Soap – our saviour or our enemy?

Many years ago, I collated some skincare advice for those going through treatment for cancer.

It contains a caution against soap, or at least a caution against using too much of it. Skin can be sensitive, sore and dry as a result of some of the treatments for cancer.  Soap can be harsh. The ingredients are corrosive and it never seemed right for those so challenged to use it.

All things change – long after sharing this sage advice, I made soap. Middle daughter and I made various flavours as Christmas presents for friends and family (‘pathetic home-mades’ are a strong tradition for the Family Young).

We learned that all soaps are not created equal – I should have known – the quality and properties of soap depends upon the quality of ingredients and their properties. It is slightly more complicated than this, but, in summary, if we use moisturising ingredients, such as shea or coconut, we get a moisturising, softening soap.

In recent years, we have become dependent on soap. It is our hero.It kills our global enemy – the time is right for the Jennifer Young Soaps to be shared with more than friends and family. We have a collection brewing – even better – we offer them (or our new bath bombs) as a free gift with orders over £70. 

The other C isn’t the only reason I wanted to bring you a soap collection. I have been asked, more than once, to provide an alternative. It is a tough question to answer. I recall meeting a lovely lady at an exhibition who had been advised not to use anything except water in the area of her radiotherapy treatment (this advice is very common). Her cancer was breast cancer and her radio treatment was in her underarm region – what could she do?

All I could suggest was that she contact her medical team to discuss their advice – she was armed with two pieces of research – assuming they agreed – what next? In my ignorance of therapeutic soap, I suggested she use Defiant Beauty Cleanse & Moisturise – as it will cleanse and leave the skin moisturised.

I am not sure what happened to the lady’s armpits, I hope that she worked with her medical team and found a solution, gentle soap would have been less controversial than an oil based product (applied after radio and washed off long before the next session).

I am glad to have an answer to the soap question and I hope you enjoy.