Chamomile & Calendula Castile Soap for Very Sensitive Skin
By Joan Genaw (�Celt�)
One of the greatest joys and rewards of handcrafting specialty soaps can be in the development of recipes tailored to relieve challenging skin issues. Most soap makers are already ingredient-conscious consumers, aware that some of the synthetic demons residing in commercial soaps may not only exacerbate existent skin problems but perhaps also initiate them. In my own case, I also had a powerful personal incentive to explore the world of soap making for the sensitive - I have a hyper-allergic daughter who has endured years of rashes, hives, and itching in her encounters with commercial soaps and cleansers.
When my oldest daughter was a small child, she suffered from acute asthma. We visited the pediatrician�s office regularly, and as time progressed, our knowledgeable (and apparently psychic!) physician predicted that when she reached the teenage years, the asthma would subside but allergies would surface. By the time she was 15, Kate�s asthma had indeed completely vanished - but as feared, different allergic responses began to emerge, all nebulously labeled �contact dermatitis� of one sort or another. Testing commenced, and we eliminated all the known sensitivities to food, plants, and environmental triggers, but her skin continued to be alternately dry as a bone or erupting in a painful rash. Steroid creams and the myriad assortment of other prescribed remedies brought inconsistent and undependable relief. One of the basic causes of her predicament finally dawned on us when she suffered a spectacular anaphylactic response to a designer-brand soap she�d bought at the mall, emerging from the shower weeping in pain and with hives the size of saucers erupting head to toe.
Hopefully most people will never encounter such a dramatic example of chemical sensitivities! This problem presented a challenge for me, and I spent many months developing and testing soap that my daughter, and others with chemical hypersensitivities, could use safely and comfortably. Many trials and a couple of errors resulted at last in a mild, soothing soap based on the classic Castile recipe but altered significantly from the olive-only traditional formulation. This bar has now been used successfully by individuals with dry, hypersensitive, and fragile or damaged skin as well as by those suffering from rosacea, psoriasis, and other chronic dermatological problems who reported to me that they could previously use nothing on their faces but water! Although I make no medical claims as to the effectiveness of this formulation, anecdotal evidence from happy customers confirms the positive results that my own family continues to experience. This soap cleanses mildly without either drying or promoting oiliness, and will not strip or irritate the skin nor leave it �tight�. It�s also an attractive, great-smelling, and long lasting bar of soap that relies on earth�s natural gifts to nurture troubled skin.