1) What is a shampoo bar anyway?
It's essentially shampoo without water. It's all the good stuff that gently cleans your hair without all the excess water that requires plastic bottles and makes it more expensive to ship.
2) Are these shampoo bars vegan?
Yup.
3) Can I use these on my curly/dry/thinning/thick/textured/dandruff-prone/other attribute hair?
Most likely. Over the course of a year, multiple people with all different types of hair have tested this bar and came back with positive results. Everyone is different and there is a reason 39230480239 shampoos exist. While I cannot promise life-changing, miracle results for everyone, I do think it's pretty good option for most kinds of hair.
4) Where the heck are your conditioner bars?
I don't have one....yet. Conditioner bars have been my nemesis. I have yet to find one either made by me or another company that I actually liked. Most conditioner bars I've tried condition too much or not enough. Or, they break into a million pieces after a week. I'll keep researching and tinkering but for now, I recommend using your favorite conditioner with our shampoo bar.
5) How do I store my shampoo bar?
The air is your friend. Keep your shampoo bar in a well draining spot that drains and dries between uses. Keep away from soap dishes that collect water or old faucets that drip. That will extend the life of your shampoo bar. I do not recommend leaving shampoo bars in tins unless the bar is fully dry before placing it inside.
6) I'm and OG fan of The Oakley Soap Co. What happened to the shampoo bars you used to sell?
Have you ever wanted to create chaos in a soapmaking forum? Just create a post saying "soap-based shampoo bars are better than syndet shampoo bars" Or vice versea. Then sit back with your popcorn and watching the comments explode.
The original shampoo bar I sold several years ago was a soap based. It was not safe for color treated hair, it required an apple cider vinegar conditioning rinse to balance out the pH of hair and some people went through a transition period where their hair got pretty icky. Other people loved it regularly ask me to bring it back.
This newest bar is syndet, or surfactant-based. It's a more more gentle pH, it doesn't require any special rinse, it's safe for color-treated hair and there is no transition period. I spent an insane amount of time researching hair types, how various surfactants work with hair and what a surfactant actually is derived from. I As a someone who failed chemistry I worked hard to understand words like cationic and anionic.
After all that research I finally decided that I prefer syndet shampoo bars over soap-based ones. Others disagree and thats just like, your opinion, man. (sorry for the gratuitous Big Lebowski reference). Both have pros and cons but I am more comfortable with this new formulation.
7) Do you have bars for specific hair concerns?
I plan to eventually but right now there are simply not enough hours in the day for this little one woman business.