Lucian Tielens      - Sacramento, CA - 

I so enjoyed my conversation with Lucian, an energetic, upbeat, and 'well read' fellow who loves to assist patrons at the public library in Sacramento, California where he is employed. An interesting man who has amassed a large collection of books, and who, for the past 30 years has been collecting LP's featuring an intriguing selection of spoken word, self-help records, documentaries, recordings of historical events, sound tracks from strange, relatively unknown movies, and people singing "who normally wouldn't otherwise sing-- those who have been terribly miscast in musicals". It was wonderful to speak with someone who was as enthusiastic, excited, and so forthcoming with thoughts and insights on J.R.LIGGETT'S Shampoo Bar, as Lucian was.

What's the story behind the discovery? Lucian shared that while an impoverished college student, he found himself frequently washing his hair with a bar of soap, dish soap, or sometimes no soap at all. He became aware of the necessity of choosing something that is appropriate for hair care, "because if you use other things, it tends to have a negative effect on the over-all health and well-being of your hair, but when you are broke, there are a few choices to be made". He adds, "I've run the gamut and used pretty much anything you can think of to wash my hair at one time or another, so I came to appreciate a good quality hair care product. For a time I lapsed into buying whatever was on sale, and I experimented with a lot of product, and one of the things that distressed me was that a lot of the shampoos seemed to be made up largely of unpronounceable chemicals and in some cases, what seemed like really inappropriate chemicals. I've also noticed that a lot of shampoos contain formaldehyde, which really bothers me."

"For a number of reasons, as I've gotten older, I've become much more sensitive to chemicals, fragrances, pigments, and basically your non-wholesome chemically created ingredients that are found in virtually every mainstream product that you can find, even some things at the natural food places. I had found a brand of shampoo at my local co-op that I thought I was happy with; it was a major, nationally distributed, supposedly natural shampoo. It was revealed that not only did this shampoo contain a carcinogenic substance, but the manufacturers had actively concealed that information from the public, and that really bothered me. I was actually getting to the point where I thought I'd start digging around in my Foxfire books to see if I could find an old Appalachian recipe and make my own shampoo, but Providence directed me to the body care section at my co-op and there you (J.R.LIGGETT'S) were!"

Lucian refers to himself as a "20th Century" sort of person, and J.R.LIGGETT'S 'Old Fashioned' claims found great appeal and approval in Lucian's eyes... "I tend to be old fashioned in my approach to things and generally I have no issue with archaic things or old things, in fact, I prefer them. When you are talking about an 'old recipe', that kind of hooked me right there, and when I read all the pluses on the packaging and found that the packaging itself was bio-degradable, and you use soy inks, it just seemed like there was no potential downside to trying the product. I was immediately impressed with the shampoo bar, not only because it met so many of my needs so precisely, but because it's just a really good product. I immediately noticed a change in my hair, as it cleans the hair without stripping it. Basically, I wash my hair, and I don't need to wash it again until it feels dirty, which depending on the weather or whatnot, it can be a day or two. I don't have to wash my hair everyday, but since the shampoo does not strip my hair, I can wash every day if I want."

"The bar lasts forever... one of the upsides of not having to wash your hair everyday is that the product lasts longer, in fact, I've found that a bar of the shampoo lasts me for months.               I do work with the public, and I do have to maintain a certain standard of hygiene and acceptable appearance, so it's not like I live in a cave somewhere and nobody cares how I look...  I found that my hair seems to have more body, my hair cut seems to lay much better, my scalp issues have seen a positive change, and I don't seem to have the brittleness that I've encountered with other hair care products".

"I am very impressed with the minimal packaging as that's a problem I've always had (with plastic containers) because I've always figured that if there were a way to recycle the containers, there's the issue of what was in them, and I'm sure that adequately cleansing them of their former contents wouldn't be economically feasible. Plus, I think about all of those chemicals going in the water... I don't think that is something that people have been encouraged to think about, because it wasn't financially expedient for people who make things out of chemicals. Anything that goes in the water has to be removed before we drink the water. A big selling point for me with J.R.LIGGETT'S Shampoo Bar is that there are no multi-syllabic, un-pronounceable, frightening chemicals in it. It's an economical product, and I think for the price and the value you receive, that's another big plus."

"I can't say enough about the product, and I'm not a big person for endorsing things as there are all sorts of hooks when you recommend something that can blow back on you. Or, it turns out that there is some downside somewhere that you weren't aware of and you have to apologize for having made the recommendation, and I just cannot find anything like that about this product. I have recommended it to so many people, especially those I know who travel because I'm aware of the TSA issues, and I can see where it would be a great boon to anyone because you wouldn't have to 'chuck it' (in a bin), plus, you would get to keep using it!" Lucian may not be a traveling man, "I'm a stick around kind of guy..." but if he did travel, "I can assure you that this would be my hair care product of choice." "A lot of the people I work with are women, and they are locked into their hair conditioning and hair maintenance regiments, and I just keep telling them, "You need to give this a try, let me know what happens..." and I start sounding like the guy at the fair... "Just one little bar and that's all you need!"

"About the only problem I have run into is that not everybody sells it. I have gone to the nearest Natural Foods store a couple of times and recommended it to them to start carrying it. I can't understand why every store does not carry it..."

"I'm just pleased that I can speak with a real human being who is in an actual place and directly involved with the production and distribution of a product that I can so wholeheartedly recommend and that I enjoy so much, made by real people on this continent. I can't think of another thing apart from the 1972 Datsun 510--one of the greatest automobiles ever made--that I would unreservedly recommend to anyone."

In my book, I'd say that's a whopper of a recommendation, as Lucian has three of these cars.

Stay tuned for my next Interview and 

live life to the fullest!

Bye now, 

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