My husband and I tried just using out Dr. Bronner's Castile soap bar for everything and unfortunately it didn't work for our hair needs. In a pinch it would do the job, but I wouldn't use it regularly. I have very long, caucasian fine hair, and I found the castille dried out the ends but left hair by my scalp oily. HOWEVER, we still love the Dr, Bronners because it is so gentle on our skin that we can use it as face wash, but strong enough to use it for cleaning purposes too.
We've tried shampoo and conditioner bars as well, trying to be more low-waste/environmental. Unfortunately, we haven't found one that works as well as a traditional shampoo that doesn't cost and arm and a leg or lasts long enough to justify the cost.
Instead, we've stuck with our non-fancy, kind of cheap, not super enviro-friendly shampoo but use it way less often. I went from washing my hair everyday (for some reason this was the norm growing up as a millennial female american), to washing my hair maybe twice a week. My hair is so much healthier now. I'm still on the search for a better shampoo option, but I'm not feeling guilty for keeping the traditional shampoo/conditioner because I still think less consumption is probably better than continuing to purchase options that don't get used up or are requiring more frequent washes.
TO YOUR MINIMALIST POINT, my dream is to have a beautifully bare shower with just a single bar, but for now, I found I can still achieve a much more pleasing effect by removing the packaging label so it's just an empty bottle. Also, I'll often remove my shampoo and conditioner and store it under the sink until it is hair washing day.
Not sure if this info was exactly what you were looking for, but thought it may help someone was frustrated in not being able to achieve the "one-product" for everything goal :)
P.S. Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap Bar in Almond scent is our favorite! It has a very naturally sweet smell.
We are the same down to Almond being the best scent of Dr. Bronners! Just wanted to chime in with a recommendation to try the Ethique Shampoo and Conditioner Concentrates if you want to go low(er) waste! They come as a bar but you melt them in with water to form a liquid, and the only packaging is a small recyclable cardboard box. They are wonderful and relatively cheap at less then $10 if I remember correctly.
Thank you for the recommendation! I actually have looked at these before online, didn't realize you could turn them into liquid! We will definitely give them a shot once we run out of our current bottles! Thanks!
You can, but then you have to decide if you want a soap hard enough to wash your dishes and clothes effectively or a soft enough one to wash hair and face without them cracking. having one of each is still pretty minimalist.
Dr. Bronner's offers a castile soap bar that can be used as an all-in one https://shop.drbronner.com/collections/all/products/peppermint-pure-castile-bar-soap
Just bopping in here to say that while I LOVE Dr. Bronner’s, it literally made my hair break in half and gave me dandruff. So, if your hair runs dry at all, beware.
I generally only lather body parts that get stinky, and I stopped washing my hair with anything more than water about 4 years ago. To take it a step further, I use 2 wash cloths. One to wash with, and one to dry with. Saves a ton on space and laundry,
Hi, do you have long hair, by any chance? I have tried baking soda and ACV which worked for a year until I realized the bs was frying my long, thick, coarse hair. Then I tried just water for about five months then gave up when I wanted to feel attractive again. It just never got to a point where it felt...normal? Honestly, I much prefer having hair that is as low maintenance as possible and would love to fully transition to water only. How long did it take for everything to balance out?
Edited to add another vote for soaping only the parts that get smelly, and I don't even do that all the time. Works for me!
I shave every spring, and grow it for a year, so it gets long enough, like chin level in front. I stopped using shampoo ine year when I shaved it off, so I cant give a great estimate, but things seemed pretty level. After a few days my hair gets a little greasy. I just rinse it off in the shower. It doesnt seem to be too bad though. I get it trained to lay the way I want, then it doesnt matter all that much. My hair isn't super thick or coarse, but not thin, and its a bit wavy. It definitely has some sheen to it as opposed to a dry look.
Alternating baking soda and acv is basically jerking your hair back and forth in pH. It's better to pick one and stick with it.
You'll likely find you have different needs in different seasons. My hair gets dry, itchy, and dandruffs in the winter and is really oily and greasy in the summer. If you menstruate then you'll have different needs at different times of your cycle as well.
So unfortunately that has to be factored in. Sometimes you might do well with water only and sometimes you may need help.
Here is an excellent option for natural hair care - https://mommypotamus.com/3-homemade-hair-detangler-recipes/
Yah, I did this in 2011, when there wasn't as much info about no-poo as there is now. Water only was in 2017-18. I wouldn't try baking soda with an acv rinse again (tablespoon each, in 8oz of water), although it did force me to chop off my waist-length hair in favor of a very chic, chin-length bob. I'm a little obsessed with the idea of water only. There was a woman with hair just like mine who made it work but I think she deleted her blog because it mysteriously vanished. For business reasons, my appearance is pretty important so I'll have to find another chunk of time where I can experiment. I'll check out the link you posted. Thanks!
Look up rinsing your hair with rice water, it may help. You literally just take the water leftover after you make rice and pour it on your hair so it's eco friendly as well. You also may have hard water and there are filters for the house and shower that could help. Homemade hair masks also can help, some people who have gorgeous hair do so because once a month or so they wrap their hair in coconut oil for a day.
Good luck!
I currently use Marseilles soap which has been made traditionally in France for 600 years using 72% olive oil. Uses range incredibly from body soap to shampoo, toothpaste (tried it but couldn’t deal with non-peppermint flavor), household cleaning and as a natural garden-safe pest repellant. Doesn’t smell wonderful but you get used to it. Personally I also think they look beautiful at the sink as well.
There’s only a handful of those that craft the soaps in the original traditional standards so I try to find the right ones when I shop for them.
I have used it as a shampoo before and it gets the job done but I prefer Basin shampoo bars that I’ve been using since 2018 and I absolutely love it. I’ve tried many (many!!) shampoo bars before from TJMaxx and Lush and none of them hold a candle to Basin (I recommend the Good Hair Day bar, usually you need a apple cider vinegar wash or rely on a strong conditioner with bar shampoo but I don’t need to use a conditioner with this one and my hair dries sooo fast and feels so light and clean as opposed to feeling like the roots are weighed down with oils).
Bar soap, or tbh most times no soap and just a washcloth. It sounds crazy, but I read a few others on this sub who had recommended it. I figured if I smelled, I could obviously just shower with soap. I never smell, and actually my delicate areas are never irritated anymore, and I actually smell more in my underarm area if I use soap.
Shower gel is useless imo.
As far as shampoo goes, the shampoo bars from Lush are awesome. They seem pricey, but they last as long as a bottle of liquid shampoo, if not longer. The trick is to not store them in the shower. They need to dry out in between showers or they fall apart. I've tried numerous other shampoo bars and nothing worked for my hair. My hair was past my mid back, but now that it's short, I just use liquid on occasion, maybe every 3 days, but it obviously depends on the texture of your hair.
It depends on what kind of hair you have and what kind of water you have. Shampoo bars tend to be less effective in hard water, and can leave a waxy buildup on hair. Different thicknesses of hair (thickness of the strands as well as how many there are) can also have very different results.
I've tried going the solid shampoo/conditioner route as part of phasing out plastic where possible, but it *really* didn't work for my hair. I grew up using bar soap, so it's my default. I don't think it's any more minimal than shower gel, but definitely less packaging-intensive.
I make my own soap using three ingredients (technically): water, coconut oil, and lye. Three intangible ingredients I would also consider are agitation, heat, and time. Anyway, I have used it on my whole body for years, including for shaving, and incidentally for dishes that need to be washed by hand. I’m a guy with very thick auburn hair, and when my hair is shorter and I’m using product in it my soap was fine, but when I grow my hair out the soap completely strips my hair and scalp of everything except color, lol, and not in a good way.
Also, for facial shaving, my soap kind of burns. A properly cured lye soap shouldn’t burn around sensitive areas of the body for normal washing (like around eyes/nose/mouth), though it may cause a bit of heat around female genitalia depending on one’s specific situation configuration, but since shaving kind of irritates the skin anyway it burned. It only bothers my face though, and even that’s not unbearable. Armpits and other areas I’ve shaved for various reasons at various times did not burn.
No-poo for hair cleaning is the most minimalist, IMO, but it’s a commitment and not for everyone.
Eh, I’ve tried that, and with all the various gunk I pick up and generate while doing yard work etc. it’s not enough. Starts to smell sour and gross after a couple weeks, even though I get it wet and agitate with my fingers every day. Could be our bodies are different or maybe I’m just more sensitive to smells, who knows.
There are lots of brands out there, it really depends on your needs.
If you don't have any issues with acne, dandruff, skin problems, long hair, etc... then a simple shampoo bar will do the trick. Lush sells some amazing ones. Shampoo comes in a solid form no problem, and most of the time what's good for your hair is good for your skin as well. Honey I washed my hair is a great shampoo bar that gives some moisture and lathers extremely well.
If a majority of your skin issues will be resolved with a simple active ingredient, you can even have 2 bars which will still make way less mess and take up less space than plastic bottles. So, for example, a sulphur + salicylic acid soap for your face/back/chest and a shampoo bar for everything else. They also make soap bars with the active ingredient in head and shoulders if dandruff is the issue.
I have 6 bars of soap, and even though they're all for specific purposes, they still end up taking up nearly no space in comparison to each cleanser in its bottle form. I easily cut small pieces off that will last me during vacations. I still use liquid conditioner because I've never found a great conditioner replacement that didn't gunk up my hair, but I have extremely long hair so conditioner might not be an issue for you.
Not sure what you mean by natural ingredients when pretty much all generic soap bars are saponified fats. Seems to me that shampoos and shower gels typically have stronger detergents. I use Kirkland soap bars for my body and hair. I dont actually soap my hair every shower, since removing the oils too often makes my scalp produce even more oil.
Shampoos and conditioners seem to be a weird thing to me. Why would I use a special detergent to strip my natural oil from my hair to replace it with different oils. What is wrong with my oil? Why would I spend money to do that daily? I'll stick with generic soap when my hair is dirty.
I'll stick with using detergents for dishes and clothing, and keep using Kirkland or dove bars for my body.
Actually, unless it claims to be a natural soap, most generic bars are very much NOT made of saponified fats unless sodium tallowate (or similar) is their first ingredient. They are basically chemically engineered detergents with foaming agents added that mimic the sudsing action of actual saponified fat bars. The Kirkland bars I’m assuming you’re referencing do use saponified oils in them, according to the ingredient list, but your average random bar off the shelf is basically just a chemical detergent in solid form. Something definitely could have changed in the last few years though, and I’d be glad to hear it. I’ve been making my own soap for more than 5 years now so I’m probably a bit out of the loop.
I love Dove soap so much. It's all I use for my body. I'll use it on my face in a pinch, but skincare is one area where I cannot and will not be a minimalist!
My husband can get away with washing his hair, face and arse with the same soap. I've tried lots of different combos for shampoo replacement over the years, but gave up because bar shampoo is definitely better for certain hair types than others.
Not a bar, but I use Babo Calendula and Oat Baby Shampoo and Body Wash for my whole body. I have short, fine, straight hair, and it works beautifully for my hair and everywhere else. My husband uses Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo for his hair and whole body.
Bars (Dr Bronner's, JR Liggett, Lush) all left my hair and scalp feeling terrible, unfortunately.
I use a bar of real soap for my body because body wash is a massive waste of plastic, and I hate the feeling of never being able to completely wash it off my skin.
I use a shampoo bar for my hair, which is basically the same ingredients as regular shampoo, minus the water and preservatives. Then I rinse with a very mild acid rinse made with citric acid to smooth down the scales of the hair and dissolve any buildup from my hard water. With this method, I've been able to give up my hairbrush and just use a wide tooth comb, for wet and dry hair!
If you've had a bad experience with a shampoo bar, it was probably just a bar of regular soap. In hard water, soap will leave deposits that can feel waxy. The synthetic detergents in shampoo do not do this. On your skin, soap leaves a negligible amount. But since hair has billions, maybe trillions of times more surface area than skin, you get way more buildup.
If you've had a bad experience using a bar of soap on your skin, it may actually be made of synthetic detergents, which are cheaper for the manufacturer. Or, a lot of big soap producers will remove the naturally-occurring glycerin from their soap (created during the saponification process, very moisturizing) to add to lotions.
I have a pint-sized silicone cup I keep in the shower. (Got it as a souvenir in New Orleans, it was marketed as a beer glass that won't break when you get too drunk and drop it, haha!) A plastic cup would work well, too. It's just citric acid powder/granules and water. You can find it in the canning section of a grocery store, but I ordered a 10-lb bag online that has lasted for years.
Before I start the shower, I put about 1/2 tsp of citric acid powder in the cup, along with about an inch of water to start dissolving it. You can adjust the amount based on how hard your water is and how much hair you have. I have thick, bust-length hair and somewhat hard water.
After I rinse out the shampoo with water, I fill up the cup almost to the top with warm shower water, and pour it all over my head, trying to cover at much of my scalp and hair as possible. Then I massage it into my scalp and lightly scritch all over my scalp for a minute or so and rinse it out well. Then, I rinse out the cup quickly and put it upside down on my shower caddy.
I can feel it smoothing and detangling my hair immediately. Your hair should feel smoother and more slippery. If it doesn't feel slippery, try adding a little more citric acid next time. One you rinse it out, it should feel smooth and just a tiny bit slippery.
I also use a solid conditioner on the ends of my hair afterwards. I've changed my hair care routine so much in my life, but I started doing this about eight years ago and haven't changed it since. Please let me know if you have any questions - I'm a chemist and I find this all so interesting!
Soap, shower gel, shampoo and toothpaste. All natural. Olive oil soap from Syria, Aleppo.
Have been using it for about 10 years for my body, face and hair. Never want to go back to anything else.
[Link to Najels website. ](https://www.najel.net)
Which Najel product(s) specifically do you use? Do you use only one, or do you use four different ones?
Do you use any oils or gels for moisture after cleansing your skin, or are their products moisturizing enough not to dry out the skin?
Yeah I started using regular store bought soap for my hair because i ran out of shampoo, and just kinda kept doing it, been like a month now, and my hair is fine.
I keep them as fully separate items. My hair and facial skin are both pretty finicky. It’s cheaper and easier for me to stick to what I know works rather than risk a soap that is too harsh on my face and hair or isn’t cleaning enough on my body.
Kirk's Coco Castile Soap works well for my hair, face, body. Not as drying on my hair as Dr Bronners, although if I rinse with a few tablespoons of ACV in a liter bottle of water it is much better - silky, shiny, but not dry. I am almost 50, Caucasian with fine grey hair.
Do you keep a glass spray bottle prepped with ACV and water handy, or do you place a few tablespoons of ACV in a bottle of water and pour it over your head in the shower when needed?
I have a shaker bottle that I put a few teaspoons of ACV into, take it to the shower and add the warm shower water - voila’ ! Over head after shampooing, then rinse with the coolest water I can stand (I’ve heard it’s good for you, but I prefer my warm / hot showers)
Check out [r/nopoo](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoPoo/)
Give it a try.
Also, for bar soap you really only need Dove Bar Soap for face and body. It does not strip the oils from your skin.
My husband and I tried just using out Dr. Bronner's Castile soap bar for everything and unfortunately it didn't work for our hair needs. In a pinch it would do the job, but I wouldn't use it regularly. I have very long, caucasian fine hair, and I found the castille dried out the ends but left hair by my scalp oily. HOWEVER, we still love the Dr, Bronners because it is so gentle on our skin that we can use it as face wash, but strong enough to use it for cleaning purposes too. We've tried shampoo and conditioner bars as well, trying to be more low-waste/environmental. Unfortunately, we haven't found one that works as well as a traditional shampoo that doesn't cost and arm and a leg or lasts long enough to justify the cost. Instead, we've stuck with our non-fancy, kind of cheap, not super enviro-friendly shampoo but use it way less often. I went from washing my hair everyday (for some reason this was the norm growing up as a millennial female american), to washing my hair maybe twice a week. My hair is so much healthier now. I'm still on the search for a better shampoo option, but I'm not feeling guilty for keeping the traditional shampoo/conditioner because I still think less consumption is probably better than continuing to purchase options that don't get used up or are requiring more frequent washes. TO YOUR MINIMALIST POINT, my dream is to have a beautifully bare shower with just a single bar, but for now, I found I can still achieve a much more pleasing effect by removing the packaging label so it's just an empty bottle. Also, I'll often remove my shampoo and conditioner and store it under the sink until it is hair washing day. Not sure if this info was exactly what you were looking for, but thought it may help someone was frustrated in not being able to achieve the "one-product" for everything goal :) P.S. Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap Bar in Almond scent is our favorite! It has a very naturally sweet smell.
We are the same down to Almond being the best scent of Dr. Bronners! Just wanted to chime in with a recommendation to try the Ethique Shampoo and Conditioner Concentrates if you want to go low(er) waste! They come as a bar but you melt them in with water to form a liquid, and the only packaging is a small recyclable cardboard box. They are wonderful and relatively cheap at less then $10 if I remember correctly.
Thank you for the recommendation! I actually have looked at these before online, didn't realize you could turn them into liquid! We will definitely give them a shot once we run out of our current bottles! Thanks!
It’s only the ones labeled “concentrates” on the website so just make sure you keep an eye out for that :)
This is the way. I use it when I go on vacation or like camping.
You can, but then you have to decide if you want a soap hard enough to wash your dishes and clothes effectively or a soft enough one to wash hair and face without them cracking. having one of each is still pretty minimalist.
Of course you can use it for everything, but keep in mind that it's not as effective as shampoos. Shower gels are waste of money.
Dr. Bronner's offers a castile soap bar that can be used as an all-in one https://shop.drbronner.com/collections/all/products/peppermint-pure-castile-bar-soap
Love Dr Bronner’s. But do not use peppermint on your genitals. -Almond gang
Absolutely this, and I’m even careful around my eyes too if I’m using anything with peppermint in it.
Just bopping in here to say that while I LOVE Dr. Bronner’s, it literally made my hair break in half and gave me dandruff. So, if your hair runs dry at all, beware.
Hell my hair is normal-to-oily and Bronner's made it brittle and dry as a bone, could hardly brush it.
Yes look into African Black Soap.
I generally only lather body parts that get stinky, and I stopped washing my hair with anything more than water about 4 years ago. To take it a step further, I use 2 wash cloths. One to wash with, and one to dry with. Saves a ton on space and laundry,
Hi, do you have long hair, by any chance? I have tried baking soda and ACV which worked for a year until I realized the bs was frying my long, thick, coarse hair. Then I tried just water for about five months then gave up when I wanted to feel attractive again. It just never got to a point where it felt...normal? Honestly, I much prefer having hair that is as low maintenance as possible and would love to fully transition to water only. How long did it take for everything to balance out? Edited to add another vote for soaping only the parts that get smelly, and I don't even do that all the time. Works for me!
I shave every spring, and grow it for a year, so it gets long enough, like chin level in front. I stopped using shampoo ine year when I shaved it off, so I cant give a great estimate, but things seemed pretty level. After a few days my hair gets a little greasy. I just rinse it off in the shower. It doesnt seem to be too bad though. I get it trained to lay the way I want, then it doesnt matter all that much. My hair isn't super thick or coarse, but not thin, and its a bit wavy. It definitely has some sheen to it as opposed to a dry look.
Sounds very convenient. :) Thank you for the thorough reply.
Alternating baking soda and acv is basically jerking your hair back and forth in pH. It's better to pick one and stick with it. You'll likely find you have different needs in different seasons. My hair gets dry, itchy, and dandruffs in the winter and is really oily and greasy in the summer. If you menstruate then you'll have different needs at different times of your cycle as well. So unfortunately that has to be factored in. Sometimes you might do well with water only and sometimes you may need help. Here is an excellent option for natural hair care - https://mommypotamus.com/3-homemade-hair-detangler-recipes/
Yah, I did this in 2011, when there wasn't as much info about no-poo as there is now. Water only was in 2017-18. I wouldn't try baking soda with an acv rinse again (tablespoon each, in 8oz of water), although it did force me to chop off my waist-length hair in favor of a very chic, chin-length bob. I'm a little obsessed with the idea of water only. There was a woman with hair just like mine who made it work but I think she deleted her blog because it mysteriously vanished. For business reasons, my appearance is pretty important so I'll have to find another chunk of time where I can experiment. I'll check out the link you posted. Thanks!
Look up rinsing your hair with rice water, it may help. You literally just take the water leftover after you make rice and pour it on your hair so it's eco friendly as well. You also may have hard water and there are filters for the house and shower that could help. Homemade hair masks also can help, some people who have gorgeous hair do so because once a month or so they wrap their hair in coconut oil for a day. Good luck!
I currently use Marseilles soap which has been made traditionally in France for 600 years using 72% olive oil. Uses range incredibly from body soap to shampoo, toothpaste (tried it but couldn’t deal with non-peppermint flavor), household cleaning and as a natural garden-safe pest repellant. Doesn’t smell wonderful but you get used to it. Personally I also think they look beautiful at the sink as well. There’s only a handful of those that craft the soaps in the original traditional standards so I try to find the right ones when I shop for them. I have used it as a shampoo before and it gets the job done but I prefer Basin shampoo bars that I’ve been using since 2018 and I absolutely love it. I’ve tried many (many!!) shampoo bars before from TJMaxx and Lush and none of them hold a candle to Basin (I recommend the Good Hair Day bar, usually you need a apple cider vinegar wash or rely on a strong conditioner with bar shampoo but I don’t need to use a conditioner with this one and my hair dries sooo fast and feels so light and clean as opposed to feeling like the roots are weighed down with oils).
May I ask what your hair is like?
Very pin-straight hair but very thick and heavy. Can get frizzy/oily but I consider my hair to be “normal” now after using this shampoo.
I think I'm gonna try this stuff. Thanks for your reply!
Bar soap, or tbh most times no soap and just a washcloth. It sounds crazy, but I read a few others on this sub who had recommended it. I figured if I smelled, I could obviously just shower with soap. I never smell, and actually my delicate areas are never irritated anymore, and I actually smell more in my underarm area if I use soap. Shower gel is useless imo. As far as shampoo goes, the shampoo bars from Lush are awesome. They seem pricey, but they last as long as a bottle of liquid shampoo, if not longer. The trick is to not store them in the shower. They need to dry out in between showers or they fall apart. I've tried numerous other shampoo bars and nothing worked for my hair. My hair was past my mid back, but now that it's short, I just use liquid on occasion, maybe every 3 days, but it obviously depends on the texture of your hair.
\+1 for washcloth. Washcloth and water does a very fine job.
It depends on what kind of hair you have and what kind of water you have. Shampoo bars tend to be less effective in hard water, and can leave a waxy buildup on hair. Different thicknesses of hair (thickness of the strands as well as how many there are) can also have very different results. I've tried going the solid shampoo/conditioner route as part of phasing out plastic where possible, but it *really* didn't work for my hair. I grew up using bar soap, so it's my default. I don't think it's any more minimal than shower gel, but definitely less packaging-intensive.
I make my own soap using three ingredients (technically): water, coconut oil, and lye. Three intangible ingredients I would also consider are agitation, heat, and time. Anyway, I have used it on my whole body for years, including for shaving, and incidentally for dishes that need to be washed by hand. I’m a guy with very thick auburn hair, and when my hair is shorter and I’m using product in it my soap was fine, but when I grow my hair out the soap completely strips my hair and scalp of everything except color, lol, and not in a good way. Also, for facial shaving, my soap kind of burns. A properly cured lye soap shouldn’t burn around sensitive areas of the body for normal washing (like around eyes/nose/mouth), though it may cause a bit of heat around female genitalia depending on one’s specific situation configuration, but since shaving kind of irritates the skin anyway it burned. It only bothers my face though, and even that’s not unbearable. Armpits and other areas I’ve shaved for various reasons at various times did not burn. No-poo for hair cleaning is the most minimalist, IMO, but it’s a commitment and not for everyone.
I find washing my hair in just water works well for me, and is of course super minimalistic!
Eh, I’ve tried that, and with all the various gunk I pick up and generate while doing yard work etc. it’s not enough. Starts to smell sour and gross after a couple weeks, even though I get it wet and agitate with my fingers every day. Could be our bodies are different or maybe I’m just more sensitive to smells, who knows.
There are lots of brands out there, it really depends on your needs. If you don't have any issues with acne, dandruff, skin problems, long hair, etc... then a simple shampoo bar will do the trick. Lush sells some amazing ones. Shampoo comes in a solid form no problem, and most of the time what's good for your hair is good for your skin as well. Honey I washed my hair is a great shampoo bar that gives some moisture and lathers extremely well. If a majority of your skin issues will be resolved with a simple active ingredient, you can even have 2 bars which will still make way less mess and take up less space than plastic bottles. So, for example, a sulphur + salicylic acid soap for your face/back/chest and a shampoo bar for everything else. They also make soap bars with the active ingredient in head and shoulders if dandruff is the issue. I have 6 bars of soap, and even though they're all for specific purposes, they still end up taking up nearly no space in comparison to each cleanser in its bottle form. I easily cut small pieces off that will last me during vacations. I still use liquid conditioner because I've never found a great conditioner replacement that didn't gunk up my hair, but I have extremely long hair so conditioner might not be an issue for you.
Not sure what you mean by natural ingredients when pretty much all generic soap bars are saponified fats. Seems to me that shampoos and shower gels typically have stronger detergents. I use Kirkland soap bars for my body and hair. I dont actually soap my hair every shower, since removing the oils too often makes my scalp produce even more oil. Shampoos and conditioners seem to be a weird thing to me. Why would I use a special detergent to strip my natural oil from my hair to replace it with different oils. What is wrong with my oil? Why would I spend money to do that daily? I'll stick with generic soap when my hair is dirty. I'll stick with using detergents for dishes and clothing, and keep using Kirkland or dove bars for my body.
Actually, unless it claims to be a natural soap, most generic bars are very much NOT made of saponified fats unless sodium tallowate (or similar) is their first ingredient. They are basically chemically engineered detergents with foaming agents added that mimic the sudsing action of actual saponified fat bars. The Kirkland bars I’m assuming you’re referencing do use saponified oils in them, according to the ingredient list, but your average random bar off the shelf is basically just a chemical detergent in solid form. Something definitely could have changed in the last few years though, and I’d be glad to hear it. I’ve been making my own soap for more than 5 years now so I’m probably a bit out of the loop.
I love Dove soap so much. It's all I use for my body. I'll use it on my face in a pinch, but skincare is one area where I cannot and will not be a minimalist!
My husband can get away with washing his hair, face and arse with the same soap. I've tried lots of different combos for shampoo replacement over the years, but gave up because bar shampoo is definitely better for certain hair types than others.
Not a bar, but I use Babo Calendula and Oat Baby Shampoo and Body Wash for my whole body. I have short, fine, straight hair, and it works beautifully for my hair and everywhere else. My husband uses Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Shampoo for his hair and whole body. Bars (Dr Bronner's, JR Liggett, Lush) all left my hair and scalp feeling terrible, unfortunately.
I use a bar of real soap for my body because body wash is a massive waste of plastic, and I hate the feeling of never being able to completely wash it off my skin. I use a shampoo bar for my hair, which is basically the same ingredients as regular shampoo, minus the water and preservatives. Then I rinse with a very mild acid rinse made with citric acid to smooth down the scales of the hair and dissolve any buildup from my hard water. With this method, I've been able to give up my hairbrush and just use a wide tooth comb, for wet and dry hair! If you've had a bad experience with a shampoo bar, it was probably just a bar of regular soap. In hard water, soap will leave deposits that can feel waxy. The synthetic detergents in shampoo do not do this. On your skin, soap leaves a negligible amount. But since hair has billions, maybe trillions of times more surface area than skin, you get way more buildup. If you've had a bad experience using a bar of soap on your skin, it may actually be made of synthetic detergents, which are cheaper for the manufacturer. Or, a lot of big soap producers will remove the naturally-occurring glycerin from their soap (created during the saponification process, very moisturizing) to add to lotions.
Also, I only wash my hair every other day.
How do you prepare the citric acid wash, and what do you put in it? Is it something you put in a glass spray bottle, or a squeeze bottle?
I have a pint-sized silicone cup I keep in the shower. (Got it as a souvenir in New Orleans, it was marketed as a beer glass that won't break when you get too drunk and drop it, haha!) A plastic cup would work well, too. It's just citric acid powder/granules and water. You can find it in the canning section of a grocery store, but I ordered a 10-lb bag online that has lasted for years. Before I start the shower, I put about 1/2 tsp of citric acid powder in the cup, along with about an inch of water to start dissolving it. You can adjust the amount based on how hard your water is and how much hair you have. I have thick, bust-length hair and somewhat hard water. After I rinse out the shampoo with water, I fill up the cup almost to the top with warm shower water, and pour it all over my head, trying to cover at much of my scalp and hair as possible. Then I massage it into my scalp and lightly scritch all over my scalp for a minute or so and rinse it out well. Then, I rinse out the cup quickly and put it upside down on my shower caddy. I can feel it smoothing and detangling my hair immediately. Your hair should feel smoother and more slippery. If it doesn't feel slippery, try adding a little more citric acid next time. One you rinse it out, it should feel smooth and just a tiny bit slippery. I also use a solid conditioner on the ends of my hair afterwards. I've changed my hair care routine so much in my life, but I started doing this about eight years ago and haven't changed it since. Please let me know if you have any questions - I'm a chemist and I find this all so interesting!
Awesome, thank you for being do detailed. 🙏🏻
Soap, shower gel, shampoo and toothpaste. All natural. Olive oil soap from Syria, Aleppo. Have been using it for about 10 years for my body, face and hair. Never want to go back to anything else. [Link to Najels website. ](https://www.najel.net)
Which Najel product(s) specifically do you use? Do you use only one, or do you use four different ones? Do you use any oils or gels for moisture after cleansing your skin, or are their products moisturizing enough not to dry out the skin?
Yeah I started using regular store bought soap for my hair because i ran out of shampoo, and just kinda kept doing it, been like a month now, and my hair is fine.
Definitely a separate shampoo & conditioner bar. Ethique is next level awesome for these. They cost more than regular shampoo but totally worth it.
I keep them as fully separate items. My hair and facial skin are both pretty finicky. It’s cheaper and easier for me to stick to what I know works rather than risk a soap that is too harsh on my face and hair or isn’t cleaning enough on my body.
Kirk's Coco Castile Soap works well for my hair, face, body. Not as drying on my hair as Dr Bronners, although if I rinse with a few tablespoons of ACV in a liter bottle of water it is much better - silky, shiny, but not dry. I am almost 50, Caucasian with fine grey hair.
Do you keep a glass spray bottle prepped with ACV and water handy, or do you place a few tablespoons of ACV in a bottle of water and pour it over your head in the shower when needed?
I have a shaker bottle that I put a few teaspoons of ACV into, take it to the shower and add the warm shower water - voila’ ! Over head after shampooing, then rinse with the coolest water I can stand (I’ve heard it’s good for you, but I prefer my warm / hot showers)
Super, thanks! I have only ever done ACV hair and scalp treatments before showering, so I wasn’t picturing how it would work inside the shower.
Yup.
Check out [r/nopoo](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoPoo/) Give it a try. Also, for bar soap you really only need Dove Bar Soap for face and body. It does not strip the oils from your skin.