Beauty and the Bees Tasmania - Lemon and Chamomile shampoo bar

So today, I shall give my review of Beauty and the Bees Tasmania - Lemon and Chamomile shampoo bar. 

This bar is meant for blonde/silver hair. But since I had it in my sample box and do not know anyone currently who has blonde hair, I decided to try it on myself. 

From the website, the following is the list of ingredients:

Mountain spring water, chamomile infusion, olive oil, coconut oil,soy wax,castor oil, Leatherwood beeswax and honey, seaweed extract,essential oils (Lemon)

And the description is this:

Everyone – especially blondes and silver hair,perfect for people with dandruff, eczema or dry scalp too. Users tell us that their hair is subtly enriched and brightened by the chamomile infusion and natural lemon oil.

This bar smells pleasant. It is light yellow in color, a beautiful lovely color :) It lathers very quick and very well too. Like the other Beauty and the Bees bars. But for me, that is where the good things about this bar end. 

It lathers well in my hair too. The first time I washed my hair with this bar, my hair and scalp felt washed and cleaned. After my hair dried, I usually use a couple of drops of argan oil at the ends. But that day, my hair looked super oily that day. Even after drying, even the next day. I did not wash my hair the next day since I was too tired to do it. Went greasy haired for a couple of days and used the same bar the following time. My hair felt cleaned and not as oily but looked limp :( It was like all shampoo bar transition was condensed into my usage of one bar over a week. And I used so much of them hoping to get rid of the greasy feeling that the sample bar lasted me 2.5 washes. 

It could be that I should not have used a bar meant for gray/blonde hair. It is so strange that a shampoo bar has left me with greasy hair. A first for me since Dr Bronner's I must say. Many others do have really good things to say about this bar. But for me, this bar does not work. Will not repurchase anytime soon hopefully!

Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve - Rosemary Lavender shampoo bar

This review is for Chagrin Valley's Rosemary Lavender Shampoo bar. In my search for shampoo bars for dry hair and curly/wavy hair to tackle dryness and frizz, I came across this shampoo bar. For a while now, about 3 years, I have been using rosemary and lavender essential oils mixed in olive/castor and almond oil for hair massages and they seem to make my hair more manageable. 

The website describes this soap so:

Hair loving essential oils along with jojoba and mango butter give hair a nourishing treat. Mango butter penetrates to re-moisturize, revive and repair damaged cells. This all natural shampoo bar is formulated with aloe vera and deep cleansing and stimulating essential oils that nourish the hair shaft, encourage strong, healthy hair and increase manageability and shine. 

And the ingredients have been listed as:

Organic Coconut Oil; Organic Sunflower Oil infused with Organic Botanicals (Rosemary, Lavender); Organic Babassu Oil; Organic Castor Oil; Water; Organic Aloe Vera; Organic Sustainable Palm Oil; Sodium Hydroxide*; Organic Jojoba Oil; Organic Canola Oil; Organic Mango Butter; Organic Essential Oils of Rosemary, Lavender, Tea Tree; Organic Rosemary Oil Extract

This bar smells pleasant. I love the smell of lavender and rosemary too, but lavender more! :) I have tried most of the ingredients listed above - coconut oil (hey, I am from India!), castor oil (from India, castor oil is used on babies too), aloe vera (seriously, helps with frizz) and most of the other ingredients. And this bar works! Trust me. I loved the way it left my hair after drying. Not only was my hair soft and clean, it had beautiful curls at the ends. Like children's lovely curls. That is the way I choose to describe them. And I kept touching my hair so often just to feel those curls! :) Just could not get over the feel. I so wanted to click a snap of them and send over to my mom - next time I use this bar, should remember to do that. My husband used this bar too and has decided to order a full sized bar of this.

Other things about the bar, it does not lather as much as Cafe Moreno. But it cleans well and quick too. So that's not exactly a negative. It does not melt away that quickly either. And did I mention that it left my hair feeling soft :)

To sum up, wonderful bar! Do try if you are testing Chagrin valley and have dry hair. And we ordered full-sized bar of this variety. This bar works!

Chagrin Valley Soap & Salve - Cafe Moreno Shampoo bar

So after testing this bar a couple of times, I am ready to offer my opinion of Chagrin Valley's Cafe Moreno Shampoo bar. I ordered a sample of this in one of my previous orders. So many users seem to love this bar and how it leaves their hair feeling soft and lovely! So I was tempted to try it out, and did!

As described by many others, it may be made of coffee and perfect for brunettes, but it smells strongly of cloves. Not that I mind the smell, I am not a coffee lover myself, I just wanted to note that about this shampoo bar :) The shampoo is dark brown in color, as would be expected of  a soap containing coffee. And this bar is made of all organic ingredients. 

The ingredients stated on the website are:

Organic Coconut Oil; Organic Clove Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oil; Organic Babassu Oil; Organic Virgin Shea Butter; Organic Fair Trade Coffee; Organic Avocado Oil; Sodium Hydroxide*; Organic Castor Oil; Organic Canola Oil; Organic Essential Oils of Clove, Patchouli, Ylang Ylang, Lavender; Organic Rosemary Oil Extract

And this bar is described as:

Brunettes have been pouring fresh brewed coffee on their hair for centuries to help transform flat brown tones to into shiny, rich color and maybe even do away with some of those pesky gray strands. Made with cloves, to enhance warm tones and fresh brewed coffee, which enriches brown hues and adds luster to dry hair. Nourishing oils and butters create a natural shampoo that moisturizes and softens dry, dull, damaged hair to help improve luster and manageability.

Something that is apparent, but I would hate to admit is, *taking a deep breath*, I do have quite a few gray hairs. I henna them once in two months and wear them proudly  even if the roots are showing. Not that I was looking for a miracle in this sample bar, but I wanted to see if it would make any difference in the four times I used it. Speak of hoping for a miracle and optimism overload!

Onto my take on this bar, I loved the smell. It lathers super quick, much quicker than the other Chagrin valley bars I have used so far. And it washed my hair very quick and left my hair shinier than the previous Chagrin valley bars. My hair feels lighter and nicer, I must admit. The smell of the soap does not linger in my hair though. Hair fall was normal and I did not have the issue of my scalp getting oily quick. Somewhere else, it was mentioned that long term coffee use on scalp reduces chances of baldness too and clove oil encourages hair growth in balding spots too apparently! Yay for all these! And wonderful idea to put together a soap like this with ingredients that complement each other.

The thing I did not like about this soap, its pretty soft and melts much quicker than many other bars. So I am not certain to its longevity when I buy a full sized bar. The sample size did last me 4+ washes plus a couple of washes by my husband (he did not like the fact that this bar decreases in size so quick). That is my biggest issue with the bar. Apart from that, I would love to use this bar again in the future. May be not right away, but the next time I want to order from Chagrin valley. So I would call this bar, it works!