Chagrin Valley, Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?
My second Chagrin Valley order came in a few days ago, which brings my inventory to:

Carrot Milk and Honey Shampoo Bar
Chamomile and Citrus Shampoo Bar*
Honey, Beer & Egg Shampoo Bar*
Summer Sunshine Shampoo Bar
Castile and Calendula Baby Soap*
Citrus Woods Green Tea Soap
Lavender and Lemon Soap
Patchouli and Herb Soap*
Primrose Complexion Soap*

I have tried those marked with an asterisk.  I love the patchouli and herb, and the baby soap smells very fresh and floral. I used it all over my little ones and their hair and skin was very soft, and best of all, I knew that I hadn’t just coated them with chemicals.

It’s Never As Good As The First Time
My hair is acting really weirdly today. It’s stringy, tangly, limp, a mess. I washed with CVHB&E, but conditioned after the ACV rinse, and maybe that’s what did it. I remember the first time I washed with HB&E shampoo, I loved it. I didn’t pre-condition, didn’t ACV, nor did I condition after. I just used the shampoo. My hair seemed thicker and had lots of body that first time. Even my husband noticed, and said something like, “Your hair seems to hang really well”, which is the male way of describing what I had noticed, too.  But now…yuck. Maybe it’s time to cut out the extra stuff and just wash with the bar. Maybe that will help…or maybe it never really is as good as the first time. Galadriel, give me some hope, here. I don’t want to give up on the Chagrin Valley idea.

Weekend
Grocery shopping at six o’clock on a Saturday morning is different. Despite being barely awake, I managed to come home with everything on the list, no duplicates or omissions. And it was soooo empty and peaceful, it was well worth the cold, pre-dawn, five minute car ride to the store.  We had a date night Saturday, then went to a local restaurant where Hubby played and sang for a few songs with his old gigging partner. I got to watch the other ladies eat their hearts out when my man did his thing.  I am and will forever be his biggest groupie. Sunday (today) has been very nice. Hubby sang and played again to lead worship, and he got pretty funky and “Praise-the-Lord-c’mon-now”-y, which got almost no response out of the Wonderbread congregation, but I enjoyed it. We have a small group meeting tonight, then tomorrow it’s back to the usual work week, which for me means lots of laundry, mopping, cooking, and web surfing *grin*

Here I am, and hope is with me!

There are several possibilities.
1) As you said, it might be that you washed your hair differently. Especially, if your conditioner has any cones. Cones are known to react very strongly with soap based shampoos.
2) There is not just one shampoo bar washing method- there are at least 3 pretty common ways to wash with shampoo bars. If shampoo bars work well for you alone, it doesn't mean that they work well if you use conditioner after them or vice versa. It might be that what you did first time was the way your hair likes.
3) It might just be the adjustment period- Ida talks about this on her site. Your hair just needs to get rid of old product residues and adjust to shampoo bars. Ida says that this might take a month, but in my case, shampoo bars started to work significantly better after 6 weeks (but I must say that they worked pretty well from the start).
4) I have noticed that differences between shampoo bars are quite big. I get best results when I rotate bars. Eg. Honey Beer & Egg is a wonderful shampoo, but if I use it exclusively, my hair starts to get lank and "heavy" after 3th or so wash. When I rotate my bars, I always have wonderful hair.

So, my suggestion at this point would be that you go back to just shampooing. If your hair is still weird, you might try switching to another bar for next wash. If that doesn't help, do a mild ACV rinse after shampooing, but no conditioner. If you feel you'd like to condition your ends, try one of CV soaps. I have tried several, and they all make nice conditioners.

HTH

Quote:

Sounds yummily vegetarian!   

I have been living a lie, because I wanted so much to believe that the lie was true. For the past three weeks, I have been using Chagrin Valley shampoo bars, and I had almost convinced myself that I really liked them better than my tried and true love, Pantene. I wanted so much for my hair to like the shampoo bars. But I can't deny the truth any longer. My hair hates shampoo bars. My hair used to be shiny, soft, and full. Now, after two plus weeks of doubled shedding and unprecedented tangling and knotting, I have to admit that my hair looks terrible. It's dry, stringy, tangling practically immediately after combing...a mess. I am going to start C-COW-C-ing, and actually have started this afternoon, when I decided to be honest with myself about the whole thing (by the way, the drama of this post is mostly tongue-in-cheek  ). The first C was Suave Honey and something or other, then I washed my scalp with a little bit of Pantene mixed w/water and jojoba. The last C was some Pantene, but I am going out tonight to buy some deep conditioner from both Pantene and Aussie, which I used to use in highschool. I hope the diluted shampoo will keep away the greasies, the way Chagrin Valley did. That was about the only good thing I experience with the shampoo bars, a reduction in grease, but maybe that was the diluted ACV??? I am giving up for now, my hair is so much thinner after my little experiment that I am going back to my tried and true. I still *love* the Chagrin Valley soap, and plan on using whatever shampoo bars I have as soap for various purposes. So no financial loss came from this experiment, only significant hair loss  .

I feel so much better after confessing!

Quote:

OK, I will try to post one or two at a time when I can!
Quote:

That's what I am planning...although I do have an unused, still-in-the-bag, big bar of Honey, Beer & Egg shampoo that I wouldn't mind sending to someone who could use it! HB&E is a great soap but I'd rather use the floral, smelly stuff on my skin.

Today I hopped into the shower, rinsed and then slopped on some Pantene to the length. I bought some aloe gel and some Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal. I am going to make some of Snowy's Moisture Treatment and slap that on tonight (aloe+jojoba or conditioner+honey). Then we'll see how the hair feels after that. The tangles today are so much better, hair is softer and not stringy. Rehearsal is tonight. Last night I ended up making the sausage and peppers and salad. Very very spicy!!!

OK, I know I've already posted twice today, but OMG! I was just washing my hands in the bathroom and glanced in the mirror. I saw a hair at the back of my crown that was out of place. I tried to smooth it down, and then shrieked. Not only did it pop right back up, it felt like a piece of fishing line, so I yanked it out, and then gasped. It was a freakish, black Monster Hair!

That fine little brown line next to the Monster Hair is a strand of my normal hair. Where did this Monster Hair come from? Are there any more of its kind hiding somewhere on my head?? Someone call the National Guard! Here is what my 4 year-old had to say about it:

"Maybe you're getting old."
and
"Does it smell like a skunk?"
and
"Maybe it's a monster."

I have lots of "monster" hairs.  As a blonde, I actually have every color and type of hair.  The darker the hair, the more coarse it is.  My silver/gray hairs have an almost corkscrew curl in them!  It always amazes me the variety of strands I find on my head.

Your kid has a great imagination - be sure to encourage it!

*I COed for the first time this morning and my hair feels GREAT*

It feels clean! Like I shampooed, but I didn't! How cool is that? How many years have I been torturing my hair with shampoo for no good reason?? This is awesome.