Soap pimples

boldsworth

boldsworth

Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2015
I found my tub of Myrsol Don Miguel soap in the back of the cupboard and decided to give it a swirl tonight. It probably hasn't been used in 4-5 months and when i opened it was surprised to see a collection of tiny white dots on the surface. It looked like a colony on a petri dish at first but these turned out to be hard spheres. Everything seemed normal about the lather and as yet my face has not fallen off but i'm wondering if any of the soapies on here are able to explain what these particles are.
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My best guess would be so hardened fat, that had not be saponified?

Take a bit out, and play around with it between your thumb and index finger...does it melt or feel greasy, or is it crumbly and hard (more like salt)?
 
alfredus said:
My best guess would be so hardened fat, that had not be saponified?

Take a bit out, and play around with it between your thumb and index finger...does it melt or feel greasy, or is it crumbly and hard (more like salt)?
Click to expand...

Yeah it was more hard and gritty. After lathering the particles were smaller but still present.
 
Its got me stumped - if they had been there before you left them for 4-5 months I would have thought maybe Stearic Acid that hadn't melted/saponified, or some lye perhaps.

Your face hasn't fallen off, so thats a plus. If it were me in your position, I would scrape the top off that soap to see if it removes the white spheres.
 
Had a similar thing happen to a tin of water based hair pomade which had sat for a few months - not sure if that's somehow related?
 
SchoolForAnts said:
Its got me stumped - if they had been there before you left them for 4-5 months I would have thought maybe Stearic Acid that hadn't melted/saponified, or some lye perhaps.
Click to expand...
@Jase going with @SchoolForAnts on this as seen this before on other threads as 'stearic acid re-crystallising'. Just google quoted text or linky
Are they gritty and crystalline, if so going the stearic acid route. If not it maybe another ingredient falling out of solution due to processing inconsistencies or reaction to an impurity introduced later on. Very hard for bacteria or mould to grow on a dry soap.

If concerned just scrape it off as previously suggested.
 
Thanks for your replies chaps. I'm definitely not worried about it, just curious as I've never experienced it before.
Has such a nice post shave feel this soap. Almost 15 hours on I can still feel it.
Will be interesting to see if the particles are all the way through or just on the surface. Maybe there is a market for an exfoliating shaving soap ;)
 
RustyBlade said:
@Jase going with @SchoolForAnts on this as seen this before on other threads as 'stearic acid re-crystallising'. Just google quoted text or linky
Click to expand...

Yep sounds like the same thing. Definitely not mould. Being a cheap bastard - I kept using the pomade, just had to work it a bit more to dissolve the gritty bits before smearing it through my locks!
 
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