shampoo bar

[TeresaT]

I've decided to delve into shampoo bars and have a question. Is a zero cleansing factor too low for a shampoo bar? The conditioning number is 73; is that too high?

My recipe (which is a modification of something I found on Pinterest) is:

Avocado 15%
Castor 20%
Lard 10%
Olive 30%
Shea 25%

The original recipe (below) has a cleansing number of 17 and a conditioning number of 58. I think this has too much coconut oil in it.

Avocado 10%
Castor 15%
Coconut 25%
Olive 25%
Shea 25%

I'd like to make a "whole body" bar of soap. It would be nice not to have a bunch of different products in the shower. (Competing with the 15 bars of soap, that is.)

 

[Obsidian]

0-5 is a good range for cleansing on shampoo bars, too much and it can really strip your hair of oils. I use 5% coconut in mine to up the cleansing just a little. A proper shampoo bar isn't that great for a body bar but they do make really nice facial bars. FYI, lard isn't very good in a shampoo bar, it seems to make a bit more scum then other oils and always left my hair icky feeling.

My personal favorite poo bar is this http://www.evernote.com/l/ANi0chvOL_5PbJrp3vjvBfXtKCUp6FlLEsg/
You can replace the neem with OO/avocado

 

[TeresaT]

Thanks! I saved your recipe to my Evernote account. I might swap out the lard with coconut at 5% and up the olive.

I've notice that a lot of people recommend ACV as a rinse. Why ACV in particular? Why not distilled white vinegar or another type of vinegar? I use white vinegar for cleaning and deodorizing, so I've always got that on hand.

 

[kchaystack]

Thanks! I saved your recipe to my Evernote account. I might swap out the lard with coconut at 5% and up the olive.

I've notice that a lot of people recommend ACV as a rinse. Why ACV in particular? Why not distilled white vinegar or another type of vinegar? I use white vinegar for cleaning and deodorizing, so I've always got that on hand.

I use some dissolved citric acid in a squeeze bottle, since I think vinegar is too stinky for my hair. about a 1/4 teaspoon to a cup of water.

 

[ngian]

My personal favorite poo bar is this http://www.evernote.com/l/ANi0chvOL_5PbJrp3vjvBfXtKCUp6FlLEsg/
You can replace the neem with OO/avocado

Thank you Obsidian for sharing your favorite one, and I was wondering if this recipe do make up bubbles easily and if you have hard or soft water. And one more, do you have long hair?

 

[cmzaha]

I believe I remember reading Obsidian having a serious problem with her hair after using soap for shampoo for several months. Would have to do some searching to find the post. "Soap" is not shampoo...Everyone needs to know that hair is very very resilient against damage, but when it becomes damaged it Cannot be fixed. You want nice hair make a nice shampoo bar. I constantly get compliments on how great my silver hair looks. No rinses, no perms, no color, no split ends, just gorgeous silver gray hair. Being a Beautician for 30+ years I value hair and take care of it, using a very mild surfactant based shampoo bar.

 

[Obsidian]

You can use white vinegar or citric acid in water, I used ACV because thats what I had on hand. My recipe actually lathers fairly well, on the hair it produced a lot of nice creamy lather.

I have moderately hard water and my hair was shoulder length. I say "was shoulder length" because after two years of high PH, my hair started breaking off in 1" chunks. It was completely ruined by shampoo bars, I would be surprised if I had any cuticle left on the shaft. I do have very fine hair though, some people can use a poo bar with absolutely no problems for years.

Personally, I will never use shampoo bars on my hair again. My hair wants and needs sulfates so thats what it gets.

 

[ngian]

Thank you for your response obsidian. Here we have very hard water so long hair will even be worse with alkaline soaps (KOH or NaOH). Some also say that rinsing right afterwards with acidic ph liquid (vinegar or citric acid) our hair passes a shocking experience.

For my short hair alkaline soaps seems OK, or the damage isn't noticeable because of the length, but for long hair it should be avoided.

I wonder why some are designing poo bars, but I guess they have very soft water and this seems to be a little better for long hair.

 

[TeresaT]

Thanks for all of the great feed back. Since I have hard water (and awesome hair :wink, I'll stick to my rediculously expensive Bumble & Bumble shampoos and other products I get from my salon. I've had super short hair for years and now I'm growing it out. Although my hair is baby fine, there is a ton of it, so it gives the appearance of thickness. And it absorbs water like a sponge. I HAVE to towel dry my hair for a few minutes before I can use a drier (or wrap it for 15 minutes). Some people can just "squeegee" their hair with a towel and style, not me. I only wash it two or three times a week, depending on how sweaty I am, and don't use a conditioner. Although, now that I'm letting it grow, I'll probably need to on the ends. It's also curly, so I use products formulated to be light weight. I guess shampoo bars really aren't a smart thing for me, now that I'm actually thinking about my hair and not my purse. Again, thanks for the awesome feedback.

 

[Obsidian]

Its not hard water that damages the hair, its the high PH. High PH lifts the cuticle, using a acidic rinse will help lay the cuticle back down, over time this breaks and wears away the cuticle leaving you with dry frizzy, fragile hair.

Teresa, have you seen this forum? Its all about long hair and hair care in general, I've learned a ton about how to care for my curls properly.
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/forum.php

 

[cmzaha]

Thanks for all of the great feed back. Since I have hard water (and awesome hair :wink, I'll stick to my rediculously expensive Bumble & Bumble shampoos and other products I get from my salon. I've had super short hair for years and now I'm growing it out. Although my hair is baby fine, there is a ton of it, so it gives the appearance of thickness. And it absorbs water like a sponge. I HAVE to towel dry my hair for a few minutes before I can use a drier (or wrap it for 15 minutes). Some people can just "squeegee" their hair with a towel and style, not me. I only wash it two or three times a week, depending on how sweaty I am, and don't use a conditioner. Although, now that I'm letting it grow, I'll probably need to on the ends. It's also curly, so I use products formulated to be light weight. I guess shampoo bars really aren't a smart thing for me, now that I'm actually thinking about my hair and not my purse. Again, thanks for the awesome feedback.

You really do not need to pay a fortune for a nice shampoo. If you have a local beauty supply that sells to the public you can get some nice shampoos there for much less than your salon retails it for. Theirs may be a brand you cannot purchase but it does not make it better. Redkin, Paul Mitchel and a few others all have great shampoos.Or you can go to Swift Craft Monkey's Blog and find some recipes for solid shampoo bars. A wee naughty hint about Salons, many times you aren't getting your hair shampooed with the shampoo on the bottle. Some will refill the bottle of the type shampoo they retail with the bulk shampoo they buy. Not saying all do but what you see is not always what you get. Don't get me wron, most other than beauty schools will use good shampoos just not the high cost retail shampoos

Yes, short hair gets as much damage it just does not show because it it cut often. Long hair will get destroyed over time.

 

[DeeAnna]

This weekend, I think I finally trimmed off the last crunchy-dry ends remaining from a year or so of using lye-based soap on my hair. The whole hair shaft feels smooth and supple now.

 

[ngian]

Its not hard water that damages the hair, its the high PH.

You are right on this. I just wanted to add that along with the damage of our hair because of the high ph, hard water's soap scum is also contributing to the overall weird feeling.