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Acne Facial Soap – testing

So I started testing the new acne facial soap.  Often when I’m going to be the one testing, then I’ll use an overpour or some other not-suitable-for-sale version, so I’m not really losing much.  If an official tester is getting the item to test, then they get the full item usually.  Anyway, I had an overpour that I have been using for testing.  It wasn’t the smoothest soap, I admit.  *grin* There was a dollop of oats that fell at the very end, which didn’t get absorbed like it usually would have, since they had started to set by the time I was pouring the last of it (it made more than expected, but not enough for a full soap, which is an overpour).  I was excited to test it and while in the shower (since I had several test items to do, I figured I’d give it all a go at once) I grab up the new round of soap.  Stupid, stupid girl…I picked it up and dragged it across my skin, forgetting the little issue from the pour, and scraped the rough oats straight across my forehead.  *rolling eyes with a dramatic sigh*  Yeah, like I said, stupid, stupid girl.  *grin*  However, the scratch went away quickly, and the soap is actually pretty neat.  I’m still tracking the results to see if it’s coincidental or if it seems like the soap has made the difference.  Since it has a combination of oil and lemon powder, it cleans and moisturizes, but leaves a waterproof feel to the skin.  Oddest feeling, but really cool!  To describe…it’s like running your finger over the surface of a plastic waterproof tarp – that smooth feeling that lets you know that the water will bead up.  What happens is that this reaction keeps the ingredients on the skin and penetrating, but since it is oil, water rolls off.  Sounds counter-intuitive, but really moisturizes.  I just couldn’t believe I did that. lol  So far I’m breaking out, but that is normal if the soap is doing the job.  (This is where selling Avon and doing other product parties has come in handy…I learned a lot before I started making my own stuff!)  You see, when you use an item that really starts to work against your acne, it’ll bring the acne that is in the lower layers of your skin up to the surface.  When you exfoliate, you remove the dead cells that are at the surface (don’t exfoliate too hard, because then you remove the healthy skin, which is why your face hurts and is pink as can be), revealing the radiant skin that doesn’t have the dull blah of the surface stuff.  I have to keep this in mind while testing the soap, because if it’s just random acne (thanks hormones…), then I’m just out of luck.  If it’s because the soap is working, then I’ll stop breaking out.  Only time will tell.  I love the relaxing spa scent, the oats (except for the lovely dollop on mine) is super soft and exfoliates, but isn’t abrasive, and it leaves that awesome clean feeling.  My husband felt my cheek yesterday, raised his eyebrow, and said it felt super clean.  At least part of the soap works! lol  By the way, the oats are a mixture.  I chopped up part of them, so they’re nice and fine.  There are some roughly chopped oats that give some real umph to the soaps and add a great texture while using it.  It admittedly feels a little odd when there’s something rolling on your skin until you realize that one of the oats has come loose and is all soggy *grin*, but hey, that is so unique! 

I’ll be testing this for a while.  I will end up using another tester to find out if the lemon powder included in it is working, since it doesn’t for me, but like medicine, it may work on one person’s skin, and not another.  For my oily skin, I might be making a lemon soap.  I’ll keep you posted.  Have a great night!

Acne facial soap

One of my brothers has a teen daughter who is struggling with acne, as we all do (welcome to hormones).  He asked if I had anything that could help and wildly enough I had just been reading about natural items that help with acne and greasy skin, so I asked that he give me a bit of time and I would see what I could come up with.  That night I found a recipe on my wholesaler’s site to start with, ordered the remaining items that I needed, and got them in the most recent delivery.  I’ve kept researching in the meantime and finally got in to make my first attempt at acne facial soaps.

My kitchen smells fantastic right now!  I used the Spa FO (Almond & Honey), which is one of the most relaxing scents I have ever smelled, along with oats (for mild exfoliation), lemon powder (which is a natural astringent, antiseptic, and kills bacteria, while clearing grease and oil), shea butter base (protects skin and super moisturizing), bentonite clay (removes toxins and absorbs oil, among other benefits), and even a little bit of refined sweet almond oil (moisturizing, yet doesn’t clog pores).  I did a mixture of chopped oats and finely ground, too, which gives the soap a little more umph.  I poured the thick brew (I created a quarter recipe, so I only used 4 oz of soap base, instead of the full pound) into a few rounds in my silicone mold for easy removal once they set.  I figure that the oats and clay will make them very tough to remove, so I had to go with silicone.  I learned with my Mechanic’s Soap, which has a lot of pumice, that thickening items make soaps very hard to remove from traditional plastic molds.  *rolling eyes*  That was a very frustrating lesson, let me tell you. 

Anyway, they are sitting on the counter under a blanket of wax paper setting up.  It’ll take a few days since it’s so warm (in the winter they can set in just a couple of hours sometimes), but I look forward to testing the tiny partial overfill soap.  I really hope this works!  I’d love to help my niece and I’d seriously love to get further into the teen market. 

On a side note, some of the cancer ribbon soaps that I poured the other day were a total fail.  *disappointed sigh*  The super thin molds make it almost impossible to unmold the soaps without breaking the “legs” of the ribbons off.  What made it through will be the ones that I donate to the survivors, since they actually smell really nice.  The rest go into my “melting bowl”, which are scraps that become mysteriously scented soaps later when I melt the wild mixture down.  That’s how I ended up with the  “At the Fair” soaps.  I’m sticking to my old mold from now on! *grin*

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