A few years back, I found and printed out a recipe for a shampoo bar. It interested me, but I had my favorite store-bought shampoo and was unwilling to give it up... now, after trying my hand at liquid shampoo, I am ready to take it to the next level :) Although I was satisfied with the liquid shampoo, I was curious to try a shampoo bar on my fine, thin hair. With the liquid shampoo, my hair is left a bit heavy, like I used a little too much product when styling it- even when I let it air dry with no product whatsoever.
With the shampoo bar, my hair is shiny, light, soft and manageable! Here's a picture of what my hair looks like after washing with the bar, using a vinegar rinse, and air-drying (keep in mind that I have not been kind to my hair in the recent past):
The original recipe that caught my eye so many years ago was from the Snowdrift Farms website, which has since shut down. I changed the oils to suit my needs, and added henna leaf powder and coconut milk to improve the health of my abused hair and scalp. Here is my revised shampoo bar recipe (oil and lye measurements are by weight, milk and water are fluid oz.):
Oils:
15 oz coconut oil
12 oz macadamia nut oil
6 oz castor oil
4 oz palm oil
3 oz jojoba oil
Lye (NaOH)
5.5 oz.
Liquids:
5 fl oz coconut milk ( I used canned., organic milk)
10 fl oz water ( I froze the water before adding lye)
At trace, I added:
1 oz henna leaf powder
0.4 oz chamomile flower powder
0.4 oz silk protein liquid
splash rosemary essential oil
While the ingredient list is extensive, this recipe is well worth the trouble!
You make the shampoo bar just as if you were making lye soap.
**If you need detailed directions, please see my other post on making goats milk soap. The only difference would be that I added the coconut milk directly to my heated oils and mixed the lye with the ice/water.**
I am so happy I found a more natural way to make my hair look healthy. No more crazy, long chemical names on my shampoo bottles- and no more bad hair days, either! Enjoy!
For other shampoo/conditioner recipes, chose a type:
hot process liquid shampoo and cream conditioner
liquid shampoo and vinegar rinse
Just found your site last night while looking for a sourdough starter recipe. It is so inspirational and inspiring to find other women who have the same values as myself when it comes to health and overall well being. It is hard for me as a stay t home mother to find other moms that have the same values as myself so i look to the internet for blogs like yours to uplift my spirits and remind myself that the transition from store bought to homemade is worth it in the long run.Love, love, love your blog. will be book marking it, and will hopefully be trying this bar shampoo soon :) Much Blessings!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you have enjoyed my blog :)
DeleteBlessings to you, too!
Thank you so much for your recipe. I am fairly new at soap making and this will be my second try at a shampoo bar.
ReplyDeleteI have all the ingredients except macadamia nut oil so I have replaced that with sunflower oil 14% and olive pomace oil 15% using soapcalc. This has given virtually same soap qualities.
I cannot wait to try this.
BTW we have hard water so I always rinse with a mix of ACV, water and a very little flax seed oil.
This works quite well for my caucasian 25% white hair.
In fact since using henna, indigo and shampoo bars my hair has stopped falling out and is gradually getting thicker in case this helps anyone else.
Again thank you so much for sharing.
Alison
I am curious to know how your hair fares after several years of using this. I suspect that it is very alkaline since you're using bar soap on your hair. High quality bar soap but still bar soap = ). Does it have the same effect as using baking soda on your hair? Over time, I suspect that this wouldn't be a good option for long hair but if you keep your hair short then it should work great!
ReplyDeleteMy hair seems to do just fine! Yes, I do keep my hair short. And, you can always use a vinegar rinse in addition to the bar. I have used baking soda on my hair and hated it... my hair is very fine, thin and greasy (on occasion) so the bar is my preference!
DeleteMy hair is doing much better, on bar shampoos, than it ever did, on the bottled stuff, and ice been using bars shampoo for about 4yrs, now.
DeleteHi I'm just curious if the henna would effect the coloring of my grey hair ? Or is there an ingredient that would maintain my grey color better ? Thanks !
ReplyDeleteI don't think this will change the color of your greys. I have used henna to color my hair before, and I spread it on thick and left it on my hair for 90 minutes. Just a quick shampoo won't leave much, if any color. Henna will, however, improve the shine and texture of your hair (from my own experience). Thanks for commenting!
DeleteI am curious to know how your hair fares after several years of using this. I suspect that it is very alkaline since you're using bar soap on your hair. High quality bar soap but still bar soap = ). Does it have the same effect as using baking soda on your hair? Over time, I suspect that this wouldn't be a good option for long hair but if you keep your hair short then it should work great!
ReplyDeleteAlso. Baking soda is awful for hair. I tried it once. Never again!
DeleteAs you can read in my post, I use a vinegar rinse after using the shampoo bar. Vinegar rinses help to bring the pH back in balance. My hair and scalp was never dry, itchy or irritated when using this combo. Thanks for inquiring!
ReplyDelete