The Great Shampoo Bar Exchange: Great Cakes Soapworks

Hello Soap Fans!  As you probably know, I'm participating in a shampoo bar exchange with three of my soaping buddies: Amy (Great Cakes Soapworks), Jen (Naturalment Mediterrano) and Michele (Tierra Verde Handmade Soaps) whose work I both respect and admire. 

I'm happy to be involved, as I am NO EXPERT with regard to shampoo bar making.  I have learned from reading Susan Miller Cavitch books and from Cocobong (soap-maker extrordinaire)...as a matter of fact, my shampoo bar recipe started from Cocobong's  Shampoo Bar recipe (but, to let C'bong off the hook totally in case my "Pooh Bar" bombs, I did tweak her recipe unmercifully to make it "my own"....hopefully I haven't mauled it in the process! :) )

  As Jen said in her review -we think there are lots of factors that effect how a shampoo bar works (besides the bar's formula) water type, hair type, coloring/bleaching, conditioner used, etc.  That being said please keep in mind that my water is SOFT, my hair tends to be DRY, and is HIGHLIGHTED (bleached) and I'm quite sure that these factors effect  how a shampoo bar works for me personally.  Plus I do use a small amount of conditioner for detangling


First up is Amy's "Opus" Shampoo Bar. I've been using it for 2+ weeks and I must say that I love it! 

The smell is nice and citrusy, not overpowering.  It lathers wonderfully for me as well.   I have had no greasy issues, but I have to say that I never do have those here at home with our naturally soft well water.  I can use my regular soaps that have 10% superfatting even.  (I have had problems at my Mom and Sister's houses though, the only difference being hard water.)

Here's how my hair looks after 2+ weeks using Amy's bar exclusively...

I used the lighter-colored bar (as did Hubby) and as you can see (hopefully) my hair is very shiny!  I love the way it styles (though this is "bed head" that you see) and it has plenty of body.

So, I can say that for me this shampoo bar has worked wonderfully - I would definitely recommend trying one -even if your hair is on the dry side.

Nice job Amy! :)

p.s. Next up will be Tierra Verde's bar.  I'll be starting my trial period tomorrow so it will be a few weeks before I report back on that one.
Oh, and I received a package from Spain a few moments ago! Yay! so Jen's bar(s) will be after that.  Happy Soaping All!  -Becky

A Joyful Shampoo Interview -Part 2

"Pooh Bar" Honey-Beer Shampoo Bar

Thanks again to Leslie at Joyful Soaps for including me in her Shampoo Bar Q & A blog posts. (Along with my friend and Master Soaper Amy Warden from Great Cakes Soapworks) 

I hope that the posts educate readers and encourage them to order a shampoo bar from their favorite soaper and give it a try!

Shampoo Bar Interview....who me??

The Soap Sister shampooing w/"Pooh Bar" Natural Shampoo Bar
from Heirloom Soapworks

The warm and friendly soapmaker over at Joyful Soaps, Leslie, recently asked me, along with Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soapworks to participate in a
Q & A regarding shampoo bars. 

As you may know, Amy began testing and documenting her shampoo bar experience a while back, and I jumped onto her bandwagon -sampling and documenting my own experiences.

I certainly don't consider myself a shampoo bar making expert by any means, but I am completely  hooked on them and convinced of their merit -I suppose that counts for something! :) 

Here  is a link to the first of Leslie's two-part blog series on shampoo bars:
Joyful Soaps Shampoo Bars part 1