Shampoo Bars

As soap makers we are seeing a trend shift in the market. More and more consumers are becoming leery of the chemicals and fillers from their store and salon bought shampoos and conditioners. Mom has been making a shampoo bar for years now and I have been using it on my son since she started making it. It has worked wonders for him and almost eliminated his cradle cap without all the yucky treatments we had been using on him from birth. I was her biggest advocate for using it on children but I had never actually used it on myself and was afraid to answer questions from clients for use on their own hair... so I decided that it was time to give it a try on myself! I kept notes over the course of the first 6 weeks of my trial and I thought I would share with you the results of my experiment!

Week 1: I tucked my very expensive salon shampoo and conditioner into a cupboard for the duration of the trial... just in case! I washed my hair every second day this week with the shampoo bar with terrible results. My hair felt like I had been washing it with used fryer grease.

Week 2: I did some more research into what others have tried and gave it a go! I made up a paste of vinegar (any type will work) and baking soda. I massaged that through my hair and let it sit for a few minutes and rinsed it out. I washed it again with the shampoo bar. I was slightly dry this time, but that was definitely a step up from slimy! I also made up a vinegar rinse (2 tbsp vinegar to 2 cups water and several drops of Lavender EO) and put into a spray bottle. I spritzed my hair after every wash with the vinegar blend, let it sit for a minute and rinsed it out.

Week 3: I noticed that vinegar was a bit drying so I opted to use it every second washing and my hair was feeling much better this week!

Week 4: My hair was beginning to feel really good this week.... I have worked out the kinks and my hair has very little flyaway and I even started using less styling product on it with great results!

Week 5: I had started to notice by this week that my hair wasn't falling out nearly as much or coming out in clumps on my brush! My hair has started looking much shinier than it has in years, even when it had been freshly colored.

Week 6: I poured my expensive salon brand shampoo and conditioner down the drain... It took a few weeks for my hair to adjust to a point that I was happy, but I think the results speak for themselves!

SHAMPOO bar newbie??

• When you first start using a shampoo bar don't be surprised if you have 'bad hair day' syndrome. Your hair might be fly-away or look and feel slightly greasy... This is just temporary, we promise! You may want to prep your hair by creating a paste of vinegar and baking soda, massage it into your hair, let sit for a few minutes and rinse. This seems to help strip your hair of a lot of the shampoo residue and reduce the greasy feeling you may experience when switching from shampoo to a shampoo bar.
• Commercial shampoos & conditioners leave behind a coating on your hair. It might take a few days for the shampoo bar to strip off these excess conditioners.
• Thoroughly drench hair... to soaking wet. The wetter the better... it makes it much easier to work the shampoo through your hair.
• Rub the bar into a lather in your hands and then apply the lather directly, alternately the bar can be rubbed directly onto the scalp but I find this much harder to get a good lather! Massage lather into scalp... using only your finger tips and work suds to ends of hair.
• If your hair is long, curly or textured, I strongly recommend that you DO NOT pile hair on top of your head. This can be a recipe for an intense tangling disaster
• Finally... RINSE, RINSE and RINSE again! At this point you can rinse with a vinegar solution or use a natural conditioner if needed. Work this mixture through really well and rinse, rinse, rinse. We promise you won't smell like a pickle... just clean and fresh. We like to recommend that you rinse your hair with a mixture of vinegar & water and your favorite essential oil (we use 1 tbsp vinegar to every cup of water and put into a spray bottle) after every 2^nd shampoo.

Please Note: Shampoo bars aren't recommended for use with really hard water. The minerals in the water bind with the suds and make them impossible to rinse off cleanly.

BENEFITS of shampoo bars:

• Natural bars don't strip your hair like shampoo or leave a coating behind
• There are no added chemicals and fillers
• Hair feels thicker
• May eliminate any need for a separate conditioner
• May lessen scalp and hairline irritation
• May help lessen scalp dryness
• Convenient for travel

Oils and Your Skin!

When we started making handmade soap and began experimenting with other products we began doing research on the ingredients we were wanting to use.  We aren't scientists, so we have spent hours poring over books and the internet for information trying to distinguish between fact and hype about oils and their benefits to come up with blends that we believe live up to their claims.

Almond Oil: Almond oil is an excellent emollient and moisturizer. As an emollient it nourishes and softens the skin helping to keep it smooth to the touch. Almond oil is similar in composition to the oil baby's excrete to keep their skin and hair healthy and is one of the least greasy oils that you will find in the facial care market. It will soak into your skin quickly and will leave only a slight residue, if it even leaves that. This composition is beneficial to protecting and conditioning your skin and may promote a more youthful skin complexion. 

Castor Oil: Castor oil is derived from the beans of the Castor Oil plant. It is a highly emollient oil, often used in lipsticks and other beauty aids. Castor oil is a great skin care product as it is naturally rich in anti-oxidants and works as a deep conditioner to heal both skin and hair. Ancient Egyptians used castor oil extensively in protecting their eyes and lips from the dry desert winds as well as in oil lamps for illumination. The Egyptians also believed the oil had special healing properties and included it in many medicinal rubs and poultices.

Cocoa Butter: Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil or theobroma cacao, is a pale-yellow, pure edible vegetable fat extracted from the cacao bean. Cocoa butter is one of the most stable fats known, containing natural antioxidants that prevent rancidity and give it a lengthy shelf life, making it a good choice for non-food products. The smooth texture, sweet fragrance and emollient property of cocoa butter make it a popular ingredient in cosmetics and skin care products, such as soaps and lotions. Though many believe that cocoa butter has the ability to reduce or diminish the appearance of scars, this is a theory that is yet unproven. It does however, promote elasticity in the skin and will aid in the healing of chapped skin if it is used regularly. Cocoa butter is often recommended for treatment of skin conditions such as eczema and dermatitis.

Coconut Oil: A gift to soapmakers as it replaces tallow for vegetable based soaps. It resists rancidity due to it's low molecular structure and produces a fluffy lather in soap. A percentage of approximately 10 to 30% is moisturizing but too much may be drying. Soap made from 100% coconut oil makes an excellent household cleaner but is not recommended for skin care.

Lauric acid, the major fatty acid from the fat of the coconut, has long been recognized for the unique properties that it lends to non-food uses in the cosmetic and soap industry recognized for its unique properties in foods which are related to its antibacterial, antiviral and antiprotozoal functions.

Hemp Oil: Hempseed oil is pressed from the seed of the hemp plant (i.e., non-drug varieties of Cannabis sativa L). This oil typically contains between 30-35% oil by weight, and is extremely high in essential fatty acids. Hemp seed oil is one of the world's richest sources of polyunsaturated fats, including both of the essential fatty acids (Omega 3 and Omega 6) and GLA (Gamma-linolenic acid), which makes it an excellent natural emollient and moisturizer. Body care products containing hemp seed oil can reduce skin discomfort by soothing & restoring dry or damaged skin and increasing the natural moisture retention capacity. With regular use, body care products containing hemp seed oil can help slow down the effects of skin aging and leave the skin smooth, soft and moisturized.

Jojoba Oil: The Jojoba plant produces a bean pod and it was discovered that heating the beans caused an oil to be secreted. The desert peoples of Southern California and Mexico had long been using this oil to treat skin conditions and cuts. Jojoba oil has similar chemical makeup to the sebum oil that our skin produces naturally. In fact, it is one of the most easily absorbed vegetable oils available today.

Olive Oil: Olive oil has a beneficial effect on the skin through its oleic acid content and its Vitamin E content. Oleic acid has regenerative properties that transfer to skin cells and help to rejuvenate skin. The Vitamin E in olive oil is an antioxidant that protects skin cell membranes from damage by free radicals. Vitamin E in olive oil also heals damaged skin cells and can lessen scarring from cuts.

Shea Butter: Shea butter or Shea nut butter is a slightly yellowish or ivory-colored natural fat extracted from fruit of the shea tree by crushing and boiling. Shea butter is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer and an emollient. It is also a known anti-inflammatory agent. Shea butter provides natural ultraviolet sun protection, although the level of protection is extremely variable, ranging from nothing to approximately SPF 6. Shea butter absorbs rapidly into the skin without leaving a greasy feeling. Shea butter can be found in many high-end moisturizing skin products. Shea butter is known for its skin softening effect.

Sunflower Oil: Sunflower oil is high in essential fatty acids. It helps to moisturize, regenerate and condition the skin. Sunflower oil can be used as the primary oil within lotion, salt scrub, bath oil and massage oil formulations. It is especially useful in formulations intended for mature, sensitive, dry or damaged skin. It is obtained from the seeds of the sunflower plant and can be helpful in relieving skin irritations such as acne. The oil from the sunflower seed is extremely rich in vitamins A,C,D and E. Because it is so rich in vitamin E this natural oil in very soothing and gentle when applied to the skin.