Almond Oil - Looking for opinions

[Jcandleattic]

Okay, there really is no question here so I don't know how many responses I will get but was just curious as to everyone's thoughts on Almond Oil.

Personally, I will not soap without it again. I ran out a few months ago and so tweaked my recipe a bit and made about 4 batches without it until I could get more in. I do not like how ANY of those batches feel on my skin. Not one.

So even though Almond Oil is an inexpensive oil, I honestly consider it a "luxury" oil because for me, my skin feels so much more silky smooth than it does without that oil.

So what are your opinions on it? What are the cons you have run across with it, or do you just hate it and wont use it, or do you have no opinion at all on it? LOL

Like I said, I'm just curious...

TIA

[CareBear]

one big con for me is that it is a nut oil. we have nut allergies in my family, but beyond that a LOT of people seem to these days so I personally stay away from nut oils.

[kandlekrazy]

CB is right, lots of people are allergic. If you sell, I'd just put something BIG on the label/website that states it contains nut oils.

I love Sweet Almond Oil in products (but I don't make soap). I do always add some to my MP, scrubs and body butters even if the recipe doesn't call for it. I just purchased the Wen hair cleansing system and the base of it is SAO and mint...my hair has never been shinier and has less frizzies which I didn't think possible with my wavy/frizzy hair!

[Jcandleattic]

CB is right, lots of people are allergic. If you sell, I'd just put something BIG on the label/website that states it contains nut oils.

Anything I sell, I label the ingredients list, It's not big, but it is on there. . And I also tell people who are interested in buying if there is any nut oil (Like Almond, Coconut and even Sunflower) and because you never know who is vegitarian/vegan I like letting them know what is in there also since I sometimes use lard and/or GM and they would not appreciate those ingredients either.

If I'm giving it away or swapping, I normally don't list the ingredients but I do make sure and let people know what's in there.

Thanks for the replies.

[topofmurrayhill]

I often see a slight problem when people talk about soap recipes in terms of what a specific oil does. When you leave out almond oil, you replace it with something else. You can replace it with something very similar and get a very similar result, or you can replace it with something different and get a different result. Even if you just use 10% almond oil, replacing it with a dissimilar oil will have a big effect. Even at 5%, you'd notice the difference if you replaced it with something dissimilar.

What I've found is that few oils have anything special in them that affects your soap. How the soap works depends mainly on the fatty acid balance of the recipe - that's 95% of the game. If you need to leave out an oil but want to make a similar product, focus on replicating the fatty acid profile using other oils rather than simply replacing the missing oil with something else. You might also have to change some proportions to compensate.

Having said all that, I like almond oil. I can make a great bar of soap with it and it has a convenient fatty acid profile for recipe formulation. However, I can also make a great bar using only cheaper oils. I don't think there's any special mystery ingredient in almond oil that automatically improves soap.

[PixieWick]

i personally .. dont buy soaps /lotions or any B&B products with almond oil .. or from companys that make them even without it .. because even trace amounts from using the same equiptment can harm a person .. like my daughter .. so no .. i wouldnt buy it

IF you have found a successful recipe that doesnt need it .. be sure to use a whole seperate area and equiptment that the nut oilds simply do not touch .. cross contamination is a huge deal with allergenic people

[topofmurrayhill]

Has anybody with nut allergies ever had a reaction to CP soap?

Oil itself doesn't cause the allergic reactions. It would be proteins in the oil. Refined oils that aren't "cold-pressed" and suchlike aren't supposed to have proteins, but I'm willing to believe they could.

What I'm wondering though is if lye destroys the proteins. If nut allergies are only an issue with B&B products other than CP soap, that would be good to know.

I'm not talking about soaps that are superfatted after the soap is made, as HP or milled soaps could be.

[CareBear]

Ah, as the mom of nut (and peanut) allergic kids I've done a lot of research on the topic.

1. IN THEORY a properly processed (and not "cold pressed") oil should not be a problem because, as Top says, the allergy is to the proteins which should be removed. BUT...

2. At least for peanut allergies reactions have been documented to commercial peanut oil that is considered properly processed.

3. I'm not sure that the lye would "destroy" the protein although it surely would denature it. But denatured doesn't mean safe - people still react to cooked allergens after all, and those are denatured (for example, egg white).

4. What about oils that remain in the soap - if they didn't saponify would the protein still be denatured/destroyed? We do superfat after all.

5. It's not worth it - when you balance risk versus reward there is no doubt that we will avoid nut (and peanut) oils.

6. This said, *I* don't stress over cross contamination in soaps. I do pay attention to other B&B products when I can but there are not the labeling (manufactured on equipment...) requirements in place for lotions and such so I try not to stress over that either. I don't see that a lotion that has trace amounts of almond oil would send MY kids into anaphylaxis but each child is different.

ETA: My son is highly allergic to almonds, hazelnuts, pecans - and peanuts. My daughter is allergic to almonds (only mildly so far but she's never had them that I know of since my son was diagnosed when she was a baby) and some other nuts - and peanuts. I live the life...

[Camay]

Denaturation would definitely occur, but I am thinking that the strong basic conditions would indeed break the peptide bond. It is a very strong covalent, resonant bond, but the conditions in soap making are extreme.

[topofmurrayhill]

So the proteins would be hydrolysed but we might still have peptides floating around that could be antigens. Theoretically anyway.

Some things about nut allergies are mystifying. For one thing, is the incidence actually increasing? Or were people keeling over with anaphylaxis 50 years ago and nobody knew why?

This cross-species thing is weird too. You can be allergic to peanuts, which are a legume, or totally unrelated kinds of nuts, or tropical tree fruits like coconuts, or random combinations of the above? Maybe the word "nut" is an allergen.

[CareBear]

This cross-species thing is weird too. You can be allergic to peanuts, which are a legume, or totally unrelated kinds of nuts, or tropical tree fruits like coconuts, or random combinations of the above? Maybe the word "nut" is an allergen.

This drives me freaking nuts - that it doesn't make sense my kids would be allergict to TREE nuts & peanuts which are not nuts at all...

I've read a lot about the rising rate and it def is in the rise but perhaps not so steeply as some data suggests. In a study I read last year 40% of kids who were supposedly allergic to peanuts (according to their parents) were actually not when tested. Go figure. But still it's def. increased.

[PixieWick]

tree nuts and peanuts are 2 differant allergies .. coconut is not a nut ..

my daughter will go in to cardiac arrest simply by touching a nut .. its that volital to her .. she touched a walnut shell that was well over 5 years old .. opened .. dried out .. an sitting in a bowl collecting dust my mom used for decor lol .. so they decided to paint them one day .. when i wasnt there.. she called me and we had to take her to the hospital .. she was totally disformed by the oils still left in the shell .. the oil does not dry out .. its there forever.

people can be allergic to peanuts an not tree nuts .. and vise verse.

its just not worth my daughters life to even try a soap or lotion that has nut oils in it .. i'm sure there is soap that doesnt require nut oils.

[CareBear]

tree nuts and peanuts are 2 differant allergies .. coconut is not a nut ..

yes.

and no.

I mentioned that they are different

This drives me freaking nuts - that it doesn't make sense my kids would be allergict to TREE nuts & peanuts which are not nuts at all...

but it's not at all unlikely that the two allergies are found in the same person. Which, like I said, confuses me to no end.

(like my ex is an asshole & controlling - they don't necessarily have to go hand in hand, but they do LOL)

And in many cases on the allergen level there are similarities (latex and bananas, for example).

And I think Top mentioned coconut is a tropical fruit.

[PixieWick]

GOODNESS !! i'd be so upset if i was allergic to banana's .. I LOVE THEM ! lmao

my daughter is allergic to each and every nut out there .. its horrible .. shes soooooooo skinny .. cause shes basically can not eat any junk food .. hardly any resturant cause of cross contam. so we havea few chosen she sticks to ..poor kid can't ever even walk in to a red lobster .. the smell will send her flyin with throwing up an hives ..

I call her .. my bubble kid .. cause she should live ina bubble with all her allergies .. including eggs .. the poor kid can't EVER have any bakery products ! no twinkies .. could you imagine a kid not eating a twinkie .. its unamerican lmao .. but .. we cope lmao..

there are like 5 things she can eat .. and 5000 things she can't lol

[CareBear]

OH Pixie that's so hard. When people give us sympathy for our nut & peanut allergies I say "eh, pretty easy to manage" but I cannot imagine dealing with it at that level or an allergy to eggs.

No twinkies? and here I was feeling bad mine would never know the joys of a home made peanut butter cookie...

And yea - we cope. Parents are good at work-arounds. I wish we didn't have to "bubblize" our kids but we do what we must and remember it could always be worse.

I hope you belong to aanma.com - it's a hugely important resource. And I'll send you (when I find it) the fda recall web address so you can sign up for notifications cause things are often recalled for mislabeling and parents of allergic kids need to know. If I don't do it soon - remind me.

ETA: here it is: http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html

at the top is a link to sign up for recall email updates

[PixieWick]

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH !!!!

i have found in my area ,, onlypeople with a child of fatal allergies is sympathtic to us .. everyone else is .. well you shouldnt have eaten pb when you were pregnant .. ignorant people like that .. my family included .. my own brother told me i was over reacting an that she isnt allergic anymore ..

3 allergies you NEVER outgrow .. nut .eggs and shelfish. the nut an shellfish are her fatal allergies..

milk till age 4 .. on formual for that long,

tomatoe sauce .. bland pasta till age 9 ..

pine cones .. can't touch them .. ever .. nor breath when there are fresh tree's around .. like xmas time ..

huggies diapers .. when full the gell popped out .. like over night sleeping . by morning she was covered in bleeding sores ..allergic to the gel inside diapers ..

so we changed after ever 3'rd pee .. dont ask how we knew it was the third one lmao

icecream.. only one brand .. turkey hill an one flavor in that brand .. chocomint .. can she have.

the mear smell of seafood .. ugh .. lol .. hives and pukies start

the list goes on an on .. but on a better side .. the more preservatives a product has .. the better it is for her .. they act as a buffer ..

ex. eggo waffles .. yes contain eggs, but there are so many preserves. in them they act as a buffer to the eggs an shes ok ..

instant pancake mix .. add water an she good to eat them ..no home made.. nor french toast

and omg NO CHOCOLATE !!! only a hershey bar reg. size and the kisses .. THATS IT ! for the world of chocolate .. everything is nuts or contains trace amounts ..

MMR shot MADE with EGGWHITES !! omg you should have seen the hives on her .. WOW !

MY BUBBLE BABY! as you can see lmao

polen ragweed yellow jackets hornets rabbits cats and dogs (and we have a dog . k-9 dog .. but its a mild scale of 3 out of a 10 score .. cats are accually a 13 on a 10 scale .. its that bad ..

LMAO ! sorry .. i rammbled so much .. but you get the jist lol .. again .. sorry for rambles lol

[Jcandleattic]

I appreciate everyone's input.

I knew allergies existed and I even knew they could be severe, but I didn't realize I guess, how severe. After reading this thread I have been enlightened (somewhat) and have taken to heart what has been said, and like some of you have said, it really is not really worth it. I think since I like Almond Oil so much in MY soaps, I will keep it just for that purpose, for MY personal soaps.

I have 2 complete sets of soaping equipment that I use - one for my all vegetable soaps, and one that use lard and such in. I will now get a 3rd set and when I want to use Almond Oil for my own personal soaps, I will use that set so there is a very minimal chance of cross contamination.

Thank you Pixie and CareBear!!

[Jcandleattic]

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH !!!!

well you shouldnt have eaten pb when you were pregnant .. ignorant people like that

People really say that? What does that even mean?? That all woman who ate PB while pregnant have kids who are allergic?

I'm sorry you have to deal with stuff like that.

Nobody in my family has severe allergies to anything (that I know of) but I would never say anything like that to someone who did. I just don't understand some people...

[PixieWick]

Sorry if i rambled in this thread .. forgot it was a soap thread an went to personal lol .. again sorry .. but if it helped you i'm very happy

[Jcandleattic]

Sorry if i rambled in this thread .. forgot it was a soap thread an went to personal lol .. again sorry .. but if it helped you i'm very happy

No need at all to be sorry. By "rambling on" as you put it (which I don't think it was) it helped me understand just what could happen, so yes, it helped.