeling as clean as I would like.
D) Bar soaps I personally found too drying to use regularly. (Note that some of these are very popular soaps; individual experiences will vary. I list them here to provide as many choices as possible.)
Since I’ve already posted some of my A-list, I’ll start with a few choices in
Category B:
Bar soaps I thought were pretty good and neutral, but didn’t make my A-list for one reason or another.
Canus Goat’s Milk Soap, Naturally Rich Moisturizing
Johnson’s Baby Soap Bar
Skin Milk Bath Bar
Fruits & Passion French-Milled Soap Fieldberries
Green Tea Herbal Soap by Earth Therapeutics
Savon Deluxe Almond and Oatmeal
A special comment on the last two products: both would have made my A-list except for two reasons: strong or unusual scents and the fact that both are exfoliating products with hard granules in them. That’s a problem for me, but it might make the products desirable to someone else.
by solveeczema | Aug 28, 2007 | About Eczema, About Products, Solveeczema.org
Early on in my search for soaps, I asked a local saddlery about products. I must have had the term “saddle soap” in the back of my mind – I figured I’d find soap products for washing horses that would likely be fine for humans, too.
I was surprised to find that all of the products available for washing horses were detergent-based, most using sodium lauryl sulfate. I did a little hunting on the web, only to find that horses are having eczema problems in recent years, especially certain breeds. Family pets get eczema, too – You don’t even necessarily have to wash them to expose them to detergents, they get significant exposure just from detergents in modern household dust.
And it sure seems to me from everything I have read that the underlying causes (plural) as outlined on my site are the same as in humans. Makes sense.
I hear myself say this over and over, but … Although my site is geared to parents of babies with severe eczema – people who need to see rapid and dramatic results for infants who have the most permeable skin – if you read and understand the underlying issues, it’s possible to make sense of and solve eczema in pets.
I don’t know if eczema in pets makes them less cute and cuddly and more likely to be abandoned or worse (especially since detergent-caused eczema would be present early on), or if current trends of offering more advanced medical care to pets would make caring for a pet with eczema more common. The information I can find about eczema in family pets is very sketchy, so I fear the former may be an issue. I’d love to know more about the problem from anyone who works with animals.
Please contact me through the web site, via the feedback links on the home page.
http://www.solveeczema.org
by solveeczema | Jul 31, 2007 | About Products
The same day I wrote a recommendation for a soap containing tea tree oil, I heard from a pharmacist about a paper that suggested a possible link between the use of products containing lavender and tea tree oils and gynecomastia (breast enlargement) in young boys. Only 3 cases prompted the study, but the researchers also did in vitro studies demonstrating endocrine disruption activity by both lavender and tea tree oils. And, when the each of the boys ceased using the personal care products with those oils, the gynecomastia resolved. (I should note that the only oil all of the boys used was lavender; only one of the boys used a product containing tea tree oil, and that product also contained lavender.)
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jan2007/niehs-31.htm
The NIH letter was careful not to draw any conclusions, it merely alerted the medical profession to the study. Per the study author, there still is much work to be done to draw any conclusions. As always, the issue of exposure strength and duration is a big question mark when it comes to applying this study more broadly. (I would personally want to know if the products were detergent products – probably so, one definitely was – another factor in exposure because of increased membrane permeability.) And there are other endocrine disruptors in most modern environments, such as plasticizers, which were not concurrently studied or considered and could be an additive factor.
The pharmacist who wrote me said her professional opinion would be for parents to avoid products with these oils (lavender and tea tree oil). Children do have more permeable skin than adults.
In the interest of providing as much perspective as possible, I am also including a link to an article by respected naturopath Dr. Randall Neustaedter. It discusses both sides of the issue regarding tea tree oil. [link]
Allergic contact dermatitis to tea tree oil is another potential concern [link 1][link 2], if anything, more well-documented than the above.
All I have to say is that I believe in erring on the side of caution with kids.
by solveeczema | Jul 31, 2007 | About Products
As I mentioned in a previous post, Caress appears to have a nearly identical surfactant formula to the old unscented Dove. Now that I’ve tried it, I’m not sure I like it that much. I don’t know if it’s because the added shea butter or Vitamin E (depending on the flavor) makes it feel different and rinse less well, or something else.
I’m also wondering if the parent company is going to keep the surfactant formula in Caress the same, rather than switching it over as they have Dove. I have looked at Caress boxes in various drugstores and discount stores – if they were going to switch over to the new Dove surfactant, they probably would have by now. This is all my speculation, I have no idea what will happen.
In the meantime, I’m bringing all those extra boxes I bought of Caress back to the store. Because of the way Caress rinses, it doesn’t appear to be a good replacement for the old unscented Dove per the solveeczema web site, even though the surfactant formula is almost the same. However, provided the product is labeled properly (and hasn’t also been switched to the new surfactant in Dove for Sensitive Skin), and the additional ingredients don’t otherwise cause individual allergy, the product should be okay for those with detergent-reactive eczema.
I say SHOULD, but I don’t have the kind of empirical information on Caress that I had on unscented Dove. Always test. True soaps are a very narrowly defined surfactant, so I can say that all true soaps are fine. Anything else really requires a lot more information.
by solveeczema | Jul 31, 2007 | About Products
Here’s a real find:
http://www.lcdpmarseille.com/
I tried the Savon de Marseille Extra Pur Orange. It’s a liquid soap with a heavenly fragrance. The ingredients are: Water, Potassium Cocoate, Fragrance, Glycerin, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Cocos Nucifera, Tetrasodium EDTA, BHT, Limonene, Linalool, Citral. It seems to clean well without drying, very nice. The scent doesn’t seem to remain on my hands, but washing with this stuff is a little dose of aromatherapy. There are other similarly wonderful scents, like grapefruit and apple.
The only drawback seems to be the price. Ouch. Imported from France.
A wonderful surprise in the bar soap realm is Tea Tree Therapy Vegetable Base Soap with Tea Tree Oil. Made in USA, distributed by Tea Tree Therapy, Inc., Ventura, CA. This is a great bar soap that gets the skin clean, rinses well, is not drying yet doesn’t leave any sticky feeling as some more moisturizing soaps do. Tea tree oil is supposed to be a natural antiseptic. This soap has a fragrance, but it’s so mild, I initially thought it was unscented. I hope they keep it that way!
Ingredients of Tea Tree Therapy Vegetable Base Soap: Vegetable Base (Sodium Palmate and Sodium Cocoate), Purified Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Natural Fragrance, Titanium Dioxide, Sodium Chloride, Tea Tree Oil, Iron Oxide, Tetra Sodium Etidronate, Tetra Sodium EDTA.
Note: Please see later entry in this blog about tea tree oil and potential concerns with children.
by solveeczema | Jul 26, 2007 | About Products
Interesting links about soap and detergent markets:
About natural soap sales: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=470727
About detergent sales: http://www.purchasing.com/article/CA6297730.html
As noted on my site, many “natural” washing products are essentially plant-based detergents. But there are many true soap lines out there – profitable for major manufacturers AND smaller handcrafted soap makers – and sales of handcrafted soaps appear to be increasing. I assumed these product lines were miniscule compared to detergent lines; if you factor in “natural” detergents, perhaps they are.
It’s interesting, though, to note the strong consumer demand for natural personal care products. At least by these sources – and admittedly, I just found them with quick Google searches, not by thorough review – the natural personal care industry is a major player and growing fast.
What will detergent makers – and “natural” product makers – do about this over time, I wonder? The problem of eczema and dermatitis seems to be great enough to significantly impact demand for “natural” products; too bad for these consumers that marketing hype seems to be the biggest driver in this industry for now.
However … as major organic food producers learned, they should never underestimate the intelligence and underlying motivations of “natural” product buyers. Natural personal care product standards are under scrutiny. Stay tuned.
