Is your soap bar really 'soap'?

While looking for gentle and mild soaps for my daughter I found out that if we pay closer attention to the labels of products present in the soap aisles of many grocery stores, we'll discover that a lot of them do not even say 'soap' on their labels. "They might be called beauty bars, body bars, moisturizing bars, but not soap. That's because these bars aren't actually soap and can't legally claim to be; they're detergents. The manufacturers have removed most of the 'good' stuff that occurs in the soap making process, and replaced it with synthetic lathering agents and harsh chemicals. These cheap, plentiful detergent bars are not only bad for your skin,but they're also bad for the planet, too." Source: The Benefits of Using Real, Natural Soap

Simple things such as bathing can be a challenge for people suffering from eczema, psoriasis or other skin ailments because most commercial soaps aggravate their condition. It is therefore very important to choose mild, natural soaps which do not contain any harsh chemicals that might further irritate the skin. What's troubling is the fact that many dermatologists recommend using some of these commercial soaps which in their opinion are gentle for the skin. We were also suggested to use Dove Sensitive Skin Beauty Bar for my daughter by our dermatologist. A quick look at Dove's ingredients reveal not only some of the harsh chemicals in it but also the presence of 'Sodium Tallowate' (which is produced when sodium hydroxide (the lye/saponifier) is combined with tallow). I've mentioned what tallow is in my previous post Animal Fats in Disguise. As Muslims, we certainly avoid the use of animal fat (tallow) in our products specially if there's a chance that the source of tallow might be lard from pigs.

Commercial bar soaps that contain animal tallowate:

• Ivory
• Dove
• Neutrogena (except Neutrogena Naturals)
• Purpose
• Cetaphil
• Dial
• Lever
• Tone
• Jergens
• Zest
• Camay
• Irish Spring
• Basis
• pHisoderm.

Commercial bar soaps that do NOT contain animal tallowate:

• Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day
• Kirk’s Castile
• Dr. Bronner’s
• Kiss My Face
• Tom’s of Maine
• Burt’s Bees
• Zum Bar
• Tea Tree Therapy
• Desert Essence
• Pangea

Source: http://www.crunchybetty.com/time-to-play-whats-in-your-soap

I was very lucky to be introduced to the Great Canadian Soap Company products by a friend, who found the Great Canadian Soap Company by chance while visiting Prince Edward Island. Here's an account of her experience, 'We came across an ad for a soap-making demonstration at a small farm,  when we got there, we were pleasantly surprised to see it was a business called the Great Canadian Soap Company;  they had a lovely shop and farm with very cute goats.  We loved the organic nature of the farm, and the fact that they used farm-fresh milk to make the soaps right in front of our eyes.  We bought some soap and creams, and went home thinking nothing of it.  My daughter had severe eczema around her mouth for almost 1-2 years that was not going away no matter what we used (antibiotics, steroid creams, etc).  But Mashallah after using the soap and cream from GCS for a few weeks, it completely eradicated her eczema, and even now when I see her skin getting dry or itchy, I ask her to go and put on the triple butter cream :)' The company uses farm-fresh goats milk along with various natural ingredients in their soaps, creams and other products. While their products did not cure my daughter's eczema, they are definitely soothing and provide relief to her itchiness. I only choose their unscented products because of her sensitive skin.

                                        

                                            Some of the soaps I've tried from various companies

Unscented Goat Milk Soap and Berry Blossom Soap 

   Ingredients: Farm Fresh Goat's Milk, Saponified Coconut Oil & Olive Oils, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter

                             

African Black Soap has some amazing benefits for eczema, psoriasis and acne as well,  This soap is from Kynk Naturals also a Canadian Company : )

I love this soap! Leaves your skin soft and silky, also from Kynk Naturals

A good soap for its price, but I found it a bit drying.

or you can buy hand-crafted soaps from local soap crafters like the The Olive Tree Soap Company  who sell some amazing soaps!

           Dr Bronner's Liquid Castile Soap is not only mild, it also smells great and is truly a muti-purpose soap

Each bottle is known to have about 3000 words on it. Some of these writings I found quite bizarre, like this particular bottle mentions 'God' several times. I certainly would not keep this bottle in the washroom.

A good liquid soap, not too pricey but does not smell as nice as Dr Bronner's  liquid peppermint soap.
Contains no parabens, sulphates, petroleum ingredients, dyes or synthetic perfumes

But I love the fact that it's a Canadian company :)

Cucumber & Calendula Soap from The Soap Works. These soaps are probably the cheapest ones around,  starting from 1.99$ each. Not all soaps by this company are vegetable based but the majority of the bar soaps have no animal products and the glycerin used  is palm oil based. These ones are 100% vegatable based: Cucumber & Calendula, Bee Pollen,  Chamomille, Creamy Clay, Evening Primrose, Aloe Vera, Olive, Oatmeal, Pine Tar, Pumice, Sea Kelp, Tea Tree, Veggie Glycrein, Shampoo bar