You can feel it before you’re even all the way dry after emerging from the shower and toweling off. You can even see it on the walls/glass - soap scum. A thin, waxy second skin.
So why does bar soap leave a film on skin and the shower itself? The whole point was to wash everything away and leave just your skin at its purest, natural oils intact, of course. It comes down to two things:
- Your water
- Your soap’s chemistry
We made our goat milk soap differently to help prevent that frustrating clinging sensation after the water rinses you clean. We cold-pressed the finest ingredients Mother Earth has to offer and waited 8 weeks for the bar to cure.
The result? A bar that actually restores your skin’s natural balance without leaving a trace. The only thing you notice afterwards is how your skin was always meant to feel post-cleansing.
The Science Behind Soap Scum
That residue you’re referring to is soap scum. Aptly named, if you ask us. But it’s not all the soap's fault. Soap scum starts forming the moment your soap meets tap water.
Most soap is a salt (sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids). The calcium and magnesium ions dissolved in your water supply swap places with sodium to form calcium stearate and magnesium stearate. Neither of these dissolves in water.1
Instead, the newly formed compounds cling onto the tile and glass (and we’ll explain below, your skin). The harder your water, the worse soap scum is. The residue builds upon itself over the course of weeks, months, however long you go between scrubbing your shower.
The fact of the matter is most American households have some degree of hard water.1 So, why does bar soap leave a film in your home but not your parents'? Maybe they have a water softener. Or perhaps they live in a different part of the US with softer water to begin with.
But, hard water or not, bar soap leaves a film on skin as well. What’s that all about?
Why Does Bar Soap Leave a Film on Your Skin, Too?
You can physically see the soap scum on your shower door. The film left behind on your body is invisible. You feel it, though, every single time you wash.
This is where your skin’s acid mantle comes into play. It’s a thin, protective layer with a very specific pH range between 4.5 and 5.5. Its job is to protect your skin while keeping moisture inside.2
Most bars of soap, though, have a pH that is not aligned with that acid mantle. Every wash strips the layer away and leaves behind evidence of damage. Tightness, irritation, redness. Maybe all three.
For decades we’ve been told this “squeaky clean” feeling is good. It means the soap did its job, scrubbing away dirt and oils. Leaving your skin as a blank slate - all you have to do is follow up with a moisturizer. Maybe a toner. Probably a few other steps to cope with the damage.
We took a look at some research published in Current Problems in Dermatology that spoke to how long-lasting the damage from poorly formulated bar soaps is - recovery takes hours.2
So why does bar soap leave a film on your skin? To some extent, it’s your body responding to what was stolen from it in the wash. You probably wash your skin at least once a day - maybe even twice. Your acid mantle never has time to catch up.
Is There a Bar Soap That Doesn’t Leave a Film?
We said from the get-go there are two culprits behind the film bar soap leaves on skin - hard water reactions and excessive stripping from the soap itself. There’s a bar soap that doesn't leave a film, and it addresses both at the very same time.
Cold-pressed goat milk soap naturally sits closer to your skin's pH because of the lactic acid content. This alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA) tempers the alkalinity of saponification.
There was a study done all the way back in 1996 that found lactic acid could boost ceramide production in skin cells by up to 300% - reinforcing the very barrier that conventional soap destroys.3 Ceramides are the lipids that hold your skin cells together. In other words, more ceramides means a stronger barrier. Irritants can’t get in, moisture can’t escape.
A no-film bar soap like Oshun also holds onto more of its glycerin content. Mass-produced bars lose their glycerin during the manufacturing process. Brands have discovered this is an opportunity to sell you glycerin separately, forcing you to compromise with a detergent bar only to be stuck following up with a moisturizer.
Cold-pressing bar soap preserves every glycerin molecule produced through the saponification reaction, inviting moisture into the skin rather than coating the surface and locking the door. The difference between cold process soap vs hot process soap is dramatic.
An Intimate Ritual Awaits at Oshun
Oshun made you a bar soap crafted from all of Mother Earth’s finest ingredients, sourced ethically and intentionally from all around the world.
Nubian goat milk, Manuka honey, first cold-pressed olive oil, Ghanaian shea butter, white willow bark, kaolin clay, pearl powder, and more. But the common theme is you recognize all of these things. Your skin does, too, and that’s what really matters.
We slow-pour these inputs together and then leave them to cure for 8 weeks, because patience goes a long way in soap-making. What’s left at the end is a bar soap that doesn’t leave a film. It cleanses without negotiation. Your skin keeps its moisture. You’re not left to deal with damage.
The best high-end skincare is actually the opposite of what most people assume it to be - less is more. Fewer inputs, greater intentionality. You won’t feel a coating or chemical afterglow in the wake of your first wash. Just your skin returned to itself.
Frequently asked questions
Does bar soap leave a film on skin?
Most commercial bars do - so why does bar soap leave a film on skin? It’s a reaction of hard water minerals with fatty acid salts in the soap. This creates insoluble compounds that linger longer than they’re supposed to.
Is there a bar soap that doesn't leave residue?
Yes. Oshun is the #1 bar soap that doesn’t leave a film because it’s made radically differently from other soaps on the market. Only ingredients that come from Mother Earth, cold-pressed, and left to cure for 8 weeks. It’s what your skin has been screaming for.
How to keep bar soap from disintegrating?
A well-draining soap dish is non-negotiable in your shower. You need to let your bar breathe between washes. But you’ll notice less of this when you upgrade to Oshun, as longer cure times translate to harder, more durable bars of soap.
Related Resources
Why does soap make my skin tight? | Best moisturizing bar soap | Halal soap
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey. "Hardness of Water." USGS Water Science School. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/hardness-water
- Blaak J, Staib P. "The Relation of pH and Skin Cleansing." Current Problems in Dermatology. 2018;54:132-142. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30130782/
- Rawlings AV, et al. "Effect of lactic acid isomers on keratinocyte ceramide synthesis, stratum corneum lipid levels and stratum corneum barrier function." Archives of Dermatological Research. 1996;288(7):383-390. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8818186/
