Perfect lotion and good enough syndet!

[DanielleinTexas]

I got interested in syndet bars and conditioners a little while back (which is silly, I haven't used conditioner in a decade and don't need it--I wear my hair in a graduated bob and dye it once every four or five months, and I never style it. It looks as good as it needs to.) I used this conditioner recipe, found it useless for me as a conditioner but great as a lotion. I made some tweaks (used a different preservative at 1%, added 3% of silk peptide and 1g of tucuma butter (subtracted excess from water), and it's been the best lotion I've ever used. I found my "magic oil" combination (equalish parts argan, jojoba, rosehip, emu, and hempseed. I mix 4 oz at a time and use 5g of it whenever I make 100g of lotion for me or my ma) as the 5g works perfectly, the finish is powdery and fabulous, and my Texas summer skin which is usually covered in spots and zits and discolorations is totally flawless and my face and body feel like it's made entirely of baby butts. This replaces the polawax formulation I've used for the past six years and I expect this formulation to keep me thrilled for twice as long.

While I was working on that, I was also trying out syndet bar after syndet bar, and none of them were quite right--this one was too soft, this one was too greasy, this one was too strong...I bought Susan Barclay-Nichols' book, read all 84 pages, and a lot of the discussion of how her bars are too soft if you're in a place more humid than Canada, and modified one of her recipes (upped a little of this, lowered a little of that). First set of tweaks wasn't quite right, but the second one WAS, and I've got a bar that is hard, is just as good as the shampoo I was using, and will likely be better when my btms-50, quaternized lemon shine, and dl panthenol get here so I can get the SLIGHTLY better wet combability that's on my wish-list.

For years, I've had soap that is perfectly formulated to my every need, now I've got lotion that works perfectly on my skin and makes my mom really happy, and I'm closing in on shampoo that is perfect that nobody can ever discontinue. This is just...the best hobby ever. I remember back when I'd buy ready-made products and take what was given.

 

[Quanta]

...and a lot of the discussion of how her bars are too soft if you're in a place more humid than Canada, and modified one of her recipes (upped a little of this, lowered a little of that). First set of tweaks wasn't quite right, but the second one WAS, and I've got a bar that is hard...

If you don't mind me asking, what did you change to make it work in more humid weather? I'm a lot closer to the coast than you, and the humidity is unreal some days. I'm ordering ingredients to try out her shampoo bars soon and I'd like my trial and error to be more trial and less error. Thanks in advance.

 

[DanielleinTexas]

I took 5% off the 35% detergent, and added it to the 30%. (sorry to be vague, I don't want to give away her recipe). I also cut ALL the sodium lactate, my hair doesn't like it. I replaced it with tucuma butter, which my hair likes fine and seems to harden the bar; I also replaced the btms 50 with 25. My protein is silk peptide powder, instead of amino liquid. I let it dry out a couple of days.

I'm still tweaking; I have six or seven bars now with different tiny tweaks; they're all just fine for my husband, but I'm still narrowing down the perfect one for me. I tried one tonight where I replaced a gram of the liquid detergent with a gram of "magic oil" (equal parts emu, rosehip, argan, jojoba, and hemp), which might soften the bar too much. If it does, I might try it again with 2 g cut out of the liquid detergent and added to the milder solid detergent.