Ultimate Sin? Dove Bar Soap for Hair

Yes. I know. I can hardly believe it myself. Me.. I washed my hair with DOVE BAR SOAP!!!!!

Let it sink in a minute…..

Now, before you stalk off of my website, let me explain why I did this. My hair had gone too brassy from one too many dye jobs with French Roast from Feria. I thought it would be a good idea to get a semi permanent color in a medium ash brown to tone it down. I got Walnut from L’Oreal Colorspa. [Discontinued]

My theory actually worked. The ash brown did tone down the red in my hair. But it also made it super dark! I made sure that I deep conditioned my hair beforehand so it wouldn’t soak up all the color and go dark, but it did it anyway.

My friend Sheila had read in a magazine to use bar soap to lighten a hair dye that had gone too dark. If you only use it once or twice it wouldn’t hurt your hair. Bar soap would take off as much in one washing as a clarifying shampoo would in a week’s worth of washing. It was worth a shot.

So I did. The irony us that I have never ever let bar soap touch my face or body since I’ve been old enough to bathe myself. Its too drying and leaves a film no matter what brand it is. But that’s just me. I’m super picky.

It can’t ruin my hair, right?

But I did have a bar of Dove moisturizing bar soap from getting it free with my Dove shampoo and conditioner. It does have a quarter moisturizing lotion in it, right? It can’t ruin my hair, right?

RIGHT! This stuff made my hair look better! I washed my hair with a guilty feeling this whole time. All the work on my hair! All the preaching I’ve done about soap! And look at me now! Oh the agony! I used Redken Smooth Down Butter treat conditioner afterwards. I had to use something nice to counteract the soap.

When my hair dried, I was thrilled. The color had lightened up enough to notice it. But what was so noticeable was the condition of my hair. It was thicker (probably from the film) shinier and seemed stronger! It looked fantastic.

I waited a day and did it again. “I’m a junkie,” I thought. It was only the second time I was using the bar soap, and I still had a lot to lighten up, but I know how I am. Anything that makes me hair look and feel like this is going to be addictive. So I did it again. And then I waited a day and did it again. Each time I did it I used a different conditioner and each time I had the same results. Beautiful, thick, shiny (lighter) hair.

I don’t know if this is doing long term damage or not to my hair. So I stopped. Last night I just used regular Dove shampoo and conditioner. I’m not going to switch over to bar soap for all my hair needs now, especially since I will be getting professional color soon. Bar soap will take it off! But since I didn’t have anything to lose at this point with my color, I felt it was safe to do so.

I don’t know if other bar soaps would produce the same effect as the Dove. I probably won’t care to find out. But if I ever try them, I will tell you.