What makes a good shampoo bar?

[fillycate]

I am interested in infusing some herbs into oils for soap that I already know I like on my skin and are also supposed to be good for hair. It got me thinking that I would love for this bar to be able to serve as a shampoo bar.

I understand shampoo bars are a bit controversial. Some people find a recipe that works for them, some people it seems just aren't going to be able to get that to work for them.

I would like to give this a try, and before diving in, I was wanting to understand the principles involved in making a good natural shampoo bar. What, if any, are the differences between a good all-natural bar of soap and a all-natural good shampoo bar? I was just looking over a shampoo bar recipe and it looked just like a soap bar recipe to me. Are there any important differences, or is it just trial and error to find a recipe that makes one's own hair happy?

(For the record, I have hair shafts that are extremely fine. They dry out and get damaged and torn easily because they don't have the sheathing protection that thick hair has. I also do *not* have oily skin or scalp. I joke that my skin/scalp is incapable of making oil at all, so I have to add it in topically.)

 

[DeeAnna]

"...What, if any, are the differences between a good all-natural bar of soap and a all-natural good shampoo bar? I was just looking over a shampoo bar recipe and it looked just like a soap bar recipe to me. ..."

There really aren't any real differences, in my opinion. A soap-as-shampoo bar often has little or no coconut oil, but many soaps formulated for sensitive skin or facial use have no or low coconut too. The "Lindy" soap-as-shampoo bar here on SMF is an example -- many people use this recipe as bath soap, not for washing their hair.

 

[fillycate]

Ok, so a shampoo bar that, like soap, uses a raised pH to clean hair, is dangerous to fine hair like mine. Well poop. :/ (I still want to give it a try. As you said, hair grows back. I am nothing if not a curious soul, bend on experimentation. Maybe I can follow it up with a gentle acid rinse?)

So the higher cleansing power of coconut oil can also be too harsh for hair. Good to know!

 

[Megan]

Ok, so a shampoo bar that, like soap, uses a raised pH to clean hair, is dangerous to fine hair like mine. Well poop. :/ (I still want to give it a try. As you said, hair grows back. I am nothing if not a curious soul, bend on experimentation. Maybe I can follow it up with a gentle acid rinse?)

So the higher cleansing power of coconut oil can also be too harsh for hair. Good to know!

That is what people tend to do, they use an ACV rinse afterward...now it may or may not help mitigate the damage done... but as far as that goes, I don't think it could do any further damage.