All Natural Soap:
Pregnancy & Young Children

We often receive questions as to whether our soaps, shampoos, and other items are safe to use during pregnancy.
 

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.

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."

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.

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. 

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!"  

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.

We often receive questions as to whether our soaps are safe to use on small children.
 

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.
 

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.
 

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.