While I wrote my post about cosmetics and skin care products that can cause acne, I didn’t mention anything about bar soap. From Paula Begoun’s books and website, I’ve learned that the ingredients that make bar soap a solid form can clog your pores. Bar soap can possibly cause, or worsen blackheads, and other forms of acne. When I’ve looked at the ingredients of various bar soaps, I don’t necessarily see any ingredients that I have on my list of pore clogging ingredients, but my list probably doesn’t include every pore-clogging ingredient out there.
I haven’t used bar soap since high school (when I used to use Neutrogena’s Facial Bar) and I never had any success in getting rid of my acne back then. I also used a lot of acne products that turned out to have alcohol in them, or pore clogging ingredients. Woops. So all three of those mistakes probably made my acne worse in high school! But at least now I’ve “cured” myself of acne!
A lot of other companies also make facial bar soaps like Clinique and Lush, and Dove makes soap that can be used for your body and face. While I haven’t used bar soap in years, I personally wouldn’t ever use it again on my face because I have had enough success following the advice of Paula Begoun, so I’ll trust her about the bar soap. Also, Paula says to not use bar soap on your body if you are prone to breakouts there as well.
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September 21st, 2007 at 7:32 am
Jen, do you recommend the Weightless Body Treatment With 2% Beta Hydroxy Acid from Paula? I have those annoying bumps on the backs of my arms… I just bought something from Target called “The Scrub of your life” by soap and glory- It says on the packaging it gets rid of the bumps, that’s what prompted me to get it. Looking at the ingredients though, there are no BHA’s which Paula says is needed to help with that problem…
September 21st, 2007 at 8:57 am
Hi Jeni,
Your post confirms something I have been suspecting. I have been using Arbonne products for awhile and had run out of the face wash, so I used a sample bar soap (Clinique) for a few days. Now I have a lot of red bumps! I am not going to use this or any soap ever again! Thanks for the helpful information!
September 21st, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Hi Kim,
I don’t know too much about those bumps but usually AHA or BHA is used to exfoliate the skin to get rid of the bumps. But if the scrub has grains in it, it might help to physically exfoliate the skin. If you go to Dermadoctor.com I think she has an article about KP, which is what the bumps are called. Someone responded to this post - http://www.savvyskin.com/dangerous-skin-care saying she’s had good luck with glycolic acid for KP. When I get home in a week I want to go to Target to look at that new Soap and Glory line.
September 23rd, 2007 at 6:29 am
I checked the ingredients in the soap and glory, and almost every item is on your list with a high number. I won’t be using it, I am going to try and return it. I wrote soap and glory and they said I should be able to return it, they are sorry I was not pleased, but they did not answer anything about my questioning the ingredients:/
They did offer to send me a sample of “mini Soap & Glory product- to try to make up for the disappointment you’ve had with the first one! ”
I thought their reply was funny:
Dear Kim
Thank you so much for taking the time to send us feedback on FILL NAME OF PRODUCT IN HERE. We’re so sorry that you weren’t satisfied with this product. (It’s in fact one of our most popular products, and we’ve received rave reviews, but as always, not everything works on everyone, and you may unfortunately be the exception to the ‘rave review’ rule.)
:) I will say the skin is soft and smooth, the bumps are even smoother feeling, but with what is in the ingerdients, I think it will become a vicious cycle!
September 23rd, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Oh that sucks about the Soap and Glory products but I’m not surprised because I can’t use 75% of products out there. The thing about my cosmetic acne list is that if you don’t get acne, chances are none of the ingredients on the list will cause acne. But if you are prone to acne, there’s a good chance the ingredients will make it worse. I return stuff all the time to Target - I returned deodorant there when they changed the scent, and I return other products I don’t like. I feel guilty, but they let you return everything with a receipt.
November 4th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I have sensitive skin and i tried everything-organic-vegan all of the above exept for dove beauty bar for sensitive skin. I was so desperate because I was breaking out because of hormones that i decided to try it. Well..it helps my skin!