Plastic plastic everywhere, on your skin and in your hair. But no more! Wash your hair the plastic-free way with a solid shampoo bar. No plastic packaging and palm-oil free. Switching to a shampoo bar is one of the easiest ways to cut down on your plastic consumption, so why not start here?
95g.
For best results keep it in a soap dish to let it dry out between uses. Top Tip: Cut off a section of your shampoo bar at a time to make it more manageable to use. It will also last longer as you won’t be getting the whole bar wet!
Shampoo Bar
The many, many plastic bottles and containers of shampoo. Just think of the shampoo aisle in the supermarket. All that choice of haircare packaged in so much plastic. Stuff of nightmares honestly.
No plastic packaging! Just a cardboard box. It also contains no palm oil, and has only a few ingredients unlike most mass-produced shampoo. Why do you need a list of 20 odd ingredients to clean your hair? You don’t. It’s ridiculous. Much better for your hair if you use a shampoo bar, as conventional shampoo cleans your hair by stripping it of all the natural oils your hair produces.
‘But…isn’t that a good thing? I don’t want greasy hair!’ I hear you cry. Well, unfortunately, by stripping your hair of its oils it loses its ability to clean itself. Commercial shampoo dries your hair out, and so your hair starts to excessively produce oil to try and make it healthy again. Which leads to the greaseball look we all try desperately to avoid. Shampoo bars tend to forgo the oil stripping chemicals and work with your hair to clean it. Leading to healthier, shinier, lustrous locks!
Warning: There does tend to be an adjustment period for shampoo bars, as your hair needs to get used to the freedom to regulate itself again. How long this will last is dependent on your hair, it could be a week to a month. If you wash your hair every day it’s probably going to take longer to get used to.
If the water in your area is hard, unfortunately, shampoo bars don’t tend to work amazingly. Hard water makes it much more difficult to rinse the lather out of your hair, leaving it feeling kind of waxy*. If the water is soft you shouldn’t have that issue. It’s better you know now so that you have an idea of whether this bar will work for you. Here is a link to find out. ...Although, hard water doesn't seem to be a problem for some people's hair. I've had feedback from others who find the shampoo bar works well for them, despite the fact they live in a hard water area.
*I have this issue, it’s rather annoying. An apple cider vinegar rinse after using the shampoo bar helps in the hard water situation. If you are in the same boat as me, a shampoo bar with the ingredients that strip the oil from your hair will work, so try the other shampoo bars we sell by Little Blue Hen – they are in the shape of a heart so easy to distinguish from this shampoo bar.
Shampoo bars last for a long time, one 95g bar is equivalent to around three bottles of normal shampoo. So even though it is more expensive to buy a bar than a bottle of shampoo, it lasts much longer so you have to buy less. By buying one shampoo bar you are saving three plastic bottles from being used. Think what an effect that would have if everyone used a shampoo bar!
Shampoo bars themselves tend to be quite expensive. The average is around £4.50 to £7.50 (The one I used to buy from that well-known, powerful-smelling high street shop was £6.95.) At £3.50 this bar is well below the mark. The Friendly Soap Company’s prices are very reasonable in comparison to most other handmade soap companies which is why I wanted to work with them. If a shampoo bar is equivalent to three shampoo bottles, then that’s just over £1 a bottle, pretty good price then, right? Worth it.
What is it made from?
LAVENDER AND TEA TREE INGREDIENTS: Sodium Cocoate (Coconut Oil), Sodium Olivate (Olive Oil), Aqua (Water), Sodium Castorate (Castor Oil), Lavandula Angustifolia essential oil (Lavender Oil, contains Linalool, Limonene and Geraniol* which are all chemicals which come from the plant itself) Melaleuca Alternifolia essential oil (Tea Tree oil, naturally contains limonene)
PEPPERMINT AND EUCALYPTUS INGREDIENTS: Sodium cocoate, Sodium olivate, Aqua, Sodium castorate, Argania spinosa (argan) kernel oil, Mentha piperita (peppermint) oil contains limonene, Eucalyptus globulus (eucalyptus) leaf oil contains limonene
*Fun Fact: Geraniol is an effective plant-based mosquito repellent, but I wouldn’t recommend using it for that purpose as unfortunately it also attracts bees!
That’s it. Six ingredients, one of which is water, two of which are scents. If that’s not pure and natural I don’t know what is. Keeping your hair clean doesn’t have to be complicated after all.
Where does it come from?
Made in the UK.
Is it sustainable and environmentally friendly?
Olive Oil does have some environmental issues within its production, mainly due to intensive farming methods. However, a lot of olive oil farming is still done by small scale farmers using traditional methods, which is much better environmentally.
Castor oil is used as a replacement for petroleum based substances in many products. It is a much greener alternative as it is renewable unlike oil.
Essential oil production generally uses steam distillation which has no environmental concerns, but it takes a lot of plant to make only a small amount of essential oil.
Lavender is considered a sustainable crop as it doesn’t need pesticides or fertilizers to grow. English Lavender is the hardiest, (of course, look at our ridiculous weather! You’d have to be a tough little plant to survive here.) and apparently the most fragrant. Despite this, the Lavender in the products we use is probably not actually grown in the UK.
Tea tree leaves can be sourced sustainably using fair trade principles. But, it can also be synthesised synthetically.
Coconut oil seems to be ok.
How about ethical?
Made in the UK by a small handmade soap business, so ethically we are all good here. They are a living wage employer and have the ‘Fair Tax Mark’ certification.
Extra good stuff:
Vegan, not tested on animals, free from palm oil and known skin irritants such as Sodium Lauryl Sulphate’s (foaming agent) and parabens (preservatives). Ooo and this one has an Ethical Consumer ‘Best Buy’ seal of approval. Get in!
Conclusion –
Shampoo with no plastic, palm oil and good ingredients? What more could you want!
