I’ve gotten this question a lot over the years. People ask me “You have such amazing soap. Where is the Alabu Shampoo?” Well, I’d like to explain why we don’t make Shampoo:
Liquid Shampoo in general has a very short shelf life. Most manufacturers remedy this by adding preservatives. A preservative is just a chemical that kills bacteria and doesn’t allow it to grow. The problem with these chemicals is that they are also very harsh to your skin. Of course you know that everything we make here at Alabu is going to be GREAT for your skin, so, we have yet to find a preservative that we are satisfied with. It’s very important to us that you can be confident in our name. If it says Alabu on it, you can know that your skin will love it.
Now this doesn’t mean you won’t ever see an Alabu Shampoo. In fact we are still working on it. We either need to find a preservative that is also friendly to your skin, or we need to find a way to manufacture and package it so that it has a respectable shelf life.
In the mean time. I’d like to suggest an alternative solution for washing your hair. First start with your favorite bar of Alabu. If your favorite is Buttermilk, Rich, or Baby Me, you may want to consider something that doesn’t have such a thick lather. Olive soap is probably the best choice because the lather is pretty thin. Next, wash your hair with the bar soap. Try to rinse it out completely, but you don’t have to spend too much time on it. Finally, rinse your hair with this special rinse (you probably want to prepare this beforehand):
Add 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar to one cup of water and use that to rinse your hair. The vinegar will help balance out the pH in your hair, and will also get rid of any soap that may not have rinsed out. You can leave the vinegar solution in your hair and let it dry if you choose. Your hair should not smell like vinegar afterwards. You can also add a few drops of honey to the solution if you have particularly dry hair, as this may help replenish it.
H.M.
I have been a beautician for (gulp, 47yrs.) and am excited about this info. I will pass this on to some friends who are very sensitive to chemicals. They will love it, I know.
Love your products,
Carol
Hi Elizabeth,
I have asked the expert (Maryclaire), and she recommends the Baby Me for dry hair, the Tea Tree for oily hair, and your favorite Alabu soap for normal hair. Cheers!
H.M.
Which 3 bars of soap do you recommend most for hair care?
Great!! Thank you! (and thank Maryclaire, too!)
I had to ask Maryclaire about the color question. I don’t have a whole lot of experience with hair coloring myself (although there was that time I bleached my hair when I was 13). Anyways, Maryclaire says you are 100% safe using our soaps in your colored treated hair.
H.M.
Hello!
Thank you for your wonderful blog and soaps! I’m a new user of Alabu soaps, and was also wondering about shampoo.
I like your idea of using the Olive Oil soap. But one quick question: Do you know if it is safe to use for color treated hair? (Sorry, for a ‘girlie question’. But one pays alot of $$ for color, and I don’t wanna wash it down the drain unintentionally!)
Thanks so much!
Great idea, Bernadine! I’ll be sure to pass this tip on to Maryclaire and let you know how she likes it. Thanks for the input!
H.M.
For the rinse made ahead of time for your hair lemon juice also works and leaves a fresh citrus smell. But it is amazing all the things vinegar is good for!!!