Shampoo Bar - Thanks Lindy!!

[DeeAnna]

Paillo -- please let us know how it turns out -- I am very curious!

 

[lillybella]

Where is milehighsoap.com?

It must be Denver!

How did I miss this one?

 

[whitetulips]

Paillo, did you freeze the buttermilk into cubes before adding it to the lye so that it doesn't scorch?

I'm hoping to try the HP recipe tomorrow and thought buttermilk would be good to add to the original recipe. I have powdered buttermilk in the freezer for baking purposes. I bought some rosemary and lavender EO to use. I thought about doing the peppermint EO, but went with lavender. I really don't care for the smell of tea tree EO or rosemary EO, which I have both on hand. I thought the lavender would make the soap smell better. That is one reason I used to purchase shampoo..I wanted a great smell. I don't think lavender is a great smell, but heh. Rosemary EO is supposed to be really good for the scalp. I just want to make sure nobody who is pregnant or has epilepsy uses the shampoo bar (according to all I've read).

What is alkanet?

 

[Lindy]

Alkanet is a plant that we use the root of for dying things....

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/learn/alkanet.php

 

[Smee]

Where is milehighsoap.com?

It must be Denver! ...

It is! It is in Denver! but they don't carry alkanet. I checked. :-(

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

I know one stop on my next trip to Denver. I hope to see the new grandbaby between trips to Mile High Soap and Peak Candle.... DH thinks we will be going to see the baby, little does he know.

 

[whitetulips]

The name, "alkanet" reminds me of the hairspray from the 80's, "hairnet". Don't ask me why. You were all talking about using it to help with gray hair and hair dye in shampoo, and all I could think was hairspray. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Lindy]

Check you local health food store...

 

[Genny]

The name, "alkanet" reminds me of the hairspray from the 80's, "hairnet". Don't ask me why. You were all talking about using it to help with gray hair and hair dye in shampoo, and all I could think was hairspray. Thanks for the clarification.

Are you thinking of Aquanet? I remember my older sisters always had tons of cans of that stuff. I'm pretty sure my older sisters and their group of mall hair friends are responsible for the hole in the ozone layer.

 

[paillo]

Paillo, did you freeze the buttermilk into cubes before adding it to the lye so that it doesn't scorch?

I added it at trace with a little sugar mixed in. I use buttermilk in a jug, but often add powdered to really bump up the butterfat.

My go-to for Alkanet is Soapmaking Resource.

 

[whitetulips]

Ok, I tried a HP batch of the original recipe, no buttermilk, changed the EO to rosemary and lavender. When I washed my fine hair, my hands kind of got stuck in it. I thought that it stripped my hair of all natural oils. But no, just the opposite. I ran my wide tooth comb through my hair and it totally went through. I've never been able to do that without conditioner. When I dried my hair, though, it felt like I put a ton of pomade in my hair. My hot rollers stayed better though. I'm kind of torn. Perhaps it's just too much oil for my fine hair. Not sure if I'll need to do a lemon juice or acv rinse. Will get more to try it, one with fine hair like me and another with thick, curly hair.

 

[Lindy]

If you are finding it too heavy then try adding a 'little' coconut oil in it. I have a friend in Australia that needs to do that and she has fine, blonde hair too

 

[Genny]

Or, if you find it heavy, you can drop the shea butter. I've hear a couple people have found that works better for them.

 

[whitetulips]

Dropping the shea butter would cut down on the cost. I like that idea. I did think about adding some coconut oil, as it was indicated earlier that it would dry the hair out. I washed with it again today, but I definately need to do a rinse of something.

 

[chicklet]

Paillo your recipe sounds yummy. I've made one batch with both jojoba and shea and without coconut but it was too much oil for my fine hair. My friends with coarse and/or dry hair love it though. My favorite for my hair right now is lots of tallow, castor, and avocado, and a little bit of coconut and shea. I did do the vinegar rinse for several weeks but am to the point now where I don't have to use it at all. I do every now and then just for the extra shine I feel it gives my hair, but I don't need it to settle the cuticle down like I did at first. As far as the Rosemary essential oil - it is a very strong smell and I didn't like it at first, but it's grown on me and I am not making any claims here, but I know I have less hair falling out now. The shampoo bars in general have helped in that regard, but I have really noticed a difference since I started adding the Rosemary essential oil. And, as I've posted before, the alkanet makes my gray less noticeable for some reason. I can't see me ever going back to commercial shampoo.

 

[lizflowers42]

Ok, I tried a HP batch of the original recipe, no buttermilk, changed the EO to rosemary and lavender. When I washed my fine hair, my hands kind of got stuck in it. I thought that it stripped my hair of all natural oils. But no, just the opposite. I ran my wide tooth comb through my hair and it totally went through. I've never been able to do that without conditioner. When I dried my hair, though, it felt like I put a ton of pomade in my hair. My hot rollers stayed better though. I'm kind of torn. Perhaps it's just too much oil for my fine hair. Not sure if I'll need to do a lemon juice or acv rinse. Will get more to try it, one with fine hair like me and another with thick, curly hair.

I have fine and thin hair, and I found the recipe to work really well for me hair! I added clay and citric acid to mine at trace after reading through everyone's comments and I really like it. No need to condition or use ACV rinse, and my curls are no longer flat looking!

 

[Kansas Farm Girl]

I love that my natural curls are back. I used ACV at first also, to now only once in awhile. Cheers to Genny for getting us started on this one!

 

[soapcakes]

I had my husband test this shampoo bar today and he LOVED it. He has used bar soap on occasion to wash his hair, but he said this was more like a shampoo than any other bar of soap he’s ever used. I think that is a great compliment to Genny….well done on the recipe, and thank you again for sharing it!

 

[kerianne]

is water used as the liquid for this recipe?

 

[dudeitsashley]

I have fine and thin hair, and I found the recipe to work really well for me hair! I added clay and citric acid to mine at trace after reading through everyone's comments and I really like it. No need to condition or use ACV rinse, and my curls are no longer flat looking!

What does adding the citric acid do? Does it just lower the ph of the soap?