I'm starting to develop an irritation to some of my soaps. At first they didn't seem so bad, but they seem to be causing more irritation now than when I first got them. One of them is La Toja shave stick. D.R. Harris almond is the second one. I'm pretty sure I'm going to put the up on B/S/T soon. So, my question is did any of you have trouble with entire lines of shave soap? Because I'm getting a burning irritation from D.R. Harris almond should I stay away from other Harris stuff?
Allergic reaction to soaps.
- Thread starter sandshoes
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This is new to me. What bad luck, commiserations! Does it help if you rotate the soaps more often?
I've had plenty of reactions, but never to an entire line unless they have an ingredient in common. For example, I'm allergic to menthol, so nearly every Proraso product is a non-starter for me. As far as D.R. Harris is concerned, their almond cream irritates me, but I've never had any problems with my Arlington soap. It really just depend on what in that product is causing you problems. A fair number of people develop sensitivity to almond-scented products, so you might be fine with something else from D.R. Harris. But there's no way to be sure without trying something.
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- #4
Yeah that makes sense. I guess you really don't know until you try it. I hope it's not an ingredient that all Harris soaps have... I really want to try Arlington!
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- #5
I have a handful of different soaps that I rotate and it doesn't really help much. Burning sensation comes back every time I use it
Worst case scenario, if it disagreed with you skin, you could sell it on the BST pretty easily. Arlington is always in demand.
Maybe you need to hone your straight/change your DE blade? Other than that, you might want to try a soap that specifically indicates hypoallergenic. VDH is dirt cheap and works well. Though the most mild, skin-friendly product I've tried so far is Aveda's non-lathering shave cream.
We have a couple of artisan soap makers on here that sell many scents including Dragon's Blood (Mama Bear sells over 20 scents, Honeybee about 15). Both owners have said that they have trouble with customers and certain scents and it is due to the fragrant oil or essential oil used. Sue from Mama Bear has even sent a few customers a sample of her unscented soap to see if it was the soap or a FO/EO, in all cases I know of it was the FO/EO that caused the allergic issues. In the case of Dragon's Blood Sue from MB even seriously considered dropping that scent because of the issues customers had with it. My understanding is that EOs are more likely to irritate than FOs but both can do so.
I feel your pain. Luckily, it should be the type of fragrance and/or how strong it is in the soap. If it was the soap specifically, I think you'd have trouble with regular soap too. If you are not just allergic but also have sensitive skin like me, almost any clear soap with a strong scent causes irritation, and strong smelling anything I leave open. That has really made a difference for me.
I had to get rid of 2 soaps so far because my skin reacted to them. The common denominator was coconut oil as main ingredient to the soap. You'd have to try more "pure" soaps, unscented artisan soaps or one with a relatively simple and clean formula, MDC comes to mind here. A soap for sensitive skin could work too, just make sure there's not too much other stuff in it.
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- #11
Great suggestions. I have valobra, AOS sandalwood, MWF, proraso green and white, speick cream, and tabac. Those are all fine on my skin. I had some Godrej classic cream and that burned pretty bad, as well as the La Toja and D.R. Harris Almond soap. I don't think I have particularly sensitive skin... It must be
certain oils though. Trail and error I suppose.
certain oils though. Trail and error I suppose.
