Hey guys! I've started getting into natural products, and I've recently bought a 100% natural shampoo bar, and I've washed my hair twice with it, and my hair feels really weird, dirty in a way... the roots are very clean, it does not look oily at the roots, just the rest of my hair. Why did it get like this? Is it because it needs time to adjust to not washing it with a regular shampoo? does anybody have some experience with shampoo bars?
I have loads of experience with 'poo bars. I'm assuming yours does not have SLS/ other detergents, but is soap, yes? Do you know if your water is mineralized, sometimes called hard or soft? What do you do during a wash? Often soap based bars create a waxy build up. An acidic rinse, with lemon juice or vinegar rinses ( one part acids three parts water) will help prevent this. Also, there IS an adjustment period for going to soap. Some people's hair takes a week or so, some takes a month. I was in the middle, but used conditioner to make it look ok. We are used to stripped hair, as compared to clean hair. Soap based bars don't always make hair fluffy. Some can. If you are using Dr Bronners or other opaque to solid Castile bars, use conditioner, then the acidic rinse. If you are using a local or small batch maker, or a designated shampoo bar, acid them conditioner. I have theories on why this works, but they aren't well formed yet.
Thank you for replying, drumminmama . it is soap, it does not have sls or other ingredients, no, it is natural, made from many oils. well, judging by a map of hard/soft water in england, i think the water here is hard to very hard, but i don't know exactly what that means. i'm worried about the smell of vinegar, i read that once the hair dries, the smell goes away, but since i live in london, it's often humid and rainy humid here. what do you think? also, i don't really want to use conditioner anymore, the reason i'm not using shampoo is to avoid chemicals, and wouldn't using a conditioner be like cheating?
Well you kinda have a choice. You either buy proper hair products or ya don't. But if ya don't, don't whinge about it.
Back to shampoo bars... Hard water leaves minerals on the hair shaft, which dulls and weighs down hair. Soap interacts with it, think of tub ring. So an acidic rinse, lemon juice, vinegar, will break up the calcium and other minerals. You can rinse after the vinegar, as it has removed the potential build up. I usually do. But if I don't, the vinegar smell is gone upon drying. Redampening doesn't reactivate it. To ensure it isn't detectable, put a drop of essential oil to scent it. As for conditioner, I have to use it, or oil on my ends. My ends are more than a decade old. D you have curls or straight hair? If you have curls, get a good conditioner and get rid of the soap. Conditioner only washing is great for wavy to curly hair. I have a couple s waves, so basically straight, and CO works well if I rotate it in a couple times a month.
I tried the vinegar rinse yesterday, i rinsed it out, and my hair still smelled like vinegar after it dried and i had to shampoo my hair to get the smell out of it . maybe i'll try the lemon juice next. i have straight hair. wow your hair must be incredibly long, my ends are 5-6 years old
Pip, what vinegar are you using? I use ACV, mainly because it deposits a slight red tint, which blends with my hair. What solution? Mine is 3:1 vinegar to water, but you can try 1:1 or even 1:3. Even a dissolved vitamin c tablet! Or the essential oil.
I've found my hair feels really nice when using lush's Seanik (Seaweed + seasalt) shampoo bar. Using Dr Bronners soap bar however made it feel sticky and sort of gross! So it really depends on the product, your water hardness, hair type, and how you apply it. Try not to actually rub the shampoo into your hair, focus on the scalp.
lush is sls, the same detergent as bottled shampoo, so isn't quite what we are discussing. Note, I like lush for travel. I have a review or two in Flowing Tresses. The weird and gross aspect of Dr Bs is what the soap based bars create. So users figure out what works for them to make it better. Shampoos have those built in, so we aren't really doing extra, it's just that we are aware of the chemical interactions. Eta: I never got dr b to work for me for more than one wash. I suspect it is the heaviness of the oils used, and my dilution ratio. I sooooo wanted it to work.
this is getting really funny )) i used acv too and i put 3:1 water to vinegar, i have no idea why my hair still smelled like vinegar even after i had rinsed it, i don't get it...
By the way: Acidic rinses are great for getting out crap like calcium from hard water, but make SURE that ALL of the soap is out of your hair, first. Acid will neutralize the base in soap, and the fats will stop being water solulible.... and you'll have hair with gooey grease in it. Trust me.... Once I broke out the vinegar too soon after using bronners. Big mistake, took like 20 minutes and a lot more soap to get it re-constituted and washed out.
Oh, I remember doing that....when I had a patch of dread lets, no less. Wow... I cut those in 2003. I've been doing weird things to my hair for a long time!
I used a natural shampoo bar for a bit. It made my hair look good and fluffy, but it wasn't soft as it turned out to become so dry. I put some argan oil on my hair every time after towel-drying, but it wasn't enough and my hair was splitting ends and breaking. I now use Dr Bronner's castille soap (liquid) and it works wonders for my hair, it's soft, shiny, strong and it smells good.
i've just ordered some shampoo bars from chagrin valley, i'm really excited, i've heard a lot of good things about them. the vinegar rinse is getting better, my hair doesn't smell anymore after it's dry. i still don't understand what i was doing wrong )
Chagrin valley are good bars. Ask and they will suggest a vinegar ratio. I use an old sports water bottle with a squirt top and keep acv in that.
Truly saying i don't like the shampoo bars, i really like the shampoo bottles like Dove.This make your hair clean heathey.
