#i would need to find out the concentration of the sodium hydroxide solution we have

[petewentzisblack1312]

realised today i could make soap at work.

[drawerevent03-blog]

Why I Switched Our Cleaning Supplies

Household cleaners and soaps are some of the biggest offenders of toxins in homes and they can routinely expose us to chemicals that can affect us to varying degrees ranging from minor skin irritation to hormone disruption or cancer. If you’re cleaning up what you’re putting IN your body, you should care what you put ON your body, and what you put in your environment. Period. There are safe cleaning products out there.

Most every household contains traditional cleaning supplies that are laced with toxic chemicals that are harmful. We’re exposed to them routinely — from the phthalates in synthetic fragrances to the noxious fumes in oven cleaners. Ingredients in common household products have been linked to asthma, cancer, reproductive disorders, hormone disruption and neurotoxicity. According to the Environmental Working Group, using them just once a week can have a harmful effect.

How Toxic Are Your Cleaning Supplies?

Toxic chemicals in conventional household cleaners vary in their severity – from immediate hazards such as skin or respiratory issues, chemical burns or watery eyes to long term major problems such as cancer, fertility issues, ADHD, compromised immune system and more.

It can be overwhelming to to start to realize how many toxic chemicals are in our home, and I’m not saying we can avoid exposure to toxic chemicals altogether, but it is possible to reduce it, and significantly decrease our risk of illness. Some chemicals build up and can cause enough harm in our bodies over time, that can trigger harmful effects. So knowledge is power.

How Do I Find Out What are Truly Safe Cleaning Products?

Here’s the thing: there’s so much we cannot control, but for the things we can, and use daily, why wouldn’t we do a little research and make safer swaps for our families? At the very least, we should be aware of what is in them! I use two resources in our home to identify how toxic our products are. One is EWG.ORG/SKINDEEP and the other is the Think Dirty APP. Both are apps that you can use to scan barcodes in your home, and see how toxic your current products are. Pretty cool, right?

It can be slightly terrifying when you start scanning your products, but remember: make small changes and do the best you can. I’m not advocating you throw out every product in your home right now, but rather once you are informed you can try to make the best choices you can going forward.

What are the Harmful Chemicals in Household Cleaning Products to Avoid?

Here are a few to look out for:

1. Phthalates: Often found in many household products with a fragrance, such as air fresheners, dish soap, even toilet paper. Because of proprietary laws, companies don’t have to disclose what is in their scents, so you won’t find phthalates on a label. If you see the word “fragrance” on a label, there’s a good chance phthalates are present.

2. Perchloroethylene or “PERC”: Often found in dry-cleaning solutions, spot removers, and carpet and upholstery cleaners.

3. Triclosan: Found mostly in liquid dishwashing detergents and hand soaps labeled “antibacterial.”

4. Quarternary Ammonium Compounds, or “QUATS”: Fabric softener liquids and sheets, most household cleaners labeled “antibacterial.”

5. 2-Butoxyethanol: Often found in window, kitchen and multipurpose cleaners.

6. Ammonia: Find them in polishing agents for bathroom fixtures, sinks and jewelry; also in glass cleaner.

7. Chlorine: You’ll find this in toilet bowl cleaners, mildew removers, laundry whiteners, household tap water.

8. Sodium Hydroxide: An ingredient often in oven cleaners and drain openers.

A Note on “All Natural Cleaners”

This might surprise you, but many “all-natural” cleaners found in grocery and health food stores still have harmful chemicals and may even score worse than conventional cleaning products. This is where those handy apps above come in handy. Again, do your own research!  

What Safe Cleaning Products are in my Home:

I avoiding conventional household products as much as possible and have found great alternative, safe swaps for cleaning products, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, and air fresheners. Here are some options for you:

You can make your own DIY household cleaners: LCK Food Editor Kelli uses a mixture of Dr. Bronner’s Castille Soap, Water, and Essential Oils for almost all cleaning tasks. For heavy duty jobs she also will add in baking soda.

All-Purpose Cleaning Products: I use Branch Basics for my Bathroom, All-Purpose Counter Cleaner, Glass, and hand soap!

Laundry Detergent: Again, I use Branch Basics. I also use their Oxygen Boost for my Whites. I’ve also heard Molly’s Suds is a good brand, but haven’t personally tried it!

Dryer Sheets: I use Dryer Balls (see this post).

Air Freshener: I use this home spray by The Laundress or safer candles by Phlur.

For me, Branch Basics is literally magic. Their multi-purpose concentrate makes cleaning simple, affordable and sustainable. The products are refillable and they’re significantly less expensive than similar single-use products. You dilute The Concentrate with water, and then it’s ready for any cleaning job around the house, even dirty laundry!

A word from the Branch Basics team:

“We’re not fans of shipping water. Our multi-purpose concentrated cleaner makes cleaning simple, sustainable, safe and affordable. Just dilute with water in our spray and foamer bottles (complete with marked fill lines) and you’re all set to effectively tackle every room in the house and your laundry too! Our kits come with everything you need to get started or you can purchase the concentrate in whatever size it best for you.”

Discount for you:

My friends at Branch Basics let me give you 15% off starter kit with code LEXI15! The starter set includes one 33 oz. Concentrate, three empty spray bottles, one Foaming Wash bottle, one Laundry bottle, and then I add the oxygen boost and dryer balls to my order.

I was not paid to write this post, though it does contain affiliate links. Here’s my promise to you. While I make a small percentage on sales used through my code, this is the brand I TRUST. I PERSONALLY use them in my home for my family, and no super small amount of commission is worth compromising your trust. So please trust me when I say I would never promote a product that I don’t fully stand behind.

Source: https://lexiscleankitchen.com/safer-cleaning-supplies/

[bittersweetjj]

Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Serum Concentrate

Price: $100

Claims: Our #1* Serum just got stronger with ImuGeneration Technology. Powered with anti-oxidant rich reishi mushroom and iris root extracts, to strengthen skin, restore firmness and defend against daily damage for skin that’s 28% stronger in just 1 week.** Skin looks even smoother, firmer, more hydrated and resilient.

 The new formula features an improved dewy texture that sinks quickly into skin, for a longer-lasting, silky smooth fresh feeling.

 For all skin types. Use Ultimune as a pre-treatment to enhance the efficacy of your moisturizer or serum. See makeup apply more evenly and flawlessly over softer skin.

Ingredients:

Water: Primarily used as a solvent in cosmetics and personal care products in which it dissolves many of the ingredients that impart skin benefits, such as conditioning agents and cleansing agents. Water also forms emulsions in which the oil and water components of the product are combined to form creams and lotions.

Alcohol Denat: Helps visibly tighten pores and control excess oil. It acts as an anti-foaming agent, astringent, antimicrobial agent, and a solvent. It also helps deliver the active ingredients of a product.

Glycerin: An emollient and humectant derived from vegetable oils that helps skin retain moisture.

Butylene Glycol: Commonly-used ingredient that has multiple functions in cosmetics, including as a texture enhancer. It’s similar to propylene glycol, but has a lighter texture.

Triethylhexanoin: Used as a skin conditioning agent, emollient, anti-static agent, solvent, and fragrance ingredient.

Cyclohexasiloxane: A silicone. Primarily works as a skin conditioning agent and emollient. Like all other silicones, this ingredient has a unique fluidity that makes it easily spreadable. When applied to the skin, it gives a silky & slippery feeling to the touch and acts a mild water repellent by forming a protective barrier on the skin. It can also fill in fine lines/wrinkles, giving the face a temporary “plump” look.

Dimethicone: A type of silicone, forms a permeable barrier that works to prevent moisture loss and impart a wonderfully silky feel.

Phenoxyethanol: A glycol ether and bactericide (that functions as a disinfectant, antiseptic or antibiotic) that is primarily used as a preservative. It is also seen as a fragrance additive.

Trehalose: Plant sugar that has hydrating properties for skin.

Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer: A synthetic ingredient used to enhance the texture of skincare and haircare products.

Tocopheryl Acetate: Its substantiated benefits include enhancing the efficacy of active sunscreen ingredients, reducing the formation of free radicals from exposure to UV rays, promoting the healing process, strengthening the skin's barrier function, protecting the skin barrier's lipid balance, and reducing transepidermal water loss. Attributed with antioxidant, anti-aging, moisturizing, anti-inflammatory, and enhanced SPF properties, tocopherol acetate is valued both as a dietary supplement and skincare active. 

Disodium EDTA: Used as a chelating, meaning it prevents ingredients in a formula from binding with trace elements (mainly minerals) that can be present in water.

Potassium Hydroxide: A pH adjuster and buffering agent. It has a unique ability to attract water molecules from its environment, and ultimately dissolve into the water that it had originally absorbed, balancing the formula without creating excess weight or changing the composition.

Silica: Used as an absorbent powder and thickening agent. Certain forms of silica can improve even distribution of pigments in cosmetics and prevents them from settling in makeup. Silica particles can enhance the absorption of other ingredients.

Linalool: Fragrant component of lavender and coriander that can be a potent skin sensitizer. Colorless liquid with a soft, sweet odor. 

Lauryl Betaine: It is a mild surface-active agent or surfactant, that is commonly considered a hair and skin conditioner.

Geraniol: A colourless liquid; it has a sweet, rose-like odour, with a hint of citrus.

Citronellol: A volatile fragrance chemical extracted from geranium, rose, and other plants, citronellol has a characteristic grassy, citrus-like scent. Applied to skin, it can cause aggravation when exposed to air. This exposure causes the unstable citronellol molecule to oxidize, which is believed to trigger aggravation on skin.

Nelumbo Nucifera Germ Extract: Helps to defend the skin oxidative stress by helping to inhibit the peroxidation of skin that cause skin aging

Alcohol: Helps visibly tighten pores and control excess oil. 

BHT: A fat soluble synthetic compound, in the form of a white/yellow crystalline solid. Primarily acts as an antioxidant food additive because of its ability to preserve fats. It's also used as a preservative. As an antioxidant, it helps fight against the deterioration of cosmetic products caused by chemical reactions with oxygen. It's also known to work synergistically with other antioxidants.  

Sodium Benzoate: A preservative.

PEG/PPG-17/4 Dimethyl Ether: Polymers of ethylene oxide used as humectants, solvents, binders, emulsion stabilizers, and viscosity increasing agents in cosmetics.

Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Beheneth-25 Methacrylate Crosspolymer: Emulsion Stabilizer

PEG-14M: Binder; Emulsion Stabilizer

Rosa Damascena Flower Water: An aqueous solution of the steam distillate obtained fromthe flowers of Rosa damascena. Fragrance Ingredient. Skin conditioning. 

Isoceteth-10: Surfactant - Emulsifying Agent

Ginkgo biloba leaf extract: Potent, plant-derived antioxidant and soothing ingredient derived from the ginkgo plant.

Origanum Majorana Leaf Extract: Fragrance Ingredient; Skin-Conditioning Agent

Sodium Carboxymethyl Beta-Glucan: A carbohydrate ingredient with a gel-like texture, it functions as a binding agent and texture enhancer.

Thymus Vulgaris (Thyme) Extract: Used for its tonic and fragrant properties.

Perilla Ocymoides Leaf Extract: Fragrant 

Sodium Bicarbonate: A synthetic inorganic salt more commonly known as baking soda. It has many functions in cosmetics, including pH adjuster, buffering agent, and abrasive, such as in face or body scrubs. When used in small amounts to adjust and maintain the pH of cosmetic products, baking soda is not a problem for skin; however, when used among the main ingredient in scrub products, it’s simply too abrasive and an ingredient we don’t recommend.

Iris Florentina Extract: Used primarily as a fragrant component due to its violet-like scent. It can cause sensitizing skin reactions and there is no research showing it has any benefit for skin.

Ganoderma Lucidum (Mushroom) Stem Extract: Skin protecting

My Thoughts: I think the idea of Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Serum Concentrate was pretty ridiculous. A serum to use before my moisturizer to give it a boost? Why not just get a moisturizer with a little more hydration? I had to find out why people were taking this additional and possibly unnecessary step. The serum comes in a  uniquely curved bottle that is an ombre red to white colored. I found the bottle design to be annoying. I believe this design was put in place so each time I used it the bottle would fall or spill over. Luckily only a little came out each time, but it does add up overtime!

Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Serum Concentrate has to be used right before moisturizer, because it helps boost the hydration. I use it twice a day, morning and night. I have normal to dry skin, I use a nickel size amount of  Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Serum Concentrate alone and it was just enough hydration. If I used less, I find it would dry out my skin and never hydrate it. With the colder days I need to pair it with a moisturizer, but in summer I can wear it alone. It has a faint floral scent, the texture is a dewy serum that absorbs into the skin quickly with no leftover residue. The application process feels refreshing and cool, it leaves my skin feeling soft to the touch with a silky finish. Because of the silky finish I was comfortable in my skin, I would go more days without makeup on. As soon as I stopped using it my skin never felt the same, it wasn’t as soft and I was prone to breakouts.

Would I purchase Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Serum Concentrate? No it delivers very little for the price point. if you have money to spend and don’t mind an additional step in getting soft skin this could be for you. However I would strongly suggest getting sample before splurging on a full size to see if its the right fit for your regimen.

Pros:

Pretty ombre red to white colored bottle

Use with moisturizer to boost hydration 

Summer days I can use just by itself 

Hydrates just a little on its own

Faint floral scent

Dewy, serum texture

Absorbs quickly 

No leftover residue

Feels refreshing & cool with application

Skin feels soft to the touch

Silky finish

Prevents breakouts

Cons:

Curved bottle made me dropped the bottle

Spilled product each time

Use less than a nickel size amount it would dry out my skin

Colder days I would need to pair it with moisturizer

Delivers so little for the expensive price point

If you found this review helpful please click on the heart or reblog. Feel free to reply with your thoughts on the product.

[amandafoxy1]

It’s only when you dive deeply into the science of liquid soap making that you realise how interesting and chemistry-rich every little step of that process is.  I rarely get time to just meander through a personal project as I’m always caught between feeling guilty about the things I still have on my science work ‘to do’ list or feeling out of time due to the ebb and flow of normal life.  Thankfully the Coronaverse has taken a large number of options and choices away from me (while giving me heaps more to deal with – turns out that the one time people do need and listen to chemists is during a pandemic) so spending two days on a liquid soap suddenly became a thing.

I’m sure that most people who will read this will have a basic understanding of soap making.  For those who don’t and by way of a quick summary here’s the science.

Saponification: Turning oil into soap with the help of a chemical called ‘lye’ (short for alkali).

  Chemically both vegetable and animal derived oils are triglycerides.  Triglycerides are a combination of one part glycerin and 3 parts fatty acids.  The lye (Sodium Hydroxide mostly for soap bars and Potassium Hydroxide for liquid soaps) can be made into a very high pH solution and added to the oils upon which they start to react chemically to take on a new set of chemistry.

During saponification the triglycerides (which are also known as triesters due to their structure) are broken open by the addition of the lye which cuts through the glycerin/ fatty acid bonds to liberate (free) the fatty acids and glycerin from each other.   The fatty acids quickly combine with the positively charged metal oil from the lye to form what we call a ‘salt’ only these salts are not like the salt you put onto your chips, these salts are bubbly and surface-active and are better known as soaps.  These soaps are anionic (-ve charged).

Meanwhile the glycerin is now left sitting pretty, intact and free.  In this form it is highly water soluble, moisturising and heavy (heavier than water).   It’s worth noting that glycerin is a type of alcohol and is sometimes referred to as Glycerol or spelled Glycerine.  All three are one in the same and are brought to you by saponification.

So when making liquid soap we use Potassium Hydroxide as that produces a softer soap.  Lots of people know that and would repeat that phrase without really thinking any more about it but I can’t help but ask more questions:

Potassium soap is softer than what though?

By how much is it softer and how do we measure that?

Why is this soap softer anyway?

The answers are quite interesting (to me, at least).

I found a paper that gave the Krafft points of different salts of fatty acids.  This was the best paper I could find to answer my question with regards to potassium soap being softer than what?

If I look at the data given for potassium vs sodium soaps, the two most common and most familiar to soap-makers I find that the Krafft Points of Potassium Soaps are much lower than the sodium:

Here’s the data showing the resting (non-changed) Krafft Points of some common soaps:

Potassium Laurate. 10C

Sodium Laurate  25C

Potassium Myristate. 25C

Sodium Myristate 45C

Potassium Palmitate 45C

Sodium Palmitate 60C

Potassium Stearate 55C

Sodium Stearate 70C

  Great, but what’s that got to do with liquid soap making, you may ask.

Krafft Point (and it was someones name so don’t spell it Kraft). 

Krafft Point is a feature of ionic surfactants. It is the point (temperature) at which the surfactant becomes useful i.e: where its solubility is such that the surfactant can start forming micelles and display surfactant-like behaviour. Another term for this point is its Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC).

Now that may not sound too interesting at this point but it is interesting if you’ve ever made liquid soap and wondered what on Gods name it’s thinking when it just won’t mix into water after you try to dilute it after making it.

What’s happening there has a lot to do with the soaps Krafft Point and while it seems very simple  based on what I’ve just said above (that the Krafft point is a simple temperature related thing) it gets more interesting when you consider how a soaps Krafft Point can be altered!

Altering a Krafft Point.

Regular salts such as Sodium Chloride, Potassium Chloride and others affect the Krafft Point, depressing it (making it lower) up to a point, above which the surfactant may ‘salt-out’ (a term for when the environment is too salty for the soap and it responds by losing its shit).  Now lowering the Krafft Point is a good thing as it means the soap will be fully soluble at a lower temperature rather than having to be heated.  We want our cosmetic products to be fully functional and in their best shape between the temperatures of around 5 – 45C and while that’s not always strictly possible, it’s something to aim for.  Understanding that for liquid soap,  you can stack the odds in your favour by understanding the Krafft point is powerful stuff.

Glycerin and other alcohols (including sorbitol, propane-diol, hexylene glycol, ethanol etc) improve soap solubility in water, thus reducing its Krafft Point.  I instinctively thought of adding more glycerin to my liquid soap in an attempt to increase its solubility because I did notice that my soap batter seemed to be far too attracted to its self to bother with trying to break the waters hydrogen bonds and make a little hole for its self to sit in.  I felt that the glycerin could ‘soften’ the hold the soap had on its self somewhat and in doing so, create an opportunity for a new relationship to form (between the water and the soap).  It turns out that glycerin interferes with the bonding between the soap molecules thus opening up a gap for water to get in. When concentrated the tails of the soaps form bonds between them (Van der Waals) which require some energy to break. The glycerin improves the changes of bonding happening between the water and soap rather than just within the water and within the soap. However, it turned out that just adding more glycerin was only half of the equation, the whole mixture needed to be re-heated for the real solubility magic to happen.  Glycerin + Heat + more mixing = beautifully solubilised liquid soap.

Upon reading further, the requirement for an extra dose of heat wasn’t surprising as I was right, the energy needed to break the soap-soap and water-water bonds was high enough to make the situation difficult, adding that extra boost of some heat energy lubricated the process enough to make forming soap-water bonds much easier and more attractive.

NOTE ON EXTRA GLYCERIN (or other alcohols for that matter). 

Now there has been some talk of adding glycerin to the lye prior to saponification, apparently it’s quite a well known method to speed things up.  Basically people dissolve the Potassium Hydroxide in Glycerin on a stove top (the lye is not very soluble in the glycerin) and then add that to the oils.  I can see that this works by concentrating the potassium hydroxide and speeding up its attack and if people can handle that, fine.  However, it does look quite a bit more dangerous than adding the hydroxide to water and then adding the glycerin to boost solubility later on.

Some people seem worried that the extra glycerin may be reacting with the lye to produce other chemicals, sometimes toxic things. It is highly unlikely that any further reactions than basic saponification go on during this process, even if a microwave is used to get the liquid soap dilution part finished quickly.  The polymerisation of glycerin into Polyglyceryl esters is possible with just heat, lye and glycerin but it takes 8-14 hours and is typically done at temperatures of around 300C and / or pressures around 60 times greater than we find on earth.  Half the problem with the information on the internet is that there’s a glimmer of truth in it but that someone reading a science paper has mis-understood it or taken a theoretical risk and turned it into a certain threat.  Basically you can add glycerin at any stage you like and be fine, I guess it’s up to you but I feel adding it after is safer and easier to control.

Other ways of influencing Krafft Point. 

Temperature affects the Krafft Point as mentioned above, for ionic soaps it is normal for the soap to become more soluble in high temperatures and less so in the cold – this is why some people’s Castile soap goes cloudy in the winter. You can see from the above examples with different fatty soaps, the temperature at which these things become soluble can vary and in some cases be far too high without intervention to make a practical product.  The soap I made contained around 16%  Potassium Palmitate/ Stearate both of which are not that soluble in water under normal conditions.  So I HAD to play with the Krafft Point to stand a chance of getting my Coconut soap clear and lovely under normal conditions!  It’s that simple.

Concentration of the soap affects the Krafft Point – a soap has to be present at its Critical Micelle Concentration to reach this point, below that it may exist as monomers only, rather than micelles.  Now this isn’t usually a problem in soap making as you are creating a concentrate but it is worthwhile knowing and there’s definitely problems at the other end of the scale too when your liquid soap dilute is made too strong – you’ll end up with floaty bits of a surface hard layer if you exceed the holding capacity of your water.  Remember that the soap is forming micelles and there’s only so much space for them to sit and spread out in, after which point they start to become attracted to the ‘other’ surfaces such as the interface between the air and the top of the product.  If that happens, dilute your soap.

pH affects the Krafft Point too.   Solubility is always affected by everything (it’s an applied, rather than absolute measure) and pH is an important factor of that.  Different oils saponify into different fatty soaps, usually with carbon chains ranging from C12 – C18 but sometimes outside of that on either end.  These individual fatty soaps each have their own solubility parameters and pH ‘sweet spots’.  What changing the pH does is change the degree to which the head (or functional group) of the soap is activated (protonated or deprotonated).  If the pH gets too extreme the soap can lose their heads altogether but within the soaps sensible mid-range,  this property of soap can help you reach an optimal degree of solubility.

But there are multiple fatty soaps in a vegetable soap, which pH do I aim for?

With a blend such as that which we find in liquid soap, there’s usually a ‘majority rules’ pH point where the soaps all sit happily in the mixture.  As this does depend on your particular soap recipe it can vary between makers but the solubility sweet spot is typically between pH 9-11.  One thing I found with my particular recipe is that it settled at a pH of 9 when first made but reached its peak balance point between solubility and mild feeling when adjusted up to pH 10.  Keeping this in mind, it’s pertinent for liquid soapers to keep that pH meter handy at all times as everything you do to your soap during dilution could affect its pH.  You can try and calculate this by looking at your particular oil formula and calculating what your dominant (or most abundant) fatty soap chemistry is then tracing back its happy place pH.  Otherwise just observe the clarity of your soap as you gently raise and lower the pH. Same, Same.

So with that I’ll sign off…

While soap has been widely studied and saponification has been a reaction that humans have undertaken throughout history, it’s still surprisingly hard to piece together the science that helps us answer the ‘why’s’.  I guess that’s part of what keeps it relevant and interesting as both a hobby and a job.  It always excites me to dive into something that seems ‘known’ only to find that we really know next to nothing at all.  Keeps life interesting.

I hope you are well and if, like me, you’ve not been (I got a dose of flu, it really sucked and my lungs are still a bit dodgy, probably not helped by that long summer of bush fire smoke but hey ho, if I’m here for a good time and not a long time so be it) just do your best to enjoy it.

Amanda x

PS: Along my reading travels I found this paper on bush fire retardant foam. Apparently that’s now a potassium soap base due to its high environmental tolerance.  Lots of pink foamy stuff was dropped onto the places around us this summer so it’s good to know that I can whip up a few tonnes of this and keep us safe.

    Some Liquid Soap Chemistry It's only when you dive deeply into the science of liquid soap making that you realise how interesting and chemistry-rich every little step of that process is.  

[civilizedskincare]

The Best Body Wash for Dry Skin – Reviews in 2017

Your dry sensitive skin will thank you

Having dry skin stays with you all day. If you use the wrong body soap, you feel it all day. Your skin feels sensitive and itchy. Your clothes rub and pull at your skin and you feel it every time you move. Having dry skin can feel like torture. The body wash you choose has very real consequences to dry skin so it’s vital you seek out the best moisturizing body wash for dry skin.

Best moisturizing body wash for dry skin

The Yellow Bird - Lavender Soap Bar w/ Goats Milk and Oats

Best natural body wash for dry skin

Tree to Tub - Soapberry for Body Sensitive Skin Body Wash

Best body wash for extremely dry skin

CLn BodyWash - Physician-Developed Therapeutic Body Wash

Best body wash for dry sensitive skin

Purity Natural Beauty - Organic Exfoliating Body Wash

Cheaper body washes use chemicals and toxins to pad and preserve their products. Sure, it says this body wash will last forever, but is that because it’s formulated with a nuclear isotope?! Obviously (hopefully!), that’s not true, but some of the stuff they do put into your soap is proven to be toxic to human beings.

Then you go scrubbing this into your sensitive dry skin… your poor skin desperate for moisture is going to soak up anything you put on it. This includes all the garbage they mix in so it doesn’t separate or break down from sitting on the shelf too long. And some of those companies that make body products by the MILLIONS, you can’t tell me that they are buying the best ingredients. They are buying the cheapest ingredients that can be provided in BULK with the best supply chain. This rarely means they are going for the best ingredients.

So let’s make a promise to your dry skin at this very moment to only put excellent body washes, soaps, scrubs, and lotions that has as many natural ingredients in them as possible. Ever hear of someone (without a food allergy) complaining of his skin breaking out from having too many natural products touching it? Didn’t think so.

So what is the best body soap for dry skin?

Literally dozens of ingredients can be packed into a body wash for many different reasons. You might think that the ingredient list really doesn’t mean much, but there are things that are brilliant for dry skin and then there are ingredients that can be devastating.

Some things you definitely should look for in body washes for dry, itchy skin:

Essential Oils. These oils replace the need for synthetic fragrances and many of them are good for your skin too. Some essential oils also offer tremendous healing benefits to our bodies.

Natural Oils. Oils like coconut oil, olive oil, or even hemp oil are all fabulous for your skin. They are naturally anti-microbial, moisturizing, and they provide tons of antioxidants and vitamins to your skin.

Beeswax. Not too many body washes have much beeswax in them, but it’s fabulous for your skin! It leaves your skin moistened and nourished.

Some things that you should avoid in your body washes:

Triclosan. This is an antibacterial and antimicrobial agent added to soaps. I’m not entirely sure why it’s in there, but studies have shown that it is shown to cause skin irritation.

Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). This is a very common chemical agent that is designed to make soap more foamy. Yahoo! You get all these nice big bubbles, but SLS is really harsh! It can irritate the skin and if your skin is already dry, you will notice it drying out even more. If you have extremely sensitive skin, you can also add sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) to the list of skin drying agents.

Lye. Lye is one of those “old school ingredients” they always used to make soaps. Lye is a concentrate of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide sometimes combined with animal fats to make bar soap. Sure this was fine for your grampa to use on his thick, railroad-working skin (weren’t all people railroad workers back then?), but once you get it on your already dry skin, it can cause itching, irritation, and even skin burns.

Polypropylene. This is one of those things that large manufacturers of store brand skin care love to dump into their products. Who cares what it’s in there for, it’s a possible carcinogen and really has no place next to your skin.

FD&C dyes/Synthetic Dyes. First of all, if your body has an unnatural color, don’t use it!!! Synthetic dyes are dumped in to make our soaps cheerful and super colorful because, I don’t know, we are a bunch of children that need to get our happiness from brightly colored soap? You are an adult. You are a civilized adult. Do you really need My Little Pony colored soap? These dyes are made from petrochemicals that have been shown to cause allergies, skin irritation, even hives. If you’re really sensitive to fake dyes, it might even cause respiratory problems.

Antibacterial agents. Did you know that many antibacterial agents can kill 99.9% of germs?! Really? Regular soap and hot water can get around 80% of common germs. It’s that .1 percent of germs that this thing doesn’t kill that is the germ you should be most worried about. Seriously. Why would you want that on your skin anyway when it’s either basically bleach or toxic chemicals? Leave the antibacterial soaps at the stores where they can’t hurt anyone.

The Best Body Wash for Dry Skin

So here we come to what you’re really looking for. You’ve got sensitive dry skin that’s desperate for moisture and you want to feed it. But… you are civilized and you want to feed it in the best way possible to, quite possibly, cure your extremely dry skin. Look no further, my friends! Here are a few of our absolute favorite body soaps for dry skin.

Now if you’ve been buying stuff at your grocery store and haven’t gotten any relief from those cheap soaps, you might notice the price tag on some of these soaps. Let’s look at it this way: a lifetime of those gross four to seven dollar soaps have left you desperately looking for the best body wash for dry sensitive skin. Is it possible that these body washes are so expensive because there has actually been some RESEARCH into creating a product that actually works?!! You’re not just paying for a tube full of goo, you are paying for the very real science to formulate a soap that not only relieves your dry skin, but does a whole lot to actually curing it.

Your body wash is not a place where you can go cheap. It’s something you use every day, all over your body and if you have dry skin, this is the first place to look for a culprit. Get something that feeds your skin and not just strips it of its healthy natural oils!

Best moisturizing body wash for dry skin

The Yellow Bird - Lavender Soap Bar w/ Goats Milk and Oats

One of the few bar soaps we recommend because it’s just so dang moisturizing! This gentle exfoliator cleans all your body parts and leaves it feeling soft—and young! How many soaps can say that one? It also does wonders on rosacea, acne, eczema and any other rashes that might pop up on your skin. Users boast about how this one little bar of soap changed their lives after years of searching for something that actually puts moisture back in their skin.

Best natural body wash for dry skin

Tree to Tub - Soapberry for Body Sensitive Skin Body Wash

You won’t be able to say anything bad about this natural and organic product. All you need to see are the gushing reviews to know this might just be the answer to dry and itchy skin. Plus it’s made from soapberries (Sapindus Mukorossi) which is a naturally foaming product so they don’t have to add a bunch of chemicals to get the suds going. And the ingredient list sounds like a delicious smoothie that your skin will just soak up. This product might just be our absolute favorite!

Best body wash for extremely dry skin

CLn BodyWash - Physician-Developed Therapeutic Body Wash

What skin is more dry than Eczema? If nothing else works on your dry skin, you might look into the body washes formulated for serious skin conditions. And this soap by CLn free of steroids, antibiotics, parabens, triclosan, and fragrances. It’s also hypoallergenic, non-drying, and non-irritating that will make your skin purr.

Best body wash for dry sensitive skin

Purity Natural Beauty - Organic Exfoliating Body Wash

So what happens if your skin is sensitive but still could use a little exfoliation without making matters worse? This fabulous smelling body wash will curl your toes in glee! You will feel the difference after only a couple washes with this body soap and your sensitive skin will calm down and basically feel like… nothing! No more sitting in your clothes all day squirming from the burn and itch that seems to never go away. This is exactly what you are looking for.

Thoughts on Body Wash for Dry Skin

As I said before, if whatever soap your using now hasn’t actively relieved your dry skin symptoms, THROW IT OUT! It might be news to some of you, but the body wash you use could actually give you serious relief from the symptoms of dry skin. That’s right! You don’t need 50 different dermatologists to give you pills or skin care regimens when you choose a body wash and lotion for dry skin that will make all of your symptoms vanish.

This actually happens when real researchers spend a bunch of time experimenting with ingredient mixtures until they find a perfect solution that actually heals your dry itchy skin. For some of these other body wash manufacturers, I picture them saying “We should make a product for all the people with dry skin. Mix some low quality aloe in with our normal body wash and label it as a dry skin cure!” The problem is that that their normal skin body wash is packed full of chemicals and toxins that are destroying your skin and making it dry out more every time you step into the shower.

The best suggestion? Look at the label of what you are already using and if you see a ton of words that you can’t pronounce and don’t know what it’s in there for, THROW IT OUT! Get yourself something someone put a lot of effort into that actually does what it says. The best body wash for dry skin is the one specifically formulated for your precious body.

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The post The Best Body Wash for Dry Skin – Reviews in 2017 appeared first on Civilized Skin Care.

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Rejuvelix Review: Don’t Buy Before You Read This!

 What is it?

Rejuvelix is an anti-aging serum that is designed to boost collagen production and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Their advertising also claims that it can promote skin repair by helping reverse dark spots and blemishes caused by hyperpigmentation and hyperkeratosis. They say that it chemically tightens the skin on the face, which makes users look younger and helps prevent sun damage.

The top-rated skin care product according to our experts’ ranking system is Kremotex. It has proven to be an effective collagen stimulant and to increase the hydration levels of the skin cells. Click here to read Kremotex’s full ingredients list.

Do You Know the Best Anti-Aging Creams of 2017?

Rejuvelix Ingredients and Side Effects

Trylagen PCB Gatuline In-Tense Sodium Hydroxide Preservative, Perfume

 Trylagen PCB: A newly synthesized combination of peptides, soy and wheat proteins, and pseudoalteromonas ferment extract. Trylagen PCB was designed to increase collagen production, organization, and retention.

There is very little data about the actual effects of Trylagen PCB, with the only clinical study about its effects coming from the laboratory that manufactures the drug. There is no data about its safety in either the short- or long-term, however there have not been any independent reports of side effects at this time.

Gatuline In-Tense: Another newly synthesized chemical derived in part concentrated oil taken from the flowers of the paracress plant. The paracress is thought to be high in alkylamides, which are known analgesics and play a roll the immune system.

Gatuline In-Tense is used to increase skin density by encouraging the contraction of fibroblasts, the connective tissue between collagen cells. The effect is tighter, more reflective skin that looks younger and is more reflective of UV rays. UV ray reflection prevents the creation of free radicals, which can cause damage to cell membranes and disrupt cellular organization.

Similar to Trylagen PCB, Gatuline In-Tense has only been studied by the laboratory that synthesized it. They too have chosen not to release data about any side effects in the short term, and it is too early for any long-term safety information to exist.

Sodium Hydroxide: The chemical name for the caustic soda known more commonly as lye. Lye is an extreme pH base compound that used to be used as a skin lightener before it was linked to too many harmful side effects.

Lye was popular in the 1800’s and 1900’s where it was used as a cleaning agent and tool for the bleaching of the skin. It fell out of favor as people started realizing that its bleaching effects were rarely regular across the skin, often resulting in a mottled, spotty effect. Additionally, there were a number of other more serious health concerns related to sodium hydroxide usage.

Today lye is recognized as a toxin by the Cosmetics Safety Database and by the CDC. They list potential consequences related to lye consumption as:

Neurotoxicity

Organ toxicity

Metabolic changes

Chemical burns

Ulcerations of the skin

Cancer

Sodium hydroxide has no medicinal or therapeutic value; its only purpose is to balance out the pH level of a skin cream’s solution. It is not a recommended ingredient according to our panel of experts.

Preservative, Perfume: One of the more frustrating entries commonly found on skin care products’ ingredients panels. This is a highly ambiguous entry that could be unsafe for some or all users, but we sadly have no way of knowing which users that may be.

There are some perfuming agents that are perfectly safe for use in skin care blends, and there are perfuming agents that have been linked to fatal cases of cancer. Many users are allergic to some types of flowers or herbs, which can often form the base of a fragrance. Unless companies are more specific, customers must use their own best judgment about whether or not it is safe for them.

Click here to see the entire rankings of the top skin care products available without a prescription.

EDITOR’S TIP: Combine this product with a proven anti-aging cream such as Kremotex for better results.

Rejuvelix Quality of Ingredients

It is clear that the manufacturers of Rejuvelix have a very different philosophy about what makes for quality ingredients than our team does. Our team believes that a skin care product should use safe, proven ingredients that make skin healthier, not just look better. Rejuvelix uses brand new ingredients that are untested and have far more cosmetic benefits than core level ones.

Our panel feels that skin care companies should be up front with their consumers about what they are putting onto and into their bodies, even if it’s just fragrance products. These chemicals affect bodies as well, even if it isn’t in the positive ways that skin care companies like to promote.

Our panel does not recommend products that contain sodium hydroxide. The positive benefits of the chemical are not related to skin wellness, and the negative impacts can be significant and far-reaching. We refuse to suggest to our readers any product that has as strong a linkage to cancer as lye does, and the mutagenic, metabolic, and toxic effects of the chemical are almost as scary.

Follow this link to find out the skin care products that tested the highest for cellular turnover and repair.

The Price and Quality of Rejuvelix

Rejuvelix is sold online from their home site and through a number of independent retailers. They are one of the most expensive skin care products on the market, but according to our research their prices tended to be much lower through their website than through the third-party outlets.

As of the date of this review’s publication, these are the prices that Rejuvelix was quoting:

1, 1 oz. tube of Rejuvelix anti-aging cream: $59.87

2, 1 oz. tubes of Rejuvelix anti-aging cream: $107.07

3, 1 oz. tubes of Rejuvelix anti-aging cream: $134.71

These prices are well above average for most skin creams, especially those that have no discernable vitamins, minerals, or antioxidants.

To get more information about which skin care products are the gentlest and most effective for your skin type, click here.

Business of Rejuvelix

Rejuvelix is a subsidiary of a company known as the Skin Research Institute that specializes in skin care products. They list their contact information as:

Phone Number: (800) 958-1094

Address: 2425 Olympic Blvd, Suite 4000

Santa Monica, CA 90404

Email: support@skinresearchinstitute.com

There is little information about the business of the Skin Research Institute, however there is no reason to believe that there are any legal actions or criminal cases filed against them.

To find out where the skin cream that you’re using now stands when compared to the rest of the industry, just follow this link.

EDITOR’S TIP: For the best results, our experts recommend using anti-aging creams for at least 3 months. Save your money by buying a few bottles at once.

Customer Opinions of Rejuvelix

Customer reviews of Rejuvelix were split, with some people saying that it was a highly effective product and others saying that it did nothing for their skin issues. Many of their customers’ responses were similar to these:

“Wow, for as expensive as Rejuvelix is, you’d think that it would do something. Used the whole tube and saw no change.”

“I gave my mom a couple tubes of Rejuvelix for her birthday, but they didn’t work. Now she makes fun of me for not doing my research.”

“HOW can this stiff cost SO MUCH when it does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING?!? Still waiting to get my refund…”

The most common complaint about Rejuvelix was that it was ineffective, especially in relation to how expensive it was. In addition, there were several complaints about their customer service and returns policies.

Click here for more data about the top anti-aging creams, gels, serums, and masks.

Conclusion – Does Rejuvelix Work?

Based on the ingredients in Rejuvelix, our team expected it to be a moderately effective skin care product that worked for some individuals but not for others. Based on the accounts from previous customers that we’ve read, this was exactly correct.

There are some people that like Rejuvelix and say that it has worked for them. There are also quite a few people that say that it has not changed their skin quality at all. Our team, in order for them to recommend something, has to believe that it has a reasonable chance to be effective for every user that tries it.

It would be far easier to count on Rejuvelix is it used vitamins A, C, or E, shea butter, apple stem cells, or any of the other products that are known to be effective in humans, not just chemicals that were designed in a laboratory within the last couple years. Instead, they use recently synthesized chemicals and, oddly, one ingredient that should not still be a part of a person’s skin health regimen.

Lye does not belong on your body. It is a highly caustic irritant that can dissolve human skin in its concentrated form. It has also been linked to a number of negative long term issues, such as cancer, organ toxicity, neurotoxicity, and changes in the metabolism.

There were no reports of negative side effects related to Rejuvelix, however the issues that concern our team the most, such as cancerous growths and organ toxicity, would not show up until much later anyway. Our team does not recommend any product that contains lye.

Our skin care experts do recommend a product called Kremotex for all over the counter skin care needs. Kremotex is a moisturizer, collagen synthesizer, and has skin protection features that help prevent future damage. Click here to see before and after pictures of Kremotex users.

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Juvalux Review: Don’t Buy Before You Read This!

What is it?

Juvalux is a skin care product that advertises itself as an aging and moisturization solution for all skin types. They claim that it has color correction and collagen-generating properties, and that it can restore shine and luster to dulled skin tones. They further say that it tightens pores and increases skin reflectivity, which helps prevent UV damage and the creation of free radicals.

Our team of skin care professionals believes that Kremotex is the most reputable skin care product on the market. They have shown that they are safe and effective for a variety of skin types and conditions, and that they affect skin health at the core level. Click here to see before and after pictures of Kremotex users.

Do You Know the Best Anti-Aging Creams of 2017?

Juvalux Ingredients and Side Effects

Retinoids

 Retinoids: A concentrated chemical compound that is closely related to vitamin A. Vitamin A products and derivatives are a necessary part of a number of different biological functions including cellular proliferation and differentiation, bone growth, and immune system functionality.

Retinoids are a favorite ingredient of the skin care community because they help encourage the growth and retention of collagen, one of the fundamental building blocks of the skin. Collagen is a combination of vitamins, A, C, and E, with amino acids, minerals and other protein chains, and its presence is what makes the skin look plump, healthy and young.

As we age we naturally produce less and less collagen, which leads to effects like wrinkles, discoloration, and sagging, dull, inelastic skin, and it becomes more and more necessary to get it from an outside source. It can take time for retinoid creams to start affecting this process, however it is thought that after three to four weeks of regular retinoid application some lost skin functionality may be returned.

Retinoids are generally considered safe for most users and are not connected to any serious side effects in either the short- or the long-term. It is possible that negative effects may be experienced in individuals that exceed the upper recommended limit of vitamin A, however that is not an issue for anyone that is not taking extreme doses of the chemical.

Follow this link for more information about which skin care products will be most effective for your specific skin care needs.

EDITOR’S TIP: Combine this product with a proven anti-aging cream such as Kremotex for better results.

Juvalux Quality of Ingredients

It is impossible to accurately evaluate a product that will not disclose what it is made of. It would be wonderful if we lived in a world where all manufacturers only created products that did exactly what they said and were honest about all of the negative effects that they could have on consumers, however that is not the current state of the industry.

It is all to common that unscrupulous manufacturers use products in their blends that seem to make it work initially, but that can have damaging and even counter-indicative effects on the skin in the long run. Simple alcohols, for example, are used to help products absorb rapidly into the skin, giving it a plumped, healthy look. After time, however, they evaporate and they take with them moisture that was in the skin before they were applied. The overall effect is that the skin ends up dehydrated, damaged, and even more wrinkled than before.

Mineral oils and paraffins are frequently contaminated with toxins that can have carcinogenic effects. Ammonia-based products are far too common, especially given all of the negative side effects that have been connected to ammonia exposure, and shockingly even lye is sometimes found in skin care blends under the more innocuous name of sodium hydroxide.

If a skin cream does not include any of these harmful additives, they generally want to publicize this information to consumers. A full ingredients list allows for ease of comparison between products and it shows potential customers that they are not getting anything that they are allergic to, that will interact badly with any medications that they are on, and that will be effective for their specific skin type and needs.

Retinoids are an effective and highly recommended skin care ingredient. They work to improve the skin on a core level, not just cosmetically, and they are generally safe. That said, they are not so effective that they should be the only active ingredient in your skin cream, nor are they so effective that they can outweigh the negative effects of other chemicals if they are a part of this blend.

Click here for a list of the most effective skin care products available without a prescription.

The Price and Quality of Juvalux

In addition to their lack of straightforwardness regarding the contents of their product, Juvalux is also not forthcoming with pricing information, which may be even more disconcerting. There are no per-unit prices posted for Juvalux on their homepage, and it is not available for retail through any independent offers.

The only way to get a jar of Juvalux is to sign up for their deceptively-named “Free Trial Offer.” That title is deceptive because there is very little chance that it will ever be free for any given user thanks to a number of hidden costs that are not well displayed on the website.

All users are required to pay shipping and handling for their free sample, however that is fairly standard industry protocol. What is not standard protocol, however, is the fact that signing up for the free trial actually enrolls users into a monthly subscription program that automatically bills their credit card $89.95 a month without any kind of notification or authorization required.

Many users have gone months before realizing what is happening, often losing hundreds of dollars in the process. Even if users do notice and decide to cancel they have to pay a cancellation fee, and there are a number of other hidden costs that can be found in the lengthy legal disclaimer that is buried on the bottom of one of their earlier web pages.

To learn more about the most effective skin care products for combating dry skin, damaged skin, and over-pigmentation, click here.

Business of Juvalux

Juvalux is part of a network of skin car companies that are notorious within the industry for their poor quality products and deceptive marketing practices. They have listed several different companies as parent companies, including Coal Cosmetics, Skin Technologies, and Kiara Skin. Juvalux currently lists the name of their parent company as Skin Noir and posts this as their contact information:

Phone Number: (888) 646-6926

Address: PO Box 25380

Santa Ana, CA 92799

Email: cs@tryskinnoir.com

There are hundreds of open complaints against Juvalux and Skin Noir with the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission, and many customers have threatened legal action against them, however there is no evidence of any currently proceeding court cases involving either company.

Follow this link to find out which skin care products were the most recommended by our team of skin care experts.

EDITOR’S TIP: For the best results, our experts recommend using anti-aging creams for at least 3 months. Save your money by buying a few bottles at once.

Customer Opinions of Juvalux

The most common complaint against Juvalux is regarding their “Free Trial Offer,” as there are hundreds of people that feel like they were mislead, taken advantage of and never offered any compensation for their frustration. There were also quite a few people that were upset with the quality of the product itself, and there were quite a few reviews that were similar to these:

“By far the worst skin cream I’ve ever encountered. Instead of moisturizing, it dries. Instead of reducing wrinkles, they get bigger.”

“I had a very bad reaction to Juvalux’s skin cream. I started growing these little nodes under my skin – not pimples – little hard pumps that won’t go away, even though I’ve stopped using Juvalux.”

“A warning to all: Juvalux is a scam, their product is garbage, and it will destroy your face.”

Complaints ranged from the texture and smell of the product, to its general ineffectiveness, to reports of a wide variety of side effects including redness, swelling, acne, strange growths, dryness, bleeding, and infection.

Click here to see the top skin creams, moisturizers and serums for increasing collagen and elastin production.

Conclusion – Does Juvalux Work?

It is the philosophy of our panel of experts that a skin cream is supposed to make a person’s skin healthier and more functional, and that beauty is a product of that functionality. They also believe that it is a skin care company’s job to treat their customers fairly, to be up front with them about their business practices, pricing structure, and the contents of their products.

Juvalux fails by all of these metrics. Their products do not seem to help users’ skins but rather leave them dried and damaged. They do not post a fair price for their product and stick to it, but rather they try to trick users into paying them money that they didn’t want to. There is no reason at all that our team would recommend to any of our users that they try Juvalux – and they especially encourage them to stay away from the “Free Trial Offer.”

Our team does recommend the reliable skin care product Kremotex. They have become popular with both customers and skin care critics for their core-level approach to skin care. Many professionals in the industry recommend it to their clients as an alternative to harsher, more abrasive products.

Kremotex uses an ingredients blend that has demonstrated its ability to affect the skin at the cellular level and to naturally stimulate the collagen generation process. Click here to see the entire ingredients list behind Kremotex’s effective blend.

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