Smoke Signals

Recently I had a customer who was not happy with her shampoo bar. (｡•́︿•̀｡) This is why it took me so long to formulate one.  Honestly, using natural products altogether can be a bit of a learning curve as most of us are just so use to the way mainstream products seemingly leave our hair & skin. I blogged a bit about shampoo & conditioners here while I was trying to decide whether or not I wanted to offer them for sale.  As we moved forward my thoughts were this; 1.) I do not want my customers to be dissatisfied with their purchase. 2.) Yet I do want folks to go all natural, for the sake of their health, for the sake of holism.   3.) However, a shampoo bar may not be for everyone. After my first dissatisfied customer I quickly realized, 4.) Education is the answer here. So onto the point of this blog post.  Hopefully it addresses all of the above. What is the difference between a soap bar and a shampoo bar? Soap bars have skin ...

FDA APPROVED INGREDIENT #1 Sulfates Sulfate is a salt that forms when sulfuric acid reacts with another chemical. It's a broader term for other synthetic sulfate -based chemicals you may be concerned about, such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium laureth sulfate (SLES). Introduced in the 1930’s, sulfates revolutionized the health and beauty industry.  Sulfates were powerful, inexpensive and easy to acquire. Best of all, they were responsible for the foaming lather we’ve come to associate with being clean.  The effectiveness lies within their ability to lift the grease and grime off of skin and hair, dissolve (emulsify) it and then rinse everything down the drain. picture courtesy of beautybyearth.com Sulfates are powerful, cheap and everywhere  – not just in lathering shampoos, body washes, face cleansers and toothpastes, but also in household cleaners, laundry detergents and dish soaps. In fact, because they are so effective, sulfa...

Shampoo, no-poo, or co-washing?!? What does all this mean and what is the best natural hair care method? Do we really need shampoo? What about just using conditioner? All those plastic bottles not only contribute to the waste epidemic but what about all the money wrapped up in this one simple daily practice? Do you think I can write this entire post in questions? My opinion ( which has not been evaluated by the food and drug administration, I assure you ) is this; Shampoo as infrequently as possible. -No I'm not kidding.- Even the mildest shampoo strips oils, that's what it is formulated to do. Therefore one who has dry hair, doesn't need more drying. And if you tend toward oily hair, frequent shampooing creates a cycle in which the scalp increases production of oils (Sebaceous glands secrete an oily or waxy matter, called sebum.) in response to every washing away of it. Subsequently this leads you to believe that you should be washing y...