Does Handmade Soap Dry Out Your Skin?
SOAP SCHOOL IS IN SESSION! :)
You get out of the shower, dry off, and five minutes later your skin feels like it's suddenly two sizes too small. Awesome. Nothing says refreshing shower quite like immediately wanting to climb into a vat of body butter.
So if you've switched to handmade soap because somebody told you it was supposed to be better for your skin and you're wondering whether handmade soap can still dry out your skin, the answer is yep. It can.
Handmade soap isn't automatically gentle just because somebody made it in a cute apron and cut it with a wavy knife.
First, Soap Is Supposed to Clean You
This seems ridiculously obvious, but it's important. Soap works because it helps water grab onto oils, dirt and assorted daily human grossness so they can be rinsed away. That's the whole point.
The problem comes when cleansing removes more oil than your skin is particularly happy about losing. That's when you can get that tight, dry, itchy feeling after washing, and different soaps can feel VERY different on your skin.
So What Makes One Soap More Drying Than Another?
A few things, starting with the recipe itself. Different oils create different qualities in finished soap. Some contribute lots of bubbly cleansing action while others contribute a milder, creamier lather. A good soap recipe isn't just oil + lye + hope for the best. It's a balancing act.
Coconut oil, for example, makes absolutely glorious bubbles and is wonderful in soap. But more isn't always better. Used at very high percentages without compensating elsewhere in the formula, it can make a bar feel much more cleansing—and potentially more drying—for some people's skin.
Then there's something called superfatting, which sounds far more exciting than it actually is. When handmade soap is formulated, the soapmaker can deliberately leave a portion of the oils unsaponified. In normal-human language, not every last bit of oil in the recipe gets turned into soap. That can help create a milder-feeling bar instead of one hell-bent on removing every molecule of oil from your body.
And then, of course, there's you.
The exact same bar of soap can make one person say, “OH MY GOD MY SKIN LOVES THIS,” while another person wants absolutely nothing to do with it. Dry skin, oily skin, sensitive skin, climate, age, medications, how often you're showering and how hot that shower is can all affect how your skin feels after you wash.
Which is why I get twitchy when somebody declares that one particular ingredient is perfect for everyone. There is no everyone.
What About Glycerin?
Here's something cool about traditional handmade soap: glycerin is naturally created during soapmaking. Commercial soap manufacturing can remove that glycerin for use in other products, while with traditional cold-process handmade soap it generally stays right there in the bar.
Glycerin is a humectant, meaning it attracts water, and that's one reason many people prefer the way a well-formulated handmade bar feels on their skin.
But—and here's the part marketing departments aren't nearly as excited about—having glycerin in a bar doesn't mean that soap is physically incapable of being drying. The whole formulation still matters.
Does “Natural” Mean Gentle?
Nope. And while we're killing sacred cows today, handmade doesn't automatically mean gentle. Natural doesn't automatically mean gentle. Herbal doesn't automatically mean gentle.
Poison ivy is natural. Nature contains some shit!!!
Essential oils can irritate some people's skin. Fragrance can bother some people's skin. Certain botanical ingredients can cause reactions. And a poorly formulated handmade soap can absolutely leave your skin unhappy.
That's why I care much more about how a product is formulated than whether somebody managed to cram the word natural onto the label twelve times.
How Do You Know If Your Soap Is Too Drying?
Your skin is actually pretty good at telling you. Pay attention to what happens after you wash. If your skin regularly feels extremely tight, itchy, flaky or uncomfortable afterward, that's useful information.
And no, “squeaky clean” isn't necessarily the goal. Clean is the goal. Your skin shouldn't feel like a fitted sheet afterward.
Try a different bar. Look for something formulated with dry or sensitive skin in mind. And don't underestimate the other thing quietly committing crimes against your skin: your shower.
If you're standing under water approximately the temperature of molten lava for twenty-five minutes, your soap may not be the only suspect. Warm water, a reasonable shower length, a gentle cleanser and moisturizer afterward if your skin needs it aren't terribly sexy advice, but they work.
So...Is Handmade Soap Better for Dry Skin?
It certainly can be. A thoughtfully formulated handmade soap can provide great cleansing without leaving your skin feeling stripped, and many people love the feel of the naturally occurring glycerin and the oils used in handcrafted bars.
But the important word there is thoughtfully. Not handmade. Not natural. Not artisan. Thoughtfully formulated.
Because handmade soap isn't magical. It's chemistry. Really, really cool chemistry that I get ridiculously excited about, but chemistry nonetheless.
And if your current soap leaves you itchy, tight and immediately reaching for lotion, you don't have to keep using it because somebody told you handmade soap was supposed to be good for you.
Your skin gets a vote.
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