Introduction: Organic Beer Shampoo
Organic Beer Shampoo!
Beer does some truly amazing things for your hair. It tightens the cuticle of the hair shaft adding body, luster and manageability and it's full of B vitamins adding shine and keeping it beautiful looking! Fresh pureed avocado revitalizes the hair shaft with vitamins and proteins leaving it nourished and healthy looking.
We also have added some key organic plant based butters and essential oils to sooth and moisturize your scalp while also promoting healthy hair growth.
This product is one of our top sellers and we thought it would be wonderful to share it with all of you! We hope you enjoy!
And, of course, if your not up to making this on your own you can purchase it through our online store. ;)
Enjoy!
Step 1: Protective Gear and Equipment Needed
If you have made your own cold process soaps from scratch before you know that having the correct safety equipment is extremely important. We will be using Sodium Hydroxide also called Lye and it gets extremely hot when mixed with liquids and it is also very corrosive. The chemical reaction that occurs between Sodium Hydroxide (Lye) and fats is what creates soap. The oils become saponified, retain their moisturizing properties but lather and foam when mixed with water. There is no Sodium Hydroxide left once the soap has cured. This is the only natural way to make "real" soap.
Okay, now that we know we need safety equipment lets get started.
Safety Equipment
1. Goggles. Not safety glasses, you want goggles that would be warn in a lab. Safety glasses will not prevent liquid from splashing up and underneath the glasses and into your eyes.
2. Long rubber gloves, also wear a long sleeve shirt too.
3. A mask to filter the fumes that will be created as soon as the sodium hydroxide mixes with liquid.
Soap Making Equipment
1. Heat resistant mixing bowl.
2. Hand blender (stick blender).
3. Small digital scale (to measure ingredients)
4. Measuring cups.
5. Candy thermometer.
6. Pot (or double boiler). We place a very large pyrex mixing bowl into a pot that has a small amount of water in it.
7. Silicone mould to pour your soap into.
8. (Optional) 20" length of cotton rope for each soap bar.
Step 2: Ingredients
There are quite a few ingredients to this recipe and every one of them adds a wonderful benefit to both your hair and scalp. If you have never made a cold process soap before, we recommend replacing the beer with water and excluding the pureed avocado from this recipe. Once you are more comfortable with the process of making soap, then replace the water with beer and add the pureed avocado. Both beer and avocado have high amounts of natural sugar in them and when sugar is added to cold process soap it causes a chemical reaction during the curing process that can cause your soap to "volcano"! Having said that, this recipe will not "volcano" as long as you follow all of the steps perfectly.
Please Note: This recipe will make twenty-two 4oz bars of soap. If you want to make a smaller recipe divide each ingredient measurement by 22. This will give you your ingredient amounts required for one 4oz bar. Once you know how much you need to make one 4 oz bar you simply take those ingredient amounts and multiply them by how many bars you wish to make. It's a bit of work to make this recipe and the bars will last forever, so why not just make a big batch and have lots of organic beer shampoo on hand.
*All ingredients are measured in weight. DO NOT MEARSURE BY VOLUME, SOAP INGREDIENTS MUST BE WEIGHED TO BE ACCURATE.
IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTE: The beer MUST be flat. You can not make this recipe with beer that is not flat. It will likely bubble and explode! Beer can be flattened by pouring it into a bowl and leaving it to sit for two days. Whisk the beer multiple times throughout the day as you pass by to flatten it. It can also be placed into a pot and slowly simmered on the stove. We prefer the sit and whisk method as there is little chance of destroying the vitamins in the beer. YOUR BEER MUST BE FLAT!!!!
Ingredients to be measured and placed into a double boiler to melt and mix
Organic Coconut Oil (340g)
Avocado Oil (283g)
Organic Sustainable Palm Oil (249g)
Olive Oil (119g)
Jojoba Oil (113g)
Castor Oil (175g)
Avocado Butter (99g)
Cocoa Butter (56g)
Ingredients to be set aside
Fresh pureed avocado (85g) & Organic Flattened Beer (we use Mill Street) (44g) to be mixed with avocado and set aside.
Sodium Hydroxide (198g) gently dissolved in a heat resistant bowl with Organic Flattened Beer (414g)
(Measure and place the following essential oils in a bowl and set aside.)
Rosemary Essential Oil (60ml)
Peppermint Essential Oil (50ml)
Lemon Grass Essential Oil (30ml)
*Please note that the essential oils are measured in volume not weight for this recipe.
Step 3: Prepare Your Ingredients That Will Be Set Aside
Scoop out avocado and measure the weight to match the amount as specified in the ingredients list. Now measure out the amount also specified in the ingredients list for the flattened organic beer that you will smash and mix into the avocado.
Step 4: Mix Avocado and Beer Together
Mix your avocado and beer together so that they resemble the photo. It can be smoother but don't allow it to be any lumpier then what is in the picture. Now set this aside until you need it for soap/shampoo making.
Step 5: Combine Sodium Hydroxide and Organic Beer
Put on all protective equipment and work near an open window if possible.
Measure out organic beer and pour it into a heat resistant bowl.
In a separate bowl, measure out the amount of sodium hydroxide as specified in the ingredients list.
Slowly and gently pour the sodium hydroxide into the organic beer. Make sure sodium hydroxide is completely dissolved into beer - stirring with a metal spoon. This mixture will get very hot very quickly. You should see steam rising. Leave it to cool. Ideally this mixture should be between 120 - 110 F before mixing into cooled oils.
Step 6: Mix Oils and Plant Based Butters Together
Combine all of your plant oils and butters (excluding the essential oils) and slowly and gently melt them in a double boiler until combined. This oil will need to cool once removed from the heat. It should be cooled to 115 - 120 F. Do not allow the oils to cool below this temperature as you will get a false trace when mixing. If it cools below this temperature simply place bowl of oil back into warm pot of water to warm up a bit.
Step 7: Combine and Make Soap/Shampoo!
Once all ingredients have been measured, mixed and cooled to the appropriate temperatures then it is time to combine and stir to make your organic beer shampoo!
Be sure to have your protective equipment on as the soap will remain caustic throughout the mixing and early curing process.
Slowly pour Sodium Hydroxide/Beer mixture into the Oils and Butters. Start mixing with a hand mixer.
As soon as a bit of trace is noticed (trace is when the mixture starts to thicken a bit like a thin pudding) you want to scoop your avocado/beer mixture in and continue mixing with your hand mixer. Once this is mixed in (it won't take long), pour in your essential oils and continue to fully mix in and working towards achieving full trace.
Step 8: Achieving Trace
Your soap is not fully mixed and combined until you achieve trace. Trace is accomplished very quickly with this recipe (compared to many other soap recipes).
Your soap should look like the the pictures attached.
Once trace is achieved pour your soap into your soap moulds. If you are using the cotton rope for hanging your finished shampoos then only fill your soap moulds half way with soap, place your 20" cotton rope on top of the soap and top up with more soap. Place in a cool dry place (a fridge is good if you have room, if not, the coolest room in your home - basement) for 24 hours.
Step 9: Let Your Shampoo Cure
After 24 hours, remove your organic beer shampoos from their moulds and place on a rack to cure for 3 weeks.
Shampoo will be ready to use after 3 weeks and will not go bad.
NOTE: The shampoo will have a bit of a skunky beer smell as it cures. This will only last for 2 weeks after which time the smell will be gone and you will only smell the fresh medicinal essential oil scent.
Step 10: How to Use Your Organic Beer Shampoo Bars
Directions for use:
Wet hair, rub shampoo bar directly onto head, lather and rinse. This shampoo makes a very thick and rich lather. There is usually no need for a conditioner as this shampoo is rich with plant based oils and butters. If you feel you need a conditioner and want to keep it all natural combine 50 parts water with 50 parts cider vinegar and rinse through your hair.
We hope you enjoy this wonderful shampoo!
