This shampoo bar is a 3 oil bar made with meadowfoam oil, castor and olive. I love using meadowfoam oil- it is a thick oil almost alike in properties as jojoba oil, but as it comes of the seed of a flowering plant, it is completely unrelated in protein structures to tree nuts. Jojoba is a more tricky oil, it is technically not a tree nut, it is the seed of a bush, it is much more common those with tree nut allergies are also reactive to jojoba. Jojoba falls into a grey area, and meadowfoam seed oil is the perfect solution. It is moisturizing and coats the hair shaft, helping to keep it shiny and smooth without leaving a greasy feel. It is also a highly stable oil with a long shelf life, great for soap making. It’s benefits are great to skin as well- so great for an “everything bar” or as a highly emollient single oil for especially dry or aging skin.
Base Shampoo Bar Recipe #2 (32oz or 2lbs)
Lye: 3.93oz
Distilled or Purified Water: 9-11oz
Olive oil: 25.6oz (80%)
Castor oil: 4.48oz (14%)
Meadowfoam oil 1.92oz (6%)
For notes and instructions, see my Basic Supplies and Resources: https://truelovesoap.com/basic-supplies-and-resources/ and Basic Soap Making Instruction pages: https://truelovesoap.com/basic-soap-making-instructions
A Few Shampoo Bar Variations/Ideas for this Recipe
Honey Calendula Meadowfoam Shampoo Bar: 4-6 weeks ahead of time, infuse your olive oil with calendula flowers. Follow general soap making instructions, once the soap batter has reached trace, hand stir in 2tbsp honey, then pour into mold(s). Note on using honey- make sure you are soap making at cooler temperatures- as in oils and lye are around 110 or less. The sugars in the honey will heat up in the soap batter, if soaping with hotter oil/lye temps, this can cause the soap batter to “volcano” out of the mold. It doesn’t literally explode out, but quite a bit will bubble up over the top and ruin your soap batch. Once my soap in in the mold, I like to drizzle a little extra honey over the top of the bars and gentle stir it into the top layer of the bars.
Fresh Aloe Mint Shampoo Bar: replace the distilled water in the recipe with aloe vera juice or gel (just make sure there are no coconut based derivatives in the ingredients- sometimes this is in the tocopherol used as a preservative). I cut & scrape my own aloe vera plants for this, create a very this gel base and then thin with a little distilled water before mixing in the lye. The follow general soap making instructions. Once soap batter has reached trace, hand stir in .5oz peppermint essential oil, .5oz spearmint essential oil, .5oz eucalyptus essential oil and 4-6 tbsp of yucca root powder. Pour into mold(s).
Coffee Meadowfoam & Silk Shampoo Bar: Replace distilled water with strong brewed coffee and make sure it has completely cooled to room temperature or below before adding the lye (this will stink at first- make sure to have ventilation). Follow general soap making instructions. Once soap batter has reached trace or almost trace, stick blend in 1oz silk aminos powder, then hand stir in 1.25oz cedarwood essential oil and .25oz clove essential oil. Pour into mold(s).
Lavender Rose Meadowfoam Shampoo Bar: 4-6 weeks in advance, infuse olive oil with rose petals and rose hips. Follow general soap making instructions. Once soap batter has reached trace, hand stir in .75oz litsea essential oil, .5oz lavender essential oil, and .25 lemongrass essential oil. Pour into mold(s).
Or: Think of this base recipe as a blank canvas and create the bar combination that is perfect for you!
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