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All Natural
Soap:
Pregnancy & Young Children |
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PREGNANCY
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We often receive
questions as to whether our soaps, shampoos, and other items are safe to use during pregnancy.
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Read the label on a bar of the
commercial soaps
that you normally use. Now read the ingredients in
a bar
of Ida’s Handcrafted
Soaps.
There is nothing in our all
natural basic soap or other products that could cause a problem in pregnancy. Topically
applying the herbs present in many of our soaps, is also not a problem.
Your skin will absorb much less herb from the soap than if you would
sprinkle them on your food. |
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The
issue that seems to be of most concern is the use of essential oils
during pregnancy. There is an awful lot of confusion and
inaccurate information concerning the use of essential oils in
pregnancy. The question of safety and safety testing has a lot to
do with the actual “dose” of herb/essential oils. Most of the
clinical research on essential oil safety is based on information
for internal (actually ingesting) large doses of herbs, essential
oils, or herbal "medicines." |
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The
concentration of essential oils that are absorbed through
inhalation, as in aromatherapy, and massage is much lower than if
you were actually ingesting the oil. Also aromatherapy and
massage therapy use much higher concentrations of essential oils
than you find in soap or even in eating the herb. With
aromatherapy you are inhaling the high concentrations which get
absorbed via the lungs and in the massage therapy the essential oils
remain on your skin and are absorbed. Soap does not remain on your
skin very long. |
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When
it comes to safety during pregnancy it is understandable that many
massage therapists and aromatherapists decide to err on the side of
caution in recommending the avoidance of certain essential oils.
Some Herbalists and Aromatherapist believe that essential oils that
are normally safe to use, are safe during pregnancy, while others
will recommend avoiding all essential oils during pregnancy. |
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I
include pregnancy warnings on my essential
oils ingredients page so that customers
can make informed choices. For example,
”Basil essential oil aromatherapy
should not be used when pregnant.” An herbalist friend
of mine once said to me, "I am Italian, and
you don’t hear people saying that you can't eat pesto while you are
pregnant, we put basil in everything!" |
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The
information available is very contradictory. One aromatherapy
source will list an essential oil as problematic and another states
it is fine. Our soaps are gently scented with essential oils,
but the decision to use or not use essential oils must be up to you.
The most critical time is the first trimester.
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For more information, we suggest a web search on
the subject of essential oils and pregnancy.
YOUNG CHILDREN
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We often receive
questions as to whether our soaps are safe to use on small children.
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Read the label on a bar or
bottle of the commercial baby soap
that you would normally use. Now read the ingredients
in a bar of Ida’s Handcrafted
Soaps.
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We recommend starting with
our Castile & Calendula Baby Soap.
It is
pure Olive Oil Castile soap, nothing added. No colors or
fragrances, just olive oil, a touch of vitamin E oil, and some skin
loving calendula petals--a great soap for the sensitive skin
of newborns and children. Just keep the soap away from their
eyes, we do not add any chemicals that anesthetize your baby's eyes.
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Then progress to other
soaps without essential oils, like our Goat Milk Oatmeal or Carrot &
Honey soaps. |
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When you
think your child is ready, try some new soaps. If your child
has sensitive skin, you can always do a
patch test to test for sensitivity. It is best to add
only one new soap at a time and use it for a while before switching
to a new soap. |
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