Well…?
I already have a face wash I like and don’t plan to change that. But as for the body/hair aspect of them…has anyone used these. Any opinions?
Probably not what your going for but the only thing I use in the shower is Suave shampoo. I’ve been using Suave for my hair for decades but several years ago, I discovered it also makes a great face and body wash. It’s cheap and does a great job on my skin type at least. YMMV.
I’ve read a number of consumer product reviews on shampoo and body wash. The overall opinion seems to be that $1.29 Suave will clean your hair every bit as well as the expensive salon products. So it all boils down to what you like and how much you want to spend. Ditto with body wash. Buy what smells good to you (or to those whose opinions about your smell matter to you!)
I bought some el cheapo-cheapo body scrub at Michael’s (the craft supply store), of all places – $1 for a big ol’ jar and I LOVE the fragrance.
I prefer aqueous cream and Pears’ soap, the clear orange sort that smells faintly spicy.
Sometimes I get rose and geranium / tea tree and mint Original Source. The mint packs a punch (I tried the shampoo once. :eek: 
), and the rose just smells plain nice.
I use these products on my face, hair, and body, because they smell good and they’re natural and ever since I started using them I don’t have tight dry itchy skin anymore. I will also use el cheapo conditioners - Suave or VO5 - to clean my hair on days I don’t use the shampoo bar. I don’t use liquid shampoo at all, it fries my hair.
So have you seen shinier, more lustrous hair since using these bars? I’m intrigued, and may order after you share some more of your experience. The site says your hair will feel different after use, but then when dry will feel really good. What exactly does that mean?
I like Suave. Soap is soap, basically, so I choose what I want based on scent and residue. Suave is cheap and I get to try all the varieties.
Well, basically, right after I wash it and before I detangle it, my hair feels stiff and sticky and matted, and you’d think the comb would never go through. But once I start combing it combs out almost as easily as if I’d used conditioner. Once it’s dry it’s soft and silky and shiny and moisturized and full of body, without being so “slippery” that I can’t put it up (I have tailbone length hair that I wear up most of the time, so it isn’t in my way).
It’s much gentler on my scalp, too; when I was using commercial shampoos and conditioners, I had to wash my hair every single day, because my scalp would get greasy. With these bars I only have to wash every two days, and I could probably extend that further if I really wanted to.
Not all the shampoo bars work for everybody (there’s a massive ongoing thread about the bars at another message board I’m a member of); my favorite is the Lavender Spice, and it’s really the only one that works perfectly for me all the time. If you order, you might want to get a few sample size bars and use each one for a week at a time to see how they do. If they don’t work on your hair they make great body bars (and the body bars she sells are divine, too, BTW).
There’s usually an adjustment period (mine lasted 3 weeks, yuk) and if you’ve previously used products with silicones in them you might want to clarify first; CV bars aren’t very good at getting silicones out of hair (which is why my adjustment period was 3 weeks). And if you have hard water you probably want to finish up with a vinegar rinse - I use a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in 4 cups of water, with a teaspoon of honey (for shine) and a couple of drops of lavender essential oil (for smell). Just dump it over your head at the end of the shower to take care of any lingering soap residue. You can use a teaspoon of powdered citric acid in a couple of cups of water if you really don’t like the vinegar smell, but it goes away when your hair dries.
And to top it all off, Ida, the lady who makes them, is one of the sweetest people on the planet. She’s always more than happy to chat with customers via email if they have any questions.
Wow, this got long. Okay, I’m hopping off my soap(ha!)box now. Bottom line, they’re different from commercial soaps and shampoos, they take some getting used to, but for me it was definitely worth it.
I’m a big, big fan of Lush. Most of their products use natural, organic ingredients, and they do a fair amount of vegetarian and vegan products. No animal testing and minimal packaging too. The best thing is that their products always last for ages and smell fantastic. My husband bought me a 500ml bottle of my favourite shower gel for Valentine’s day, and despite using it everyday, I only finished it this week.
I love their Sonic Death Monkey all-purpose shower and hair gel- it is made with cocoa butter, coffee and limes and smells like [url-http://www.kraft.com.au/confectionery/index.cfm?fuseaction=TERRY.productrange]Terry’s Chocolate Orange.
Also fabulous is their Olive Branch shower gel which is scented with mandarin and bergamot and contains olive oil- it works really well as a shampoo too, and would be a slightly more masculine scent.
Finally, last but not least, Lush do a range of solid shampoo bars, which are my mainstay for weekends away, backpacking and taking to the gym- I use them as shampoo and body bars. They claim to last for over 500 washes, and they really do last for ages (although I haven’t counted the number of washes).
My favourites are:
Karma komba- a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner that smells of Patchouli and Gardenia.
Seanick- which is a great volumising sea salt shampoo and smells of jasmine, lemon and mimosa.
And finally their Ultimate Shine shampoo bar does exactly what it claims to, and smells of Ylang ylang and Gardenia.
Ok, some of their product names are horrible puns (they have a fab purple violet-scented soap called “Gratuitous Violets”, and an exfoliator bar that was called “Buffy the Backside Slayer”, since shortened to “Buffy”) but don’t let that put you off, the products really do what they say they will.
I’m lucky enough to live near a Lush store (they do postal and internet orders too), so I can go and smell things before I buy them. Some of their products are too floral (for me, you might love them) but the ones I like, well, you would have to pry them from my hands with a crowbar.
I can’t use most commercial soaps - there seems to be something in them that makes me break out in a weird rash.
So when my friend told me about this all-natural soap that her biological father makes, I was skeptical because I’d had such bad soap-experiences in the past.
I’m converted. She gave me a bar of it and it’s like MAGIC. I feel completely clean but not overdry or itchy, and I smell great. I also love her dad’s shea butter - I’ve used shea butter in the past but it never worked for me. My hands, if I soak them in water, tend to get an allergic reaction from something (bumps) and then start to peel. His shea butter cleared that up, no problem.
He personally makes every bit of soap that comes out of his company, by himself. He’s a total hippy, but damn does he make a great soap. For general cleanliness purposes I use Tooty Fruity Ah-Rootie. Smells great! Harmony Soap Company
~Tasha
I’ve only used body wash once outside of the gym. It was some melon-scented stuff from Suave. Both that and the stuff at the gym are okay, but I think bar soap is both more effective and cheaper.
Suave may clean you as well, but depending on how sensitive your skin is…well there’s more to it then smelling good. If I use it for more than about 2 days I’ll be in severe pain.
Caress and Dove are both excellent body washes. Very moisterizing and gentle on the skin. Aveena is also very good for dry or very sensitive skin.
I agree about Suave shampoo though, barring any special hair needs it’s great.
I of course meant, Aveeno
Thanks, Marlitharn! I’m even further intrigued. I checked the website and am going to order 2 or 3 sample bars. Do you get credit for customer referrals? If so, email me (in profile) and I’ll be sure to provide your name as a referral.
I’ll wait a coupl’a hours to see if you respond. It’s still way early here.
Nope, I don’t get any credit. It’s cool of you to think of it though! I hope you enjoy the bars half as much as I do, they work really well and most of them smell really yummy.
I’m a guy and the only thing I’ll use to wash my face is
this stuff .
I know it’s damn expensive and I’d be gald to use something cheaper that I don’t have to buy at the cosmetics counter of a large department store but everything else either 1) Dries out my face and makes it itch, or 2) Leaves my face feeling like theres a film of moisturizer or oil on it that I can’t stand.
I just want something that leaves my face squeaky clean but not dried out.
This is the only stuff I’ve found so far.
I like Old Spice Hair and Body shower wash because I’m lazy but I hae paying the price of it. I need someting less expensive for men
I put a dispenser pump (taken from some other shampoo I tried) in my bottle of Suave to cut down on the amount I use. A little dab on a scrubbie works as well as a big blob when you’re using it as a body wash.
Plus, you can dilute Suave by adding an equal amount or more of water and it still works great. I used make one bottle last four or five months this way until I got lazy and stopped diluting it.
I use Dove soap on face, body, and hair.