When a soapmaker hears "I only use Dove"
This line can really make someone who makes handmade soap wince.
That's like walking up to a baker who has beautiful hot-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies and telling them your stomach is so delicate you can only eat Twinkies. Please don't. Not only are you wasting their time and your time, it's dismissing that person's hard work and training of years and putting it side-by-side with something spit out into a crinkly plastic wrapper by a factory machine in a matter of seconds.
I decided to investigate to find out what Dove has that I don't. Let's take a look at the ingredients
......Wait, that's not terribly easy. Their site doesn't list ingredients...I had to get them off a cosmetics archive site.
I've listed all the ingredients in descending order, as is done for cosmetics. Dove has to do that because that format is required by law for cosmetics and it's not just soap.
Ingredients in Dove beauty bar for sensitive skin. Read, think and compare to hand made.
Dove beauty bar for sensitive skin
1. Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate
-A mild synthetic detergent, used for cleansing. It adds to emulsification and degreasing, and may dry or irritate skin, especially sensitive skin.
2. Stearic Acid
-a hardening agent.
3. Sodium Tallowate
-Another way to say tallow or beef fat, which has been saponified. This is done by combining it with water and an alkali. You're left with a salt, which is the "sodium" and "-ate" part of this ingredient. When you combine tallow with lye (but don't want to put lye on your label), this is how you write it. If we did this, we'd list the lard as "sodium lardate" and leave the sodium hydroxide off. Tallow, which is fat from around the loins and/or kidneys of a cow, contributes to a hard bar with creamy lather. It's not exceptionally cleansing, but when combined with other ingredients can add to a balanced bar.
-Lye is a strong alkaline which is used in many different processes. Food-grade lye is used in the preparation of certain foods, including green olives, mandarin oranges and pretzels. Lower grades which are unsuitable for food are used in various cleaners, such as drain cleaner and oven cleaner. When used in soap, it is essential to create a well-balanced recipe to ensure there is no lye remaining in the final product. We use food-grade lye in our products. Lower grades may contain unknown impurities which can effect the final result. There's no way to know from this list which grade lye is used in this product.
4. Sodium Palmitate
-Palm oil + lye. Palm oil contributes to hardness and lather, but when used in too high a percentage can be drying.
5. Lauric Acid
-Otherwise know as SLS, this is a foaming agent and synthetic detergent, commonly used as a degreaser in shampoos. It dissolves the oils on your skin so the water can rinse them away. An unfortunate side effect of stripping your skin's natural oils can be irritation and drying of the skin.
6. Sodium Isethionate
-A mild synthetic detergent which creates dense lather and is non-drying. It is also used in shampoo as an anti-static agent.
7. Water
-Is wet.
8. Sodium Stearate
-Stearic Acid + lye. A surfactant, which basically means it clings to dirt and helps water rinse it off.
9. Cocamidopropyl Betaine
-A synthetic surfactant derived from coconut oil and Dimethylaminopropylamine.
10. Sodium Cocoate
-Coconut oil + lye. Coconut oil contributes greatly to the hardness and lather of the bar. It is also high in cleansing properties. It's best to balance this oil with other ingredients, making sure not to use too high a percentage, as it can be drying when used in excess.
11. Sodium Palm Kernelate
-Palm Kernel oil + lye. Palm Kernel oil is used to add hardness and bubbly lather.
12. Sodium Chloride
-Salt. Used after the saponification process to draw out water and glycerine for a harder bar. (And then they can sell the glycerine or add it to other products.)
13. Tetrasodium EDTA
-Used in place of parabens, this is a water softener and preservative made from formaldehyde and sodium cyanide. It also reduces soap scum and improves lather. There are mixed studies out there about whether this can be absorbed by the skin or not.
14. Tetrasodium Etidronate
-Another water softener. It helps to prevent the magnesium and calcium in your water stick to the bathtub and create soap scum.
15. Maltol
-Primarily used as a flavor enhancer, this is also used to create a sweet fragrance in some products. There's been a study (on mice) that showed this helped them absorb aluminum.
16. Titanium Dioxide
-A whitening agent. Makes it all purty-like.
I've listed all the ingredients in descending order, as is done for cosmetics. Dove has to do that because that format is required by law for cosmetics and it's not just soap.
Ingredients in Dove beauty bar for sensitive skin. Read, think and compare to hand made.
Dove beauty bar for sensitive skin
1. Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate
-A mild synthetic detergent, used for cleansing. It adds to emulsification and degreasing, and may dry or irritate skin, especially sensitive skin.
2. Stearic Acid
-a hardening agent.
3. Sodium Tallowate
-Another way to say tallow or beef fat, which has been saponified. This is done by combining it with water and an alkali. You're left with a salt, which is the "sodium" and "-ate" part of this ingredient. When you combine tallow with lye (but don't want to put lye on your label), this is how you write it. If we did this, we'd list the lard as "sodium lardate" and leave the sodium hydroxide off. Tallow, which is fat from around the loins and/or kidneys of a cow, contributes to a hard bar with creamy lather. It's not exceptionally cleansing, but when combined with other ingredients can add to a balanced bar.
-Lye is a strong alkaline which is used in many different processes. Food-grade lye is used in the preparation of certain foods, including green olives, mandarin oranges and pretzels. Lower grades which are unsuitable for food are used in various cleaners, such as drain cleaner and oven cleaner. When used in soap, it is essential to create a well-balanced recipe to ensure there is no lye remaining in the final product. We use food-grade lye in our products. Lower grades may contain unknown impurities which can effect the final result. There's no way to know from this list which grade lye is used in this product.
4. Sodium Palmitate
-Palm oil + lye. Palm oil contributes to hardness and lather, but when used in too high a percentage can be drying.
5. Lauric Acid
-Otherwise know as SLS, this is a foaming agent and synthetic detergent, commonly used as a degreaser in shampoos. It dissolves the oils on your skin so the water can rinse them away. An unfortunate side effect of stripping your skin's natural oils can be irritation and drying of the skin.
6. Sodium Isethionate
-A mild synthetic detergent which creates dense lather and is non-drying. It is also used in shampoo as an anti-static agent.
7. Water
-Is wet.
8. Sodium Stearate
-Stearic Acid + lye. A surfactant, which basically means it clings to dirt and helps water rinse it off.
9. Cocamidopropyl Betaine
-A synthetic surfactant derived from coconut oil and Dimethylaminopropylamine.
10. Sodium Cocoate
-Coconut oil + lye. Coconut oil contributes greatly to the hardness and lather of the bar. It is also high in cleansing properties. It's best to balance this oil with other ingredients, making sure not to use too high a percentage, as it can be drying when used in excess.
11. Sodium Palm Kernelate
-Palm Kernel oil + lye. Palm Kernel oil is used to add hardness and bubbly lather.
12. Sodium Chloride
-Salt. Used after the saponification process to draw out water and glycerine for a harder bar. (And then they can sell the glycerine or add it to other products.)
13. Tetrasodium EDTA
-Used in place of parabens, this is a water softener and preservative made from formaldehyde and sodium cyanide. It also reduces soap scum and improves lather. There are mixed studies out there about whether this can be absorbed by the skin or not.
14. Tetrasodium Etidronate
-Another water softener. It helps to prevent the magnesium and calcium in your water stick to the bathtub and create soap scum.
15. Maltol
-Primarily used as a flavor enhancer, this is also used to create a sweet fragrance in some products. There's been a study (on mice) that showed this helped them absorb aluminum.
16. Titanium Dioxide
-A whitening agent. Makes it all purty-like.
