Nobody wants to try shampoo bars unless they're free...

[Michelle0803]

I used Bath Bomb colours; they're water soluble and don't stain.

thank you!

Bluing or Purple coloring in shampoo whitens gray or white hair. It does Not work as a colorant it just whitens yellow cast the same as bluing in your wash water will do for whites. In fact, after WW11 when hair products were hard for salons to acquire they would use Mrs. Stewart's Bluing for hair rinses on their gray and white hair customers. I still buy and use it in my wash. This is why they make blue rinses but I always hated using leave on blue rinses such as White Minx because they would stain customers' hair if they had snow-white hair, so I preferred to dilute the rinse or use Mrs. Stewart's Bluing.

When I made shampoo bars I colored the ones for my use with purple colorant to help brighten and ward of yellow tinge in my white hair. I quit making them for sale because I simply could not sell them no matter how I tried to promote them. I had a few customers that loved them so I told them to just special order them from me when they need shampoo bars.

Thank you so much! I knew there was a reason behind it, but for the life of me just could not recall it.

Would you be willing to share how much marshmallow root powder you add to yours? I have some and would love to add it, but hesitate since I don't want to create bug food or change the pH too much. Thanks!


Can you share which purple colorant you used for your shampoo bars, and how much you added? Thanks!

@AliOop i use 1 teaspoon in my recipe. I get 9 2 oz bars out of my recipe. I put the powder in my oil to help dissolve it while I prep everything else and have had no issues.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Never used a shampoo bar, but I can speak for the length of hair. I have long hair. I only wash my head and rinse and squeeze everything through, so I don't use much more shampoo than anybody else with shorter hair. Then I condition the whole length of my hair.

My hair is not particularly thick, but it used to be. I just always washed my hair this way. At one point I had all of my hair cut off for Locks of Love and she mentioned how healthy my hair was and I told her how I washed it. "YES! That is how you should wash long hair." Basically shampoo should not touch it.

Yep - shampoo is for the scalp, and conditioner is for the hair.

 

[scmorgans]

I can answer some of these questions; I used to work in a hair salon at their front desk and I had to learn about ALL the products. But I think the biggest problem is that people just don't know HOW to use a shampoo bar. Maybe a video tutorial/introduction to just how shampoo bars work would help take away some of the intimidation.

1) Course, thick, long hair takes a lot of effort to wash because there is just so much of it and you have to get the shampoo everywhere without missing any space. I liquid shampoo SEEMS easier because it's already easy to spread.

2) I've heard that complaint about regular soap bars, so it's really just about educating them about proper storage of bar soaps to begin with.

3) Coloured hair can be tricky; most commercial shampoos, specially current salon shampoos, are being formulated to protect colour in hair. It's more about something being less stripping as something to protect the hair colour. Previous shampoos of yesteryear contained ingredients that were very stripping to the hair. The way permanent colour works, is that a base (ammonia/bleach) penetrates through the hair strand and "removes" the natural hair colour, and deposits the new colour in it's place. Because hair isn't alive, it won't repair itself, unlike skin. Once that damage is done, it won't be undone. And once there is damage, it's easier for the damage to get worse. Like if you get tear in your sweater, if you leave it alone, it will be okay; if you pull at the loose strand, it will get worse and unravel. That's why if you have split ends, you need to have them cut off or they will split even more up the hair shaft; like a run in a stocking. So, because the ammonia has already created "holes" in the hair, those "holes" can be where the colour is stripped away with harsher shampoos. Again, educating people around ingredients could help that, but you can't force people to learn if they don't want to.

4) Similar to #3, it's only recently that shampoos are using ingredients that are less aggressive and agitating. If they were more knowledgeable in ingredients, it might help. But sometimes if you have allergies, you stick with what you know doesn't create a reaction; just to be safe rather than being sorry.

5) Grey hair is a different hair texture to natural hair. It is often courser and dryer. People with grey hair often need high hydration shampoos.

6) That's just being entitled. *EDIT* I like @Ford 's idea!

7) This is a culmination of much of the answers above. Salon shampoos are a higher concentration than drug store shampoos. To pull arbitrary numbers out of the air purely as an analogy; you could think of it as the salon product having 40% water, where the drug store product could be 90% water. (Again, those specific numbers are arbitrary). You will need less of the expensive stuff and it would last a lot longer. Also, many people find they can go longer between washes when they use the higher quality stuff, extending the life of the product even more. I got a lot of free [very, VERY expensive] shampoo that I'm still using today, five years after I left. And I can easily go another five, if not more. One 250ml bottle lasts like 2 years.

8) I mean, everyone has different financial situations. I'd probably say the same thing if someone tried to sell me a Luis Vuitton bag! But we can't satisfy everyone; these just might not be the people you get to please this time, and that's okay!

9) It might depend on living situations. For example, residence/dorm life, you share the bathing facilities and you have to bring your stuff every time you use it, and you have to take it with you. Or, they may not have the storage space. Maybe a soap dish would be the answer?

I hope I was somewhat helpful in giving one perspective. Again, I think it really just comes down to people's general lack of knowledge regarding the subject. I mean, there are people all over the internet that don't think bar soaps are hygienic! I'm not sure how active you are in using social media with your soaps, but if I were you, I would try and spread knowledgeable information so consumers can feel impowered to make an INFORMED conclusion, instead of a subjective one.

Now this was educational! Thank you!!

 

[Gaisy59]

Gonna get in on this…i have thick curly hair and use a shampoo bar. I love it! As far as i can tell shampoo is a cleanser and one type really should fit all. My hairdresser told me you cannot formulate a bar…she was wrong. I made my bar, stick it in my shower without a dish, tested how long it lasts washing every three days. It lasts more than three months. It is not super hard but i tried placing a bar by my dehumidifier and yes it did leave buts and pieces in my hair leaving me to think that super dry is not a good thing. It strips my color as much as store shampoo does so no concern there. As for purple shampoo i used my daughters after she left for Australia and my thought is what a waste of money.

Now I can’t say anything about no plastic bottle to throw away every time it’s empty adding to the garbage already polluting the earth because the supplies come in plastic.

I have also used a bar while travelling and i love it. I find it not as harsh as some of the free shampoos from the hotels. It goes through the airport with no trouble as it is a solid. Also works great when camping per my daughter.

Personally i think it’s all about big companies and their ads. Good luck a@KiwiMoose i am hoping you can change peoples mindset. You have a great product.

Wow didn’t mean to go on and on, but i love shampoo and conditioner bars!

 

[CreativeWeirdo]

Yep - shampoo is for the scalp, and conditioner is for the hair.

YES! That's something else I learned while working at the salon. You're natural scalp oils hydrate the first 3 inches of your hair; conditioner should be applied "ponytail down". And shampoo is really just to remove product buildup on the hair length.

 

[AliOop]

Never used a shampoo bar, but I can speak for the length of hair. I have long hair. I only wash my head and rinse and squeeze everything through, so I don't use much more shampoo than anybody else with shorter hair. Then I condition the whole length of my hair.

Same - I only wash my head, but condition all my hair, which used to be very long before chopping it quite short last year. Long or short, rinsing takes forever because it is also quite thick and curly.

I do use shampoo bars and conditioner bars. The shampoo bars last forever, but I have to use tons of conditioner because my hair is quite dry, as is typical for most curly hair. My shampoo bars are formulated not to strip color (no sulfates). @cerelife I'd be interested to know the ingredients on your shampoo that doesn't strip the glossing, to see if there is something else I could add or remove to help with that, as well. If you don't mind.

 

[Misschief]

it did leave buts and pieces in my hair leaving me to think that super dry is not a good thing.

I recommend to my customers that they should put the bar into an organza or muslin bag when it gets smaller. That way, if/when it breaks, the bits and pieces are contained and you can use it to the very last bit. Both my husband and I have separate bars (he has itchy scalp and fairly coarse hair and I have fine dry hair) and all our end bits go into an organza bag. Last weekend, I turned our collected ends into another bar by reheating and remolding it. We're good to go for another few months!

 

[Gaisy59]

I recommend to my customers that they should put the bar into an organza or muslin bag when it gets smaller. That way, if/when it breaks, the bits and pieces are contained and you can use it to the very last bit. Both my husband and I have separate bars (he has itchy scalp and fairly coarse hair and I have fine dry hair) and all our end bits go into an organza bag. Last weekend, I turned our collected ends into another bar by reheating and remolding it. We're good to go for another few months!

Perfect! I just squeezed/reformed the broken bits together again , but that is a great idea.

 

[SirSoapsAlot]

Health conscious and mostly green person here. I like the idea of the shampoo bar, but have never tried one. I have very long hair, usually midback or longer. The idea of rubbing a bar on my head brings images of a huge rats nest on the top of my head. Liquid is just easier, I can lather well, and I now buy in a bulk container, like box wine, and refill my old bottles. I'd like to be a bar person, but I don't ever see it happening, esp. since most of the bars have things I don't want if I can avoid them in my products. (They aren't cheap either). It's such a balancing act with chemicals and sometimes I try to talk myself into a "grey area", but then once you excuse one ingredient it becomes easier to accept another and I just try not to go down that road. It's very difficult with all the flash and fancy things artificial ingredients can do.

 

[cerelife]

@cerelife I'd be interested to know the ingredients on your shampoo that doesn't strip the glossing, to see if there is something else I could add or remove to help with that, as well. If you don't mind.

I don't mind at all! I use these 4, switching up from time to time. I also use the conditioners in the same 4:
https://www.aveda.com/product/5311/16272/hair-care/shampoo/brilliant-shampoo#/shade/8.5_fl_oz/250_mlhttps://www.aveda.com/product/5311/...ess-hydration-shampoo#/shade/6.7_fl_oz/200_mlhttps://www.aveda.com/product/5311/...strengthening-shampoo#/shade/6.7_fl_oz/200_mlhttps://www.number4hair.com/shop/shampoo/hydrating-shampoo/
And to clarify about the glossing: this is a separate procedure from coloring. The best way I can describe it is that it makes your hair kind of like 'doll hair' - very shiny with a texture not unlike Barbie doll hair. It normally lasts for about 4-6 weeks depending on how often you wash your hair, but with the Lush shampoo bar my fresh gloss was totally gone after 2 uses! My color was fine, it was only the gloss that was affected.
This was the Lush product I used:
https://www.lushusa.com/hair/shampoo-bars/soak-and-float/9999900101.htmlhttps://www.aveda.com/hair-glossing-treatment

 

[AliOop]

Thank you, @cerelife! With SLS as the first ingredient, that Lush bar would definitely strip my color and irritate my scalp, so I'm surprised it was only your gloss that was affected. I don't use any sulfates in my shampoo bars for that reason.

The additional ingredients in the shampoo and conditioner were interesting, too. I've only heard one other person on this forum mention using Babassuamidopropyl Betaine, and they liked it a lot, but it was getting expensive and difficult to find. Apparently it is a great alternative to Cocoamidopropyl Betaine, which is a known irritant and allergen for many folks. Anyway, I'm going to research some of the other ingredients and see what I might be able to incorporate in some of my bars. Thank you!

 

[Kiti Williams]

Health conscious and mostly green person here. I like the idea of the shampoo bar, but have never tried one. I have very long hair, usually midback or longer. The idea of rubbing a bar on my head brings images of a huge rats nest on the top of my head. Liquid is just easier, I can lather well, and I now buy in a bulk container, like box wine, and refill my old bottles. I'd like to be a bar person, but I don't ever see it happening, esp. since most of the bars have things I don't want if I can avoid them in my products. (They aren't cheap either). It's such a balancing act with chemicals and sometimes I try to talk myself into a "grey area", but then once you excuse one ingredient it becomes easier to accept another and I just try not to go down that road. It's very difficult with all the flash and fancy things artificial ingredients can do.

My hair it past my butt, I made my shampoo bar with this in mind. As to how you use it with long hair - I wet my head, hair going down my back. I rub the bar in the direction of my hair growth, from forehead to nape. I rub my scalp to suds up, rinse and re-apply to the ends and suds it up. I rinse with my hair pulled over my head and face. The reason it takes forever to rinse is too much shampoo for the dirt in the hair, this is a learning curve. I inform my customers with a hand out, on how to transition to a shampoo bar.

 

[SideDoorSoaps]

What a great thread, everyone!! @KiwiMoose i saw another maker who made small travel sizes in 1” cavaities and she sold lots of them like this Wilton mold. It’s perfect for sample sizes!

I have lots of hair, thick, ethnic, waist length. I wash my hair once a week. I don’t use a lot of shampoo but do conditioner. I recently colored my hair and got a sample shampoo bar from a local maker. It did take color out of my hair. Interesting. I don’t often color my hair either.

I don’t balk at the price because it’s handmade and concentrated ingredients but lots of people don’t realize that. There’s so many misconceptions as well that we all seem to be combatting concerning shampoo bars.

the only complaint I really have and have had is that the bars fall apart. I don’t like the noodle ones at all for that reason.

 

[KiwiMoose]

What a great thread, everyone!! @KiwiMoose i saw another maker who made small travel sizes in 1” cavaities and she sold lots of them like this Wilton mold. It’s perfect for sample sizes!

I have lots of hair, thick, ethnic, waist length. I wash my hair once a week. I don’t use a lot of shampoo but do conditioner. I recently colored my hair and got a sample shampoo bar from a local maker. It did take color out of my hair. Interesting. I don’t often color my hair either.

I don’t balk at the price because it’s handmade and concentrated ingredients but lots of people don’t realize that. There’s so many misconceptions as well that we all seem to be combatting concerning shampoo bars.

the only complaint I really have and have had is that the bars fall apart. I don’t like the noodle ones at all for that reason.

Yes I’ve made some smaller by half filling some giant ice cube molds. But I was a bit heavy handed and some of them have ended up at 50g ( my regular bar size is 70g).
My bars are poured, not pressed, and I do not use noodles anymore (I buy them because they are almost half the price of the powder and grind them up).
I have found the shape affects the early breakage so mine are not too big in diameter, and quite tall in comparison. My earlier bars were wider and flatter and broke a lot earlier.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Here they are:

 

[DMack]

I love the idea of shampoo bars but the reality after a year and half of use was they’re no good for me. I tried Lush syndet bars first which I didn’t like then found a great company which sold a shampoo bar I loved soooo much I used on my 4yr old as well. My horror when a year in I noticed his hair was breaking off (his hair is now halfway down his back but the brokey off bits are not even shoulder length yet) then I saw mine was breaking off too. I stopped immediately and noticed massive improvements in my son’s hair. Mine is chemically treated so it’s a work in progress I’m afraid but not yet prepared to go too short or dye my hair darker. I can live with that but my boy is growing his hair so he can donate it to a charity to make wigs for children so I was upset to see the damage caused.
I switched for environmental reasons but tbh more companies are using recycled plastic for their products and of course these can be recycled too so my not buying half a dozen hair product bottles a year isn’t worth the trade

 

[AliOop]

@DMack when you say "shampoo bar," (the one you used after the Lush bar), was it actually a bar of soap? Many people do experience serious hair damage from using soap on their hair. I don't consider those "shampoo bars" for that reason. The shampoo bars we are talking about in this thread are made with syndets and do not contain soap.

Have you tried any of real syndet shampoo bars, other than the Lush bars? Lush bars are made with sulfates, which are way too stripping for my hair and irritating for my scalp. Most of us here use recipes that contain no sulfates, only the same ingredients used in non-sulfate liquid shampoos (but minus the liquid). If you haven't tried one of those, maybe @KiwiMoose will send you one of hers.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I love the idea of shampoo bars but the reality after a year and half of use was they’re no good for me. I tried Lush syndet bars first which I didn’t like then found a great company which sold a shampoo bar I loved soooo much I used on my 4yr old as well. My horror when a year in I noticed his hair was breaking off (his hair is now halfway down his back but the brokey off bits are not even shoulder length yet) then I saw mine was breaking off too. I stopped immediately and noticed massive improvements in my son’s hair. Mine is chemically treated so it’s a work in progress I’m afraid but not yet prepared to go too short or dye my hair darker. I can live with that but my boy is growing his hair so he can donate it to a charity to make wigs for children so I was upset to see the damage caused.
I switched for environmental reasons but tbh more companies are using recycled plastic for their products and of course these can be recycled too so my not buying half a dozen hair product bottles a year isn’t worth the trade

Can you get hold of the ingredient list for the one that broke your hair?

@DMack when you say "shampoo bar," (the one you used after the Lush bar), was it actually a bar of soap? Many people do experience serious hair damage from using soap on their hair. I don't consider those "shampoo bars" for that reason. The shampoo bars we are talking about in this thread are made with syndets and do not contain soap. Have you tried any of those besides the Lush bars? Lush bars are made with sulfates which are way too stripping for my hair and irritating for my scalp. Most of us here use recipes that contain no sulfates, only the same ingredients used in non-sulfate liquid shampoos (but minus the liquid). If you haven't tried one of those, maybe @KiwiMoose will send you one of hers.

Ha! I just sent something to the UK from New Zealand and it took 5 weeks to get there.

 

[soapysarah]

I was just thinking about shampoo bars when this discussion popped up. I saw an ad for Nope shampoo and conditioning bars and, from idle curiosity, I looked at the ingredients and noticed that they do not contain lye but does have sodium coco-sulphate, which is a new one on me. Does anyone know about this; does it replace the lye? I always thought that soap wasn’t soap without sodium hydroxide.

I make all our soaps and also a liquid shampoo for my husband from the Failor book, which my husband uses and loves (he does a vinegar rinse but no conditioner). I don’t get on with it as I find that my, uncoloured, hair gets thick-feeling and slightly greasy even with a vinegar rinse and conditioner. I would like to use a ‘no poo’ shampoo but have yet to find something I can make which works for me. My basic understanding is that one cannot make conditioners without surfactants; is this true?

I only make soap for us and as gifts for friends. I do keep a record of every soap I make and its outcome but am purely hobbyist. Comments appreciated. Thank you.

 

[DMack]

Can you get hold of the ingredient list for the one that broke your hair?

I think so, I’ll have a look see