Any Chagrin Valley or shampoo bar users?

[mysonshine]

Anyone use shampoo bars from Chagrin Valley? I ordered a couple samples and have been trying to use them for a month. I *can NOT* get a good lather - only 3 times in the last month! What can I be doing wrong? And my hair just doesn't feel right. Not sure how to explain it. I wash my hair at night and come morning it feels icky around my hairline and I get in the shower and do another vinegar rinse which will help for the day.
It just feels weighed down most of the time. I have had a couple days that it was nice but I don't know what the difference was.

Does it make a difference that I've been going back and forth between 3 samples? Maybe I should just get 1 big bar and try that for a longer period? That maybe the soaps are working "against" each other?

I just don't know what to do. I don't want to give up on it but not sure what else to try.
Any help????

[aprilibarra]

i found them okay, but not as good as just bs and water. i think a big problem was that i used them on the length of my hair too. but they were great for shaving!

[julielenore]

These were not for me either. I have hard water, and even the vinegar rinse did not help.

[velcromom]

Some hair/scalp types just don't jive with shampoo bars. Hard water can definitely be a problem.

You might do better with a bar made with a higher % of coconut oil, I find they lather up really well and rinse very clean. The average % is about 20 - 30, but lately some soapmakers are making all -coconut bars. I tried that a year or so ago and some people absolutely loved them for shampoo bars. I enjoyed the way it lathered and rinsed, that was really fabulous, but it was too drying for me. You might peruse some handmade soap sites and see if you can find a bar like that.

[Poddi]

I use them for my long thick hair. The trick to good lather is do a second or maybe third lathering. These might look like soap bars but they're pretty mild, lathering just once is probably not getting your hair clean.

[Darya]

I've used the CV shampoo bars for almost a year with good results on my bum-length hair. I think that the best tip I can give you is to lather well at least twice and usually three times, rinse very well, and end with an acidic rinse. I have very hard water and can't really get good lather out of anything but it is the mechanical action that really cleans with soap cleansers rather than the chemical cleaning you get out of detergent shampoos. If you feel like your scalp and hair is coated, your acidic rinse might be out of whack - try less or more. Also rinse well, I can't emphasize this enough in my experience. Also if you are using any of the castile based shampoos from CV, many people have reported the icky coating, especially on fine hair. I also had to try several different bars to come up with my current favorites of Summer Sunshine, Babassu & Marshmallow & the Carrot one.
Hope that helps, D

[maxwill129]

I agree that you may have to try out a few more samples before landing on a good one for your hair. And what's your ACV to water ratio? You may need more or less ACV in your rinse. You really do have to play around a bit with it.

I love Chagrin Valley, although it is taking us some time to figure out which bars are best with who and who needs an ACV rinse and to what ration. I feel like it's worth it, considering it's cheaper than a lot of other natural shampoos.

[Abarat]

We have hard water and I use my own shampoo bars (I'm a wahm soapmaker). I found that I was using way too much apple cider vinegar in my rinse and backed it down to 1tbsp per litre of water and it's worked wonderfully! I find that with our very hard water less truly is more. I also formulate the bars I use to have a slightly higher percentage of coconut oil, but not enough to really be drying to the hair because my long length can get dry past my ears.
I also feel the need to lather my hair twice sometimes, just depends what the weather is like, when I last washed, etc. I find I only need to wash twice per week, and my hair is nice and soft and shiny.
It also made a difference to use my leave in spray conditioner...very simple aloe vera and essential oil blend...really helped my length.

Natural haircare takes some getting used to, you're re-learning your body, but it's great and once you've found what works you'll never go back!
Feel free to bounce any ideas/questions off us! You'll have to figure out what works for you, no one regime will work for everyone.

[mysonshine]

Well, I've still been experimenting. Had a few horrid days of gunky, sticky feeling. Even when using BS. Seems like BS leaves white residue (1tbsp to 1 c water). I know our water is softened at the plant but we don't have any extra filters in the house.
I've tried a couple water only washes the day after something else. That works ok but then I need to wash the next night again.
I've tried my boys' Burts Bees Hair and Body Wash. It cleans ok but my hair is so shiny, it seems fake.
This week I finally have no buildup (combedlike crazy the other night and got a bunch out) but still getting a little greasy feeling, esp top front.
I haven't used the Chagrin Valley bars in a week or so. I tried Burts Bees shampoo bar tonight (forgot I had a sample) - lathered immediately and seems to have rinsed great. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

For those that use CV bars - how do you lather? When I put the bar right on my head, I seem to get more buildup. But then I can't get enough lather on my hands to do anything.
I've tried double lathering, I try to lather it up so much my arms get tired. I rinse like crazy. I've done ACV rinse (1 capful to 8 oz water) Just don't know what else to try.

I'm going to give the BB bar a couple more tries and then try the CV again.
If the CV still doesn't work, any other bars out there??

Thanks! This is so frustrating to me and so hard when I can't have someone physically show me in person (I am such a visual person!)

[Purple*Lotus]

I use them and love them. We have super soft water in my area though, that could make a big difference. I don't do any rinses, just lather up, rinse and go.

[maxwill129]

Honestly? I wonder if your hair type just can't do Chagrin Valley shampoo bars. Everyone in my family has had to play around with the kinds of bars, acv rinses, etc, but even from the start we knew that they worked for us. Does that make sense?

I do rub the bar right on my hair. I get a HUGE lather, so does my DH (and I lather the children, but again, huge lather). I really do think Chagrin Valley is awesome, but I also know that people on here have said that about other products that I've tried and found they didn't work for me.

If the Burt's Bees bar is working, keep trying it to see how it goes. Experiment with the ACV and lemon rinses to find the best rinse.


Good luck!

[moonlight mom]

Have you tried JR Liggetts shampoo bar yet? I have had better luck with that bar, but I also don't have hard water. It rinses out well and I don't always use ACV rinse. It also works wonderfully on my ds's curly hair.

[mysonshine]

OK. I used the BB bar 2 days in a row (DS2 has been snotty sick and likes to rub his face and then play with my hair. ) So after the second day, I noticed buildup and starting to feel icky. So last night I used BS (about 1/2 tbsp in water) and then ACV. But this morning my hair felt really icky.
So I spent some time reading the no poo method board and realized that a lot of the people having the same problem as me have hard water. So I called the city water dept and guess what?? We have hard water!!! Yes, they soften the water at the plant but before softening is comes in around 380mg/l (21 grains/gallon) and after softening at the house - 160 mg/l (9-1o grains/gallon)! Listed as "hard" according to charts.
So that makes sense why I'm having so many problems! If I only knew that 2 months ago!
So now I know what to try to make all this work.

Thanks for all the help! I may be back tho......