Redneck Soaping Part 2

After dazzling all of my sophisticated soaping friends with my Redneck Soap molds yesterday (and yes, I love 'em),  I thought I would do a follow-up to show you what nice bars result from said molds.  These soaps are full-size bars at approx. 4.6 oz. each and 3.5 inches across.

So, here they are:

"BubbleHead" Shampoo Bar in Rosemary-Mint

My customers love the shape (I used these molds for many of my Christmas Soaps), and I love how the word "REUSABLE" gets imprinted onto each bar from the mold!  Perhaps you have to be a redneck to be amused by this detail -but of course I can't tell for sure! ;)

Oh, and "Thanks Mom" -keep eatin' that KFC coleslaw! -xoxo Beck

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

"Pooh Bar" - Shampoo Bar with Honey...and beer ...and goats milk ...and

"Pooh Bar" Shampoo ...it's That Sort of a Bar!

It's finally here -after my "BubbleHead" natural shampoo bar remained a bit soft, it took me a while to try the "beer thang" again, but this time it worked!  Thanks to my pal Cocobong, S.E. (soaper extrordinaire), for the boiling-off-the-alcohol advice!  Worked like a charm (I also didn't let my lye-water solution sit uncovered for 5 days -I think that helped the bar hadness tremendously! -LOL)

I can't wait to see how this shampoo bar works.  I started with Cocobong's recommended proportions of olive & coconut oils plus some castor, jojoba & flax.  Liquid is beer, goats milk & water.  I've also added a proprietary blend of a few other all-natural "hair nutrients" -EOs and extracts. 

I'll be hitting up my Friends and Relations for "testers" in the next few weeks.

Hopefully it will turn out to be a Very Successful Product. ;)  I think Pooh would be thrilled with a Honey Shampoo named in honor of himself ...he's That Sort of Bear!

"Bubble-Head" Shampoo Bar -a "redo"

Have you ever forged ahead with a "project", even when you knew doggone-good-and-well that you had pretty much messed it up right out of the gate?

That's pretty much (I believe) why my recent shampoo bar batch is S-O-F-T.  Here's what happened:  I set the opened beer out to go flat about 48 hours before adding the lye.  Everything was going fine, until I poured the last bit of lye in a bit too fast ...(I'm impatient, as you all know)  -it bubbled up and over my batter bowl.  This meant, of course, that I had not only lost some of the beer, but I had lost some of the lye too...but how much, exactly?

Didn't know.   Still don't.   Evidently it was enough to push the batch into the "too soft" zone.  Grrrrrr!

So, instead of just wasting my lye-beer solution (had I thrown it out as I should have) I have now wasted precious oils & essential oils as well -"Brilliant, Becky -just BRILLIANT!"

Live and learn.   I actually used a bar on my hair the last couple of days & it works....but it's even a bit too rich for my dry tresses.  It works nicely as a body soap. (Although the softness is very annoying -a testament to my folly)

So today I'm shaking it off and starting over.  Pouring my Stag (used to be a local Belleville, IL brew....now make in Milwaukee, I believe) that's "Steak-Taters-And-Gravy" down here....and it's been my personal favorite beer for years.  Yes, I get some ribbing from the "Bud-Light-Sophisticates" (snobs, I don't look down my nose at their watered-down-girly-beer choice....do I?  Drink and let drink -that's my beer motto! LOL!)

Ahem.  Sorry.   Rant over.   I'm going to try freezing my beer this time....which just brought to mind a new product -"Beersicles" -wait 'til the Popsicle folks get hold of that one! LOL!  But I digress... I was contemplating freezing my beer the other day (while showering with one of the mushy bars) and wondered if it would work...then yesterday I saw Shannon at Casco Bay Soap boiling her beer.  Hmmm...then I saw that Soapchick from Naturally Made Soaps freezes her beer!  So here we go!

I'll let you all know how it turns out!

p.s. Those are the "hummingbird p.j.s.....I felt a bit like Snow White the other day....only scared! LOL!

Natural Shampoo Bar: 2 WEEKS -I made it!

I have been "shampoo bar blogging", jumping on the bandwagon after bing inspired by Amy at Great Cakes Soapworks for 2 weeks now, and (although I almost gave in a couple of times) remain "conditioner free"!  I ended up cutting WAY back on the vinegar in my vinegar/water rinse....I would say it's down to maybe 1 part organic apple cider vinegar to 15 parts water.

I still miss that nasty silicone "slip" -I guess old habits die hard, but I, like Amy, have noticed more softness and shine in my hair -amazing!  (especially when you consider that my hair is VERY chemically treatedr, and that what I'm using is just one of my all natural soap bars!) 

I am going to be making a natural detangler as soon as I get the ingredients, and if it works I will post the recipe.

Is it worth the effort?  I think it is. 

Why?  Well, the answer to that lies on the backside of my old shampoo & conditioner bottles.  You may want to take a peek at the stuff that's in what you currently use -yikes!  It has become pretty common knowledge that much of what we but on our skin ends up in our bodies -yikes again! 

 I certainly don't want to expose my son to all that unnecessary stuff. 

Sooo, the bottom line?  The shampoo and conditioner marketing folks have done a wonderful job in the past of convincing me that I need their products or I will turn into a straw-headed troll!  Evidently they are WRONG (very good at their jobs, but wrong all the same)

 I'm an official Natural Shampoo Bar Convert! :D

Natural Shampoo Bar-Day 8, I'm still not convinced....

I'm still not convinced that I like going without my usual conditioner.  -Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the idea of forgoing the nasty chemicals and potentially carcinogenic ingredients, but boy do I miss that "slip" when I'm blow-drying!

Last night I used a bit of Aloe Butter as a conditioner -rinsed it out as best I could, and left the "un-rinsable" in overnight.  Washed with my "Zesty Lemon" this a.m.  and cut the % of vinegar back once again....probably down to 10% or so now.

My hair feels different without the conditioner residue, I'm convinced that it is healthier for me to use a 100% Natural Soap / Shampoo Bar...but what about my hair?  I don't know, what do you all think ?  Comments? Share?

Oh, and "YIPPEE!" I've reached the 100 Followers mark....to celebrate (and get some comments out of my shy friends out there in Cyberland) I'm going to do a GIVEAWAY!  "Yippee" again!  Hmmmm.....let's see.....oh, I don't know......how about THREE BARS of Heirloom Natural Soap?  You pick from my in-stock varieties?  Sound good?  Well, let's say this...you get 1 entry for each one of these that you do:

1.  Leave a comment (hopefully regarding the shampoo bar issue)here on my blog.

2.  Check out my website http://heirloomnaturalsoap.com/ (may as well see   what's there in case you win) and "LIKE" me on Facebook by clicking the "LIKE" button at the bottom of the page.

3.  "FRIEND" Heirloom Soapworks on Facebook

4.  Follow Heirloom Soapworks on Twitter

Please let me know in your comment what you've done so I know how many entries to put in your name.  Everyone can get up to 4 chances to win! I'll have my son draw the winner this Thursday....hopefully around NOON my time.

Good Luck Everyone, & Thanks for following! :D

"Bubble Head" -A Shampoo Bar Attempt

Well, it's in the molds  -my first official attempt at a shampoo bar!  I've been asked several times in recent weeks if I make a "Shampoo Bar" -and I had to answer "No, but I've been thinking about it". 

Thinking even more lately of shampoo bars, as I've watched Michele (Tierra Verde Soaps) and Amy (Great Cakes Soapworks) conduct their wonderfully captivating day-by-day hair experiments (until I couldn't stand it anymore & had to join them!) 

Then the Soap Meister herself, my sweet & generous German soaping buddy Cocobong was kind enough to post her proven Shampoo Bar Recipe.....everything seemed to be pushing me to DO SOMETHIN' ALREADY!

So, today, after sifting through much info on essential oils, base oils, nutrients, blah-blah-blah I finally got busy.  Now you know I'm a tweaker, and I hope I didn't inadvertantly goof up C'bong's recipe, but only time will tell.

 I stuck with the basic base oil proportions....with one substitution......plus extra superfatting since I have dry hair......oh, and some EO's that are good for normal-to-dry hair & promote hair growth.....some beer....and some super-secret nutrients for good measure....(now is where you need to hear me laughing the "Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha" Mad Scientist Laugh! :)

It looks more golden and less yellow in real life -but I didn't want to risk tripping with a mold full of wet soap going outside to get a proper (flash-free)photo.  I'll take better ones after it comes out of the molds...

Oh, and Day 6 hair looks pretty much like day 5....I'm getting used to this.....I think I could become a Shampoo Bar Convert 100%!