A genuine question, knocking at our mind for all time is that which soap should I have to use or which is the best soap for my skin. Here you will find the best solution and get rid from such confusion. So enjoy the discussion and obviously at the end you will get the answer.
I am trying to explain the topic under some points.
What is Soap ?
Soap is a salt of fatty acid. Traditional soaps are made by the reaction of fatty acid derived from animals fat or vegetable oil with an alkali. Soap, used for household and personal cleaning is technically called Toilet Soap.
Types of Soap
1. True Soap
Coconut, Olive or Palm kernel oil have been saponified with alkali like Sodium, potassium or Lithium hydroxide and making soap is considered a “True Soap“. True soaps are generally slightly alkaline in nature. The average pH belongs to 8 to 9. Although there are many neutral pH based true soap present in the market.
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| True Soap |
As the human skin is naturally slightly acidic, with an average pH 5.5, it was previously believed that true soap make the skin’s pH unbalanced. But at present, many research shows that the disturbing skin pH by using alkaline true soap is a temporary effect, the skin back to its normal pH very quickly. So a soap is to be balanced pH is not really important.
2. Syndet Bar
There are many bar soap present in market are not technically soap at all; they are Syndet Bars. The term ‘Syndet’ is a combination of two words ‘synthetic’ & ‘detergent‘. Instead of fatty acid saponified with alkali, Syndet bars contain synthetic surfactants like sodium cocoyl isothionate, sulfosuccinates, sulfonates and betaines. The pH of syndet bars is nearly similar to the pH of human skin. Interestingly these are soap-free cleansing agents and are quite gentle.
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| Syndet Bar |
Dove, Cetaphil, Moisturex and Zyndet are all good example of gentle syndet bars.
3. Transparent Soap
When glycerin is added with soap or bar for moisturization, it turns into transparent soap. The transparency is occurred due to the presence of glycerin which make it mild soap.
4. Superfatted Soap
When soap or bar contains extra oil which is not to be saponified, it’s called Superfatted Soap. The extra oil improves the soap moisturizing abilities & make it’s less irritating. Superfatted soap is ideal for the person who have sensitive skin.
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| Superfatted Soap |
Points to choosing the right one
- If you have oily skin, you should to choose a “true soap” which removes extra fatty strain easily.
- If your skin is sensitive then you should go for a “syndet bar” instead of soap. The skin-friendly pH of syndet bar maintain your skin sensitivity.
- If your skin is too much dry, scaly that means the epidermis layer of your skin become dehydrated. In such condition “superfatted soap” is right option for you because it provides adequate moisture to dry skin.
- However the skin type, in winter our skin become dehydrated because of low humidity in the air. In this situation “transparent soap” is a solution for keeping moisture in the skin.
Listen to Your skin
Everyone’s skin is different and reacts differently to the soap. It doesn’t matter which soap you are using if it’s leaving your skin dry, oily or itchy, it’s not the right product for you. Using a soap you should feel clean & refreshed. And just because a soap works well for your friend, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for you.
However, we cann’t understand always the nature of our skin. Sometimes our skin respond abnormally with the cleansing agents as well as environment. A dermatologist knows your skin & the particular abnormalities with your skin. In this situation you should ask to a dermatologist for recommendations.
Thanks for reading….