The first shampoo bar, other than my own, that I have tried for the Shampoo Bar Exchange was the lighter soap sent to me by Amy of Great Cakes Soapworks. It is called “The Original Opus”.
Impressions before using it – beautiful natural colour & texture,nice size and I LOOOOOOVE the scent.
The ingredients list: Saponified Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Lard, rice Bran Oil, Castor Oil, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Beer, Aloe Vera Juice and Essential Oils of Lemongrass, Lavender, Rosemary and Peppermint.
When I began using it, I was sooooo surprised at just how different it was from mine. It lathered instantly and abundantly. Wonderful, thick, sudsy lather. I just kept washing & lathering and lathering... like I didn’t want it to end!! I also adore the scent. It smells wonderful dry but even better when washing!
I used a simple Vinegar rinse (1 part Apple Cidar Vinegar to 10 parts water) after each wash.
My hair combed through very nicely after Amy’s shampoo. Not like the slick chemical & silicone-loaded commercial shampoo and conditioner comb-throughs... but much nicer that with my shampoo bar.
So, for the first few times I used this shampoo bar... I was in love!
Unfortunately, it didn’t last as my hair started getting greasy after about 5 days, then on day 7, I washed with it for the last time as the whole back of my hair was greasy.
What factors are involved? The four of us - Becky from The Soap Sister, Amy from Great Cakes Soapworks, Michele from Tierra Verde and I - have all agreed that we think there may be many factors that affect the Shampoo bar when using - Water type, hair type, scalp type, and rinse or conditioner type.
I have extremely hard water - full of Calcium. Most people here have dry itchy scalp dandruff because of the water. I have medium thick, totally dyed hair. (I wish I could get away from dying my hair as I know it is not good for it, but I am not prepared to leave it grey...) My dandruff has gone away since I began using shampoo bars about a year ago, and for the most part, my scalp isn't itchy any more.
So, as for Amy's bar:
The good? The Abundant Suds, the Awesome Scent, the Wonderful Comb-Through.
The not-so-good? The greasy hair. Unfortunately this is a biggy - and I can't continue using this bar. Could this be improved by simply lowering the superfat?
6 comments:
That's what we'll need to find out! That, plus something to deal with the hard water...borax, perhaps? I have soft water, so this hasn't been an issue for me. When I took this bar to Arizona on vacation, the water was so hard there I couldn't continue to use it either. My bet is on the water hardness factor!
Super interesting! I still am not a fan of shampoo bars but I love the idea of them.
This shampoo bar mystery is very interesting, and it seems to puzzle soap lovers everywhere. I share some of my shampoo bars with friends here in Toronto, and some of them encounter the greasy problem while the other don't feel anything at all. Intriguing....
Great review! I started using my own soap as shampoo bars before making an actual "shampoo" bar and found my dry grey 52 year old hair loved it. I also found I only need to wash every three days. Are all of you washing your hair with the same frequency ? Another variable to consider.
Amy, I LOOOOVE the scent in this soap. I have never tried borax in soap... but I use it in my laundry detergent. Are you eventually up for round 2 of the shampoo bar exchange? I made another shampoo yesterday...
Anne-Marie, Thanks Anne Marie!!
Between Friends, Maybe in our testing... we will get to the bottom of the mystery? Or maybe, as for all of my alkanet experiments, it still remains a mystery? Would love to try your shampoo one day.
Donna, Thank you for contributing yet another possible factor - wash frequency!! You are right. I wash my hair every other day... but the results could be different if I washed at a different frequency. xoxo Jen
I have found that even the time of year affects how I like a shampoo bar. I thought I'd created the perfect recipe and used it all winter, but when summer came around--yuck! I think the change in humidity had something to do with it.
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