Why I don't sell shampoo bars...

I've been making shampoo bars for myself and family for over a year after a request by my daughter. It's been an experiment more than anything because there are so many different things that a shampoo bar has to address and so many different hair types...not to mention hair dyes.

I didn't realize that you couldn't just make soap and use it on your hair. Well, I guess you could but some strange things can happen. Hair can get greasy feeling, stiff, dry, crunchy...anything but soft, shiny and manageable.

Since I haven't been able to figure out a recipe that will promise great results without stripping hair dye, I'm just going to continue to make it for myself and my family.

The last batch I made was just castor oil, coconut oil and argan oil and I used the hot process method so I could control the superfats, which was the argan oil. It worked really well and my hair was amazingly soft. I did have to use a water/apple cider vinegar rinse to keep my hair feeling that way but I did that when I was using regular shampoo, too.

I mixed it up a bit this time around, still using the hot process method, and added jojoba oil along with the argan oil for superfats and lavender essential oil and vanilla essential oil. That's it, no chemicals and no collection of plastic bottles.

They're not the prettiest shampoo bars, coconut oil makes a brittle bar of soap. The batter was quite fluid when it was hot but while letting it cool enough to add the essential oils it started solidifying in chunks, as you can see in the picture. 

I tried one out today and so far I'm really happy. They create a ton of foamy lather, smell wonderful and my hair feels extremely soft. I didn't use the water/acv because I want to see how the shampoo bar effects my hair without it. My goal is to put together a recipe that does what I need it to without using the water/acv rinse.