Well now....about those horror stories

[MagiaDellaLuna]

It seems that one can hardly turn around without hearing some horror story or another about various harmful ingredients used in everyday products.

I had read long ago about the allegation that SLS can cause damage to hair follicles and thought "Yeah, yeah, yeah........not another thing to look out for on labelling"........but

I have waist length hair which is normally very thick. I have been using commercial shampoo for about 2 years now because I just could not be bothered to make shampoo and it is a standing joke that I shed like a Wookie. I mean, there is not a single room that escapes strands of my hair clinging to furniture and on the floor. I am constantly amazed that I am not bald yet.

Since using my own homemade shampoo this week I have noticed that there is barely any shedding happening, so it seems that there may be some truth to the rumour.

I know that annecdotal accounts are not considered clinical proof, but I am convinced. There is no way I am going back to commercial shampoo, no matter how convenient it is to just go out and buy some.

 

[sandra]

"I shed like a Wookie."

Love that!! I can so relate. I've been making my own shampoo lately too and love how it makes my hair feel. I use ingredients from the herbarie. As I said I do like the way my hair feels now but would love to find a recipe that doesn't use chemicals. Would much prefer a CP soap but haven't been able to formulate one that doesn't strip the heck out of my hair or make it feel tacky. I absolutely cannot use coconut oil (I use babassu oil in all my soaps instead). Even with the babassu, CP soaps haven't been good to my hair. Do you have a secret you'd be willing to share? Would love to hear what others have tried.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Even with the babassu, CP soaps haven't been good to my hair. Do you have a secret you'd be willing to share? Would love to hear what others have tried.

Some of us have been experimenting with converting CP or whipped soap shreds into liquid. My thread started out as something else, but read it through and you may start to get excited about the possibilities

http://soapmakingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14324&highlight=

I reckon any well balanced soap would work. The secret to removing that tacky feel is in the acid rinse which removes any soap scum from the hair. I am now using a Citric acid rinse as I hate the smell of Cider vinegar in my hair. The Citric acid has no odour.

I also plan to add between 10 - 20 drops of Jojoba to the pectin shampoo (200 ml bottle) for extra conditioning.

Hope this helps.

 

[kittywings]

Are you using soap to shampoo, or surfactants? I've been trying to formulate a shampoo recipe with some "natural" surfactants I bought... just curious!

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Are you using soap to shampoo, or surfactants? I've been trying to formulate a shampoo recipe with some "natural" surfactants I bought... just curious!

Both soap and detergents are by definition surfactants - i.e. something that breaks the surface tension of water, thus allowing it to mix with dirt etc.

Most commercial shampoos contain SLS - a detergent.

My homemade shampoo is made with my own soap shavings.

 

[kittywings]

Sorry, I meant to say detergent vs. soap...

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Sorry, I meant to say detergent vs. soap...

No problem

I reckon it was the detergent that was causing my hair to fall out. The difference since I started using my own shampoo is totally amazing.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I've been washing my hair with my own goat milk soap for about a year now. I still have to use a conditioner after washing though. A few months ago, I decided to use commercial shampoo again. Suddenly I was finding hair all over the bathroom. I quickly switched back to soap before I ended up bald. One of the main things that I've noticed is that my hair grows faster. I wonder if that's the goat milk? I use 100% coconut oil.

 

[carebear]

I tried a hand made soap for my hair. It left my hair a sticky, dry, brittle mess and the strands broke horridly. I thought it might be a fluke, plus people told me a lemon juice rinse would help so I tried again. Same thing happened.

Commercial, detergent based shampoos for me - thankyouverymuch!

(by the way, we can't tolerate detergent based soaps - those give us eczema - but shampoos we can and will stick to)

 

[Sunkawakan]

Since using my own homemade shampoo this week I have noticed that there is barely any shedding happening, so it seems that there may be some truth to the rumour.

I know that annecdotal accounts are not considered clinical proof, but I am convinced. There is no way I am going back to commercial shampoo, no matter how convenient it is to just go out and buy some.

MagiaDellaLuna - do you mind sharing your recipie? I've got hair mid way down my back, right about to the bottom of my shoulder blades, and I'm always looking for new recipes for shampoo as I prefer to switch shampoos once/month. I'd be grateful.

Bubbles Galore "I've noticed is that my hair grows faster. I wonder if that's the goat milk? I use 100% coconut oil." Do you think it would work with just 100% coconut oil or maybe 50/50 co & coconut milk? I don't have access to gm.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

MagiaDellaLuna - do you mind sharing your recipie? I've got hair mid way down my back, right about to the bottom of my shoulder blades, and I'm always looking for new recipes for shampoo as I prefer to switch shampoos once/month. I'd be grateful.

Sunkawakan, I make whipped soap but I am sure this would work equally well as CP, but perhaps because of possible acceleration I would suggest room temperature.

625 g Palm oil
183 g CO
148g OO (pomace)
54 g Castor

135 g Lye
380 ml water

dissolved in the cold water before adding lye -
35 g Honey
25 g granulated sugar

then added to the hot lye -
now this is tricky to explain as it is too light to weigh. I have Tussah silk tops - fibre in a skein about the thickness of an average finger.
I cut about 2 cm which is stirred into the hot lye so it can dissolve.

Finally
20 g full cream milk powder (I use cow's milk because it is easier to get) added at light trace.

This gets pretty hot because of the honey and sugar, so best to watch that it does not overheat in the mold.

I used some scraps of this soap which had cured for about 6 weeks in the proportion for your pectin soap.

After shampoo'ing I rinsed with plain water, then
I rinsed with 1 TBS Citric acid dissolved in a little boiling water, then topped up to 2 lt with lukewarm water to remove the soap scum. Then rinsed with plain water again.

Hope this helps.

 

[alwaysme07]

Just wondering if anyone uses homemade shampoo on colored hair? I would love to make my own but I'm not sure if it would remove the color.

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Just wondering if anyone uses homemade shampoo on colored hair? I would love to make my own but I'm not sure if it would remove the color.

I do

The colour is fine

 

[alwaysme07]

Thank you. Now off to see what I need to buy.

 

[Sunkawakan]

MagiaDellaLuna - thanks for the recipe, I'm going to try it as soon as I can order some palm oil. Can you please tell me the difference between whipped soap and cp? As I have only been doing cphp because of my patients level, I'm not familiar with the whipped method. Would this work for cphp?

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

MagiaDellaLuna - thanks for the recipe, I'm going to try it as soon as I can order some palm oil. Can you please tell me the difference between whipped soap and cp? As I have only been doing cphp because of my patients level, I'm not familiar with the whipped method. Would this work for cphp?

Whipped soap is worked at room temp or slightly cooler with a high % of hard oils and also mixed with a beater rather than a stick blender. Here is a link to Nizzy's page.

http://nizzymoulds.com/Whipped/index.htm

I do not often do CP (cold process) but typically the working temp is a little higher and a stick blender is used to achieve trace.

CPHP is crock pot hot process. I have not used HP in years, but if memory serves then I think you would make a slurry with the milk powder (blend with a little of the OO from the oil allowance) and add that AFTER the cook, just before pouring. I would also watch that the soap does not creep up the side of the pot because it will get pretty hot with the honey and sugar from the lye mixture.

Perhaps someone with CPHP experience with those additives (honey, sugar, silk in the lye and milk powder) could also offer some advice.

 

[awi]

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I have been wanting to make some shampoo with my soap shavings but didn't know how to get started. I make goats milk soap and will use those shavings for the shampoo...I can't wait to try it....I too have hair all over my house! It even binds down the brissle brush on my vacuum cleaner!

 

[MagiaDellaLuna]

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I have been wanting to make some shampoo with my soap shavings but didn't know how to get started. I make goats milk soap and will use those shavings for the shampoo...I can't wait to try it....I too have hair all over my house! It even binds down the brissle brush on my vacuum cleaner!

and here I was thinking that I was the last remaining Wookie on earth

The GM soap should be great for this. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Since using my own homemade shampoo this week I have noticed that there is barely any shedding happening, so it seems that there may be some truth to the rumour.

I know that annecdotal accounts are not considered clinical proof, but I am convinced. There is no way I am going back to commercial shampoo, no matter how convenient it is to just go out and buy some.

MagiaDellaLuna - do you mind sharing your recipie? I've got hair mid way down my back, right about to the bottom of my shoulder blades, and I'm always looking for new recipes for shampoo as I prefer to switch shampoos once/month. I'd be grateful.

Bubbles Galore "I've noticed is that my hair grows faster. I wonder if that's the goat milk? I use 100% coconut oil." Do you think it would work with just 100% coconut oil or maybe 50/50 co & coconut milk? I don't have access to gm.

Any help would be appreciated.

In the absence of goat's milk, I think I'd try the 100% Coconut Oil with 20% lye discount and just normal full fat milk (organic if possible). :wink:

 

[tracy]

Yikes - I too, try to baby my hair - and I'm now afraid to go look at my shampoo ingredients. I may need to convert to homemade!