Yucca Vs. Soapwort Vs. Aritha/Soapnuts?

[Sceleste]

I tried Mellie's foam washing method tonight and it worked wonderfully. My hair got clean and I only used half the liquid. Soapnuts have never been expensive but this way they're even cheaper! I'll definitely continue foam washing.

[mellie]

Yay Sceleste!! That's wonderful! :-)

[Neoma]

Neoma, that sounds great! Can you show us a pic? :-)

Alas, no.

I shampooed with the other half of the liquid this a.m. I had left it out, because I didn't want it to be cold, and it smelled slightly yeasty and fermented, but not in a wholesome, "bread and beer are delicious" sort of way. I added a few of drops of peppermint EO.

I don't know if it was because the batch was two days old or because of the EO, but today's results weren't as good as the first day's. It cleaned every bit as well. Detangling was a breeze. But my hair feels slightly coated. And the ends were a bit dry, so I ended up applying some GR conditioner as a leave in for moisture.

The plus side is that my wrapped bun looks awesome.

I really suspect that this isn't going to be my staple cleansing method. But it's incredibly cool that it's available and that it works. If I don't use the soapnuts on my hair, I'll use them in my laundry. No loss.

[patissegrietje]

Yippie! Soapnuts made my hair soft! and a very noticable difference with using any kind of 'normal' shampoo is the effect it has on my scalp! The soapnuts left my scalp uber-clean and no flakes whatsoever.
Normally even the mildest shampoo leaves me with dandruff...
I'm very happy with the result

[mellie]

PatisseGrietje, that's wonderful!!

That's the same effect I have on my scalp too! I tried my old shampoo yesterday just to see what it was like and wow - what a shock!! There was SOOOO much shedding, and little flaky bits of skin in my roots, and of course, nothing like the shine and body with soapnuts!

I'm so glad that you liked it too! :-)

Neoma, sorry that your results weren't as good the following day! The yeasty smell is not good, I wonder if that affected the cleansing. I always keep mine in the fridge. Since I only use 1 oz. of it and shake it up into a thick, rich foam, I don't notice at all that it's cold! Also your solution is very mild, too, so you might want to try adjusting that?

[patissegrietje]

I'm so happy, this might be my HG I even tried scritching my scalp with a horn comb after washing and... nothing, just clean happy scalp!
Will post back on the long term effect.

[mellie]

That's great! That's my results too and one of the many reasons that I love 'em!!

Interesting update: When I made my last batch the other day to try my "aging" experiment, I didn't have quite a full cup of soapnuts left (it's the bottom of the bag) so I also threw in my leftover soapnuts (1 cup) from my previous batch. The liquid came out a lovely amber color (sorry this pic is unfocused, my camera doesn't do closeups well)!:



I let it age in the fridge for a few days (I made it on the 19th). I just used it this morning - and wow!!! My hair is looking sooo nice!!! Just as nice as the other day which I was trying so hard to recreate! There's tons of body, gorgeous shine, lovely waves and ringlets, nice rich color - I'm so happy!!

[Heidi_234]

Millie I have to say, your hair grows like crazy!
I look at this last picture and I was like "Wow..."

[mellie]

Thanks Heidi! The soapnuts help it grow faster! :-)

[mellie]

I tried to capture another photo today of my happy hair - it's hard to capture how wonderful it is but this one is pretty good - I feel so pretty! Like a million bucks!!! :-)



So, that was about 1/2 c. new soapnuts plus 1 c. leftover (once-used) old soapnuts, otherwise the same recipe (with FRESH lemon, not old lemon) and aged for 4 days.

Also - YAY!! My sticky soapnuts came today!! They look and smell great! No hint of mold at all, and the smell is very pleasant, actually!!