Rec's-Swastik Shikakai or Soap Lady of Oregon Bars Next?

Curly Girl Fla

So, I really do NOT need more soap or shampoo bars, but I've been dying to try these two for awhile. Those of you who have used both (Kathymack!), which was more of a stand-out purchase for you? Any comparisons to share? Any additional input on either would be great as well...
I'm leaning towards the shikakai. I think it will work well with my Hairveda Vatika Frosting (which, if you love coconut oil, this is like a naturally charged version that's wonderful-Ingredients: Coconut oil, Amla extract, Henna extract, Lemon extract, Fragrance), and the CocoCasta Shikakai Herbal Hair Oil (Ingredients: Ricinus Communis Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulsis, Acacia Concinna Oil, Bacopa Monniera Oil, Emblica Officianalis Fruit Oil, Azadirachta Indica Seed Oil, Fragrance)
I just ordered on sale....TIA...

kathymack

I haven't tried the Soap Lady samples I got yet. After my CV experience, I'm afraid to use any but my organic soap bars. Most don't leave my hair waxy and they don't making it frizzy. I am still waiting for my dairy whip to come.

Curly Girl Fla

Thanks for responding, KM. So, you're still loving the Shikakai bar lots, though? Can you use the Shikakai multiple days in a row with no build-up, etc., or do you still tend to switch off? Sorry for all the questions. I may order these from an online Indian marketplace, but would need to get a few to make it worthwhile to ship them. These are hard to come by. Hairveda used to sell them, but she said she couldn't stock them any longer due to the demand of larger companies that can pay more-something to that effect...

kathymack

Curly Girl Fla wrote: »

Thanks for responding, KM. So, you're still loving the Shikakai bar lots, though? Can you use the Shikakai multiple days in a row with no build-up, etc., or do you still tend to switch off? Sorry for all the questions. I may order these from an online Indian marketplace, but would need to get a few to make it worthwhile to ship them. These are hard to come by. Hairveda used to sell them, but she said she couldn't stock them any longer due to the demand of larger companies that can pay more-something to that effect...

"We've got to start meeting like this!" I tried to get them at Hairveda, too! I did place an order when they reopened--did you? It worries me--that we both have this behavior :laughing7:!

I do think there are issues with the Shikakai bars. I went to my Indian grocery store the last two weeks--and he hasn't been able to get them anymore. I was happy to find them because the places wanted a fortune to ship each bar. I did buy his whole stock, so he's out of them.

I only use the bars every three or more days. That's why it's taking me so long to get to everything. The Shikakai is a bar that leaves you a little waxy, but it was worth it for the incredible curls. I am liking my organic bars and a few don't leave me waxy--so I haven't used the Shikakai since my first couple of shampoo bar tries. I also did the tea of the Ayurvedic herbs, that I liked--but also left me a little waxy.

I bought the Braggs raw cider vinegar today at the health food store. I was going to see if there was a difference if one used that for an AVC rinse.

Curly Girl Fla

"We've got to start meeting like this!" I tried to get them at Hairveda, too! I did place an order when they reopened--did you? It worries me--that we both have this behavior :laughing7:!

Hehehe! I don't know-you seem to be ending up in other places with other people, too, lol! I placed my first Hair Veda order for the Vatika Frosting and the Sihtri Nilha (sp) mask-not all natural, but couldn't resist, and it works very well. Now I have an order in for the 2 oils that were on sale so cheap, the protein tea(again,not all natural, but really like the idea), and pre-ordered the Whipped Gelly, which is really what I want to try. I'm hopeless. No-beyond hopeless. I just ordered 6 of the Swastik Bars w/Marigold & Jaswand (came to approx $24). I figure you can never have too much soap, right? I'm just making up for lost time since I could never, ever use retail soaps on my skin, and these all work so well on my skin and hair...jeez...but, my girls have already claimed some of my stuff, although the 3yo just likes to carry them around and build things with soap bars-imagine if they were older than kindergarten age...

kathymack

I thought I ordered the Whipped Gelly, too. When I looked at my PayPal receipt, I had ordered Whipped Shea Aloe Butter, Whipped Cream and Sitri Nillah Deep Conditioner. I tried to order more natural things, but I let myself go a little. The 4a board raves about these products--and I've gotten some of my best information from those ladies.

I do oil cleansing on my face because of the roseaca and allergy issues. I've been using the organic soaps as my shower soap.

I made a tea from the Shikakai, Aritha and Neem--added it to homemade conditioner and used that. It was similar to the bar. I think the fact that the bars travel well makes them a keeper.

OperaCurls

I like my shikakai bar, but yesterday after washing, my hair felt really dry and got "bushy" as the day wore on, which it has never done before. Yesterday was the first real Autumn-weather day where I live, so it might be that the shikakai bar is too drying for in the colder months. But I've also been experimenting with aloe vera gel, so it could be that, too. I dunno

CGF, does the henna and amla extracts in the Vatika Frosting have any effect on hair color? It sounds so yummy, I really want to try it! (nice price, too)

Curly Girl Fla

opera_curls wrote: »

I like my shikakai bar, but yesterday after washing, my hair felt really dry and got "bushy" as the day wore on, which it has never done before. Yesterday was the first real Autumn-weather day where I live, so it might be that the shikakai bar is too drying for in the colder months. But I've also been experimenting with aloe vera gel, so it could be that, too. I dunno

CGF, does the henna and amla extracts in the Vatika Frosting have any effect on hair color? It sounds so yummy, I really want to try it! (nice price, too)

Oh, I sure hope the shikakai bar isn't drying...but I do get the effect you described from avg-another thing I keep trying even though it doesn't always agree with my hair!
No color changes at all with the VF-mine actually is in a perpetual yellow liquid state since, even in my house with the a/c on it's still not cold enough to solidify. I've used it from the fridge, too, though. It smells like vanilla cake frosting to me

kathymack

Curly Girl Fla wrote: »

opera_curls wrote: »

I like my shikakai bar, but yesterday after washing, my hair felt really dry and got "bushy" as the day wore on, which it has never done before. Yesterday was the first real Autumn-weather day where I live, so it might be that the shikakai bar is too drying for in the colder months. But I've also been experimenting with aloe vera gel, so it could be that, too. I dunno

CGF, does the henna and amla extracts in the Vatika Frosting have any effect on hair color? It sounds so yummy, I really want to try it! (nice price, too)

Oh, I sure hope the shikakai bar isn't drying...but I do get the effect you described from avg-another thing I keep trying even though it doesn't always agree with my hair!
No color changes at all with the VF-mine actually is in a perpetual yellow liquid state since, even in my house with the a/c on it's still not cold enough to solidify. I've used it from the fridge, too, though. It smells like vanilla cake frosting to me

CGF, don't think you have to worry about the extent of weather change we have up North! While you're weather changes a little, it's not quite as extreme. Unless of course you get a hurricane!

OperaCurls

Curly Girl Fla wrote: »

Oh, I sure hope the shikakai bar isn't drying...but I do get the effect you described from avg-another thing I keep trying even though it doesn't always agree with my hair!
No color changes at all with the VF-mine actually is in a perpetual yellow liquid state since, even in my house with the a/c on it's still not cold enough to solidify. I've used it from the fridge, too, though. It smells like vanilla cake frosting to me

As I'm thinking about it, AVG is most likely the culprit here, not the shikakai bar. Tried avg today over fsg and a more moisturizing leave-in, and my hair looked pretty good: nice definition, ringlets and bounce, no crunch.... but it still feels dry. Guess I'll be shelving it until summer rolls around.

And sorry to pester you, but how heavy is the VF on your hair? Are you using it on just the ends of dry hair, or all over? Is it easy to overdo?

ITA what kathymack said regarding weather changes. It's pouring buckets of rain here in the Northwest today, and 20 degrees cooler than yesterday!

avsfan

opera_curls wrote: »

I like my shikakai bar, but yesterday after washing, my hair felt really dry and got "bushy" as the day wore on, which it has never done before. Yesterday was the first real Autumn-weather day where I live, so it might be that the shikakai bar is too drying for in the colder months. But I've also been experimenting with aloe vera gel, so it could be that, too. I dunno

CGF, does the henna and amla extracts in the Vatika Frosting have any effect on hair color? It sounds so yummy, I really want to try it! (nice price, too)

When I use the shikakai bar, my roots feel dry to the touch, a few minutes after I'm out of the shower. The rest of my hair can be dripping wet, but it's weird. It's not dry--as in the air dried it fast, but dry as in kindof straw-y and didn't get very wet in the first place (which is impossible).

I don't know....but I do know FSG wasn't my culprit, because I was using small amounts of KBB and [buylink=http://www.curlmart.com/Kinky-Curly-Curling-Custard-p-778.html?utm_source=naturallycurly.com&utm_medium=text-link&utm_content=curltalk-post-text&utm_campaign=kinkycurly-curling-custard]KCCC[/buylink], and those weren't near my roots.

Curly Girl, I vote for trying Lady of Oregon soaps!

I'm going to be trying some Sappo Hill soaps (from Oregon) as soon as I can make it over to Hi-Health.

OperaCurls

avsfan wrote: »

When I use the shikakai bar, my roots feel dry to the touch, a few minutes after I'm out of the shower. The rest of my hair can be dripping wet, but it's weird. It's not dry--as in the air dried it fast, but dry as in kind of straw-y and didn't get very wet in the first place (which is impossible).

I don't know....but I do know FSG wasn't my culprit, because I was using small amounts of KBB and [buylink=http://www.curlmart.com/Kinky-Curly-Curling-Custard-p-778.html?utm_source=naturallycurly.com&utm_medium=text-link&utm_content=curltalk-post-text&utm_campaign=kinkycurly-curling-custard]KCCC[/buylink], and those weren't near my roots.

Curly Girl, I vote for trying Lady of Oregon soaps!

I'm going to be trying some Sappo Hill soaps (from Oregon) as soon as I can make it over to Hi-Health.

I like that the shikakai bar makes my roots light and fluffy, but I do get the effect you are describing if I use it more than 2 times a week. Looks like I need to bump it down to once a week with the rapid weather changes.

I really liked the Sappo Hill soap "cake." (it's a round disc, not a bar) I bought it in the almond scent, and it had a creamy lather that made my hair feel really clean and moisturized, not stripped or weighed down or anything, and I used it every day for a week.
But sadly, I had to pass it off to my sister, because I had an allergic reaction to it. Which was really weird, since I've never had an allergic reaction to ANYTHING before. I'm guessing it was the fragrance, because all the other ingredients are natural things I've used before with no problem.

Innyhoo, I bought it at Fred Meyer for $2.99, and now I'm stalking the soap aisle until they stock the fragrance-free bar.

rymorg2

opera_curls wrote: »

Curly Girl Fla wrote: »

Oh, I sure hope the shikakai bar isn't drying...but I do get the effect you described from avg-another thing I keep trying even though it doesn't always agree with my hair!
No color changes at all with the VF-mine actually is in a perpetual yellow liquid state since, even in my house with the a/c on it's still not cold enough to solidify. I've used it from the fridge, too, though. It smells like vanilla cake frosting to me

As I'm thinking about it, AVG is most likely the culprit here, not the shikakai bar. Tried avg today over fsg and a more moisturizing leave-in, and my hair looked pretty good: nice definition, ringlets and bounce, no crunch.... but it still feels dry. Guess I'll be shelving it until summer rolls around.

And sorry to pester you, but how heavy is the VF on your hair? Are you using it on just the ends of dry hair, or all over? Is it easy to overdo?

ITA what kathymack said regarding weather changes. It's pouring buckets of rain here in the Northwest today, and 20 degrees cooler than yesterday!

I used to use AVG all the time, and AV juice too, until I realized it was drying me out. Oh well. At least that was a cheapo experiment.

kathymack

I was looking for the ingredients for the Soap Lady of Oregon Bars. The list the type of ingredients they use, but not the specific ones for each bar. She was very nice and I'm sure might answer an inquiry--but she lists castor oil as one of the oils they use. At this point, I'm not sure about shea. So, I might use them on my body, but they won't touch my hair. Don't know if this will influence you, CGF. I know that you are ingredient conscience, but I don't think you have the allergies and issues that rymorg2 and I have. And I don't think I'm as bad as rymorg2 is.

rymorg2

kathymack wrote: »

I was looking for the ingredients for the Soap Lady of Oregon Bars. The list the type of ingredients they use, but not the specific ones for each bar. She was very nice and I'm sure might answer an inquiry--but she lists castor oil as one of the oils they use. At this point, I'm not sure about shea. So, I might use them on my body, but they won't touch my hair. Don't know if this will influence you, CGF. I know that you are ingredient conscience, but I don't think you have the allergies and issues that rymorg2 and I have. And I don't think I'm as bad as rymorg2 is.

:laughing3:

I totally agree. If she doesn't list the individual ingredients of the individual bars, that's one thing. But if there's castor oil or shea at this point they won't touch my hair either.

Curly Girl Fla

Thanks, KM. No allergies here yet, anyway. I like natural, but will tolerate additional "safe" ingredients. I don't know about castor oil if it's the main oil, and I think the soap lady bars will have to wait anyway. I actually received my swastik bars today. I think that's pretty good service. Um, they seem to be quite, um, aromatic? I may do a henna tonight, so if I use it to wash out in the morning, the scent will be so much better than the henna I will learn to love it more, yes? We'll see...I'll use it even if I don't henna tonight...

avsfan

Curly Girl Fla wrote: »

swastik bars ...Um, they seem to be quite, um, aromatic?

This had me laughing out loud!!!! I complained about the same thing!!
It doesn't really stink up my hair, and I didn't notice a lingering smell as I styled my hair, but can't say the same for the bathroom....

Good luck!!

OperaCurls

avsfan wrote: »

Curly Girl Fla wrote: »

swastik bars ...Um, they seem to be quite, um, aromatic?

This had me laughing out loud!!!! I complained about the same thing!!
It doesn't really stink up my hair, and I didn't notice a lingering smell as I styled my hair, but can't say the same for the bathroom....

Good luck!!

Ditto on the smell! It smells like dusty old potpourri to me, kinda stinky. I don't really notice it now, but at first it was rather off-putting. It also seems like a lot of dye is used, because even the lather is PINK.

Kynnib

opera_curls wrote: »

avsfan wrote: »

Curly Girl Fla wrote: »

swastik bars ...Um, they seem to be quite, um, aromatic?

This had me laughing out loud!!!! I complained about the same thing!!
It doesn't really stink up my hair, and I didn't notice a lingering smell as I styled my hair, but can't say the same for the bathroom....

Good luck!!

Ditto on the smell! It smells like dusty old potpourri to me, kinda stinky. I don't really notice it now, but at first it was rather off-putting. It also seems like a lot of dye is used, because even the lather is PINK.

this was my same complaint. I used this bar once and threw it away. It smelled awful and stripped my hair. Then i had to continuously rinse away all the pink from the lather.I tried to use it on my skin and it dried it out something terrible. The smell stayed in my hair too. Even a week later I still get little whiffs of it. I cant tell if its just my imagination or if this soap is really haunting me from beyond the trash can.

Zinnia

I thought the Swastik Shikakai soap bar was to be used on hair after an oil treatment because the soap is so drying.

I have to agree about the smell and all the pink foam. After using the bar, days and days later I kept finding dried pink foam spots all around the bathroom. I didn't realize I splattered that much while shampooing.

kathymack

I think it's quite "aromatic," but I don't remember it lathering all that much. I didn't find it drying either. I used my Ayurvedic herb goo, yesterday--I did find that drying. It wasn't at all the other two times I used it. I think the shikakai might be retired for the winter. Good thing I have soap bars and dairy whip in reserve!

Zinnia

What is Dairy Whip? I have seen this mentioned several time, but cannot figure out the brand or what it does.

Thanks!

msgiblet

Windflower wrote: »

What is Dairy Whip? I have seen this mentioned several time, but cannot figure out the brand or what it does.

Thanks!

Here ya go: http://www.flowermoonsoaps.com/store/index.asp?CatID=28&image.x=22&image.y=13&image=submit

kathymack

Windflower wrote: »

What is Dairy Whip? I have seen this mentioned several time, but cannot figure out the brand or what it does.

Thanks!

Here's the thread. It's interesting:
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curltalk/showthread.php?t=54273

It was a life saver this week. My soap bars are too gentle and I couldn't remove the castor oil from my hair (got a gift in a swap!) The dairy whip is a little stronger and it did the job. My hair ended up drying as curly as it's been--but didn't get the volume I get from my soap bars. After sleeping on my hair (too short to pineapple) it was flat the next morning. With the soap bars, it retains the volume.

Curly Girl Fla

You know, my hair rarely follows the crowd. I don't think the Swastik bar is drying at all. I only used it twice, but this was after henna, and that is very drying. The smell I can do without, but I must admit, I used it today to wash out shea that I had in my hair last night...no acv, just aohr as a leave-in...and I skipped gel, too. It's warm and humid today, and my hair is doing quite well. I was concerned with the "red", but I suppose one of the herbs/flowers is that color-I sure hope it isn't all artificial dye? Anyway, two days in a row, good results...I know that under non-henna circumstances I will need an acv rinse, but the coating aspect happens to work very well with my hair right now. If I can get continue to get by with no styler, you betchya (a little Palin influence )I'm keeping this one. I just really wish it was unscented!

kathymack

I didn't find the Swastik Shikakai drying five weeks ago or the herb mix with the shikakai--which is what I used yesterday. In the NE, we've had a pretty drastic weather change. That's probably what is contributing to the dryness.

OperaCurls

Guano: I know the brand is 'Swastik' but why is there an actual SWASTIKA on the packaging, and the bar itself??? Is there some non-Nazi connotation that I don't know about?

rubycakes

opera_curls wrote: »

Guano: I know the brand is 'Swastik' but why is there an actual SWASTIKA on the packaging, and the bar itself??? Is there some non-Nazi connotation that I don't know about?

The swastika is an ancient symbol that was co-opted by the Nazi party and unfortunately that seems to be the only association for most folks anymore.

If you do a web seach on "swastika" and "india" you find loads of information. It is/was a religious symbol in Hinduism and Buddism, among other religions.

Its funny that if you watch pre-WWII movies or read books published before WWII -- the phrase "spread out in bed like a swastika" is pretty common. Now we say "spread eagle".

OperaCurls

rubycakes wrote: »

opera_curls wrote: »

Guano: I know the brand is 'Swastik' but why is there an actual SWASTIKA on the packaging, and the bar itself??? Is there some non-Nazi connotation that I don't know about?

The swastika is an ancient symbol that was co-opted by the Nazi party and unfortunately that seems to be the only association for most folks anymore.

If you do a web seach on "swastika" and "india" you find loads of information. It is/was a religious symbol in Hinduism and Buddism, among other religions.

Its funny that if you watch pre-WWII movies or read books published before WWII -- the phrase "spread out in bed like a swastika" is pretty common. Now we say "spread eagle".

That is very intriguing, thank you for the info!