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Dr Bronner's castile soap

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gayleygoo
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Dr Bronner's castile soap

Postby gayleygoo » Sun Apr 03, 2011 10:52 am

Has anyone used this stuff? What do you think of it?

I'd been dying to get some, having hoarded recipes for shampoo, bubblebath, soap, babywash and all sort of household cleaners, and finally ordered a big bottle. I made some "shampoo" by diluting with equal parts water, and a few drops of lavender oil. I tried it in my hair, it lathered up nicely, then seemed to turn my hair to rubber :-? It was sooo sticky, like every drop of oil has been banished from my hair and I couldn't even pull my hands along the length of it. It took two doses of shampoo and two more of conditioner to make it feel more normal, and it still didn't feel right.

So, thats the shampoo idea out of the way :roll: Maybe I did it wrong, but how wrong could i really go?!

Also, part of what attracted me to it, was that its organic, fair trade etc... has anyone read the label?? Its produced by (IMO) a religious extremist cult :shock: We had a bit of a giggle to read it all, but I don't normally like to give money to people who use the phrase "God's Spaceship Earth", or who incite the murder of the poor and socialists "with Bomb and Gun" :-?

Anyway, what else can I do with it? :lookround:

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monsterm
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Cloth Nappy Worshipper

Re: Dr Bronner's castile soap

Postby monsterm » Sun Apr 03, 2011 12:28 pm

Dr.Bronner's (like my liquid soap) is one of the only genuinely 100% organic, natural soaps out there. No preservatives, no "naturally derived" yuckies, just pure oils.

What happened with your shampoo is perfedctly normal. It was not caused by the Dr.Bronners. It happens because there is yucky chemical residue from your normal shampoo & conditioner on your hair. When you switch to a natural shampoo, this stickiness is the natural shampoo stripping the chemicals off your hair. In the meantime, you can make up an apple cider vinegar rinse. Your hair will smell a bit like vinegar but it helps your hair adjust & it's only for a short time. 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar to 1 cup of water.

You might also find that your hair will be more greasy for a while. Commercial shampoos are extremely drying so your hair adjusts to this and produces extra oil. When you switch to natural, it takes a while for your hair to adjust & it is producing too much oil. Once your hair adjusts though, you should only need to wash your hair once a week.

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gayleygoo
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Re: Dr Bronner's castile soap

Postby gayleygoo » Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:12 pm

Wow, thank you! I had wondered if that might be the problem, but it was so extreme I thought I'd done something wrong! I don't much like the idea of washing in "chemicals", so to not have them in my hair, mouth and eyes will be good :)

and I'll only have to wash my hair once a week? :wine:

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mamarozi
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Re: Dr Bronner's castile soap

Postby mamarozi » Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:15 pm

A late response, but I only used it for the first time few days ago...and it was a terrible experience!!! It has to be one of the most drying soaps out there! I used it in the shower and my skin was so tight afterwards-it even started to itch in few hours and it was so dry, like it sucked all the grease out of my skin! I'm only happy I didn't buy it, I used it in my friends shower!

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Mungo
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Re: Dr Bronner's castile soap

Postby Mungo » Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:08 pm

I use this for DS as a soap and I also wash his hair with it, works great for us!

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gayleygoo
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Re: Dr Bronner's castile soap

Postby gayleygoo » Sat Aug 20, 2011 7:34 pm

I've heard it does take a while to get used to natural soaps, I found my skin a bit dry too but it got better after about two weeks when my skin figured out the new balance and now it's fine, I don't use it as a shampoo anymore because I just couldn't deal with how it left my hair, although I'm sure that would have evened out too if I'd given it a bit more time. DH uses it on his dreads and loves it, so at least it's not going to waste!


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