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Skin irritation due to soap fragrance. Never say never

So that's new to me. I've tried plenty of (heavily scented) soaps but never had any issues till a couple of days ago. I knew the existence of this but I was surprised to find out that some soap fragrances actually irritate my skin.... And of all soaps I had issues with was MDC Original and Stirling Barbershop. A friend of mine recently purchased a tub of MDC and had irritation so I grabbed it for a couple of shaves and I was shocked to find out that it irritated me as well. MDC isn't notorious for its strongly scented soaps so it could be a faulty batch (Fougere and Agrumes never irritated me), anywaaaaaaaaaaay. Now to Stirling, I loved the smell of it, not your traditional Barbershop scent but more of a sweet, vanilla spin. I got an amazing shave from it. Probably one of the closest but the burning had already began after lathering up for my second pass. I seriously thought that I was "immune" to such kind of irritation but alas I was foolish and wrong. What's your experience with soap fragrance burn?
 

Hannah's Dad

I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
Another revelation. Stirling actually lists whether they use fragrance or essential oils. I will look out for those with essential oils from now one, thanks Dan.
Exactly, Billy! Some of the beef tallow scents use EO, and all of the mutton tallow scents use EO.
 
It's one of the reasons why I changed to mostly EO soaps. I've reacted to couple soaps in the past years. Ogallala Bay Rum, Stirling Barbershop, Peach, and Iced Pineapple. My skin is sensitive to clove, probably cinammon, and some fragrance oils from Stirling? I still love Stirling and own many tubs of them and I'm trying to my best to own all of the EO scents.

So far my skin hasn't reacted to any EO scents but I know some pure EO can be irritating.
 
Both MdC and Stirling Barbershop gave me burn, too. I surmised it was fragrance oils. Try to get some essential oil soaps — it made a huge difference for me.
I believe MdC uses only essential oils.

From their website:
“The discreet and refined freshness of its fragrance made from essential oils of Lavender, Mint and Rosemary immediately conquered its users!”

Essential oils are very powerful and can cause skin reaction too. So there’s that to be considered
 
Some essential oils will cause irritation with sun exposure. Bergamot is a big one, also fig. There are others. I haven't personally had an issue with it in shave soap but it's something to be aware of.
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
Lavender can absolutely be irritating, especially in high concentrations. Mike’s Hungarian lavender lights me up like a blowtorch - I might as well shave with a Bernz-O-Matic. And my skin is not especially sensitive. CRSW Savon #1 made me tingle and also contained Hungarian lavender - the scent is excellent though. English, French, and Spanish no problem - so far.

MdC does not use fragrance oils AFAIK.
 
With age, I've gotten this with creams and a couple of croaps (H et V). Previously comfortable products started causing a mild version of the way people describe frag burn. I don't want to cause a goose chase, but could it be another ingredient?
 
I had some Stirling Executive Man and it gave me irritation so I gave it away. I liked the soap and scent too so it was a real disappointment. I would love to try some other Stirling soaps but I have put them on my Do Not Buy list for the time being.
 
I have to be careful as to what soaps I use. The ones I can use with confidence are Proraso, SV and meißner. The worst for my skin is pamolive cream. It brings my skin out in reddish bumps.
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
So that's new to me. I've tried plenty of (heavily scented) soaps but never had any issues till a couple of days ago. I knew the existence of this but I was surprised to find out that some soap fragrances actually irritate my skin.... And of all soaps I had issues with was MDC Original and Stirling Barbershop. A friend of mine recently purchased a tub of MDC and had irritation so I grabbed it for a couple of shaves and I was shocked to find out that it irritated me as well. MDC isn't notorious for its strongly scented soaps so it could be a faulty batch (Fougere and Agrumes never irritated me), anywaaaaaaaaaaay. Now to Stirling, I loved the smell of it, not your traditional Barbershop scent but more of a sweet, vanilla spin. I got an amazing shave from it. Probably one of the closest but the burning had already began after lathering up for my second pass. I seriously thought that I was "immune" to such kind of irritation but alas I was foolish and wrong. What's your experience with soap fragrance burn?
Anything with menthol

Cella

Tabac
 
With MdC, leave the soap open for a few days on the countertop and give it another shot. You might pleasantly surprised.
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
With MdC, leave the soap open for a few days on the countertop and give it another shot. You might pleasantly surprised.
That's actually a great idea. I wonder if that would help me with some of the stronger ones that I have?
 
That's actually a great idea. I wonder if that would help me with some of the stronger ones that I have?
You mean non-MdC ones or just MdC? I can't comment on non-MdC. With MdC, original causes irritation when brand new, but after a couple of days of leaving it open, I do just fine with it. With Vetyver and Agrumes, I didn't have any problems from the get go. My first MdC buy was a Fougere and I BST'ed it because it irritated my skin and I didn't know then that leaving it open would help.
 
Only soap company I have ever had an issue with is Chiseled Face had issues with Ghost Town Barber and Loyal I think was the other after having it on my face about half way through the first pass it started to tingle then a slight burn. I thought it was the base at the time but thinking about it now I believe both those scents have some commonalities so could have just been something in those.
 
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