*facepalm*

[eruthros]

My usual shampoo/conditioner is out of stock and even if it were in stock the price has increased $3/bottle. And I already have to buy on the internet because nobody in town sells a shampoo that I know I'm not allergic to - there are some that might be okay, but I'm not paying $30 to find out. So now I'm doing the cosmeticsdatabase + amazon.com thing to find out if there's an alternative that doesn't cost a fortune and is in stock and isn't evil.

This is how I am now seriously contemplating buying a shampoo called "Yes to Carrots!"

(Yes I know you can make your own shampoo, yes I know some people can shampoo with castile soap, yes I know about shampoo-free living, please do not suggest I just immediately switch to one of those things. But if you have I-like-this-relatively-inexpensive-brand recs I would be glad to hear them!)

Comments

[lauredhel]

I'm mostly useless to you, I suspect - I use homemade for all sorts of things - soap, body butter, hair treatment, etc - but shampoo is the one thing I fork out $$$ for, having discovered over years (decades) of experimentation that this is what works for me.

I don't know brands - we're nowhere near each other, I don't think - but my only other suggestion is that if it's the fragrances you're allergic to, you could look up unfragranced shampoo base suppliers (often stocked at soapmaking suppliers here), and just use that without adding fragrance. I do this for hair conditioner.

Oh wait, I may have a useful last-minute suggestion? A way to stretch shampoo quite a lot is to dilute it by about one in three or one in four, and dispense it with a foamy bottle (might be called "foaming bottle" or "foamer bottle" where you are). It really spreads a lot further that way. Example supplier (I have no connection).

[eruthros]

Yeah, I buy most of my products from local earthy-crunch types (soap, skin cream, lip balm, calendula cream, etc), which means they're mostly coconut oil or olive oil and jojoba and essential oils, but the olive oil shampoo just doesn't work for me. People say "oh, you just have to use it long enough to get your skin oils balanced!" but I've tried it for months with no success, and the whole time it makes my hair sort of tacky and holds sweat in, and my own sweat is an irritant, so. Store-bought shampoo it is.

I've never seen a foaming bottle, but I will look around for one, because that seems like it would save money generally!

[lauredhel]

Is that particular olive oil shampoo actually liquid soap (just made with KOH rather than NaOH) rather than detergent, I wonder? The "olive oil" is giving me that impression. I'm the biggest realsoap evangelist there is for skin, but for hair it just doesn't work for me at all unless my hair is in the 4 cm or shorter range.

I {heart} foamy bottles! They're also the only way I've managed to get the Lad shampooing his own hair, because they're so fun, and because the foam seems easier to control for him than oozy shampoo straight from the bottle. Also, less waste: I can tell him to just take three pumps, instead of him pouring it everywhere.

I really should start using foamies for my own shampooing. Save cash and all that.

[eruthros]

Yup! It's liquid olive oil soap. The folks who make it and sell it at the farmer's market have long long hair, and they say they use it all the time, but it just does not work for me. Which is kind of sad, because I really do get almost all my body care and some household products there - I use their liquid soap as my laundry detergent and etc - but I need to get real detergent shampoo.