I'm yet another who lost inches of hair after a year of using lye-based soap to wash my hair. Sure, my hair seemed okay at first, but the damage accumulated until I could not ignore it any longer. Even my husband's much shorter hair looked dull and lifeless after that same year.
deeanna, i was reading something recently about
hair porosity and it mentioned some issues that i am wondering if it relates to the shampoo bar damage you and others experienced, in addition to a lot of other issues i'll mention. i read that porosity refers to how well one's hair absorbs moisture and also has to do with how flat the cuticle lies.
low porosity hair doesn't absorb moisture well. it does tend to have the hair cuticle lie flatter which is good though. people with low porosity hair can have problems with protein buildup which over time dries the hair and eventually causes breakage. i can't seem to remember if most with low porosity hair have dry hair or not, i do, and so the tendency is to use lots of conditioning products but if the wrong kind they will cause this protein buildup which long term can cause strawlike hair & breakage.
high porosity hair absorbs moisture really easily. this can be due to hair being damaged or just an inherent property of the hair type. high porosity hair seems to already have the cuticle raised a fair amount so people with high porosity hair really are in danger of hair damage with shampoo bars with the mechanical damage that can happen due to the high pH of the bars raising the cuticle.
medium porosity hair seems to be the healthiest.
so, we have 2 problems here:
protein buildup for the low porosity types, and poo bars seem to cause issues with buildup, and mechanical damage for high porosity hair that already is vulnerable with the cuticle raised so much. two different hair types and two different problems.
some who use a higher SF in shampoo bars get buildup from all the fats (although i'm not sure how fat causes protein buildup when it doesn't contain protein but this is what i read especially with things like
hot oil treatments). the protein buildup will eventually damage the hair, dry it out and eventually cause breakage.
this is all in addition to hard water issues and the buildup problems it can cause. i'm not sure if that buildup is just the oils not fully rinsing off or also mineral deposits too.
i had asked the author of one of my books what SF she used in her shampoo bar recipes and she had some interesting comments:
"I usually calculate the superfat right into the recipe & most often use 6%, but sometimes use 5%. For shampoo bars, some people like to go with a lower superfat (4% or 5%) which makes them more cleansing (but, also possibly too drying for dry hair types). On the flip side, some like to have a higher superfat of around 8% so the bar is more moisturizing, but you risk weighing your hair down if it tends to be oily or you have hard water. What superfat you end up liking best will really depend on your hair and water type & sometimes takes a bit of experimenting."
lastly, some don't do well with too much coconut oil and a low SF as that strips the hair and they get the strawlike hair. when i was reading about the j.r. liggett's coconut bars some people seemed to experience this immediately. maybe for others it happens over time.
so, i'm thinking there are many issues to consider if using shampoo bars: whether or not one has hard water and the types of buildup it can cause, hair porosity and both protein buildup issues & cuticle damage issues, SF and whether one has dry or oily hair in combination with water type, using too much coconut oil and whether or not one uses an ACV rinse to help with removing buildup & possible mineral deposits and to close the cuticle. i have no idea if with more understanding a poo bar can be customized for one's hair that works longterm but there do seem to be many factors at play.
so, am i completely offbase in all this or do you think all this is relevant?
