Please Help with some ingredients

[Cerbul13]

Can anyone that knows more about cosmetic ingredients help me a bit deciding which one from the following list of ingredients can cause intense burn on my face once I've done my WTG pass? Also, it was very visible the redness of my face in the parts where I usually get a bit of razor burn. So technically, every damage to my face be it small/invisibile, is becoming very red and feels like burning once I started to shave with this soap.

Here is the list:
Sodium Palmate, Sorbitol, Sodium Cocoate, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Parfum, Palm Fatty Acid, Coconut Fatty Acid, Titanium Dioxide, Pentasodium Penetate, Tetrasodium Etidronate.

I can conclude that the Parfum (which seems to be a fragrance) is most likely the cause of such burn, yet I want to make sure if there is any other ingredient that can cause such a thing.

 

[david1201]

It is most likely the Parfum - generally my problem.

Mike's Natural Soap, Mystic Water, are great artisan vendors here in the states that use Essential Oils, I expect someone from Europe will chime in with some more example from your side of the pond.

 

[Cerbul13]

I had so far very mild reactions to the chemicals in other soaps/creams, mild to the point where I couldn't be 100% sure that it was just a bad shave or a reaction. Only when I first tested a soap that caused absolutely no reaction is when I understood what happened to me.
This soap that I posted the ingredients there has a very strong scent, and caused me a very severe reaction. I simply had to stop using it during the very first shave, so hard it felt the burning.
I already have in plan to buy some really natural shave soap, but I have a hard time deciding if it really is or not entirely natural/irritation free.
Is unfortunate to have some companies having a soap named "unscented X", when it actually contains fragrance...

 

[franz]

From what you are saying, it sounds like the fragrance may be to blame. Skin reactions to heavy fragrances in soaps and creams are very common. Whether it is the fragrance or not, it can be hard to isolate/predict the specific ingredient your skin is sensitive to; in my experience it's a matter of trial and error. Try testing a new soap/cream on the inside of your wrist (for several hours) before putting it on your face. You may also want to go back to products your skin's tolerated well in the past to rule out an issue with technique or some other variable.

Good luck.

 

[Barbiere di Figaro]

The fragrance or the coconut oil.

That's why TFS uses hazelnut oil in their cuore di lavanda, to be better suited for sensitive skin. They also use a more refined coconut oil.

 

[VerbaVolant]

The following errors occurred with your submission

• Cerbul13 has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space.

One of the best soaps there is:

Martin de Candre

 

[celestino]

It is most likely the Parfum - generally my problem.

Mike's Natural Soap, Mystic Water, are great artisan vendors here in the states that use Essential Oils, I expect someone from Europe will chime in with some more example from your side of the pond.

+1 These are great, but since you are in Europe, i would try to get some Jabonman or Martin de Candre (MdC) as they have very, very simple ingredients. Good luck.

 

[JBLA]

One of the best soaps there is:

Martin de Candre

I'm not disputing the quality of the soap, but did anybody else get the feeling that whoever set up the website photos wasn't real familiar with the whole wet shaving process?

So many pretty things in that picture; too bad the lather isn't one of them.

 

[Barbiere di Figaro]

I'm not disputing the quality of the soap, but did anybody else get the feeling that whoever set up the website photos wasn't real familiar with the whole wet shaving process?

So many pretty things in that picture; too bad the lather isn't one of them.

Great observation!

Maybe they want to show that this is the lather you get just by opening the jar?

 

[Barbiere di Figaro]

It depends on the sensitivity: anyone who is allergic to tree nuts can have a problem with hazelnut oil.

Hi Michelle,

I just offer the explanation given by Tcheon Fung Sing.

From the web, I see the following about hazelnut oil:

You’ll also find hazelnut oil as an essential oil, and in a number of skincare products. Companies boast of its restorative qualities and the fact that it has some astringency. It may be one of the oils best used on people who have occasional skin breakouts.

We have had a number of customers who would have some kind of allergy towards some soaps but didn't get any reaction with the Cuore di Lavanda.

Have a nice Sunday,

Eric

 

[Cerbul13]

One of the best soaps there is:

Martin de Candre

Problem solved Got plenty of inbox space now.

I found some options for unscented soaps, but none are tallow based. I shouldn't have any problem with tallow based soaps, since my everyday soap is tallow based as well, and I tolerate it perfectly, not to mention that I actually love the tallow feeling from it when I wash my face.
I would love to find out what tallow based unscented shaving soap I can find in europe.

 

[Barbiere di Figaro]

Hi Michelle,

The info about the hazelnut oil aciidentally was about hazelnut oil as an essential oil, but I know that in case of shavingsoaps it is used as a carrier oil.

Besides the theory about these oils, I am always happy that some customers can do a wetshave without irritaition, as soon as they use this soap.

Thanks,

Eric

 

[Cerbul13]

This might be a dumb question. However, I will play: if I love coconut and all nuts/peanuts, and I have absolutely no allergy to them, in the contrary, I actually look forward to eat them, does that means that I shouldn't have any allergy to them? Also, the allergy only happens when I already did 1 pass, in order to have micro-cuts/burns, and is appearing as a burn, having all those spots getting really red.

I wish I knew more about chemistry, but my primary purpose here is not to find the least allergenic shaving soap, cause I am sure that I can use something scentless/very low substance, and will spend the rest of my life with it... I wish instead I could find what exactly is causing me this burn reaction, so that I can have a larger variety of products for me to use. Is kind of unpleasant to shut myself into a "use this soap only" and give up on the opportunity to try arko and tabac for the rest of my life

I also noticed that there are a lot of substances that can become soap, and I have no clue what to avoid and what not, what can be harmful, and what not. If I am allergic to any oil that is a main ingredient in the soap, then I obviously have to avoid that oil for the rest of my life. What I do not know is if is normal to be allergic to an oil that becomes soap or not. I can understand that if an oil is used as perfume, then is obvious that if I am allergic to it, will react with my face. But what about the substances that become soap? I would like to learn more about it since I am into this..

 

[Evbo]

Try an unscented tallow soap with, and another without, lanolin. If your skin can tolerate both, odds are that some component having to do with scent was your problem.

 

[franz]

I would love to find out what tallow based unscented shaving soap I can find in europe.

Try Valobra stick.

 

[Cerbul13]

Valobra Stick Ingredients: Sodium Tallowate, Aqua, Potassium Palmitate, Potassium Stearate, Sodium Palmitate, Sodium Stearate, Sodium Cocoate, Potassium Cocoate, Glycerin, Palmitic Acid, Stearic Acid, Stearic Acid, Cocos Nucifera, Lecithin, Parfum, Petrolatum, Zea Mays, Tocopheryl Acetate, C.I. 77891.


It does contain Parfum which can cause me reactions, as they are most likely fragrance based.
It contains Tocopheryl Acetate: "Human skin toxicant or allergen - strong evidence"

So I guess I will pass on this one.

 

[VerbaVolant]

I do apologize but I find some of your statements confusing and contradictory. I have a simple question: is there a soap/cream that you can use now for two, three weeks without any, and I mean any irritation, burn sensation, redness or any uncomfortable feeling?

How can you discern between redness due to skin reaction to what you call "harmful/toxic" chemical and redness due to razor burn caused by poor lather?

Also, it was very visible the redness of my face in the parts where I usually get a bit of razor burn...

I believe "every damage to my face" will end in redness and burning sensation:

...So technically, every damage to my face be it small/invisibile, is becoming very red and feels like burning once I started to shave with this soap.

Before you start going in circles trying to choose between ingredients, can you try to apply lather from a particular soap/cream on your face two days after your redness/burn/discomfort is gone? If already tried, can you tell us if you get the same reaction? Can you discern between irritation caused by chemicals and mechanical damage to skin?


What is the soap that gives you great shaves?

Only when I first tested a soap that caused absolutely no reaction...

 

[Cerbul13]

I perfectly understand your questions.
Proraso is a pretty mild skin irritant for me, as mild as I was almost not sure if is there or not.
However, I can't find the word that describes the fact that when a blade passes over your skin, it will damage your skin a bit. Is this called rash? burn? scratch?. I was not aware of this invisible damage, and I was sure that the WTG pass is perfectly clean on every single shave I had before. But once I tried another soap this weekend, I felt a huge burn on my face, and started to notice that all those spots where I usually get irritated, are now red-brown, right after the second pass.
And trust me, is not the small red bumps around the hair follicle, those red spots are bigger zones, some places up to 0.5 square cm. Those never happened before, I never cut myself during the first 3 passes anyway, and those zones where it seems to be micro damages, hurt like hell. So the damage is invisible to naked eye, and only becomes red once I put lather on my face for the second pass. It starts to sting, and all those spots go red.
This soap gave me the amplified burn that I had from proraso before. BEA stick is the one that proved me that the proraso soap is somewhat irritant to me, by comparison.

Here are the soaps/creams I tested so far:

1. Palmolive Cream - it burns my face pretty bad, I stopped using it.

2. Proraso for sensitive skin - this was pretty mild at start, and got a bit more harsh over time, still, not too aggressive, but is there.

3. Dr. Harris Naturals - I've never experienced anything so harsh as this one. This soap proved me that the redness I get is irritation from an ingredient. My face gets red/brownish in those sensible spots I was talking about.

4. BEA stick, is not so easy to work with this, as is a small stick which I need to rub into my brush to be able to lather properly. Due to this way of creating lather, I needed to reapply some to my brush after 2 passes, as the lather wasn't stable enough. But guess what, it gave me the most comfortable shaves ever. Absolutely no redness after. It seems stupid I know as is not an expensive product, and the smell is pretty much not there, though it says parfume on ingredients. I tried to apply it directly to my face, but is not that easy as it is a hard soap. Yet, even if I abused my face more using this stick due to the fact that is a stick that I can't apply directly to face, it still gave me the most irritation free shaves ever.