Skin Firming Ingredients in Soap

Regarding your question about adding ingredients to soap for skin firming, it's important to understand how soap works. Soap is a rinse-off product, meaning it stays on the skin for a very short time before being washed away. This makes it challenging for active ingredients designed for long-term effects, like skin firming, to remain on the skin and provide significant benefits.

Ingredients like Pullulan (which is the active component in products like Lift Now) work by forming a temporary film on the skin surface, creating an immediate tightening sensation. While this can provide a temporary effect, it is quickly washed off when using soap, so the firming benefit is lost. As mentioned in the previous replies, Pullulan is much more effective when used in leave-on products such as creams or serums where it can remain on the skin.

For ingredients that provide actual long-term skin firming by working with the skin's natural processes, such as stimulating collagen production, peptides are often used. Examples include Pep®-Coll (Palmitoyl tripeptide-5) and Pep®-PP4 (Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4). However, these ingredients are also most effective in leave-on formulations where they have sufficient contact time with the skin.

It's also worth noting the staff's point about some soaps creating a feeling of tightness due to high alkalinity. This is not true skin firming but rather a result of the skin becoming dry and tight, which is detrimental to skin health.

In summary, while you could add ingredients like Pullulan to soap for a temporary marketing claim, for genuine and lasting skin firming benefits, it is highly recommended to use such ingredients in leave-on skincare products.