Tangles & Liggett’s bar shampoo

Alyssa is right on.  When hair squeaks all the natural oils are gone and your hair will be much more prone to tangling.  Especially since you mentioned that your hair has a natural wave.  When hair is overly dry and the oils are stripped off, hair takes on almost a Velcro feel where the middle and ends will literally stick to each other because they are devoid of oil.

And yes...as Alyssa so wisely pointed out, the body compensates.  If your hair becomes too dry, it will swing to the opposite side of the spectrum and become very oily.

Furthermore, Liggett's bar shampoo was originally designed for campers, hikers and people that had a hard time shampooing their hair on a daily or regular basis.  The concept behind the Liggetts is that it is easy to pack because it is a hard bar of soap.  It was designed to be a convenient soap just for that.  Camping and traveling in the woods.

Also, the water used might be random and not ideal.  So bottom line, Liggetts bar shampoo is not ideal for daily use.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is not ideal for use more than once a week.  And the reason is because of exactly what you are experiencing.

Now if you wish to use it all the time, I would say to dilute it and not use it full strength.  You could experiment with chipping a small piece off and putting it into a glass jar and then filling it with warm water and then shaking to form a soapy mixture.  Then take just the liquid and drizzle that on your very wet hair.

Also, I would never recommend using a Liggett shampoo for more than one wash per shampoo session. Again, because it is striping your hair.

While it is truly a pure and natural soap, also remember that back in the pioneer days, people did not wash their hair for days, even weeks on end.  And this soap can be traced back to very early days.

So if you still want to use it that is cool, but back off using it every day or dilute it and definitely don't shampoo 2x.  Most people, except those with really dirty hair or hair that is super oily, never need more than one application of shampoo per washing.

Hi EvanaJoy,

Yes...the bar shampoo is awesome for traveling.

Other great natural or mostly natural shampoo bars include:

1.  KnottyBoy shampoo soap.  While it is for dreads, it works well for all hair and smells divine.  Just be sure to dilute it or like any bar soap, it could be too intense.
http://mp.hairboutique.com/product.asp?ProdID=100059&Ctg ID=

Real tea tree oil and other natural ingredients works great to gently cleanse the scalp.  KnottyBoy Shampoo soap was created by the founder of KnottyBoy and it is a great shampoo/soap.

2. Burts Bees shampoo bar soaps.  Also divine and also great for traveling.  They have the following:

Baby Bee Shampoo Soap - Is 98% natural & very gentle for babies.
http://mp.hairboutique.com/product.asp?ProdID=102827&Ctg ID=

Ingredients:
Vegetable soap, vegetable glycerin, oat protein, yucca schidigera extract, fragrance, buttermilk powder, panthenol (pro vitamin B5), tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), sweet almond oil, rosebud powder, titanium dioxide, iron oxide.

Rosemary Mint Shampoo Soap - 99% natural and very minty.

Ingredients:
Vegetable soap, vegetable glycerin, rosemary oil, yucca schidigera extract, oat protein, peppermint oil, nettle leaf, rosemary leaf, avocado oil, coconut oil, panthenol (pro vitamin B5).

3.  Bee & Flower Sandalwood Soap
Many people dilute this soap and use as a shampoo.  Especially people that travel or are prone to dandruff.  Dreadlock wearers often use this to rinse on their scalps in lieu of the KnottyBoy Shampoo soap.
http://mp.hairboutique.com/product.asp?ProdID=101526&Ctg ID=

4.  Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Bar Soap
http://mp.hairboutique.com/product.asp?ProdID=100925&Ctg ID=

This is also used as a base for diluting for shampoo.  All of the Dr. Bronner soaps are fabulously pure and can be used for a base of shampoo whether you go with the bar soap or the liquid.

If I think of any others, I will post here.

Also, it was a big deal until recently to encourage people to shampoo 2x.  Over the last 10 years the general opinion of hair care experts have changed and now they believe in most cases 1x is enough and diluting is a great way to prevent hair from getting too dry or scalp problems from occuring.

Please let me know if I can help further.

Best wishes,
Karen

Blee. . . well, I remember reading as a teen-ager that shampooing once wasn't enough (something about how it cleans on the first wash, and adds volume or whatever else it's meant to do on the second), and that hair isn't clean enough unless it literally squeaks -_-; .  *feels very old now, knowing the rules have changed so much since that time*  I'll have to see how well my hair likes one washing.  Not sure if I should try dilution or not, though, as I feel like my scalp (and sometimes hair) gets pretty oily and dirty.  I would think diluting shampoo, it wouldn't get all the dirt and stuff, would it?

Hi,

Swimming is sooooooo tricky because a lot depends on the amount of chemicals in the pool.  Believe it or not, some pools do use more chlorine and other chemicals than others.

What works best for me (and I have slightly highlight hair - I only have it highlighted in the Summer and only marginally) is to take a bottle of distilled or good quality Spring water in a quart size plastic bottle and then right before I get into the pool, I dose my hair good.  Get it soaking wet.  Then I may or may not put on a cap depending on how dorky it looks and how protective I am feeling about my hair.  :-) 

Then after getting out of the pool...for even a few minutes...I dose my head again.  Really pour the water on.  This will instantly rinse off any chemicals that are clinging.  Remember that chemicals cling much easier to dry hair than wet hair.  So keeping the hair wet is a big plus in avoiding chemical damage.

After I go to the showers, I dose my head again with water and then do a light conditioning rinse first.  I pour 1 part of my rinse out conditioner into a clean plastic bottle and then fill with lukewarm water and then drizzle all over my soaking wet hair and pat it in.  Then I rinse well and if I feel the need (depends on how my hair feels to the touch) I will do my diluted shampoo drizzle.  Then rinse, rinse, rinse and then conditioners.  I finish with my leave-in conditioner (usually Phyto 9 which I use anytime I do something out of the ordinary to my hair). 

As far as doing two shampoo treatments...I probably would not recommend it.  The key is to use lots of water to rinse all the chemicals out so there is no damage.  I think after being in the sun and wind I would not recommend 2 shampoo treatments....even drizzle and diluted... Try the the poolside water dousing, the first treatment as conditioner only and then 1 diluted shampoo and then conditioner.

If your hair doesn't feel soft and fabulous after all of that, I would be surprised.  :-)  Yes, it is a lot of work...I agree.  But when you have longgggggggg hair or hair that you want to stay in the very best condition, it does take a little time and forethought.

And Dave is right....hair that has built up natural oils over time, is also more protective then hair that is just shampooed. 

However, chemists have discovered that the #1 way that hair absorbs chemicals from pool, is when it is bone dry.  So even if the hair is "aged" from the last shampoo, even it you used leave-in conditioners, even if you are out of the sun (which accelerates damage)...if your hair is dry, it acts like a big sponge and slurps up those nasty chemicals.  :-)

Glad to hear things are working out for you.  Please keep posting of your progress.  It is always so cool to hear about how people find their way through their own testing process with different products and hair care techniques. 

EvanaJoy wrote: I have been doing the one-shampoo per shower for a week or so now. It seems to be working -- but with one of my shampoos (aleeda with vitamins and conditioners) my hair is still squeaking and getting a little tangled. Should I water it down, or not use it any more? Karen, I am planning to buy a couple of the shampoos you recommended once I use up more of my old shampoo (which is going to take longer now that I am using less ). One more thing -- should I wash my hair twice after swimming in a chlorinated pool, in order to get the chlorine off; or would that be making matters worse because I'd be really drying out the hair and scalp? (I don't swim often, but wanted to know for future reference.)