"I don't think that being a strong person is about ignoring your emotions and fighting your feelings. Putting on a brave face doesn't mean you're a brave person. That's why everybody in my life knows everything that I'm going through. I can't hide anything from them. People need to realise that being open isn't the same as being weak."

- Taylor Swift

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Review: Corrynne's Natural Soap

Now Playing: We Cry by The Script (I'm sick of looking for those heroes in the sky to teach us how to fly, together we cry, we cry) 

Hair Update: I have been having a little fun with hot oil hair masks, but I don't think I'm going to do that anymore because a) it really is quite time consuming, b) I have to use a lot of bicarb to get it out of my hair and I'm getting bicarb residue problems (last time the oil was really stubborn and I basically used a cup of the stuff to get the grease out of my hair...and I have gotten residue problems from as little as half a teaspoon of bicarb) and c) I mostly did the hot oil to soothe my scalp and I've found a much easier solution. 

Scalp Ecstasy Recipe:

1tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar (mine is rosemary infused and keeps growing a mother, which is AWESOME)
1tbsp pure eucalyptus oil

Mix together and apply to the scalp with fingertips. Scalp feels really cool (like...minty cool) and you can feel the blood circulation increasing and it just feels mega amazing. When the tingles die down wash out as normal. Unlike bulletproof coconut oil, eucalyptus oil washes out. Even with natural soap. I think even no-poo people can do it, it washes out with just plain water.

Anyway. SOAP!

A couple weeks back I bought a huge order of natural soap from Corrynne's, which is a soap factory in Dunsborough that I know about because they have a stall at Fremantle Markets. I tried out their shampoo bar and loved it, so...bought lots of soap.

Here's what I think!

The Shampoo Bar:

The shampoo bar is my all time favourite - by far the best shampoo I've ever tried, and I've tried basically everything in the shampoo aisles AND made a few recipes myself. It's a small, hard bar of soap, and is like green and yellow marbled...it's made of coconut milk, olive and castor oil, lye, silk powder, green French clay, oatmeal, lemongrass, mandarin and lime essential oils. It lasts a really really long time - I've been using it for about two months and it only just disappeared tonight. I can sometimes go four days without washing my hair, but normally I wash every one to two days. It's got a really dense, heavily perfumed old fashioned lather and makes my hair squeaky clean, and works really well with vinegar as a conditioner - I just keep some rosemary-infused ACV in a spray bottle and spray it onto wet hair, it makes life sooo much easier. The shampoo bar has no harsh chemicals - no sulfates, no chemicals, no parabens, no artificial dyes or fragrances - and works pretty well on greasy hair but it doesn't stand a chance against hot oil or hair masks or anything like that. It retails for $4.95, which is a bargain seeing as (in my experience) it lasts as long, or even longer, than a $10 bottle of shampoo.

Clay Face Bar:

I bought a clay face bar, which is meant to be a soap alternative for your face. It's a bit messy and fiddly to use and doesn't really exfoliate, which I kind of...need. It makes a decent face mask but I prefer my favourite face masks from The Face Shop and The Body Shop. It's an okay product but I don't think I'll buy it again, I make my own face wash now :P

1tsp nutmeg
1tsp milk
3 drops eucalyptus oil
3 drops tea tree oil

Soap: 

I really, really, really love the soaps. They smell amazing and have the most amazing lather - although it's not like bubble bath where you end up with like a foam fest - the bubbles fizzle when they hit water. I bought a big assortment, but basically there are normal soaps and soaps with added exfoliants, like sandalwood powder or dessicated coconut. I really like the grit in the exfoliating soaps, but you have to rub them directly on your skin and that combined with running water/constantly dropping them in the bath meant that they didn't last very long - one lasted about three days and the other no longer than a week. Each bar is $3.50, so it's a bit expensive if they keep evaporating every couple of days. Also, I tried a Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Cinnamon and Sandalwood bar, and I LOVED the sandalwood powder but the soap seemed a bit...potent, and irritated some sensitive areas. The Coconut, Cinnamon and Lime soap had dessicated coconut as an exfoliant which wasn't as gritty as the sandalwood powder but the soap didn't irritate. At the moment I'm using a soap without exfoliants...Lavender Patchouli and Vanilla - so I use a loofah instead of using the soap directly and it's lasted for about a month and I've only used about half of it. So...buy the ones without exfoliants and buy a loofah! Save your purse. Also some of the ingredients used in the soaps are a bit potent so if you have sensitive skin/want to use it in delicate areas/want to use it on a baby they do have a 100% Coconut Soap, which is pure saponified coconut oil and shouldn't cause any irritation.

I definitely feel like bars, for soap and for shampoo, are more cost effective and prevent wastage. I didn't like the bar for my face because I found it was too messy to rub it directly on my face, but I'm going to buy the Coconut Soap for my face which I can use with my sea sponge, or with a toothbrush if I want extra exfoliating...making face wash every day is hard and expensive and I'm broke and lazy.

I'll be placing a new soap order SOOON because I'm onto my second bar of shampoo and I want to get the coconut soap for my face and I want to buy the Dog Soap because to be perfectly honest, I seriously can't tell the difference between the cheap-ass dog shampoo we've got and washing up liquid. Not good for my Baby Bella.

Shopping spree! Happy soapies!


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