Shampoos and Soaps ~ Maybe get a list started

Maybe we should have a discussion that has a list of all the shampoos and soaps people use and recommend.

I've been using/trying:

Desert Essence Organics Lemon Tea Tree Shampoo for oily hair.

Kiss My Face Whenever Shampoo

Neutrogena Shampoo Anti-residue formula

Dr. Bonners peppermint soap

I give a thumbs up to all of these except we have hard water so Bonners isn't working so great.

What other soaps and shampoos have you used?

updated by @kristina-p: 02/14/15 11:28:31AM

Dr. B's teatree, BS/ACV with lavendar, jasmine, and either tea tree or peppermint oils, Maylee's nag champa and also got peppermint rosemary and a free oakwood/sandalwood that i have not tried yet but loove the nag champa!

i feel like i've tried them all because our hard water makes it so hard to get even brushable hair clean.

here's my list:

*dr. bronners - bar & liquid (leaves a residue no mater how much i dilute it)

*prell (smells like floor cleaner and makes my hair super soft)

*neutrogena anti-residue shampoo (doesn't clean my hair very well and it has a weird scent)

*giovanni's tea tree triple treat shampoo (really nice and leaves my hair clean but super soft. big no no.)

*kiss my face whenever shampoo (love this shampoo but again i'm left with super soft hair)

*desert essence organics lemon tea tree shampoo (like this one alot. tends to dry out my scalp a bit though so i'm saving it for summer time use)

*fantasia 100% pure tea shampoo (wonderful shampoo that i'm currently using. removes all residue but doesn't leave my hair super soft or feeling like straw. i purchased it on amazon)

*bs/acv (i can't use acv at all right now because it softens my hair too much but i still play around a bit with the baking soda because it does help my sections separate and hold together)

*sea salt (okay, i'm not sure if it's just me but my hair feels softer after doing a sea salt spray. weird)

*maylees dreadlock shampoo bars (leaves me with a waxy residue. i use them on my body instead. love the nag champa!)

*natures gate tea trea shampoo (meh. it just okay. plus it has sls so i'd rather avoid it anyway)

wow. i sound like a total product whore. lol:)

i used to use conditioner but i never really had to. i could do just shampoo and it would be fine. i don't even own a brush. lol. thats how soft it is. i'm trying to find a shampoo that will clean my hair but still leave it knotty. kind of hard to find. i like this post though because i'm always curious what others are using and getting results with.

gonna feature

ok heres mine

i do not have hard water stuff rinces out super easy

• baking soda acv teatree rosemary pepermint lavender ( with sea salt sometimes if need more dreadin or jojoba africas best or something when need extra softening im addicted to very soft dreads that still dread alot so i mix it up as needed depending wether i want softer or new baby dreads) with this constant remixing for condition or result my dreads are very very soft the scalp fuzz feels incredibly soft but keeps sproutting lotsa new dreads all the time) this has also completely gotten rid of all my severe scalp issues as well stuff even experimental medications werent solving
• teatree dr bronners 12-1 dilution i like it alot i do not feel as clean as with the baking soda still had the scalp issues but i love bronners just rarely use it any more
• maylees gardens pure love ive tried about 6 different ones the nag champa made my cat sleep burrowed in my dreads and rollin in them for hours like it was catnip it smelled sooooo good i love maylees alot and 90% of the time i do the baking soda acv i follow it with the maylees just on the roots but feels so good smells so good rinces like sooo easy i probly have done just maylees a few times without the bs acv when in a rush but cant remember i do highly recomend maylees if your water is ok for maylees and bronners

--
My new book Ban The Taboo Vol 1

I believe that it is working for you. All shampoo strips hair of natural oils, which i think is great for straight/fine hair. Oils are one of the things that can prevent it from tangling/locking. I too use the Kissmyface and i think it is a good thing that it leaves the hair soft, but tightened (I wash three-four times a week)
Kristina P said:

Desert Essence Organics Lemon Tea Tree Shampoo for oily hair.

this shampoo is doing great things to my hair, its starting to tangle like crazy! so if your hair/scalp is oily, this might work for you!

i love that one too but its a bit too drying on my scalp. i'm going to save it for use in the summer.

Kristina P said:

Desert Essence Organics Lemon Tea Tree Shampoo for oily hair.

this shampoo is doing great things to my hair, its starting to tangle like crazy! so if your hair/scalp is oily, this might work for you!

i really like that one but i found that the more i used it the softer my hair became. i think it might have to do with the main ingredient being aloe. i'm going to hold off using it until i have a full head of mature dreads.

Thundersquall said:

I believe that it is working for you. All shampoo strips hair of natural oils, which i think is great for straight/fine hair. Oils are one of the things that can prevent it from tangling/locking. I too use the Kissmyface and i think it is a good thing that it leaves the hair soft, but tightened (I wash three-four times a week)
Kristina P said:

Desert Essence Organics Lemon Tea Tree Shampoo for oily hair.

this shampoo is doing great things to my hair, its starting to tangle like crazy! so if your hair/scalp is oily, this might work for you!

Yea i can understand your point, Aloe wasnt a problem for my hair but then again i got that african type hair which starves from moisture etc. I would think it would do you best on a mature set of dreads as well.

My locks are 6 yrs. old and 3 feet long now. They were started with a little wax in the very beginning, my hair has grown so long now that only the bottom few inches are affected. For maint. I only wash and separate. I oil sometimes with Africa's Best or fresh aloe.

Here are my experiences with various products.

Dr. Bronners - Peppermint

Dr. Bronners - Lavender

Dr. Bronners - Rose

All the Dr. Bronners products I have used are very concentrated, long lasting and strong smelling. My water is semi hard, but they all lather well for me. I never noticed a residue problem, but the scent does last on the hair quite strongly. These are pretty common and easy to get. My hair did not feel great after washing, felt clean but stripped almost. Needed to moisturize after use.

Knotty Boy - Lathered fine, I don't recall the scent, used it only 2 or 3 times. Pricey, Nothing special at all. Not worth it.

Dry Shampoo Sample Product under development - I was given some samples of dry shampoo to test out, one was dark almost black and the other was a reddish brown color. My hair is med./dark brown so i mixed the 2. I didn't really like this stuff. I applied to the scalp and it just kind of looked like dark powder in my hair. Rinsed out easy enough.

Baking Soda with Lavender, tea tree and rosemary oil, this worked fine, I liked the feeling of my scalp and the scents of the oils. I did do a acv rinse. I like this method for deep cleaning.

Lush Shampoo Bar - Seanik - vegan with irish moss and nori seaweed, sea salt etc.

I like this shampoo bar, they are pricey though. Just under 10 bucks plus shipping. I picked mine up for less on a trip abroad. Though they have some US locations now. This one smells like the sea mixed with some floral smell and lathers well. Rinses well too.

Lush Shampoo Bar - Soap n Float - vegan with lavender and other oils, supposed to help dandruff

I did not like the smell of this bar once it was wet. I think I used it anyway, but don't remember liking it or not.

Knotty N Nice - All Natural Dreadlock Liquid Shampoo

I love this stuff! It smells fresh, citrus and herbal. It is a very fluid consistency, a little goes a long way and this removes

residue really well. My hair was very noticeably softer and lighter. This is what I plan to use as a regular wash. I believe she is a member of this site as well. I really really like this product.

Avena Body Splash - I purchased this to rid any remaining was or residue in my hair. My hair is long and I expected to have to use quite a bit, but i ended up using the whole bottle (which arrived leaking) just to get my hair feeling like it had enough in it to soak. I let it sit for at least 2 hours and rubbed all of my locks a lot to work it in everywhere. I washed after with the BS/ACV. My hair felt ok. And only a little softer. I thought about purchasing again, but the cost and results to me are not worth it.

All in all, I really like Knotty N Nice the best. For how well it works, I don't mind the cost. I will use this and then the BS/ACV maybe once a month for deep cleaning.

I also grow and use aloe for moisture.