I have been wet shaving for years but have yet to try soaps. I have sensitive skin and have gone through dozens of creams and finally found a few that do not irritate my skin. If a cream irritates my skin, is it safe to assume that the same manufacturers soap would also irritate or are they completely different? For example, AOS Sandalwood cream irritates my face, but T&H Sandalwood does not. Should I assume that AOS soap will irritate and T&H wont?
Question about soaps for sensitive skin
- Thread starter ATL Jack
- Start date
I also have sensitive skin, but have found the Proraso Ultra Sensitive Skin soap to be great. Here it is on Amazon.
I pair it with their anti-irritation pre-shave and aftershave lotion. Lately I've been mixing in the Aloe and Vitamin E cream for a really killer lather.
I pair it with their anti-irritation pre-shave and aftershave lotion. Lately I've been mixing in the Aloe and Vitamin E cream for a really killer lather.
Unfortunately don't think it's possible to assume the soap version of a non-irritating cream will also be a non-irritant.
Have you yet figured out what cream ingredients are the source of your irritation?? That knowledge might go a long way
toward helping you decide what soaps are likely to be kind to your skin.
If you are sensitive to a specific fragrance, your task might be a lot easier.
Don't envy your problem... good luck in finding some great soaps which won't exacerbate your sensitivities!
John
Have you yet figured out what cream ingredients are the source of your irritation?? That knowledge might go a long way
toward helping you decide what soaps are likely to be kind to your skin.
If you are sensitive to a specific fragrance, your task might be a lot easier.
Don't envy your problem... good luck in finding some great soaps which won't exacerbate your sensitivities!
John
I also wouldn't think that you can make that assumption. If you know what causes irritation, you can look at ingredients, but then your example shows the possible flaw in that approach. I've read enough complaints about sandalwood that I remember it as a not uncommon irritant, but you can use it in one product but apparently not another. Maybe in your case sandalwood itself isn't the problem but rather something else.
- Thread starter
- #5
I spent some time listing ingredients in a spreadsheet to try to determine what might be causing the irritation but I was not able to figure it out. The ingredients in creams vary so much that I was not able to find any patterns.
- Thread starter
- #6
The most common culprit is fragrance, and odd as it may seem, the FDA allows fragrance to be used (and called "unscented") IF it is being used to merely mask the odor of the product rather than giving it an identifiable scent. That would only be the case for commercially produced soaps, not those produced by small scale artisans, who are usually scrupulous about listing ingredients. Wheat protein, coconut oil, lanolin and SLS or SLES are other possible causes but I think you can be allergic to just about anything so it will be a matter of trying samples and seeing what works. Good luck.
