Testing Shampoo Bars - the Violet #2 edition

I've been making shampoo bars for several years and I love them. I love the convenience, I love that they're zero waste, I love that they're eminently customizable. I have a few recipes that, when I make them for the market, sell out very quickly.

Seeing that my hair has gone pretty much completely grey (I love my hair!), I wanted to test purple shampoos, specifically meant to help counteract any yellowing, or brassiness, in blonde and silver hair. That's what I've been doing this weekend. 

Obviously, one washing isn't going to make a big difference as shampoo is a wash out product but, I assume over time I should see some kind of difference. This weekend, I've made two small batches of purple shampoo bars to test. Both are based on recipes from SwiftCraftyMonkey. I won't post the percentages of ingredients as the recipes are from paid files; I will post the ingredients, though.

For full disclosure, my hair is medium length (touches my shoulder) and on the dry to very dry side. It's quite fine and every single hairdresser I've ever had has commented on just how much hair I have. I can get away with washing it once a week with no issue. 

Recipe #1 - Basic Shampoo Bars with Mango Butter

Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (SLSa), Foaming Silk, Mango Butter, BTMS 50, Sodium Lactate, Hydrolyzed Keratin Protein, Panthenol (ProVitamin B5), Fragrance (Baby Powder), and Violet #2 at 0.06%

I made this one Friday afternoon, after work. After 48 hours, it's still on the malleable side but I couldn't wait to test it. HOLY LATHER!! Seriously, it lathered easily and prolifically. My hair feels great; I'm letting it air dry as our temperature is supposed to go up into the 30ºC range and it's dry here. As to whether or not it's helping with yellowness, we shall see over time. 

Recipe #1 - Basic Shampoo Bar with Violet #2

Recipe #2 - Hydrating & Conditioning Shampoo Bar

Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Cocomidopropyl Betaine, Betaine, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate (SLSa), BTMS 50, Sodium Lactate, Hydrolyzed Keratin Protein, Panthenol (ProVitamin B5), Fragrance (Namaste), and Violet #2 at 0.06%

The Violet #2 has a recommended usage rate of 0.06%; I accidentally went slightly over. I won't be able to try this one for a couple of days as I just made it this morning and it needs to harden up. I usually only wash my hair once a week but with the heat coming on, I think I'll be washing it at least once more this week. 

Recipe #2 - Hydrating & Conditioning Shampoo Bar with Violet #2

I'll update this post when I've had a chance to test Recipe #2 and when I can determine the results of using a shampoo especially for blonde and/or silver hair. 

UPDATE ON SHAMPOO BAR #2 

I did end up washing my hair mid-week. With a heat wave in place, I've been sweating a lot more than usual and felt my hair needed a wash. This one, again, is lovely but it's almost a bit too drying for my already dry hair. It needed quite a bit of after-wash conditioning. I think that, for me, this one is a no-go. For someone with oilier hair, this one might be fine. 

I do have a couple more bars I'm experimenting with, not purple shampoos, that I'm trying to perfect for my hair, along with a conditioner bar. I will keep you updated.