Between hormones and skin stretching around baby watermelon, pregnancy will leave your skin very dry and itchy. I’ve seen some bloggy sites that recommend moisturizing body washes to remedy the problem, they’re very wrong. I don’t have a degree in dermatology nor chemistry to back my claim, but I’m standing by my words. They’re so wrong. Body washes and shampoos are often made with a combination of natural soap and a mild detergent. It’s not going to say in the ingredient list because cleansing agents are typically listed as Surfactants, and both soap and detergent are Surfactants. Even many “all natural” products are not true soaps.
What’s the difference and why do you care? Do you remember the old Zest commercials where the woman is wearing a black bathing suit? She washes half of herself with some soap and the other half with Zest and they show the “icky” residue from “that other soap”. The jingle was, “you’re not fully clean unless you’re Zestfully clean”. That other soap is a real soap. Real soap is more natural, more gentle on skin, and friendlier to the environment. The downside is that soap attaches to minerals, which translates into dull looking hair if you use it as a shampoo, and soap scum on the shower walls *if* you have hard water.
Now you’re saying, “but I’ve used (name of common name brand soapy soap) and it felt like I just had a face lift cause my skin was so tight I had a permagrin”. Most common brand name soapy soap soaps take out a lot of the glycerin from their soapy soap soaps. Glycerin is a natural byproduct of soap with great moisturizing properties. Homemade and smaller soap companies keep the glycerin in while larger manufacturers take a lot of it out to put in their lotion/moisturizer lines.
How do you find a good real soap? Some natural soap makers will list, “Saponified Olive Oil” on their ingredient list. The type of oil isn’t *that* important. The part that lets you know it’s real soap is the “Saponified” part followed by an oil. Olive oil is supposed to be the most gentle to the skin and is always the one recommended for babies, but a bar of pure olive oil soap gets slimy and dissolves quickly. Not that it really matters, but it also doesn’t lather very well especially in hard water, so if you equate suds to cleanliness you’ll be disappointed. Coconut oil isn’t nearly as moisturizing but gives a good lather. Combine the two, and there is a happy medium. There are a whole host of fancy and very expensive oils used in soaps…don’t waste your money. It’s really not worth it.
Apparently, another way to know if a particular soap is really soap is to test it for the date-rape drug, GHB. The makers of Dr. Bronner’s soaps even did a video about it.
On a semi related note, if you’re like me and try to keep things as basic as possible check out The Organic Consumers Association. They have also filed a lawsuit in California over companies that label their products as organic as a “Coming Clean” Campaign. They have found that many personal care products that are labeled “organic” contain the carcinogen 1,4-Dioxane.
If you want to know what’s in your personal care products check out the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database.
The soap I use on myself and Sophia is Savon de Marseille. You can buy it at:
- Savon de Marseille
- Several shops at Amazon.com
- Jillian’s Drawers
It’s expensive for a bar of soap, but these aren’t regular sized bars. They’re cubes and they last quite a while. Sophia’s shampoo is California baby, which you can buy at Target. What does chemical loving Kurtie use? He’s a guy, he uses whatever I buy. 
August 29th, 2008 at 5:31pm
Hi there and thanks for your nice words about our Savon de Marseille. It’s no wonder SDM has been trusted for generations in France - long before there were chemical detergents that strip skin of just about everything. For you and your friends / readers we’d like to offer a special 30% discount for the month of September. Just use the promo code MOMSJOURNAL at checkout. Best regards, French Soaps — makers of Savon de Marseille.
August 29th, 2008 at 6:16pm
Hmmmmm…interesting. Both my kids suffer from Eczema, so maybe I look into a new soap.
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August 29th, 2008 at 11:27pm
christy - I don’t think you saw the comment before yours on this post because I don’t think I had approved it yet. The manufacturer of the Savon de Marseille that I use saw this post and if giving a 30% discount to my readers for the month of September, so if you want to give this soap a shot now is a good time.
Savon de Marseille - Use the promo code MOMSJOURNAL at checkout. Their small bar is normally $7.00 for 300 grams which is about 10.5 ounces. They do have bigger sized blocks available for a better value.
August 30th, 2008 at 10:15pm
With 30% off, that puts the 10.5 ounce block at just under $5. Not bad for those who want to give it a try.
Is this the block I saw you using on Sophia after swim sessions?
smarmoofuss latest blog post… Thematic Photographic: Watery
August 31st, 2008 at 4:20pm
Wow, what a deal. I agree we use too many things with chemicals. Just this last week there was concern in the Philly and surrounding PA areas because planes were blanketing areas with pesticide to get rid of West Nile mosquitos. One mom specifically grew a organic garden for her kids and it was all for nought after this. I think I’ll take advantage of this deal and try out this soap.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:00am
How about a lotion…have an rec’s for a itchy-belly lotion?
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September 2nd, 2008 at 10:44am
Thank you, This is another thing that I’ve learned from your great blog.
September 7th, 2008 at 8:33pm
smarmoofus - Yep, the block I used at swimming is the same stuff. The hand soap (perpetual gob of green slime) in the guest bath was the 100% olive oil soap. That’s made by a different manufacturer.
September 7th, 2008 at 8:44pm
Susan Anderson - ACK! were the planes going over fields or all over the city(s)? (I can’t imagine there are a lot of farms/fields in or around Philly) How the heck can they just spray chemicals all over?!?! - I mean people can have horrible reactions to them or do they just not care about that 1 or 2% *grumble* Never mind that they’re trying to kill some naughty mosquitoes cause by using that method they’re likely killing birds too.
September 7th, 2008 at 8:47pm
Angel - sorry, no magic lotion. You’re belly is going to itch from growing. I used a lotion bar. It left the inside of my preggo-pants all sticky but I felt like it helped my skin more than regular out of a bottle lotion. I’m not sure why or what the difference would be if any.
September 7th, 2008 at 8:48pm
Paul - Thank you