Shampoos and Soaps ~ Maybe get a list started
Dread Maintenance
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.
