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Back several weeks ago I wrote a post on using bar soap instead of shampoo on my hair so I wanted to update you on how its been going.

Well it hasn’t gone as well as I would have hoped!  The soap even with all the olive oil in it dried out my hair and made it feel like straw, even with the super conditioning conditioner.  So I will have to find another brand of soap to try out.  I guess it should surprise me all the soap that I try on my skin dries it out too.  The problem…now I have a large block of soap that no one in my family wants to use, cause of it’s interesting smell.  Anyone want it?

I have been slowly working my way to a plastic free bathroom.  The firs thing and easiest item I change was to buy soap wrapped in paper and not in plastic.  Then the second item on the agenda was the individually wrapped, in paper, toilet paper rolls. The third thing to do was to get rid of my shampoo and conditioner and I have been less then successful at that.  In fact I have bought 2 bottles of shampoo and conditioner since the beginning of the year because I have been afraid of what the soap would do to my hair.  My hair is super fine and without the right balance of chemicals it hangs there lifelessly and just makes me sad.

Well stirred on by my National Day of Prayer post I decided to go for it and try out the soap that I had in my bathroom.  We have several bars in the shower…one for me, one for my husband and another for the kids, so I had plenty to choose from.  I decided to try the the goats milk one, thinking that out of all of them it would do the least amount of drying. I thought it might be awkward rubbing a bar on my head but it wasn’t at all.  Just a few swipes on the head and tada fabulous lather.  Rinsing was a piece of cake and I didn’t have any tangles at all.  What I did have was squeaky clean hair, and I mean squeaky clean.  Because I didn’t have any tangles I went without conditioner but later on decided that I would have to use some kind of conditioning agent a couple times of week or my hair would become straw-like.

Today I went to the granola store and picked up yet another bar of soap, this time one made from olive oil.  I chose that one thinking that the olive oil might do enough conditioning all by itself and I could forgo the regular conditioner.  I will continue to try out using the bar soap on my hair and give you an update in a few weeks…until then.

About 6 weeks before I started on my plastic free quest I stocked up on shampoo but not conditioner.  I can’t figure out why I bought more shampoo then conditioner, doesn’t make since does it?  Oh well, off on a quest for a conditioner substitute.

Beth at Fake Plastic Fish mentions Lush products as a good substitute for plastic laden hair care products. To my amazement Macy’s at Oak Court sells Lush, so before I spend money on shipping I will travel out to the mall and check out their selection.  I’m worried though about the reviews that I read, there were a lot of mixed feelings about the scent and the conditioning ability.  I have very special hair…fine, limp and color treated. I do have an appointment with my hair dresser this weekend, maybe she will have some ideas, or even how to make my own conditioner. 

The problem with Lush is that it’s kind of expensive.  Jungle is $9.50 per bar, OUCH.  Now I don’t know how many uses that is, but I guess if it lasts 3 months or more it would be worth it.  Right now I pay about $6 per bottle that lasts around 2 months.  I don’t have a lot of hair so I don’t have to use much.  The other problem is once my kids hair care products run out, do I really want them using my expensive shampoo?  Normally I buy the cheap Suave products for my kids.  I know that my shampoo bottles are recycable, but I’m not sure if Suave’s are.   

 When you Google “Bar Conditioner” your results are Lush and Air Conditioners , so not much help there. So I will send the question out to you…do you have any alternatives to regular conditioner?  What about reciepies for making your own?  Let me know.