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?
