[momoing]

hey everyone!
this method is nice but i fixed it to suit my needs:

so i lurked on this thread about two months ago and was like, i can do it! i want nice hair too!

previously before using olivia care verbana soap on my hair, my hair was nasty from over-processing.
so for a month my hair was a hot mess because it seemed like no matter how much i lathered or rinsed (3 times a week but washed with water everyday), the waxiness wouldn't come out T_T on the plus though, my hair grew like an inch AND i stopped losing hair.
my skin was fine though, it even lessened my blackheads!
brushing using soap made my teeth feel squeaky clean but it didn't prevent me from getting bad breath 'cus everytime i tried to brush my tongue with it, i gagged

after a month or so, my hair finally got rid of most of the waxiness. it was like one day i lathered and rinsed like usual and it was gone! poof! i was so happy i could finally comb through it when dried :X but the sucky thing was that my hair was longer now but not nicer 'cus it was already messed up when i started this routine. so i cut ALL the dead ends off and have started to deep condition my hair as well as continuing to wash it with olivia care soap. i use deep conditioner on the days i don't lather it with soap by washing my hair in cold water, then massaging the conditioner into my roots, but especially the ends. then i steam a towel for 45 seconds in the microwave and wrap it around my hair. over the towel, i put a showercap on and let it work its magic for half an hour. so far into the second month, my hair's been feeling and looking healthy, while before when i was using just olivia care, it only felt healthy :X

as for my skin in the second month, i've been pimple-free! woo hoo! but i've been alternating washing my skin with papaya soap as well and so far, no change, no dryness.

to get rid of my bad breath, i went on a search for as natural a mouthwash as i could find and i found it at target for $6 more or less. it's a 24 oz bottle of natural care tom's of main alcohol-free mouthwash with baking soda in peppermint.
i fell in love with this product on sight!
here's the ingredients list on the back and it's purpose and SOURCE.
1. water for consistency from maine aquifer
2. glycerin for flavor/body from vegetable oil
3. witch hazel water (non-alcoholic) for atringent feel from witch hazel (hamamelis virginiana) plant
4. organic aloe vera leaf juice for soothing feel from organic aloe (aloe barbadesis) plant
5. sodium bicarbonate for refreshing from purified sodium carbonate from the earth
6. poloxamer 335 for dispersion of flavor oils from processed natural gas and oil
7. xylitol for flavor from birch trees or corn
8. peppermint oil for flavor/freshens breath from peppermint (mentha piperita) leaves
9. menthol for flavor/freshens breath from brazilian commint (mentha arvensis) oil

not only is this product easy on my mouth but its ada accepted as well as kosher, halal, and cruelty-free.
too bad target only had one of their items but i'm definitely a convert to their line, i just have to find where to buy their products in person

i'll report back in a month or two.

[lilyrose]

Thank you for this thread, Eunbit. It is very informative and you know what you are talking about.

I would recommend that people stay away from mineral foundations in general--especially stay away from pur mineral (be careful of them especially because they pay famous girls on YouTube to "review" their products, when they are actually paying them to push the product.). Bareminerals is garbage too.

I use everyday mineral, and I don't think they break out my face.

[faithpuppy]

^ so everyday mineral isn't the same as bare minerals?? o-o I actually haven't heard of these makeup brands before @.@

[yuri9do0]

okay.. so its only been about 1 week since i switched to soap
and i washed my face/hair, etc. twice so far..

umm..
what do you mean by waxy hair?
i know when im trying to rinse my hair, its rly rough.. is that "waxy?"
and also, i damaged my hair from straihtenting it, so so my hair isnt worse or anything
actually, it gave my hair a nice wave so i dont straighten it lol

and.. how many times a week should i shower?

[notyours236]

i use deep conditioner on the days i don't lather it with soap by washing my hair in cold water, then massaging the conditioner into my roots, but especially the ends.

What kind of deep conditioner do you use? I don't really know what you mean, as Pantene-kind of deep conditioning? I'm sorry! I'm quite confused because I am getting this sort of waxy hair after a couple of use with the soap.

then i steam a towel for 45 seconds in the microwave and wrap it around my hair.

Do you first wet the towel with cold water and heat it for 45 seconds? I apologize for the stupidness in this, I just don't want to blow out the microwave in the hotel room!

Thanks!

[flyxxaway]

My mom couldn't stand looking at my hair anymore so she told me to start using shampoo and conditioner again lol.

But I think my hair is slowly starting to turn softer and not as waxy.

Question to all you people who's hair is not waxy anymore. Is your hair like soft and not as tangled? Or is the hair still tangled...

[Cheri.B*]

^ it's only tangly when I showered in Chlorine water.

I live in two different areas.
One had hard water while the other one doesn't.
So the tangling factor really depends on the water itself.
Booo to hard water...

I'm not the verge of thinking of buying natural/organic shampoo/conditioner or home made ones since I have in contact with Chlorine water more =[

About Burt's Bee, I am not too sure but I wouldn't mind using their shampoo and conditioner, but soap like Olivia Care and such has more natural ingredients. The site show the % of how natural each of their produce is in case you wonder.
Looking at the Burt's Bee ingredient, it looks like a lot of ingredients. Even the soap has a lot...
Less is better.



faithpuppy
No they're not the same. I used ti think it was too. Everyday mineral doesn't have that bismuth thingy that irritate the skins like bare minerals. Plus they can only be purchase online but they give free samples ;D

[Maybelline Li]

So, anyone want to inform me to why so many people who use products on their face have such flawless skin? As for example Michelle Phan (ricebunny)? She uses olay and all these products in this thread which claims to make your skin unbalanced and such. I'm just wondering.

[sugarlessgirl]

^ Genetics. They probably actually have nice skin anyway, and are just blowing their "skin problems" out of proportion. Their skin is probably healthy enough to restore itself after using all those products. Either that or by some magic coincidence all their products really do work for their skin types, and that's great, whatever works for them.

Plus, there are a lot of people who do use the same products with bad results. They're probably not the ones posting their face on the internet or telling everyone about how all these products helped their skin, because obviously it didn't. Thus, we are more likely to pay attention to the cases that did work than the cases that didn't (google "availability heuristic" * ) In other words, the people who use all those products and have great skin are probably statistically over-represented. This is great for skin product advertisers, by the way, who exploit the way people are wired to think (Think about Pro-activ!! Hahaha I saw the commercials and I wanted to buy it so badly. Then when I actually used it my skin got worse, and I asked a lot of people and they said the same thing happened. The advertisers will only show you the cases that worked.)


There are some people who have inherited a vulnerability to have trouble skin (acne, etc.), no matter what they use. These can mostly be treated by antibiotics or topical prescriptions. They generally work, but have pretty bad side effects for some people.

And then, there are some people who have mild to moderate skin problems due to hormonal or environmental causes, or from the skin being sensitive. I.e. around menstrual cycles, girls get pimples on their chins, if you use all these harsh face products your skin reacts and forms acne and redness etc.

Most people are probably a mix between the last two (genetically vulnerable and hormonal/environmental/skin sensitivity.) Take me for example: My dad had bad acne as a teen, my mom didn't, so I had (or at least I thought I had) it medium bad. I always had at least 6 or 7 painful big pimples and numerous small whiteheads/blackheads, and I kept looking for product after product to try to fix it. Plus, I live in Northern California, where it's RIDICULOUSLY dry. My skin doesn't like this apparently (because whenever I go to Japan, where it's really humid, my skin is a lot better).

The thing with soap is that it tends to be gentler than most face products out there, so that's why it may work for the people whose acne or other skin problems are caused by environment/sensitivity. Personally, I don't use soap on my face, it tends to be too basic (pH wise) for me. Plus, Eunbit said that you only need to do it occasionally (and just use water the rest of the time). I occasionally use a pH balanced gentle, organic cleanser when I wear makeup, but most days I just use warm water! But I use soap for everything else (hair, body, teeth).

And my face skin is doing a lot better. My acne has reduced to 1 or 2 smaller, less painful pimples at a time, with a few whiteheads/blackheads. It's nowhere near perfect, but there's not a lot I can do since my dad did have pretty bad acne. BUT it's a lot better than where I was (and a lot cheaper to boot!)

So basically, the soap method may or may not work for some people, just as using all those commercial face products may or may not work for some people, based or your specific skin composition. I don't think Eunbit was saying that you WILL have perfect skin if you use soap, but rather that it may work for you if you have skin that's sensitive to more complicated chemicals.

*the availability heuristic is an error in logical thinking, and can be illustrated by the fact that, when polled, most people think homicide kills more people than diabetes, simply because they have seen homicide deaths in the news more often (i.e. there are more examples of it "available") when in actuality, diabetes kills many more. So applied to your question, this would be something like "I know people who use all these products who have great skin, so it must work somehow" when in actuality, there are a lot more people who use the products and don't have great skin.

Hope that answers your question! This is all just my opinion though I just took a cognitive psychology class so I'm trying to apply it to everyday life hahah.

[faithpuppy]

^whew! long! but very informative!! thank you for all that info xD now I know to trust a bar of soap more than those stupid acne cleansing product.

Soap has been working great for my skin so far =] my face feels so soft and smooth... its gotten whiter too o-o which is weird... i'm guessing organic soap does that? And any new pimples I get go away faster too! Makes me less tempted to pop them ^__^
I still wash my hair with soap every other day, haven't been able to decrease it yet... probably because I have a habit of touching my hair... gotta stop that >_< but my hair feels pretty soft, just a a bit tangly than when I used shampoo/conditioner, but its nothing bad... since I didn't have tangles at all before and my hair clips would slip out since my hair was TOO silky [they need to stay IN!!]
And my skin doesn't feel dry anymore, even though it looks dry... but nothing of that scaly horribleness I had a few years back [when I didn't use lotion at all]
I am definitely happier with my skin and hair after about... a month? of using soap

[lightangel]

soo guys i want to ask doesnt the soap make skin dry?? and not smooth becuz i used soap to take a shower on my body before and it
feels clean but not smooth???
and if i use baby oil from johnson is it better cuz i read the ingredient and it doesnt have alot of chemicals and how do u clean make up?
do u just use soap and water?

[marasshi]

soo guys i want to ask doesnt the soap make skin dry?? and not smooth becuz i used soap to take a shower on my body before and it
feels clean but not smooth???
and if i use baby oil from johnson is it better cuz i read the ingredient and it doesnt have alot of chemicals and how do u clean make up?
do u just use soap and water?

Your skin feels dry the first couple of times (for me at least, because I was doing water only before) you use it. After your skin gets used to the soap and produces enough sebum to reduce its drying effect, your skin will feel much better.

Don't use baby oil! It has mineral oil in it and it basically just sits on your skin instead of being absorbed. I stopped using soap on my body and tried using a normal lotion once (with mineral oil). The next morning there was still oil on my skin when I showered. Ugh. There's none of that residue when I use my other lotions.

I wear a little makeup and I just use soap and water to remove it. As I said before I used to use just water and it couldn't take all my makeup off without a lot of effort from me. I don't use soap in the morning though, just water.

[happygolucky]

so i've been using Olivia Care soap on my hair for about 2 and a half months now, but it still looks the same as it did before i switched to soap. right now my hair is still frizzy, looks dry, easily tangled at the ends, but it's soft. btw my hair doesn't dry any faster than it did before i switched to soap. am i doing something wrong or should i wait it out and still continue using soap to achieve shiny hair?

[marasshi]

so i've been using Olivia Care soap on my hair for about 2 and a half months now, but it still looks the same as it did before i switched to soap. right now my hair is still frizzy, looks dry, easily tangled at the ends, but it's soft. btw my hair doesn't dry any faster than it did before i switched to soap. am i doing something wrong or should i wait it out and still continue using soap to achieve shiny hair?

Try an ACV (apple cider vinegar) rinse or a tea rinse (any tea should do) after washing your hair. Weakly acidic rinses are supposed to smooth down your hair cuticle to make it smoother and shinier.

[faithpuppy]

so i've been using Olivia Care soap on my hair for about 2 and a half months now, but it still looks the same as it did before i switched to soap. right now my hair is still frizzy, looks dry, easily tangled at the ends, but it's soft. btw my hair doesn't dry any faster than it did before i switched to soap. am i doing something wrong or should i wait it out and still continue using soap to achieve shiny hair?

Well the detoxing/adjusting period varies from person to person. I didn't really get any of the waxy stuff when I used soap, but only recently did I notice that my hair is starting to dry faster. I towel my hair dry and the water just comes right off [if that made any sense o-o] so my hair isn't really wet after I finish.

[yuri9do0]

does damaged (burned from straightening) hair effect how your hair will react to the soap thing?
like the top part of my hair isnt damaged... althought ive only washed my hair w/ soap 3 time ( alittle over a week since starting), the top part of my hair dries fairly quickly.. its just the bottom part thats rly retarded but i know thats probably because its like dead hair...

i still dont undertstand the "waxy" tangly hair..
i think since my hair was already in such bad shape, im not noticing it lol

[inyeon.]

Yeah. Soap. It ruined my life. ._. I lost 1/2 of my hair. The waxiness on my hair smelled horrible too.


I'm currently using a soap from GNC, and occasionally Head & Shoulders. I must say, I feel so much better now.

[eunhyung]

I read this a while back and really want to try it out!
so I went to TJ Maxx and found this Olivia Care Soap: http://www.oliviacare.com/catalog/product_...products_id=191
I looked at the ingredients though and one of them is glycerin
is it still ok to use?

[faithpuppy]

^ it should be. there's glycerin in the soap, but not as much as other soaps i believe

[strawberry.llamas]

ugh i have a feeling that my parents are gonna kill me cuz of the water bill this month x_x.
is it me but it takes such a freaking long time to get rid of the waxiness of the soap!
so i have to stand in the shower and just stand there for like ten-15 minutes alone just to rinse my hair...
and i have to rub certain areas if it feels a little hard/coiled to get rid of the soap...

is anyone experiencing this?? My detox stage is over...but...yeah.


help me??

And instead of Mason Pearson brush which retails for so much. Is there another alternative??

Thanks!