Does your scalp flake? Do you have to use medicated shampoo to keep it at bay, and does that even fully take care of it? Can you remember when it started, or what may have caused it? You’re not alone. Many commercial shampoos have sulfates, silicones, or other chemicals that have a smoothing effect on the hair shaft. That’s great, except that what helps the hair shaft doesn’t always help the skin.
From our tester’s personal stories, all with very different hair types, we’ve come to the conclusion that the traditional rule of not using shampoo on your hair is not exactly the whole story. Now, if you’re using shampoo and are having no trouble, our philosophy is “if it works, don’t fix it”. However, you may be looking for a more sustainable solution than diluted product in plastic. We have found that shampoo may have a good effect on our hair, but it has given us serious problems with itchy, dry, flaky scalps and dried out locks. Once we got past the myth of not using bar soap on our hair, it was a game changer. We love our Rosemary Mint Cold Process Soap as both a shampoo bar and a body bar. Our skin barrier, in its healthy state, is acidic. Handmade bar soap, by definition, is quite alkaline, yet cleansing. The trick is to use handmade soap (which still contains the glycerine byproduct from the saponification process, usually removed and put into more expensive products by large scale manufacturers) sparingly, and then use a toner to re-establish the beneficial acid mantle on the scalp, which also has the effect of conditioning and softening the hair. Using this method, we have observed that scalp issues have virtually disappeared overnight.
Every body and every hair type are different, and have different needs based on your lifestyle, diet, climate, and other factors. While we can’t say this is a cure for anyone, we can say that in our experience, we were able to manage our scalp issues effectively and have clean, soft and healthy-looking hair.