A little wigged out...

[SafetyManiac]

Hi All,

I'm relatively new to wet shaving and had my first shave with Mama Bear's soap (Toasted Coconut) earlier this evening. I just got my package this afternoon and couldn't wait to try one of the soaps. As soon as I applied it to my face I began to feel the burn. I quickly completed the shave and cooled my face down. In hindsight I probably should have just stopped and cleaned it off, but I chose to work through it.

This is only the 2nd "real" shave soap I've used. My 1st is an Ogallala soap, which doesn't give me a reaction per se, but I have noticed a little tingle if the soap is left on for some time during the 2nd pass. I apparently have discovered that I have sensitive skin. I'm reluctant to call Sue at Mama Bear's at this time. I'm a little embarrassed. I would like to get some thoughts of others with more experience first.

Obviously the Toasted Coconut is being put aside and may have to be traded away. My concern is that this will happen with the other MB scents. I've been really looking forward to trying many of the MB scents and have bought a tub of Aged Spice and a few sample slivers to try out. I'm going to need to try the other scents to see what happens.

Is there anything in the soap that you know of that commonly causes the reaction that I should be on the lookout for when choosing soaps?

Worst case scenario is that I'm not going to be able to use MB soaps, and that has me a little wigged out. Any thoughts or personal experiences you can share is much welcomed. Thanks in advance.

 

[funkyb]

First - glad to hear your excitement with wetshaving and I hope you enjoy the ride.

There's a lot of great products out there and I wouldn't sweat it if you find one brand or another doesn't agree with your skin. I had a bad experience with conk soaps and also with the musgo real lime glyce oil pre shave soap. It may take some experimenting to find what works best, but hang in there and I'm confident you'll find plenty of wonderful stuff that works.

You might want to try ordering some soap and cream samples. There are several vendors and manufacturers that do that. TheShaveDenStore is a good place to start, T&H sells a sampler for creams, and I'm sure there are many others that do the same. You could even try posting a WTB message in the BST forum - this forum has tons of great people who know how to play enabler quite well

 

[Topgumby]

I feel for you. I seem to have a leather face, and nothing really bothers it, but I can understand how unsettling that must be.

Try something with little or no added fragrance. Good luck, and if can't work with the coconut, somebody will want it on the BST.

 

[LinuxMintyFresh]

Mama Bear's was the only brand of soaps that gave me a burn like that as well. You might be limited to buying only her soaps made with essential oil, as opposed to her fragrance oil soaps.

 

[media]

It sounds to me like a problem with technique, not the soap. Use less pressure, Im guessing the tingling feeling is a little razor burn. less pressure.

Good luck!

Edit: So it burned on application? Im sorry it looked to me like it was the 2nd pass only. Dont mind me...

 

[82R100]

Mama Bear soaps are more "highly fragranced" than most. She manages to offer out of this world scents and that makes these soaps really fun. Unfortunately, some of the soaps cause some people problems. The best thing you can do, unfortunately, is look to trade the soap for something else (another Mama Bear's soap of a different scent might work). Some people are affected by the essential oils, others by the fragrance oils. They're just in higher concentrations, seemingly, in these soaps.

- Chris

 

[cvac]

One thing to keep in mind is that once your face has been burnt from a reaction it will suffer from residual irritation no matter what you use after. So I'd let your face heal up before trying everything else.

As a general rule, a lot of homemade type soaps are pretty heavily fragranced. Triple milled soaps tend to be lighter in scent. Some light scents can still irritate. It's all about trial and error if you have sensitive skin. Some things I would personally avoid are lavender/floral scents, bay rum, and almond scents. Those are frequent culprits.

My favorite soap is Pre de Provence. Lots of guys with sensitive skin use this one with no problems.

Mama Bear also has an UNSCENTED soap that might be perfect for you.

 

[SafetyManiac]

Thanks for all of your feedback on this issue.

Because the scent does not seem to be a powerful as the Toasted Coconut, I recently took a chance with the MB sample of Frankincense and Myrrh. I was relieved to have had no problems. I also tried the Spice Island and also no problems.

I'm taking your advise and will procede with a little caution while I continue to experiment. I'm just glad to at least be able to use some scented soaps because it's a part of the shaving experience, at least it is for me at this time.

Also, as media has advised in his response, I need to continue to be aware of my technique to avoid razor burn. I picked up a Merkur 34C HD as my first DE because I wanted a little extra weight in the hand. Which means I need to be extra careful not be applying any pressure. However, I know I've been doing this a bit. Thanks media for the reminder.

Thanks again for your responses. It is very much appreciated.

 

[Defcon5]

I've been pretty lucky so far. The only one that burns me is the sandalwood vanilla. I can even use Beau Brummel without a problem.

However i do notice that if I am trying to recover from a product burn like that, i can often run to the safety of a cream after taking a day off or so. There's a few creams like from Salter or Castle Forbes that seem repair my skin pretty quick.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Also, the concentration of your lather makes a big difference - if you don't add enough water a lot of scented soaps/creams can be pretty irritating.

 

[Tricky]

Aged Spice and Mountain Waters lights my face right up. Too bad, because I do enjoy her soaps and their scents.

 

[SafetyManiac]

I have a sample of the Sandalwood Vanilla that I'm going to try later today, which Defcon5 mentioned that it burned him up.

I have a tub of the Aged Spice, which just from smelling the intensity, I suspect may burn me up.

I'm pretty confident in my lathering. For about 3 months I practiced face prep and lathering using Williams while continuing to use a Mach 3 before making the switch to a DE. However, there is always room for improvment.

If anything, it's going to be fun experimenting.

 

[higgy08]

I just used the sandalwood vanilla. It's my first mama bear soap and it burned my face pretty bad. It smells great my face just can't handle it I guess. :/

 

[EvilGobi]

The toasted coconut also burned my face, but I have tried two other of her products (Basil & Lime, Czars Choice Citron Sage) and have had absoluetly now problems with them. I will be buying samples from her in the future as I suspect it is just something in the toasted coconut that doesn't agree with my face and I do love her soaps.

 

[Blue_2]

The toasted coconut also burned my face, but I have tried two other of her products (Basil & Lime, Czars Choice Citron Sage) and have had absoluetly now problems with them. I will be buying samples from her in the future as I suspect it is just something in the toasted coconut that doesn't agree with my face and I do love her soaps.

You're in a great position to email Sue. Since you've had both success and failure with her custom products, she'll be able to narrow down the potential culprits better than anyone.

 

[SafetyManiac]

Fortunately, the Sandalwood Vanilla wasn't a problem for me. I guess I'll be putting up the Toasted Coconut and the Aged Spice up for a trade one day.

 

[Dean W]

I just shaved for the 2nd time using Mama Bear's Spellbound Woods which is my first purchase. I love the scent and the lather seems fine, but have noticed a burn as well. It isn't severe, but definitely not comfortable and is lasting most of the day. I am going to have to take it out of the mix and use something more mild tomorrow and see if I can isolate the issue. I'm pretty confident it's the soap and am really disappointed.

I may have to save it and either give it away or trade someone.

Another example of YMMV! With all of the great reviews, it seemed like a no brainer.

 

[kingfisher]

I never put a soap on my face until I've tested it on my arm. For MB soaps, it's kinda hard, but get a tiny piece of it under a fingernail and then rub it onto your forearm, just below the inside of your elbow and leave it on there for 24 hours. If any redness or irritation develops, don't use the soap.

I do this for ALL my soaps, not just MB.


I'm glad you were able to use the Frankincense and Myrhh. I have that soap, too. I think it smells heavenly. I use it 2-3 times/week. One of my favorite shave products.

 

[jtb]

Aged spice burns my face. I'll probably be looking to trade it away.
Actually, I think I'll post it now