Soap mold problems & no shampoo method

They look so beautiful...*tear, sniffle*...At least all that hard work was for something!

I was finally able to get my soap bars out of the mold today! After much prying and pushing, pulling, grunting, cursing - I decided to put the whole thing in the freezer for a few hours. The bars still wouldn't pop out on their own. I then used a frosting spatula to pop them out, and they finally did. Some of the bars have perfect sides, but some of them don't look that great. BUT, and this is a big "but," they will still be sellable after I bevel the edges.

Next time I make more soap in that mold, I'll grease the sides up with a bit of vaseline and I will put a plastic bag over the bottom. Even though it's a "no liner" mold, I think it definitely needs a liner. I probably won't be buying molds from the seller again. I think an 18-bar mold is enough, but if I need another one, I might splurge on a Kelsei mold. Those molds are pricier, but they might work a little better.

On a big side note - I fired my first firearm yesterday. We went to a secluded area that is managed by the BLM. We didn't have any targets with us so we were just basically seeing how the gun fired. Firstly, the rifle is huge and heavy and so are its rounds. The gun also "kicks like a mule." We couldn't believe how much it hurt our shoulder to fire it. But we think that it is accurate, and next time we will bring targets and hopefully have a pad for the gun's butt.

So, I've been going "no poo" for about a month now. I got interested in doing this after reading a blog post about a woman who looked positively radiant with clean hair, touting that she was no longer using shampoo and only a baking soda wash every now and then. I couldn't believe it, and in order to believe it, I had to try it for myself.

I quit shampoo cold turkey. Maybe that was a bad idea at the time, but I thought it was better than trying to wean myself off of the L'Oreal sulfate-free shampoo that was thinning out my wallet. Not only did I want to save money, especially in the long run, but I wanted "healthier" hair without any chemicals whatsoever in or on it.

The result so far: my hair is somewhat greasy-looking and feeling, it is very static-y when I use my paddle brush, and it doesn't smell like anything. I think it's still in its transition period, so I'm going to keep chugging along with this no-poo method until my hair looks as good as that woman's on her blog. I use a baking soda wash too (about 1 T. baking soda in a couple cups of water) and sometimes a rosemary wash. Recently I added a tiny bit of ACV to the rosemary wash, but I don't think I need that. What I do need, however, is some SALT. I couldn't believe I didn't think of it any sooner! I read it on a forum in a thread about the no-poo method. Since I've used salt on any pimples or zits before, I was surprised I didn't think of doing it to my greasy hair. Now, I'll add a bit of salt to my scalp right before rinsing it for the last time, and hopefully most of my oily problems will go away.

By the way, here's the link to the original blog where I first read about going 'no-poo.' The first comment  mentions that it could take six weeks or longer for one's hair to get out of the greasy transition phase. I am already on week 4 or 5...I'll keep going for as long as it will take, but I think that the salt will really help improve my hair. People might think it's gross for others to not use shampoo or conditioner to wash their hair. I think it's outrageous that I have to pay around $5 for (what I think is) a small bottle of shampoo that still has a bunch of chemicals whose names I can't pronounce. Now, I know I do make soap and it involves sodium hydroxide, but the whole saponification process takes care of that caustic ingredient anyway.