Just made shampoo:
5 oz. grated plain castile soap (I used homemade with the glycerin still in)
28 oz. water
5 grams agar (vegetarian gelatin replacement, sometimes available in Asian grocery--made out of seaweed)
2 oz. aloe leaf puree
Fragrance oils
1 tsp. benzoin gum (available online, can also use grapefruit seed extract or rosemary oils)
To make the aloe puree: Get one large aloe leaf (really big one, the small ones aren't easy to peel) and peel off the skin using a sharp knife. Cut the interior jelly pulp into large chunks and puree in a blender. Strain through a sieve and set aside. You may have to set the bowl & strainer aside while you work on everything else. You want the slimy liquid, not the pulpy bits; you may have to press down on the sieve with a wooden spoon.
Melt the castile soap in the 28 oz. water less 1 c. over medium heat, stirring, until the soap is thoroughly dissolved. In the 1 c. water, mix your agar--either powder or, if you have the flaky stuff, break the flakes up small and mix them in. Microwave 2 min. or until the agar is thoroughly melted. Keep an eye on it, as it has a tendency to boil over quickly. Mix the melted agar into the soap solution until thoroughly dissolved. Mix in the benzoin gum if you're using that.
Take the soap off the stove and let it cool to almost lukewarm. It should still be fairly liquidy. Mix in the aloe puree liquid and if you're using grapefruit seed extract or rosemary oil, add those (1/2 tsp. or so oughtta do it). Add fragrance as you like. Always mix slowly to avoid foaming.
If you wanted to use herbal tea (rosemary, chamomile, lavender, nettles, henna, etc.) instead of water, you could probably do that too. As the shampoo cools, it will thicken and become more gel-like. Makes ~3 pints.
My hair is really dry and I don't wash it often, but if my hair was oily I'd use 2 oz. water extra instead of aloe.
An FYI...I don't know if bar soap intended for personal hygiene is what you want. The Zote and FelsNaptha are bar laundry soaps.
