I chanced upon a "Patchouli shampoo bar" whilst shopping just the other day. I was pleasantly surprised when it was printed on the box that the product is a "cold process soap". In soap making jargon, this means that it is a handcrafted shampoo bar.:) Furthermore, at a selling price of around S$3 per bar, that made the soap a MUST-BUY and MUST-TRY, right?
NOPE.
The soap was nothing like the shampoo bars I have grown to love. First, the colour. It was a deep shade of tyan/ dark green. I wondered what was used to colour the soap as it was not stated on the packaging. The smell was also not the herbaceous, woody scent associated with patchouli. The most disappointing part was the actual application.
The bar lathered quite well and gave my hair an overall squeaky feel at first use. I did not mind that too much as this can happen when you switch between shampoos. Hence I did my normal vinegar rinse and tried to comb my hair afterwards. That was when I started to have doubts about the shampoo bar. For the first time in a long while, my hair was tangled and knotted! I had a hard time combing through my long hair and was really pained to see all the strands of hair coming away on the comb.:(
Well, everything deserves a second chance right? So, two days later, I tried it again. Guess what? History repeated itself. Naturally, I was upset with the shampoo bar, but well... I only had myself to blame. I believed the advertising on the packaging and should have realised that S$3 is seriously too low a price to pay for good quality handcrafted soap. I guessed the soap probably consisted primarily of coconut oil which is known to be drying.:( Oh well... I am just glad that my hair is alright now and that I have a new bar of hand soap! :P
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
Me and My Trusty Shampoo Bar
My love for handmade shampoo bars began about 4 years ago and had been going strong since then. Family and friends often wondered why I went out of my way to use and even make these handmade shampoo bars when there are so many easy-to-use mainstream haircare products claiming to get rid of dandruff, have hair fall control, extend your dye job and makes your hair stronger.. yada yada..
Well, everyone is entitled to their own preferences. To me, I felt that the benefits of using handmade shampoo far outweighed the adjustments I made to incorporate them in my cleansing regime. In addition, the shampoo bar also doubles up as bodywash and face soap. Oh, not to mention that they can be brought onto the plane as carry-on luggage.*hee* All-in-one convenience.:)
What prompted me to try handmade shampoo was largely an itchy and flaky scalp resulted from several dye/perm and rebond chemical treatments I had subjected my hair to. Prior to handmade shampoos, I had tried a multitude of commercial treatment shampoos, conditioners, hair masques, leave-in treatments etc, with temporary or meagre effect. Not only that, I had also spent a relatively large amount of money and time in haircare products to try and maintain the dyed hair colour, permed curls or straightness of my rebonded hair.
That is until I stumbled across an online website for homemade soap. The website not only sold handmade soap bars but also (solid) SHAMPOO! I was intrigued by the portability, eco-friendly aspect and positive user reviews on the website. Hence, I went ahead to buy a set of shampoo and rosemary infused vinegar rinse. Well.. I have to admit that I was doubful and unsure when the shampoo bar came in the mail. It looked just like any old bar of soap with a rustic brownish hue and mild rosemary fragrance. And vinegar rinse? (Erm.. oh well)
At first use, my hair felt gunky at the crown and squeaky at the ends. Apparently, that is because the shampoo was helping to get rid of the product build up and other gooey gunk that I had deposited on my scalp all this time. Surprisingly, the vinegar rinse was a godsend! The gunky, squeaky feel was removed after one rinse and after 2 weeks of this regime, I noticed considerable improvement in my scalp condition. My scalp din itch that badly, lesser flakes. My hair was also silkier with lesser "flyaways" and smelt great (no residual vinegar smell!)
Since then, I have tried out several brands of shampoos and conditioners but ultimately, I still turned to my trusty shampoo bar and a weekly vinegar rinse as my favourite hair cleansing and conditioning regime:)
Well, everyone is entitled to their own preferences. To me, I felt that the benefits of using handmade shampoo far outweighed the adjustments I made to incorporate them in my cleansing regime. In addition, the shampoo bar also doubles up as bodywash and face soap. Oh, not to mention that they can be brought onto the plane as carry-on luggage.*hee* All-in-one convenience.:)
What prompted me to try handmade shampoo was largely an itchy and flaky scalp resulted from several dye/perm and rebond chemical treatments I had subjected my hair to. Prior to handmade shampoos, I had tried a multitude of commercial treatment shampoos, conditioners, hair masques, leave-in treatments etc, with temporary or meagre effect. Not only that, I had also spent a relatively large amount of money and time in haircare products to try and maintain the dyed hair colour, permed curls or straightness of my rebonded hair.
That is until I stumbled across an online website for homemade soap. The website not only sold handmade soap bars but also (solid) SHAMPOO! I was intrigued by the portability, eco-friendly aspect and positive user reviews on the website. Hence, I went ahead to buy a set of shampoo and rosemary infused vinegar rinse. Well.. I have to admit that I was doubful and unsure when the shampoo bar came in the mail. It looked just like any old bar of soap with a rustic brownish hue and mild rosemary fragrance. And vinegar rinse? (Erm.. oh well)
At first use, my hair felt gunky at the crown and squeaky at the ends. Apparently, that is because the shampoo was helping to get rid of the product build up and other gooey gunk that I had deposited on my scalp all this time. Surprisingly, the vinegar rinse was a godsend! The gunky, squeaky feel was removed after one rinse and after 2 weeks of this regime, I noticed considerable improvement in my scalp condition. My scalp din itch that badly, lesser flakes. My hair was also silkier with lesser "flyaways" and smelt great (no residual vinegar smell!)
Since then, I have tried out several brands of shampoos and conditioners but ultimately, I still turned to my trusty shampoo bar and a weekly vinegar rinse as my favourite hair cleansing and conditioning regime:)
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