There are so many blogs online about making solid shampoo bars and there are so many ways to make them. Heated version, not heated version, using SCI powder only or using a blend or surfactants, using a pluck or a soap mould and I could go on.

In this blog I will show you a formula with a few more ingredients than I normally use. The reason is that this shampoo bar contains a few key ingredients and it was also designed to fit the theme of Halloween.

THE INGREDIENTS (well, some)

The base of the bar is SCI powder (Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate), a gentle surfactant used in shampoo bars all the time. For this version, you will need the powder and not the flakes since we won’t be melting it. In case you only have the flakes, you can run it through a blender to make it powdery but in my opinion, you should try to source the powdered surfactant anyway. Trust me, there are so many ways to use it, it won’t be a waste of money.

For my emollient I used two oils:

• Pumpkin seed oil. It felt like the stars aligned when I read an article about how amazing pumpkin seed oil is in haircare. Why? Because of the Halloween theme this was already my chosen oil. A research has shown this oil’s potential for female pattern hair loss (FPHL). The study compared the effect of pumpkin seed oil with minoxidil 5% foam and the results are amazing; (just looking at the pumpkin oil results) there was a decrease in hair shaft diversity and upright regrowing hairs significantly increased. The researchers concluded that pumpkin seed oil has a huge potential to fight FPHL.

• Carrot tissue oil. I think the name is confusing a bit, but this is from the supplier. Basically, this is a sunflower oil based macerate with carrot extract. When I checked the INCI though, it also has a caretinoid rich micro algae which is called Dunaliella salina extract.

This was superb news, since I already selected the most amazing orange coloured powder. You guessed it: Dunaliella salina powder. The abundance of beta carotenoid in this extract makes it a powerful antioxidant and remember we have it in powder and oil form in one formula.

Can you see what I meant when I said it all came together nicely?

If you feel the oil is too much for your hair, you can

1. remove the oils or reduce the oils,

2. add a superfatting agent instead (for example: Lamesoft PO65) at 2%,

3. increase CAPB to make the formula 100% again.

For scent I chose sweet orange and benzoin. For me the scent of the shampoo bar is not so strong but in this formula I used a small amount of cationic surfactant (Emulsense HC) to help achieve tangle free, frizz-free hair and that does come through a bit. In a liquid shampoo we wouldn’t use anionic (SCI) and cationic (Emulsense HC) together but it works in a shampoo bar.

HOW TO USE

Use on wet hair. Lather up the shampoo bar between hands or directly on your hair. Rinse well and use your favourite conditioner after.

THE FORMULA

SOURCING

Dunaliella salina powder: Etsy

Carrot tissue oil: Soap Kitchen