My husband has sensitive skin, especially on his face. In the winter he always gets rosacea. He has to take an antibiotic, and says that it constantly feels like his face is on fire. It gets a little better in the warmer, more humid weather.
Over Thanksgiving his mother gave him the last bar of his grandfather’s homemade soap. He has been using it to wash his face, instead of the Aveeno/Burt’s Bees/Cetaphil/Dove/commercial bar soaps that he otherwise uses. He says that his skin feels GREAT, like it hasn’t felt for months (I guess he means, since the hot summer weather broke). It’s soft and smooth and not burning.
Since his grandfather is dead and there are no more bars of this soap, I’d like to source an adequate replacement for him. We think that part of the secret is that it is
(1) made with animal fat
(2) free of dyes and perfumes
(3) any ideas, Opal?
So please, recommendations for a truly gentle, neutral, nourishing soap based on animal fat, that isn’t one of the brands listed above? Glycerin soap is no good, either.
And what is most commercial bar soap based on these days, anyhow? I can’t imagine it’s made from tallow.
Hmmmm. Neutrogena Orginal Fragrance-Free Formula and Dry Skin Fragrance-Free Formula both contain sodium tallowate, which is animal fat, but it also has glycerine. Most brands of pine tar soap also contain sodium tallowate, but they’re likely far too harsh for him; they certainly would be for me! I have extremely sensitive skin and acne (some say rosacea, some say no; I say no) and also take an antibiotic, and I use Aveeno Ultra-Calming Foaming Cleanser.
I’m going to suggest you check out somebody who makes it privately, like this Etsy seller in Maine, who has plain tallow soap with no fragrance added. $4.50 for a 4-oz. bar.
Cetaphil sensitive skin didn’t work? Or did he use the antibacterial bar - the packaging looks nearly identical. The antibacterial bar is quite harsh, but the sensitive skin one is quite good.
Has he tried Dr. Bronner’s magic soaps? Here is baby mild, including a list of ingredients, usually available for $2.50 for a huge bar from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, and many other large grocery stores.
ETA: When I waxed my face (stupid, I know) years ago, this is what kept me from scratching my skin off.Eucerin calming redness relief.
Ivory soap’s tag line “99 and 44/100% pure” is a for-real evaluation of the product, based on outside analysis. It means that the soap analyzed was 0.9944 the salt of a fatty acid. You can’t get much puerer than that. No added colors, I believe (for “classic” Ivory), although they whip air into it (that’s why it floats). (And apparently they add fragrance)
The fatty acid salt, according to Wikipedia, is the above-mentioned sodium tallowate (which is animal fat) and/or sodium cocoate (vegetable) or sodium palm kernelate (ditto). I like it, myself. Althgough I like the silkier feel of Dr. Bronner’s, too.
Yes, I’ve used the Redness Relief Soothing Cleanser too, and found it excellent; the licorice root is very quieting to distressed skin. I have to be very careful with botanicals as some are migraine triggers for me, especially lavender, rosemary, and eucalyptus. Re the Dr. Bronner’s, olive oil is a no for me. It makes me break out.
ETA: All of these suggestions may or may not be helpful, but I was trying to find what the OP asked for, which was commercial fragrance-free animal fat soap. I first l looked for lanolin and all those products are for washing fabric, not skin. All skin cleansers are touting that they’re free of lanolin and other animal products.
Truly “all natural” soap is made out of lard and lye. Lye is the same caustic stuff that Draino is mostly made of, but in soap the lye is made from the ashes of burnt wood.
You see the poor or pioneers or ‘natural people’ would keep their wood ashes, drain water through the ashes to get lye water, and then combine that with animal fat, usually pork lard, to make a soap in cake form.
I know, and that’s why I’m a little confused as to why my husband’s grandfather’s soap is the shizznit. My grandmother used to make soap too–wood ashes and fat–and it was so caustic it was only fit to be laundry soap.
In addition to not being irritating (and my husband agrees that Cetaphil and Dove aren’t irritating) this soap is doing something to soothe his skin. We guess it has to do with the fat, though we aren’t sure. The bar is definitely un-dyed and un-perfumed, handmade at home by a guy who would have been 93 this year.
Probably too much lye in grandma’s recipe, while grandpa had his right. He possibly also let it “age” properly while grandma might’ve used the soap right after hardening.