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Shaving soap ingredients/allergy

I've been DE shaving for the vast majority of my shaving years, but I've always used Barbasol in a can. After hanging out here and reading about all the wonderful soaps, I would like to try some. I've noticed that some of the soaps list ingredients and some contain coconut oil, to which I am allergic. Does anyone have any resource I could use to find a good soap without it, or am I going to have to email manufacturers? I'd really like to try this, but I don't want to risk an allergic reaction, nor do I want to waste money on soap only to find out I can't use it.
 
I think you'll have a hard time finding a quality soap or cream that doesn't contain any coconut. I only know of one soap without it, and you won't find that in stores in the US. And it's not that good a soap, too.

That said, you may still want to give a soap or cream with coconut oil a go. The reason is twofold: first is that coconut oil is just a mixture of other oils which are already present in soaps and creams, and second is that it is proteins in the coconut which cause your allergy. There should not be that great an amount of proteins in shaving soap, if only because the soap making process isn't exactly easy on these compounds. And there's a third reason: soap really is not that expensive. You can get a puck for under $10 easily, so it's not going to break the bank to give one a go.
 
Thanks a bunch for the reply. I don't know that I've ever had a reaction form mere contact with coconut or coconut oil, but the thought of scraping my face with a razor while it's covered in something that could cause me to not be able to breathe is a little scary. I'll have to give it some thought and maybe take a pre-emptive pill the first time 'til I get the nerve to try it without!
 
Try contacting the various Sue's on this board. They make their own wonderful soaps, have great customer service, and I am sure would work with you.
 
On the one hand, there is this: when you make soap, you chemically break up the coconut oil into smaller pieces, using lye. The lye bonds to part of the coconut oil, breaking the molecule, and then the rest floats away as glycerine.

Obviously that's simplified, but what remains isn't coconut oil.

Except -- soapmaking is imperfect; there will most likely be at least a little bit of coconut oil that never gets saponified. Your reaction to having some amount of coconut oil on your skin cannot be known, so I won't even guess here. Further, I cannot know what part of the coconut oil causes an allergic reaction -- and thus if even saponified coconut oil would be problematic.

It would be interesting to know if, say, glycerine caused a skin reaction, or if some generic store-bought soap (say, Ivory or Dial) caused a skin reaction. The latter soaps (and most commercial soaps too) are made from some coconut oil and some tallow, from a product called "80/20 soap base", where 80% of the oils in the soap come from tallow, and 20% come from coconut oil. 80/20 soap base has very little leftover oils in them because of the manufacturing process, so these bars would be a good test.

BUT! I'm not a doctor and I don't think that playing with fire is a good idea. If you already know the answers to these questions, then fine, but don't go out and start using yourself as an anaphylactic guinea pig!

There are oils that can be substituted for coconut oil, but you're less likely to find those used in soap for cost and availability reasons.
 
I'd really like to try this, but I don't want to risk an allergic reaction, nor do I want to waste money on soap only to find out I can't use it.

I don't know how bad your allergy is - I'm intolerant of some perfuming agents - typically I test new ones by a dab of it on my lower arm - then the worst case should be a red patch on my arm for a few hours/days...

Disregard the above if your allergy is in any way anaphylactic and keep steering clear - but you could simply try a cheap soap for the skin test - VDH, Palmolive all that caper... they're like $2-$5 a shout - if it all goes wrong you're out $5, if it all goes well you're out by millions when the AD kicks in :biggrin:
 
Here are the ingredients for L'Occitane shaving soap:

Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Water, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Stearate, Glycerin, Palm Kernal Acid, Fragrance, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Sunflower Seed Oil, Juniper Wood Oil


Coconut oil isn't listed in there, but if you are really allergic you may want to send them an email to make sure.
 
Here are the ingredients for L'Occitane shaving soap:

Potassium Palmate, Sodium Palmate, Water, Potassium Stearate, Potassium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Sodium Stearate, Glycerin, Palm Kernal Acid, Fragrance, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Sunflower Seed Oil, Juniper Wood Oil


Coconut oil isn't listed in there, but if you are really allergic you may want to send them an email to make sure.

I have to add to this. L'Occitane is one of the best hard soaps that you will ever use!!
 
OK, to make things more clear:

>I can't eat coconut
>I can't eat things that contain coconut or coconut oil or some palm oils
>If I do eat these things, my mouth and throat get sore and swell. Only once did I get a bad enough reaction that I couldn't breathe. My first and only Mounds bar! Since then I've avoided the stuff pretty well. I will get a reaction if I eat something containing these things, but it happens almost immediately so I stop before I get enough to do serious harm. Just a swollen, sore palate.
>I've never had an adverse reaction to any kind of soap that I know of, nor have I ever had any kind of reaction from contact with these things externally, I was just a little worried about scraping my face with it on my skin and possibly having some sort of rash.

All that being said, I'm satisfied enough by the responses I've read here to go ahead and try some soap even if it is made with coconut oil. If something bad happens, I'll let you know, lol.
 
OK, to make things more clear:

>I can't eat coconut
>I can't eat things that contain coconut or coconut oil or some palm oils
>If I do eat these things, my mouth and throat get sore and swell. Only once did I get a bad enough reaction that I couldn't breathe. My first and only Mounds bar! Since then I've avoided the stuff pretty well. I will get a reaction if I eat something containing these things, but it happens almost immediately so I stop before I get enough to do serious harm. Just a swollen, sore palate.
>I've never had an adverse reaction to any kind of soap that I know of, nor have I ever had any kind of reaction from contact with these things externally, I was just a little worried about scraping my face with it on my skin and possibly having some sort of rash.

All that being said, I'm satisfied enough by the responses I've read here to go ahead and try some soap even if it is made with coconut oil. If something bad happens, I'll let you know, lol.

I'm not a doctor. Don't play one on tv. But I do have a son who's got a severe peanut allergy, and so have read more about allergies than most humans.

I'd urge you not to use stuff for shaving that in other uses causes an allergic reaction.

Responses here (including mine) are no substitute for qualified, informed medical advice. Go get some.
 
OK, the Mrs. and I tried a little experiment today. She applied a lotion which contains virgin coconut oil to the whole right half of my neck. Absolutely zero reaction! YAY!!! I will now commence with some soap sampling. Thanks again for all the responses. You guys gave me the courage to perform this controlled experiment. I think I'm starting to like this place!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
 
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