Normal Changes In Natural Products

Natural products can undergo changes that would not normally happen in a commercial product. Natural products do not have the chemicals and additives that provide stability in texture and color. I will go over what is a possible expected change, and what is not acceptable.

Bar Soap:

Lye bar soap can develop a white coating. This is soda ash, and it is harmless. It develops when lye mixes with carbon dioxide in the air while curing. It doesn’t always appear, as temperature and exposure to air play a part. The white film will rinse off the first time you use the soap bar and is harmless.

Lye bar soap can also have color changes over time due to light, pH, heat or aging. The fragrance can change or fade for the same reasons. The soap will still clean effectively.

If your soap is very irritating to your skin, or even causes burns, it may have too much lye. The lye and oils should balance so that the lye gets all “used up” in the saponification process. If there is too much lye, the soap can be too alkaline and cause skin problems.

Natural Lotion:

Natural lotion can separate if beeswax was used, or if it has undergone temperature fluctuations. You can mix it back up again, but beware of exposing it to germs.

Natural lotion, just like soap, can undergo scent changes due to temperature changes, light or aging.

The more natural, gentle antimicrobials in natural lotion have a shorter lifespan than commercial antimicrobials. If natural lotion is kept for too long, it can become a breeding ground for germs. Watch your expiration dates carefully. If you notice any pimple-like lesions on your skin after shaving and applying lotion, stop using the lotion and throw it away. Those are most likely localized staph aureus infections wherever shaving created a tiny opening in your skin. See our blog on lotion germicidals for more information on how to care for your natural lotion so that it will last as long as possible.

If your natural product grows mold, has a rancid smell or a separation that does not easily remix, throw it out!

Lotion Bars:

Lotion bars are more hardy than lotion as they do not contain water. They should stand up to aging better. Your lotion bar may have a white coating on it that is different from bar soap, but it is still harmless. This white coating is most likely due to fragrance oil or beeswax reacting with air as the bar cooled. It will wear away as you use it, or you can gently wipe it away.

Lotion bars can develop brown spots. These look terrible, but are most likely tiny pockets of fragrance oil. Vanilla, especially, has a tendency to turn brown. Many fragrance oil mixtures contain some percentage of vanilla in them as vanilla is a great scent for anchoring.

It would be unlikely, but if your lotion bar developed mold, or other unsettling discoloring, throw it out. Protecting your bar from water exposure decreases the chance of this happening.

Your lotion bar can melt if it is exposed to heat or light. If you were able to save the liquid, and it did not become contaminated, you could mix it and solidify it again.

Liquid Natural Soap

Your Oak Manour liquid soap could have white solids in it. This occurs due to temperature fluctuations. It should not impact the cleansing ability of your soap, but it can clog the pump. It is possible to disassemble the pump and clean it out with hot water.