That doesn’t sound silly at all! I love the idea.
What Bath & Body Thing Have You Done Today?
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I found a great thread about dissolving/melting SCI, including a description of @DeeAnna sous vide method. The key thing I picked up is to dissolve/melt the SCI in the liquid surfactants only, without the thickener/hardener, fats, etc.
Maple_Street_Bath
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Bear with me... this might be a little crazy... I was intrigued with the Humblebee-Brambleberry conditioning shampoo bar project (https://www.brambleberry.com/articl...ar-project/PS000363.html?cgid=1-in_the_studio) but I didn't want to fiddle around with a large size batch and didn't have all the ingredients to do it... so ... I took one of my conditioner bars and chunked it up, and added to my shampoo bar recipe. My recipe is kind of similar to Humblebee More Mango recipe in that it's formable play dough, but the conditioner chunks went in just fine. I used about 20g of conditioner chunks for a 200g shampoo bar recipe. I gave a bar to my bearded hubs to try, and it's his favorite for washing his face/beard. I make it for him and our ZZ-top bearded friend (along with his new favorite leave-in conditioner).
I think for short beards like my husbands, the little bit of extra conditioning from the chunks is really all that's needed, but longer/fuller beards like my friend's are gonna need extra product anyways. When you're testing, make sure you use testers who have realistic expectations. If they don't do regular beard grooming (I mean the daily wash, condition, combing/brushing - you'd be surprised how many guys stop at just the washing...), they shouldn't expect a beard wash bar to magically tame every stray hair and train their beard (they still have to do that themselves). As long as they understand that it's the clean and skin feel they're testing... I think you'll get good feedback. Guys who spend the time on beard grooming already will be able to tell if it made their grooming process easier or harder.
Thank you! That was very helpful.
The 6 Best Shampoo Bars
That’s the title of a post I found on the Byrdie website while researching ingredient lists in shampoo bars. Surprise! Of their top-ranked bars, the ones judged Best Overall and Best Gentle are both olive, coconut and castor- based lye soap. The other four bars are SCI-based, with various co-surfactants. The syndet Bar judged to be Best for Oily Hair has hydrogenated vegetable oil as the second ingredient. No Lush bars made it to the list…
I added a Kitsch bar to my test group this week when I picked one up for 50% off at my local Walgreens. I’ve only tested it at the sink and thought handling the bar felt odd due to the shape. The lather is similar to the other SCI-based bars I’ve made.
I’m hoping to have time this weekend to make my next variation of a shampoo test bar and also to make progress in my search for the ideal exfoliants in the Buffy inspired shower bar.
That’s the title of a post I found on the Byrdie website while researching ingredient lists in shampoo bars. Surprise! Of their top-ranked bars, the ones judged Best Overall and Best Gentle are both olive, coconut and castor- based lye soap. The other four bars are SCI-based, with various co-surfactants. The syndet Bar judged to be Best for Oily Hair has hydrogenated vegetable oil as the second ingredient. No Lush bars made it to the list…
I added a Kitsch bar to my test group this week when I picked one up for 50% off at my local Walgreens. I’ve only tested it at the sink and thought handling the bar felt odd due to the shape. The lather is similar to the other SCI-based bars I’ve made.
I’m hoping to have time this weekend to make my next variation of a shampoo test bar and also to make progress in my search for the ideal exfoliants in the Buffy inspired shower bar.
I found two more “best of” lists like this, from StyleCraze and Cosmopolitan. There’s little to no distinction being made between syndet bars and soap bars, and no discussion about pH. I also poked around some of the Reddit threads where I found boatloads of confusion and misinformation.
I’ve stepped up my research because I finally have time and also because I would like to have line of hair care products formulated and tested by late fall. One of my first steps was to sign up for SCM which I never did before because I knew it would be a major rabbit hole for me (and it is). Digging through the information is a bit of work, so I’m thinking about buying her Feb 2022 eBook: Surfactants: Milder combinations for gentler products. Does anyone have it? Are the new e-Books always posted in the sidebar? As far as I can tell, she has not posted the May e-Book.
I don't have any of Susan's e-books yet, so I'd love to hear if anyone does, and what they think of them. I only have the $1/mo SCM subscription, which is as much as I can handle with the unorganized (to me) format of the site. Once I read through her information and recommendations, I tend to head over to Humblebee & Me to learn more. I really like her Encyclopedia feature and use it a lot.
I was a $10 per month member until recently which gave me access to all her e-books. When I was receiving an e-book a month, the membership was worth it. Recently she has had health issues and e-books have been published less frequently. She often gives credits for another e-book purchase but I have purchased all the e-books that interest me. I just moved to a $3 month subscription.
For shampoo bars, I have “Shampoo Bars You Will Love”, which is from 2018. There is a lot of information, honestly too much for me to sit down and digest (82 pages!) so I have been reading sections that I am interested in. I agree with AllyOop that the website is not organized well and have found several mistakes, such as formulas not adding up to 100%, her recommendation for making a shampoo bar into a clarifying bar by removing the BTMS creates a soft bar that takes several days to harden and doesn’t last long. It seems like the paragraph was copied from another of her sources and meant for liquid shampoo.
I have made several bars using her formulas and really prefer the hot process bar from DIY BB. Once I add SLSa to the DIY BB recipe I think it will be my go-to bar. The e-book provides a lot of detail about surfactants and other ingredients which is helpful. In scanning the surfactants e-book, the products she makes include bidy washes, hand soap, facial cleanser and shampoo bar. If you are specifically looking for shampoo bars information, the shampoo bar e-book is probably a better resource.
@Mobjack Bay on my computer I click shop, and e-books which brings up all of the e-books, you can sort by most recent. The most recent e-book is “Creating Advanced Emulsions with Simulsol/Lotionpro 165, part 4, creams”. If you are looking for the shampoo bar book, you can type shampoo bar in the search bar and scroll down a few results to get to the e-book. There are several newer posts that may cover the information.
Hope this helps!
For shampoo bars, I have “Shampoo Bars You Will Love”, which is from 2018. There is a lot of information, honestly too much for me to sit down and digest (82 pages!) so I have been reading sections that I am interested in. I agree with AllyOop that the website is not organized well and have found several mistakes, such as formulas not adding up to 100%, her recommendation for making a shampoo bar into a clarifying bar by removing the BTMS creates a soft bar that takes several days to harden and doesn’t last long. It seems like the paragraph was copied from another of her sources and meant for liquid shampoo.
I have made several bars using her formulas and really prefer the hot process bar from DIY BB. Once I add SLSa to the DIY BB recipe I think it will be my go-to bar. The e-book provides a lot of detail about surfactants and other ingredients which is helpful. In scanning the surfactants e-book, the products she makes include bidy washes, hand soap, facial cleanser and shampoo bar. If you are specifically looking for shampoo bars information, the shampoo bar e-book is probably a better resource.
@Mobjack Bay on my computer I click shop, and e-books which brings up all of the e-books, you can sort by most recent. The most recent e-book is “Creating Advanced Emulsions with Simulsol/Lotionpro 165, part 4, creams”. If you are looking for the shampoo bar book, you can type shampoo bar in the search bar and scroll down a few results to get to the e-book. There are several newer posts that may cover the information.
Hope this helps!
@Tammyfarms Thanks for that good information. I’m actually less interested in her specific formulas than I am in the chemistry and formulating guidance information. I’ve been having a grand ole time reading about how critical micelle density and micelle shape influence the mildness of surfactants 
In that case, the surfacant e-book is probably the right book for you. There are two pages on altering the size of micelles. The shampoo bar has no information on micelles.@Tammyfarms Thanks for that good information. I’m actually less interested in her specific formulas than I am in the chemistry and formulating guidance information. I’ve been having a grand ole time reading about how critical micelle density and micelle shape influence the mildness of surfactants
I bought Susan’s shampoo bar book. It gave me a good start but i too found her SCM site very confusing and difficult to use. I finally gave up my membership.
I bought that FO and yes, yes, yes, it smells wonderful!
I had forgotten that a friend asked for shampoo bars with rosemary EO (she believes it will help with thinning hair). Then a family member asked for the same, so I made a 500g batch of the DIY B&B hot pour recipe.
Per @Tammyfarms' good idea, I reduced the SCI by 10g and replaced that with 10g of SLSa. I am starting at the low end with SLSa because very small amounts make such a big difference in bath bombs. Of course, I don't know if that will be the same in this recipe; we shall see.
I measure everything into one plastic mixing bowl, and lightly stir before microwaving the whole thing for 2.5 minutes. I stir again and then pop it back in for another 30-45 seconds. At that point, I use a silicone spatula and a stainless whisk to stir and mash up any large clumps of SCI. It doesn't usually take much to reach a homogenous mix that is cool enough to mix in the premade slurry of all remaining ingredients. Then it is time to pour quickly. The detail on last bar (shown at the bottom) is always a bit dodgy because the mix is setting up by that time. I add in all the bowl scrapings to that last one, mashing them together. That will be my tester bar.
Because rosemary EO on its own is a bit too medicinal to my nose, I added some litsea cubeba and a titch of peppermint EO. These smell great!
Per @Tammyfarms' good idea, I reduced the SCI by 10g and replaced that with 10g of SLSa. I am starting at the low end with SLSa because very small amounts make such a big difference in bath bombs. Of course, I don't know if that will be the same in this recipe; we shall see.
I measure everything into one plastic mixing bowl, and lightly stir before microwaving the whole thing for 2.5 minutes. I stir again and then pop it back in for another 30-45 seconds. At that point, I use a silicone spatula and a stainless whisk to stir and mash up any large clumps of SCI. It doesn't usually take much to reach a homogenous mix that is cool enough to mix in the premade slurry of all remaining ingredients. Then it is time to pour quickly. The detail on last bar (shown at the bottom) is always a bit dodgy because the mix is setting up by that time. I add in all the bowl scrapings to that last one, mashing them together. That will be my tester bar.
Because rosemary EO on its own is a bit too medicinal to my nose, I added some litsea cubeba and a titch of peppermint EO. These smell great!
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@AliOop which is the product that can cause itching i can never remember? Is it the SLSa or SCI?I had forgotten that a friend asked for shampoo bars with rosemary EO (she believes it will help with thinning hair). Then a family member asked for the same, so I made a 500g batch of the DIY B&B hot pour recipe.
Per @Tammyfarms' good idea, I reduced the SCI by 10g and replaced that with 10g of SLSa. I am starting at the low end with SLSa because very small amounts make such a big difference in bath bombs. Of course, I don't know if that will be the same in this recipe; we shall see.
I measure everything into one plastic mixing bowl, and lightly stir before microwaving the whole thing for 2.5 minutes. I stir again and then pop it back in for another 30-45 seconds. At that point, I use a silicone spatula and a stainless whisk to stir and mash up any large clumps of SCI. It doesn't usually take much to reach a homogenous mix that is cool enough to mix in the premade slurry of all remaining ingredients. Then it is time to pour quickly. The detail on last bar (shown at the bottom) is always a bit dodgy because the mix is setting up by that time. I add in all the bowl scrapings to that last one, mashing them together. That will be my tester bar.
Because rosemary EO on its own is a bit too medicinal to my hose, I added some litsea cubeba and a titch of peppermint EO. These smell great!
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When my hair started falling out in clumps a couple of years ago I did a lot of research on potential treatments, short of Rogaine and similar. I started taking Viviscal, based in part on this review of treatments in JAMA (behind a paywall, but reported in some detail in this article). It's helping. My hair has stopped falling out at an alarming rate and I have a bunch of new growth. As a side benefit, my nails stopped splitting vertically, which they were doing for 5 years before I started taking the supplement.
I thought I had some articles on rosemary and possibly also lavender stimulating hair/fur growth in people and mice, but I can't seem to find them at the moment. It's the reason I keep scenting my test shampoo bars with rosemary and lavender.
I thought I had some articles on rosemary and possibly also lavender stimulating hair/fur growth in people and mice, but I can't seem to find them at the moment. It's the reason I keep scenting my test shampoo bars with rosemary and lavender.
Add me to the list of people who found the SCM site hard to navigate, or at least extremely time consuming. When I took a soap hiatus it was free, and when I returned and it required membership I did not sign up because of that. @Mobjack Bay, I am always surprised that those "best of shampoo bars" include lye and syndet bars on the lists without more background/information. Also - as someone who did not like the effect of lye based bars on my hair - that lye based ones made it to the list. They make my hair feel really chalky, even after rinsing for what seems like forever. Did you try any of the recommended ones?
I would never use traditional soap on my hair (wavy curly, can go frizzy, now coarser grey) after trying it a few times many years ago, but I have a friend who has thick straight hair who says she can use it with no issues.
I have a Kitsch bar in my current testing rotation. I went ahead and put that testing info in another thread.
I have a Kitsch bar in my current testing rotation. I went ahead and put that testing info in another thread.
Neither SLSa nor SCI bother my skin at all, which is amazing since my skin does react poorly to so many ingredients.
My understanding is that SLS actually causes the most itching and other reactions. I don’t use it at all.
Ya i don’t use SLS either. I will have to check on the other two. Thanks
I just finished Mobjack Bay’s shampoo bar post, which reminded me that SCS is a common irritant, as well. I don’t use that one, either.
