Oops I Did It Again, So Here Come The Emails

My Brain Cramp

Last week I wrote my article on Dove Skincare products and their marketing escapades.  I then went on to mention what real SOAP is and how I love to use it on my skin.  Well the emails started arriving in my inbox asking me what type of soap do I use and can recommend.

I can't believe I forgot to post a link to the company I simply love.  With all that goes on in my life, trying to find balance with work, play, exercise while listening to my iPod, and blogging, sometimes my brain cramps and I fail to present the logical, simple thing....A WEBSITE LINK!

Instead of answering each and every email, I opted to put it out in my blog, so it will reach everyone that reads it.  For those of you that wish to try truly remarkable skin quenching soap with the use of only saponified butters and oils for a wonderfully rich moisturizing experience, then SARVA Soap is the one and only in my book.

I have been using her soaps for more than 4 years now.  Michelle Gilbert is an independent hand crafter and has created an excellent skin loving, luxurious bar of soap.  I have tried many of her different soaps, and no matter my selection, I have never been disappointed.  Do I have favorites?  Of course, but they are not always available, depending on her manufacturing status.  But I can always find an equal substitute that is just as wonderful.

Peruse SARVA Soaps and see what your next favorite soap will be.

Higher Alkaline On The Skin

Some have also asked about the higher pH on soaps, making them tend to be more alkaline and creates worry this will cause issues for the skin.

The saponification process requires lye to create your luxurious soaps and this is why it is extremely important to find a soapmaker with the talent of precise measurements like Michelle Gilbert of SARVA.  

A talented cold-process soapmaker first looks up the saponification value for each unique fat on an Oil Specification Sheet for each fat.  Oil Specification Sheets contain laboratory test results for each fat, including the precise saponification value of the fat.  The saponification value for a specific fat will vary by season and by specimen species.  This value is used to calculate the exact amount of potassium hydroxide to react with the fat to form soap.  The saponification value must be converted into an equivalent sodium hydroxide value for use in cold process soapmaking.   Excess unreacted lye in the soap will result in a very high pH and can burn or irritate skin; not enough lye leaves the soap greasy.  Most soap makers formulate their recipes with a 2–5% deficit of lye, so all of the lye is converted and excess fat is left for a gentler soap.

So basically you are left with a highly super fatted soap with no lye residual which is what causes the skin irritation that commercial brands complain about.  Although these complaints are not accurate by any sense of the word when using a properly cold processed soap.

In fact, once a soap comes from the mold it is safe to use the soap since saponification is in essence complete. However, cold-process soaps are typically cured and hardened on a drying rack for 2–6 weeks before use. During this cure period, trace amounts of residual lye are consumed by saponification and excess water evaporates.

I have never experienced any skin irritation so her saponification process is down to a science, plus she also emphasizes her time frame of curing is more than 3 weeks before sale.  This further hardens the soap and the pH continues to drop through the curing process.  And believe me, I have experienced the burning of natural soaps from other hand crafters due to an imbalance of ingredients, but NEVER with SARVA.

Giver her a try, her soaps are fantastic for the body!  As always I still recommend NOT using soap on the face as a rule, but if you prefer it, then go for it.

BONUS: She also typically throws in sample soaps to try with every order.

Does DOVE Skincare Marketing Go Too Far?

Dove Has My Vote For Reasons Other Than Their Products

On so many levels I love this brands achievement for reaching out to real women, including young girls.  They have helped give women courage to unveil their true selves by building on self esteem through global television and they include the Self Esteem Fund.

This photo of the two comparisons, sadly, is quite telling and what many women for some time have aspired to be like a Victoria Secret Model.  When the majority of women resemble those in the Dove campaign, yet some women in VS may look like this without trying, they are the exception, not the rule.  Photoshop and airbrushing do amazing things to change a look or shape of a woman's body and unfortunately, the image becomes distorted in our minds eye.

This in and of itself scores huge with me.  As I age and hold on to the pounds a bit more myself, and I see young girls along with my own customers feel bad about themselves, whether through weighty issues or being depressed over skin issues, this is one company that I feel has done an excellent job of bringing us back from the precipice of shame for not having perfect skin, or not being skinny enough, or not having the perfect overall look. 

Of this, no doubt, they have done a wonderful thing for all women, young and old, today.  So I "heart" them!

Dove Pushes The Envelope On Marketing At Times

Now when it comes to marketing Dove skincare products, as a whole they have a lovely concept.  It is only when they take it beyond credible that I have to furrow my brow.

Their main campaign has always been about their Dove Beauty Bar or their Body Wash being infused with 1/4 cup moisturizing cream.  In the latest commercial endeavor they like to show how "soap" supposedly strips skin like a piece of pink paper they had placed on other brands, plus their own, and we watch through time lapse photography as the other soaps dissolve the paper, yet the Dove beauty bar example stays in tact.  If you are reading this via email or RSS Feed, you'll need to "click here" to view the actual commercial.

First off, pink paper does not extrapolate to real skin making this a non starter.  Plus, there is no way to actually watch what is really happening and any paper placed under water and/or with a soapy content, will dissolve.  This is pure hype all the way.  Plus the bars of soaps they compare to for leaving a film on the skin or break down the moisture on your skin are not "true" bars of soap.  They are examples of deodorant bars or just cheap soaps using essentially the same synthetic surfactants and other inorganic ingredients as Dove Beauty Bars.

Real Soaps are loaded with fatty acids, triglycerides, and wonderful skin softening butters or oils which go through a saponification process, which in turn creates a real moisturizing soap rich in Glycerin.  Anyone who has used real soap, has experienced soft, slippery skin which in turn protects the acid mantle of our skin.  So the comparison is not really valid and misleads the public that may not know the true meaning of a bar of SOAP.  I personally use handcrafted soap bars and my skin feels wonderful, never left dry or itchy.

I selected Dove's beauty bar for sensitive skin for the purposes of comparison since this should have the gentlest of ingredients...Right?

1. Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate – Surfactant, will dry skin
2. Stearic Acid – Humectant, typically no problems
3. Sodium Palmitate – Surfactant, can dry skin
4. Aqua (Water) – Solvent for dispersion of ingredients
5. Lauric Acid – Humectant, can be a skin irritant still for those with delicate skin.
6. Sodium Isethionate – 3rd Surfactant, not known to be a skin irritant
7. Sodium Stearate – 4th Surfactant, same as above
8. Cocamidopropyl Betaine – 5th Surfactant for very gentle cleansing
9. Sodium Palm Kernelate – Yet another Surfactant, this is a lot of artificial soaping going on
10. Glycerin – Humectant, skin conditioner and is very low on ingredient list, so offers little value to skin
11. Sodium Chloride – A Binder so to speak which helps to bind and harden the bar of soap
12. Zinc Oxide – Colorant added obviously for making the soap white and it is an anti inflammatory
13. Citric Acid - Antioxidant, pointless in this type of application
14. Tetrasodium EDTA – Sequestrant, used to stabilize a product or a preservation system
15. Tetrasodium Etidronate – Sequestrant, same as above
16. Alumina – Not sure why it is in her but it is used primarily as an abrasive, anti-caking agent, anti-bulking agent and as an absorbent.
17. CI 77891 – Colourant, can be eye and skin irritant as can soap overall depending on tolerance

Don't see that 1/4 cup of moisturizing cream (lotion) in this list of ingredients....Do you? ....hmmm...interesting

So let's use critical thinking and realize that most of what we see on commercial tv boils down to marketing which is accomplished nicely through editing and time lapse photography without really seeing the entire process of the example.

One Product I Won't Go Without

I do LOVE their antiperspirant and it is what I have used for years.  Especially once they came out with the Clinical Protection.  Dove Original Clean Scent is the one and only for me and it truly does work and keeps with the marketing credibility.  No complaints on this one and the scent never overpowers or conflicts with any other fragrance I may wish to wear.

So out of their many products they offer, this would be the only one I could actually recommend!  And I give them props for truth in advertising on this product only.