I have truly sensitive skin. Sensitive to many fragrances and ingredients. Over the past couple years I have experimented with a number of different soaps and creams and the only ones I have used that reliably give me irritation free shaves are Cella and Valobra. Whenever I stray from Cella (my go to) I tend to be prone to irritation or in-growns. I have tried to figure out what it is that makes the difference and I'm starting to think that it might be the tallow? I've read that tallow tends to work best for very sensitive skin folks. Any thoughts on that and if so what other tallow soaps should I be trying?
I've never used tallow, but I have used soaps (& shampoo bars) with goat milk. My horribly sensitive scalp feels great when I use goat milk based products, so that might also be worth a try.
I have likewise had to deal with sensitive skin, though perhaps different from your challenge. I have rosacea flair ups from many ingredients in face products like shaving soap. But every individual seems to have different sensitivities. As much as I love Cella soap, I can't use it because of the fragrance, mild as it is. I have gone completely fragrance free, but that alone wasn't enough. My skin is clear when I combine that with other products that calm the redness. What has worked for me is Cerave face cleanser and lotion and Prosacea treatment gel. I would be surprised if the the tallow is the key ingredient that is working for you. Cella also has coconut oil, and is a good moisturizer. Maybe that is what is helping you as much as anything else. There are veggie soaps that also moisturize that might work, too. One that I especially like is the unscented version of TSD lanolin soap. But, by all means, stick with what works for you. I would be very happy if I could use Cella regularly.
I have suspicions that I may be dealing with rosacea also (getting that checked soon). I was as surprised as anyone that Cella happens to work best because it does contain fragrance but for whatever reason it sure works, I would just like a little more variety, I miss having a rotation. When it comes to face cleanser I do have to go all the way fragrance free and if I use heavily scented aftershaves I get killer headaches to boot. I long since stopped using shaving products labeled for "sensitive skin." It amazes me how many products are out there labeled for sensitive skin but are chocked full of fragrance. Another favorite of mine is the label "dermatologist tested." I bought a T&H product labeled this way and it was the most heavily fragranced product I ever used as soon as it touched my face it burned like hell fire- my face was lit up for 2 hours after! I've been to a dermatologist and the first thing they say is dump all products with fragrance in them. Interesting. Maybe some of these shave companies need to get new dermatologists. But I'm determined to figure out what works in Cella so I can go from there.
It may be any number of factors. Have you tried Vitos Extra Super Coconut? It is a tallow based Italian soft soap like Valobra and Cella. It also has coconut oil, but has a lighter scent than Cella and adds glycerin in for some nice slick shaves. It may be the tallow, or the coconut oil, or just that you're getting a better quality of lather using the soft soaps. The soft soaps tend to be lightly scented, so maybe the fragrances in other soaps that you have tried are the real culprits. I would start close to what works, using a few soft Italian soaps like Vitos Extra Super Coconut and the Razorock La Famiglia line (a rebranded version of TFS), and then branch out to hard tallow soaps. It might be a good idea to avoid heavily fragranced soaps, even ones with tallow, until you figure out the magic ingredient. Vitos: http://www.razorbladesandmore.com/catalog/aftershave-shaving-creams-soaps/vitos http://www.connaughtshaving.com/vitssb.html Razorock La Famiglia: http://search.westcoastshaving.com/b/q?k=la+famiglia+soap&search=GO&sn=161304780 http://www.razorbladesandmore.com/catalog/aftershave-shaving-creams-soaps/razorock
It's wonderful that you can use Cella. The ingredients are true to its old recipe & there's not a lot of chemicals apart from fragrance. (Unfortunately, almond is a common skin irritant). You're right that tallow is likely what's helping (as the coconut oil, while great for the skin, can be drying.) Cella Ingredients: Cocos Nucifera, Tallow, Stearic Acid, Potassium Hydroxide, Sodium Hydroxide, Aqua, Potassium Carbonate, Parfum. In addition to seeking tallow, you want to avoid soaps with a lot of ingredients & fragrance oils that are common irritants. I highly recommend trying Mike's Naturals Unscented Shave soap, which also contains Kokum butter (gentle & nourishing). Mike's soaps are soft enough for you to mold into a dish just by pressing. I recomend getting the bar form so that you can easily customize it when the mood strikes-- You can press or grate another soap whose scent you like for variety. I do this a lot with soaps that are too strong for me, I just splice in some Mike's & my nose & skin are happy. Caveat -- If you have any nut or latex allergies, you may find products with nut butters like shea butter & kokum irritating. In that case, I'd recommend products made with mango butter
I have a mild case of rocasea also. I have found that Spencer and Devon Sagebrush SC works wonderfully and seems to help the rocasea as well. Sage has been touted as good for the skin and, in my case, seems to be true
I may have to try some of these. I did try RazoRock and I think those may work for me but sadly the one I bought was the Chianti Lavender and the Lavender Oil irritated me but since the ingredients are the same as Cella another fragrance should work. Haven't tried Vitos. The newest soap I just received a couple days ago was Speick. I'm sad it isn't working too well because I really like the scent and it doesn't irritate my nose. But right away I started getting tiny little shaving pimples. I know that can be chalked up to technique but I just don't buy it because I can go for months getting perfects shaves if I use Cella.
I forgot about the mango soaps. I Coloniali is an excellent soft soap made using mango and is highly praised. I Coloniali: http://www.connaughtshaving.com/atk13.html http://www.connaughtshaving.com/atk14.html http://www.westcoastshaving.com/I-Coloniali-Mango-Oil-Shaving-Cream-Soap-Terracotta-Pot_p_1070.html http://www.westcoastshaving.com/I-Coloniali-Mango-Oil-Shaving-Cream-Soap-Refill_p_1069.html
Razorock's La Famiglia line is different than their LOA or artisan line (the Chianti Lavender is a part of the artisan line) and may work a bit better (it's also less expensive).
The unfortunate thing about ingredient lists is that proprietary blends for fragrance are able to be listed just as "fragrance" or "parfum". I read one study where "fragrance" contained over a 100 different components. I have 2 Razorock PIFs this month. Pls enter if you think you'll like the scents (threads are Caption This! & Soapocalypse Now)
"Rays of Colorado" on ebay offers a Goat Milk Soap, it isn't tallow and I don't know how much goats milk is actually in it, but it is inexpenisve and they do offer a few scents as well as a scent free goat soap. I've used them many times with no ill effects, might be worth a try....
Don't know about the specific skin care needs discussed here, but in my experience tallow is always the answer. And bacon. French roast is a good idea as well.
