One Solid Conditioner Equals How Many Bottles?

Back in the day, before I started using solid shampoo and conditioner exclusively, I remember tearing through copious amounts of cream conditioner.

I would buy one normal sized bottle of shampoo (maybe 12 oz), and either a HUGE bottle (32 oz or so) or multiple smaller bottles to last as long as that one bottle of shampoo.

If I had seen a box containing a couple of ounces of conditioner, I would have thought to myself, "I'm going to need like 10 of these! My hair is going to just soak through that so fast!"

And, not surprisingly, this is a comment I hear from our first time customers. If it's not an outright comment similar to the one above, the question is usually framed, "How many washes will one of these last?"

That number is different for everyone, but what I can tell you is how many bottles, or fluid ounces, a solid conditioner contains.

You see, any liquid conditioner you find in a bottle contains about 90% water. Some more, some slightly less, but 90% is a good rule of thumb.

That means, in a 24 oz bottle of conditioner, only 2.4 oz of that bottle contain active ingredients! Our solid conditioners just so happen to weigh around 2.4 oz.

So, in theory, if one were to add 21.6 oz of water, the result would be a cream the consistency of a bottled conditioner.

I went ahead and demonstrate this theory to tangibly show how many bottles of condtioner one single Silver Stone Apothecary Solid Condtioner makes.

I start with a single bar of Spirit Aura Solid Conditioner. The weights vary slightly, but are usually 2.4 oz or a little more. This one weighs in at exactly 2.4 oz.

After shaving it down into tiny chunks, I put it into a stainless steel pot to melt down.

**** This experiment is for demonstrative purposes only.I do not suggest doing this with your solid conditioner. There are heat sensitive ingredients that are added after a cool-down period to the solid conditioner. These ingredients will degrade if applied to heat above 180 degrees farenheight. These ingredients are vital to the efficacy and safety of this product.*****

After melted, I add hot water (21.6 oz) and blend with a stick blender to emulsify the active ingredients with the water to create a cream.

It starts to thicken up, so I pour into separate 6 oz bottles.

Once cooled and thickened completely, it is the perfect cream consistency!

So... How many 6 oz bottles did we get?

FOUR! Four 6 oz bottles of a medium-heavy cream conditioner!

Instead of pre-emulsifying this conditioner and bottling it up into a container that will ultimately be disposed of, we just give you the active ingredients in a small, yet potent bar of solid conditioner.

The magic happens when you add your own water in the shower!

What I've found, is this conditioner actually tends to last even longer than a 24 oz bottled conditioner. I would always over estimate how much conditioner I really need, so I'd squeeze out probably twice as much as necessary. With the solid conditioner, it's hard to over use it because you'll feel how much conditioner is in your hair as you are gliding it through. There comes a point when it's clearly saturated with conditioner.

I hope this visual makes you feel great about how many bottles you are NOT using! If you haven't already made the switch, check out all the options here.

If you have any questions about which conditioner is right for you, check out this article.

If you need help or suggestions, feel free to email me!

Angela Mayorga

angela@silverstoneapothecary.com