Teach Soap

Hi guys,

My son's eczema is playing up super bad at the moment. I'm pretty sure it's due to the heater being on nearly constantly at the moment (soooo freaking cold this Winter). At the moment the soap just isn't doing enough to sooth it. Last weekend the little man spent four days with his father who of course doesn't use anything to help me, and he's come home with the skin dry and red behind his knees and patches all over his body.

At the market yesterday I grabbed a bottle of Goat's Milk Lotion (Hand cream) to use on him to try and help. First thing I did of course was read the ingredients list and wrinkled my nose a little bit. Although the stall was claiming to be "hand made", they were actually just re-sellers and I could tell instantly that the soap was anything but hand made. Looked like the mass production bars I've seen before that are imported from China.

So, I'm thinking of learning about lotions myself. I have a basic understanding, that is, from researching online so far I understand the different ingredients and such used, but I would like to really make sure I know what I'm doing. Especially as my reasoning for starting is a (turn's 2 in July) toddler. So far I've seen recipe's out there from as plain as palm oil and beeswax, to more complicated ones that require alcohol (eek!)

Any suggestions on books to buy? Good places to start reading?

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The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

And of course as soon as I hit post, i change my google term and find the lotion crafter website lol. I'm sure I've seen that mentioned around here before... assume the information is valuable?

_________________
The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

the information is not bad but I would not rely 100% on the infos specially in case of eczema, and waste time at the moment preparing emulsions. You have to apply emulsifiers and preservatives in the emulsion that, if not carefully selected may worsen the situation.
Why don't you try applying pure plant oils and butters? They perform pretty better than an emulsion and they penetrate better into the stratum corneum than any lotion.
I can suggest:
pure linseed oil (it's a wonderful Omega-3 containing oil), unfortunately with a short shelf life
you can mix it with jojoba or with wheat germ oil to improve the shelf life and the performance

Infused soja oil (calendula) which brings wonder in case of eczema

a mixture of:
25% Soja oil (rather infused)
35% Avocado oil
20% Linseed oil
15% Jojoba oil
5% Wheat germ oil

or prepare a butter which is easier to apply than pure oil , you do not need any emulsifier for the butter
prepare a mixture of:
Shea butter
Soja oil (rather infused with calendula), Avocado oil, wheat germ oil

you may add up to 1% Vitamin E to any oil, oil mixture or butter to improve the skin conditioning and prolong the shelf life (antioxidation, prevents rancidity)
you can grind up to 5% Urea and add it to the butter at around 30 degrees (Celsius). Urea works wonderful against eczema


Very effective EOs are:
German chamomile
yarrow
Niaouli
Palmarosa
Patchouli
Geranium

unfortunately, except Geranium and Chamomile the others do not smell really pleasant but are effective.

I wish you success and good results

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Genius is 1 % inspiration and 99 % perspiration

I highly recommend Swift's e-book on lotion making: http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/2 ... -done.html

It's a wonderful resource and she goes into great detail about the chemistry behind lotion making, the properties of different oils, additives, preservatives, etc. and how to formulate your recipes. It's a fun read, too!

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Thanks Linda and Irena Will start there


inspiration, learning new things is not wasting time. And there is no way I'm about to go putting EO on my son's skin at his age with his sensitivity.

_________________
The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

Have you guys tried cutting out certain things from his diet (gluten, dairy, etc) to see if any of those are causing flare ups? Dairy was a cause for flare ups for my dd. But wheat B & B products would also add to the flare ups The best thing that I found to help my dd was giving her an oatmeal bath with luke warm water. Pat her off gently and then putting non-petroleum jelly on her to hold in the moisture. Winters in Wisconsin here are pretty dry, too, so we have humidifiers in the house to help get some moisture in the air. I rarely use soap on her, water usually works just fine.

I'd skip the eo's on any sore or irritated skin for anyone.

Good luck. I know how hard it is to see the little ones suffer and not be able to make it better.

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Genny

Yeah gone through all that. He has my skin the poor bugger - white, sensitive, Irish. His sister has her dad's skin - olive, perfect. Unfortunately he also has a dad that doesn't want to work with me on anything and does what he wants. This is the same guy that covered our daughter head to toe in bandaids when she had ringworm because he had already planned a trip to the park on his weekend. A) Ringworm is highly contagious. B) She's allergic to the glue in the bandaids. She broke out in red whelps over her entire body.

Mr D's skin has been fine until he spent 4 days with his dad. He use store bought bubble bath and goodness knows what else at his place. He has skin that doesn't react to anything, so he doesn't care what he uses so long as it's the cheapest option.

_________________
The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

_________________
Genny

You wouldn't believe half the stuff he does (or doesn't do).

_________________
The Soapinatrix! *whip-crack*
- Posting the trials and tribulations of my Soaping Journey!

I often use straight aloe vera gel from my plant.. the plant just wont die.. its but 7 years and I take its babies away. the mother plant the one I get the aloe vera gel from still lives. I have mild skin problems and find aloe gell from the actual plant not the store brought stuffs works well. I to am red hair and fair skin and easily get sun burn. use a 100+ sunscreen an d still get red but that's my two cents. dont know if it'll help but its worth a shot.

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now know as Gwenann's Sudz...

My father, a doctor with a specialty in dermatology, would freak out about putting EOs on eczema! Or straight oils for that matter! He recommends non-greasy body cream as it soaks into the skin and helps to nourish multiple layers. Oil applied to the surface of the skin can (and does, I know from experience) trap bacteria in the follicles and can lead to folliculitis... infected follicles! Not a fun thing to add to an eczema outbreak. The stuff he has me use is called "Eucerin calming cream" could give you an idea of the ingredients that dermatologists recommend!

For bad outbreaks he has me use 1% hydrocortizone cream, its really the only thing that helps at that point. You can also get cortizone powder to mix into your own lotions, in Canada you need a prescription for it, not sure about anywhere else. My mom had the pharmacist mix the powder with a urea cream for her eczema. Worked great for her, gave me huge hives!

Dad says dermatology is the worst specialization/ job. You can diagnose but you can rarely cure, all you can do is offer some relief.

Edit: Coolah I hear you with the bandaids! I'm allergic to the glue on most of them too... pour munchkin! And on top of ringworm?! GAH!!! Does that man think? Ringworm is NOT fun! I had it a bunch when I was a kid, thought it was cool to have a "worm" in my legs then.... until I found out its a fungus hehe. Mushrooms in my legs?! No way!!

_________________
~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist

_________________
Genius is 1 % inspiration and 99 % perspiration

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Ohh I'll have to try that! Dad specified no oils, but didn't say anything about jojoba. I'm always scared of folliculitis with new stuff, its so not fun!

_________________
~~Heather~~
Mad [soaping] Scientist