Shampoo bars are soap, nothing but soap (no detergents), with the addition of essential oils and goat milk.
Annie’s shampoo bars contain a mix of oils that are not found in my facial and bath bars, such as castor oil and hemp seed oil.
Castor is a thick golden oil that helps promote a fluffy and bubbly lather. Castor oil is soothing and lubricating.
Hemp seed is a green oil that has some amazing emollient and moisturizing properties. It is a great source of polyunsaturated fat, containing essential fatty acids (Omega 3 and Omega 6).
Washing your hair with a shampoo bar is one way to bring your hair back to its natural condition. Most liquid commercial shampoos contain waxes and other ingredients that coat the hair shaft, leaving the hair with a soft and conditioned feeling. But coating the hair shaft results in other problems, such as coating of the scalp. In many cases, the coating of the scalp leads to itchiness and flaking issues. Removal of the waxes and other surface ingredients from the hair requires diligent use of the shampoo bar. When the shampoo bar is first used the hair may feel sticky or heavy. After several days of using the shampoo bar, the coating on the hair begins to lift.
Results from the shampoo bar depends upon several factors, one is water hardness. If you have soft (or softened) water, you will notice quicker positive results from the shampoo bar. If you have very hard water, it may take longer before you achieve the results that you are seeking.
If you have very hard water, you may want to:
- rinse your hair with rain water
- rinse your hair with filtered water
- pre-rinse your hair (before you shampoo) with a baking soda/water rinse (1 tablespoon baking soda to 1 cup of water)
- rinse your hair after you shampoo with a vinegar/water rinse (1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup of water)
How do you wash your hair with a shampoo bar? You may be inclined to wet your hair and rub the soap bar directly in. I recommend wetting your hair, wetting the bar, lathering the shampoo bar in your hands, and then apply the lather to your scalp. Work the lather from the scalp down the length of your hair. Rinse well. Repeat if necessary. Note: when your hair is wet following a shampoo bar wash, it may not feel slick, as it might after using a bottled shampoo. You will notice, once you have used the shampoo bar for a length of time, after your hair dries, it has a new softness to it (unlike the feel when it is wet).
Several varieties of Annie’s Shampoo Bars have been added to the online store, with more to come in the near future.
If you have any questions, please shoot them my way. I’ll be here!
Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps 
Lovely!
~*~Amy~*~
Amy, I missed seeing you. How are you?
Hi Mary – just visiting this morning. I’ve not been having much computer time this summer with the farm and the garden and all.
Shampoo, huh? That sounds great! I’ll have to try some of that!
Now, when you get your boots, your jacket and chaps, we all wanna see a picture of the new you – Motorcycle Mama – all decked out on your new bike!
Vickie, summer seems to be a very busy time. I have had little time to read up on blogs myself.
Chaps, oh my, ha! I did buy a pair of boots, not biker’s boots. I do need a jacket. I haven’t decided on the style yet. It might be fun, but more than likely will be practical.
You’ll have a lot of pictures and stories when it comes to harvesting your garden, no doubt!
Wow, an education in shampooing, and I did not know any of this. I might just give this a try soon, very soon.Thanks Mary~
When I first used a shampoo bar I wasn’t sure how to help it do its job effectively, Kathy. I tried rubbing the bar right into my hair. I also had very hard water then as well. I never got the results that I wanted. Now that I have soft water, and I discovered laterhing the bar in my hands, and then applied the lather to my scalp, it worked a lot better. I thought I might be able to help someone else by sharing what seems to work best.
[…] have been using shampoo bars for many months now. I often end up testing regular soap bars, like I did this new formula, as a […]
[…] a service to my customers, I am here to pass along the word (as I did here) regarding how to use natural shampoo bars in an area with hard […]