The Shampoo Bar Thread

[Neoma]

My name is Neoma and I am a shampoo bar addict. And, good addict that I am, I am suffering some serious withdrawal pangs from not being able to access the monster CV bar thread.

With that in mind, I am taking the liberty of starting a new shampoo bar thread. I deliberately entitled it this, rather than the CV Bar Thread or some variation thereof, so folks would feel free to talk about the shampoo bar of their choice.

For the uninitiated, a shampoo bar is soap based. There are two major makers that many LHC'ers use: Chagrin Valley (CV) and Prairieland Herbs (PLH). There are many other fine soap makers who make good shampoo bars, of course. My favorite is C.O.P.A. soaps.

Both the CV and PLH sites offer a good overview of what a shampoo bar is, how it works, issues that you're likely to experience with using a shampoo bar, vinegar rinses, etc. There's also an excellent article on the CV site by Claudia, one of our members: How to Enjoy a Shampoo Bar.

The original CV bar thread was hundreds of entries long. Heck, I think that it was hundreds of pages long! It included questions and answers about shampoo bar usage and shampoo bar reviews.

I'm going to close this post as the intro to what I hope will become a long, strong, information-packed thread.

[Neoma]

I thought that I'd kick this off by telling you a little about my experience with shampoo bars.

I first tried shampoo bars a couple of years ago, enabled by the above-referenced monster CV bar thread. My hair loved them the first day or so, then I ended up with a bad case of "the waxies." I tried them off and on for a few months, then threw in the towel.

A few months after I gave up on CV bars, a dear LHC friend and I had a mini-meet, and she gave me a bar of PLH. Long story short, my hair loved PLH shampoo bars, I didn't get the waxies, and a love affair with shampoo bars was born.

Just for the record, I have since gone back primarily to CV bars. I still order PLH bars from time to time. And I buy C.O.P.A. bars whenever I run across them at local street fairs.

Why do I love shampoo bars? Mainly because they give my baby fine hair body unlike any other haircare routine that I've followed. When I use shampoo bars, I can make big, fat updos that don't slip apart. The texture is indefinable.

I do have an issue with the hair on my crown sometimes when I use shampoo bars. But I'm beginning to think that has more to do with "thinning spot" at the front of my head and with changes in hair texture due to hormones than with shampoo bars.

I have a number of routines that I follow when I use shampoo bars. I'll post on them at length in another entry. But my old standby is:

• Wet my hair thoroughly
• Glide the shampoo bar over my head and the length of my hair
• Massage well
• Rinse well
• Repeat steps 1 - 4
• Pour a weak herbed white vinegar with essential oils rinse over my head (I usually don't rinse this out)

That's it for now. I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say!

[chloeishere]

I use shampoo bars too! In fact, if you look under the "Reviews" tab, you'll see a nice little spot to review Chagrin Valley shampoo bars, if you so desire! :cough cough: I started that review, so I'd like to have a few more people on it. I'm afraid I missed something!

Anyway, I've been using CV lately, I recently tried Extra Honey, Beer and Egg, which I got like 4 months ago, and never tried. It works okay, no bad results, but I'm afraid to over-protein myself, so I'm spacing it out with my old favorite Chamomile and Citrus.
I haven't tried Prairieland Herb yet... keep intending to, but never do. I've never heard of C.O.P.A. before-- are ALL their bars appropriate for using on hair?
I did recently place an order with Serpentine Hair. Someone recommended them on TBB (Gemma?), and before I knew it, I had placed an order! I'm a sucker for a snazzy site, and they had the ingredients listed (though not the size). They haven't arrived yet, but I'll be sure to do a review as soon as I've tried them a few times.

My routine (with CV bars):
lather up reall well-- I generally only put the bar onto the areas near my scalp, lather up really well, then move the lather down my length.
Rinse thoroughly
Use citric acid rinse (1.5 teaspoons CA and 1/8 teaspoon ascorbic acid in 1.75 liters-- I don't use the whole bottle every time, obviously!)
Rinse again
Apply conditioner (right now, Trader Joe's nourish spa, mixed with a dab of VO5 pomegranate grapeseed conditioner)
Leave it a few minutes, then rinse with cold water.

I use Manor Hall Deep Conditioner as a leave-in.

Gives great hair, and yes, I've generally found my hair has more texture and body with shampoo bars!

[Liluri]

It seems that I am addicted as well. I have a bundle of Chagrin Valley bars. As well as a couple of bars of the shampoo bar from Corrynne's Natural Soap.

I haven't tried them yet but I am looking forward to trying the shampoo bar that Moon Haven offers as well.

I like the Chagrin Valley bars and will continue to buy them but I like to alternate with Australian shampoo bars as well, so I can support companies that are closer to me.

[nowxisxforever]

I'm pretty new to shampoo bars. Another LHCer [Chromis] let me buy some of her CV sample bars off her, and I love them! I've since bought more samples, waiting for a few of the full bars to be orderable.

Yummy, and so good to my hair!! I'm an instant convert.

[Chromis]

I'm pretty new to shampoo bars. Another LHCer [Chromis] let me buy some of her CV sample bars off her, and I love them! I've since bought more samples, waiting for a few of the full bars to be orderable.

Yummy, and so good to my hair!! I'm an instant convert.

Hey, I know you!

I *love* the CV bars. So far my favourites are the nettle, cafe moreno, and marshmallow bars. I just put in order for some more and I'll post up some reveiws when I'm more awake :-)

I use just the shampoo brs, lathering two or three times depending on how my hair is feeling, and follow up with either an ACV or citric acid rinse. For those of you put off by the ACV smell, I humbly suggest trying the organic stuff "with the mother", it smells a *lot* better!

[Melisande]

I just finished washing my hair with a shampoo bar! It's the Lush Regenerate bar, and I use it only from time to time because it contains SLS. While I normally use gentler cleaning agents, from time to time a SLS wash is necessary, otherwise my hair is sticky.

The Regenerate contains henna and I like it on my hair. The smell is a bit spicey/henna/weird, but not unpleasant. It washes out with ease and foams enough for my taste.

I tried the Lush Godiva but didn't like the heavy jasmine smell. Although the results were pleasant enough. Again, loads of SLS and thus fit only for once-a-month use.

I read that Lush started producing shampoo bars without SLS but I dind't try any other yet.

It was easy to get used to a shampoo bar. I feel I have good control over the amount I use - I soap my hands first and then smooth it over my scalp. I always dilute my shampoo anyway.

We have very hard water here so I didn't try other hair soaps.

[Patrycja]

I started to use Prairieland Herbs shampoo bars during our stay at TBB.It took me about a week to get over that initial reaction because I was so used to using commerical shampoo.I run the soap bar 10 times(yes I count lol)down to the nape of my neck,gently scrub and lift up my ends and gently scrub them as well.When my head is covered with the white foam,I rinse and repeat the whole process.Now,I use just plain jane ACV as my rinse and I do not let it stay in there.I let it sit for about 3 minutes while I do some other shower duties and I rinse out the vinegar.I want to try herbed vinegar as soon as I go raid my mom's herb garden.I might be the very few if not the only one that conditions after I do the ACV.I make sure I use a noncone,try my hardest to use Burts Bees or something on that line of natural.I'm getting to that point when I don't have to have the ACV just condition after the last poo rinse.I just might continue the vinegar though,it adds softness and volume.

Like I said,it was hard to begin with but now I can not imagine going back.I did cave in the last time I washed by using Sauve Vanilla Floral and doing my oldie CWC.My hair simply wasn't the same,and I don't think I'll make that mistake again.

[Gemma]

I really like Serpentine Hair bars (http://www.serpentinehair.com).

I've tried Prairieland Herbs, CV, Lush, and Oyin bars, all of which were very nice but tended to make my hair a little dull after a few months. I also got a little tired with the same herbal scents. The Serpentine bars have more varied scents, and constant use only makes my hair increasingly happy.

I was going without conditioner the first months of using these bars because they're so conditioning, but my dry scalp has made me go back to conditioner for the time being.

I started with 'poo bars because they're the easiest way to avoid parabens, SLS, and cones.

[BlndeInDisguise]

ilovemycop: you aren't the only one to condition after using a shampoo bar. I do, too! Several years ago when I used them, I didn't use conditioner and I never liked how my hair felt.