Comments on: Plastic Challenge: Mary Katherine, Week 14

By: Dora

Dora — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:25:40 +0000

I do no-poo, and let me just say that if you’re noticing wax, then you need to lower your base/up your acid. But it doesn’t really sound like you want to break into the no-poo thing, which I understand, although I would encourage it because manufacturing and shipping shampoo bars uses a lot more energy than the baking soda and citric acid that I would suggest you use (and buy in bulk at the grocery store!).

By: Ginny

Ginny — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:47:24 +0000

I’ve used Chagrin valley before, and their soaps are really great. For shampoo bars, I preferred using their regular full-fat soaps.

You might want to try Baking soda and apple cider vinegar again- it has a ‘breaking in’ period while your hair gets used to it. It can take a while!

By: gemma

gemma — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:04:30 +0000

try soap nuts i use them for my laundry 100% natural and u can make ur own shampoo and body wash with them

By: Mary Katherine

Mary Katherine — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:15:04 +0000

Thanks everyone. I think I just have to try a bunch more shampoo bar brands until I find one that works. I think I’ve heard of chagrin valley, so maybe I’ll check that out.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:26:56 +0000

I do the no poo thing, but my “recipe” is way different than all the things I’ve seen posted around the internet. My hair is somewhat curly, and that means that it is often dry. If your hair is like that, I wouldn’t recommend using baking soda every time you wash your hair. I use it at most once a month or every two months.

I do use a capful of ACV diluted into a glass jar of water probably every other time I wash my hair. Otherwise my scalp gets dry and itchy. (Again, probably because my hair/scalp is extremely dry, which wasn’t really driven home to me until I stopped using commercial conditioner.) Sometimes, depending on on dry the weather is, I actually need to rub some olive oil or coconut oil onto my hair to keep it smooth. Since I’ve stopped using conditioner, my hair actually feels most healthy if it is slightly greasy or sticky. It doesn’t feel gross at all.

But if you have straight hair, uh. I got no advice. =) Sorry.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:20:21 +0000

I have really hard well water and I have a problem with bar soaps too. It turns into a nasty residue in my hair (thick ear-wax is a good description). For people who don’t have hard water, it’s hard to envision how difficult and nasty soap is on hair. I don’t find vinegar rinses to be as effective as many people claim, and my husband claims that he can still smell it several hours after it dries. It could be that the hair is not fully dry. It could be the vinegar is not effective because I’m not using it long enough (I use it as a rinse. Do I need to soak my hair in the vinegar to get the soap out or should I apply multiple rinses?)

By: Danielle

Danielle — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:42:07 +0000

Hey! I too was concerned about Lush’s ingredient list. I’ve been using Chagrin valley shampoo bars. I found them by googling and checked them out on EWG’s cosmetics database.

I do have a water softener on my house and have a well. I haven’t had any issues with their shampoo bars making my hair funky… But people who have extremely hard water I’ve heard have to do a vinegar rinse. One of my friends called chagrin valley after she just couldn’t figure out what she was doing wrong… And she said they were extremely helpful.

Let me know if you’d like recommendations for which bars to choose.

http://www.chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com/

By: Margaret

Margaret — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:12:48 +0000

Just use a good natural bar soap to wash your hair. I’ve been using one that actually comes wrapped in plastic (Desert Essence) because it’s the only soap that’s suitable for my face, but depending on how dry or oily your hair is, just try soaps designed for that skin state.

By: Nan

Nan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:46:53 +0000

I haven’t had a lot a luck with the bar shampoos so I hope someone else has some insight. Some folks like Liggetts bar (sp?).
Do you have hard water? I think the no-poo thing is more difficult with hard water. I do no-poo with diluted lemon juice instead of vinegar, and that works a lot better for me. I had a lot of troubles at first, but like not using shampoo now. Honey or sugar works pretty well too.
Your yogurt story made my laugh (as I could see that happening at my home), even though I’m sure it was not very funny at the time.