Welcome to a new regular feature here at Soap Leaves, “Get the Dirt!”.  I’ll answer all soap-related questions… how to choose it, use it, care for it, and more!  Send me your question, and you’ll be entered in a monthly drawing for a free bar of Sarva soap, your choice!

Our first question is from Julie Cajigas, a talented freelance writer, designer, and marketing consultant in the Cleveland, Ohio area.  Her blog can be found at Inspired Freelancer.

I have oily skin and it seems like a lot of your soaps utilize olive oil or another oil as a major ingredient – will this make my skin more oily?

Good news:  With regular use of artisanal soap, your skin may actually begin to feel less oily!

Maybe you’ve tried a cleanser designed to control oily skin.  It worked great at first!  Your skin feels a little tight, definitely not oily… but only for about a half hour!  Then, out of nowhere, you become a human oil slick.  Yuck!

Can you relate?  Your skin has actually gone into a “rebound mode”, struggling to regain its balance, working to normalize its baseline surface moisture and pH level, tying up all its energy in recovery. And what does the body do when it’s recovering from harm? Inflammation, excess oil production, and so on.

Oil is the major ingredient in any true soap. You can’t make soap without oil, but there’s almost no oil in the finished product.   Soap is created through a naturally-occurring reaction between sodium hydroxide and oil.  This reaction transforms these ingredients into soap and leaves behind no sodium hydroxide, and, depending on the soap’s formulation, little to no oil.

Glycerin is created in artisanal soap as a byproduct of the above process.   Glycerin is a humectant, drawing ambient moisture to your skin.  Oily skin still needs moisture!  Most moisturizers use oils to help your skin feel soft.  Glycerin is not an oil and is non-comedogenic (will not clog your pores).   Commercial soaps are often stripped of their glycerin through chemical processes; glycerin is profitable and is used to make other products.  Artisanal soaps retain all of this glycerin, and are thus generally far less drying than most commercial soaps.

Most “beauty bars” are really chemical detergents, which are also not biodegradable or earth-friendly.  They may be drying to the skin or cause a “rebound” situation.   Other synthetic ingredients, including fragrances or pigments, may also cause your skin to react.

Sarva Soaps contain natural glycerin, are made with food-grade vegetable oils, and we are one of the few truly all-natural soap companies. We choose our base oils carefully, avoiding soybean oil, a cheap filler which can cause problems for many people, even in the trace amount left behind in a bar.  Sarva Soaps are free of ANY synthetics… no synthetic fragrances, no synthetic pigments… and many happy Sarva customers are people with sensitive or reactionary skin.  Read customer raves here.

Some Sarva soaps also contain clays which, especially in the summer, may draw just a little bit of excess oil from your skin without stripping it.  Check out Summer Sun, for example… a perfect soap for this time of year, a treat for the senses too… an earthy/citrus/floral blend with a sunny, summery terracotta swirl.

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Do you have a soapy question of your own?  Submit it here and be entered in a monthly drawing to win a soap of your choice!

Shop online at Sarva Natural Artisan Soaps.

Note:  Information given on Soap Leaves is not intended as medical, diagnostic, or curative treatment, and your results may vary.   Know your own skin, and if you’re working with a medical professional, follow their advice first.