Itch, itch, scratch, scratch….
Poison Ivy is no fun, and everyone who has had it knows the torment you go through as one half of your mind says, scratch, and the other half says…don’t scratch.
Scratching poison ivy can lead to scars, oozing, and spreading of the infection.
I seem to get poison ivy every frigging summer, heck, I’m even known to get it in the fall. It’s not that I’m rolling in it. But it covers my back yard woods area. This is an area I’m dumping leaves in and garden weeds regularly. I try to avoid the malicious plant, yet always seem to find a way to get the rash.
In the years past I had tried the oatmeal bath, and let me say, it does not do squat. I’ve done the magic pink stuff, and that only provides relief until it dries. I wanted something; anything, before it traveled to my private parts! Let me tell you poison ivy on, or near, the private areas is no laughing manner.
Try walking with your legs spread out so they don’t rub together causing the itch to feel like fire.
I wanted relief, and fast. While browsing down the beauty isle at a local drug store I came across a small shelf offering Burt’s Bees products. I have never been a fan, but when I saw a bar of soap with the words POISON IVY written across it I picked it up, and did not think twice about the price.
PACKAGING:
The soap lies inside of the original Burt’s Bees packaging. A honey yellow box, with a scary looking man, or pirate on the cover. I guess thats Burt, who knows? On the packaging the words Poison Ivy soap is written across it.
THE SOAP:
The soap itself is nothing pretty, but at that point I did not care. I was willing to rub leeches on my skin if it provided relief to the itch. The soap is a brown oval shaped piece of soap. It’s sort of hard feeling, and I was afraid rubbing this hard soap on my ivy bumps that it would cause the itch to get worse. Or create oozing. I guess I would have to wait and see.
The smell reminded me a bit of old stale oatmeal left in a box too long, and once I smelled oatmeal I didn’t think it would work, seeing how oatmeal bahs never healed the itch.
THE DIRECTIONS:
It called for me to rub myself down with the soap in the shower or bath (or just by applying water to the area), then rinse it off. Next I was to reapply the soap, and not rinse the lather off. Weird new concept, but it sounded easy enough. But you are also to repeat these instruction 2 to 3 times a day.
The first lather was thick, and seemed to spread onto my skin without irritating the rash. I rinsed off, and repeated without rinsing. I got out of the shower sort of dumbfounded. How was I supposed to dry off, if I’m supposed to leave the lather on my body?
But my thoughts were lost once I realized the agonizing burning itch had been subsided. WOW! I wondered though if the soap would stop working once the lather on my skin dried out.
LONG TERM:
The itch had gone down drastically, and whenever it felt itchy again, I would simply rub the bar of soap over the area again. Not only was it an excellent remedy for curing the itch, but with use, the rash did not spread and actually dried out the affected areas.
OVERALL:
Burt’s Bees Poison Ivy Soap heals the itch, dries up the rash, stops the oozing and spread of poison ivy to other areas on your body. I can say that my rash healed much faster than it would have with oatmeal baths and pink cloudy globs of medicine on my skin.
INGREDIENTS:
Vegetable soap base, vegetable glycerin, oat protein, kaolin (natural clay), tea tree oil, pine tar, garden balsam leaf (jewelweed).
99.82% Natural
RECOMMENDED:
Yes, a big recommendation to anyone suffering from poison ivy, and to those prone to getting it. I keep a bar handy at all times. When I think I have come in contact with the itchy plant, I will shower with it as well, and have yet to get the rash since.
With the summer months ahead, I’d recommend buying a bar just to have in case you do get poison ivy. This soap provides excellent relief.
