Teach Soap

Ok, so I'm about to make my first conditioner.

Currently my favourite conditioner is this one.

https://www.lush.co.uk/products/haircar ... _1609.html
Here's the ingredients:
Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Cetearyl Alcohol & Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Propylene Glycol, Fresh Organic Avocado (Persea gratissima), Glyceryl Stearate & PEG-100 Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Perfume, Soya Lecithin, Fresh Figs (Ficus carica), Fresh Organic Bananas (Musa paradisiaca), Fresh Passion Fruit (Passiflora edulis), Fresh Kumquat (Fortunella japonica), Cetrimonium Bromide, Ylang Ylang Oil (Cananga odorata), Vetivert Oil (Vetiveria zizanoides), Cypress Oil (Cupressus sempervirens), Cedarwood Oil (Juniperus virginiana), Chlorophyllin (CI 75810), *Limonene, *Cinnamal

Ok, so I was planning to use avacado oil for starters anyway. But I'm wondering how to get some of the benefits from the other fruity ingredients (in bold) into my conditioner. Does anyone know how to make this work? Theirs is a solid conditioner, though mine doesn't have to be. I just want to try and get as much of the nice conditioning goodness I get from Jungle into my own conditioner.

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"The question is: does it work on stage? If it works on stage, does it fit the theory? If it works on stage, but doesn't fit the theory; throw out the theory." Bertolt Brecht

I had that one grow moldy on me. If you are going to try to make your own, please, please, use a preservative as any fresh herbs/fruits/vegetable are extremely hard to preserve.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Ok. Well I would always use a preservative now anyway. I have been appropriately institutionalised into this practice by reading Swift's blog far too often!

So far I had worked out I might be able to substitute some fruit juice in the water stage. That works for the passion fruit.

I'm not sure about the kumquat and the banana though. I'm assuming they only go in fresh, and then get mashed and cooked up somehow. I could try to do this the way I did with the kiwi previously, cooking it up before adding the water for the rest of the water stage. I guess I will have to experiment!

I really love Jungle conditioner, but it does get expensive! The only Lush things I've had go mouldy are the Fresh Facemasks... but that was because I was silly and left it on the bathroom counter, rather than in the fridge as per the instructions. Doh! My recipe will be different to theirs in many ways, but I want to try and achieve (and improve on if possible) some of the nice results I have had with their products containing fruit. I'd go as far as to say it's the best conditioner I've found for my hair to date!

A part of me kind of insists though, if Lush can do it... so can I!

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"The question is: does it work on stage? If it works on stage, does it fit the theory? If it works on stage, but doesn't fit the theory; throw out the theory." Bertolt Brecht

I wish you good luck!
There are some good recipes on Susan's (swift) blog, I just can't find the solid conditioner one. http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I'm more interested in my hair feeling and looking at least as good as it does when I use Jungle, rather than whether the bar is solid!

Ok... so assuming I can FIND some Kumquats... this is how I'm thinking I'll do it... additional henna and beer added for boosting red/brown hair colour and making it all glossy. It's adapted from a recipe I found on Swift's blog into my own fruity concoction!

PRE WATER FRUITY STUFF
4% Banana & Kumquat, mashed and boiled up a bit, until they are more soupy and plyable! I want it to blend in nicely, not be lumpy in any way. A sieve... or a blender(!) may also be utilised to ensure this.
1% Henna

HEATED WATER PHASE
53.5% water- swap for English Ale & passion fruit juice (Or possibly a passion fruit beer I have discovered, but yet to find stocked locally, they make it in East London!)
5% aloe vera
2% guar
2% silk protein & hydrolyzed wheat protein

HEATED OIL PHASE
7% Incroquat BTMS
3% Honeyquat
3% mango butter
2% Shea butter
2% Coconut Oil
2% Avocado Oil
1% Olive Oil
3% cetyl alcohol (synergistic effect with the cationic quats)

COOL DOWN PHASE
3% panthenol
2% glycerine
3% cyclomethicone
1% fragrance or essential oil
0.5% to 1% preservative

Hoping I got everything into the right phase etc. Can you tell me if it looks right in terms of doing everything in the right order & quanaties etc Soapbuddy? I know this will be thick liquid, rather than solid like Jungle. It's for red/brown dry or treated hair. So far I'm only making it for me and a friend.

I haven't found my kiwi soap to be sticky, so hoping this will not be sticky either! One worry when formulating with fruity things. I'm not entirely sure how best to divy up the beer and passion fruit juice. So far, I'm thinking maybe 60/40 in favour of beer.

I know it won't smell the same as Jungle either. Lush use Ylang Ylang, Vertivert, Cypress and Cedar oils.

I don't really get why they use Vertivert. I understand it can help flaky skin, though I think they picked it mainly for its relaxing properties, so I might leave that out/swap it for something else. The Ylang Ylang, Cypress and Cedar make complete sense though. I might swap the Vertivert for Frankincense, which smells great and has so many amazing properties, I love to put it in everything I possibly can!

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"The question is: does it work on stage? If it works on stage, does it fit the theory? If it works on stage, but doesn't fit the theory; throw out the theory." Bertolt Brecht

Looks good to me! I would go 60:40 on the beer too. Make sure that it's very flat. Since you will be ading the fruit, I would go with the highest, but still safe level of the preservative.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Sweet, thanks. English Ale usually is flat. We make proper beer over here (!) If you ever come to England, you must try some!

It will be nice to pick a London ale too, gotta love local ingredients! Ok... maybe the kumquats aren't so local... but then we do have some great markets and grocery stores with produce on display in front of the store. I love this city!

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"The question is: does it work on stage? If it works on stage, does it fit the theory? If it works on stage, but doesn't fit the theory; throw out the theory." Bertolt Brecht

So far the conditioner is lovely. I made one for myself and one for a friend who has similar hair. It's a bit thick, so I'm going to look for a different bottle to put it in next time, as sometimes it doesn't want to come out of this one! Leaves my hair feeling much stronger though. It smells great too! I really like it! Thanks for all the help with this.

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"The question is: does it work on stage? If it works on stage, does it fit the theory? If it works on stage, but doesn't fit the theory; throw out the theory." Bertolt Brecht

Glad to see it's working for you.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

I ended up using a Manchester ale, mainly because it was called HUMDINGER! Which I thought was a cool name. Also it had some honeyed flavour to it, so I thought that might be a little nicer. The best thing about formulating with beer, is that you get to polish off the rest of the bottle afterwards! Yum, it was really tasty!

If I ever get demand to market these, I'll probably swap to a London ale, but so far what I have used is great!

Last time I was in the US, I was only 18. Next time I get chance to go, I will set my family there the chance of introducing me to a good American beer, which impresses me. I'm told they exist... but I'm not so sure!

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"The question is: does it work on stage? If it works on stage, does it fit the theory? If it works on stage, but doesn't fit the theory; throw out the theory." Bertolt Brecht

US microbrews are very good. The mass produced stuff is just meh.

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Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.