Happy to see that you are interested in the SWITCH. You should know that there is a transition period when you begin to use a natural Shampoo bar - your hair will be readjusting by producing too much natural sebum. It you have hard water your transition will take longer. If you have no transition period you have awesome groovy locks that dig natural shampoo, very rare, but Lucky you!! Everyone is different, due to the fact that every person has a different chemical makeup, different water and different hormonal system. Some of the most frequently asked questions I receive when a customer tries my bars. It might feel super waxy (like mine did on wash 1), greasy, super dry, or a combination of all of these. I could not comb through my hair for the life of me.
You need to give your hair some room to breathe and let it work all of the chemicals out. After a few washes, research shows that you’ll adjust. It’s magical. Your scalp will stop producing all of those extra oils and nutrients. You know the ones that make your hair look greasy. Your scalp was doing this to protect you from chemicals. Suddenly it will reach a state of equilibrium. You’ll have natural, normal, healthy hair. When I switched to my natural bars years ago it was like a monkey off my back (after transition). I wash my hair 1 time every 7-14 days, my hair never looks greasy.
When changing from liquid shampoo or (detergent) bars. Even switching from ‘natural’ bars to ‘true natural’ shampoo bars will result in a transition phase. There are “shampoo bars” on the market that are not ALL NATURAL even though they include the word ‘natural’ on the label. They can do this even when they have only a few ingredients in their bars. They are not necessarily doing anything wrong, but it can be mis-leading so you, as a consumer, need to be more vigilant when purchasing.
The words Paraben, formaldehyde, Sulfates, Triclosan, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Polyethylene, Sodium Chloride, Alcohol, Silicon, Polylobate are in fact poison and are foaming agents and products to make the bar/liquid lather more, or make less tangles, or more curly. Truly none of these chemicals have any business in your body or hair care products.
To start with a fresh canvas of build-up-free hair, you can mix a solution of 1:3 baking soda and water. I would recommend one liter of water. Get this all set up in a jar prior to getting in the shower. Simply pour your mixture over your hair and work through with your fingers for few minutes. You can let this sit in your hair a little longer and rinse with water. You are now set up all fresh for your new Natural Shampoo Bar.
WHAT ABOUT CONDITIONER?
Why conditioner exists in the first place — why do we need it?
Liquid shampoo (detergents), not completely natural shampoo bars, actually strip the natural oils from your hair. This made the chemists create conditioner……yes, conditioner is a consumer product created from a need actually *created* by modern shampoo. Our hair produces natural oils, if we can leave those (mostly) intact, we shouldn’t need conditioner.
This means that if you switch from liquid shampoo to a non-natural shampoo bar (however labelled natural) you’ll still need conditioner to replenish the oils the detergents are stripping. This is why companies have created the “natural conditioner bars”. Hence the reason shampoo bar instructions can get a bit confusing — we’re not always talking about the same thing when we talk about shampoo bars!
Having said this, many that use our shampoo bars do like to do a rinse once a week when washing their hair, with diluted apple cider vinegar, and/or use a hair oil after they wash their hair.
Once your hair is used to our shampoo bars, you will only need to wash your hair once a week! I do the apple cider rinse, most times, my hair is long (middle of my back) and I use an oil on my ends including the last 12 inches.
How to use a SHAMPOO BAR: STEP BY STEP
Your process might be a bit different – please drop me a note as I would love to hear about it!
We have VERY hard water here in Osoyoos. What this means is the water is full of calcium, so nothing ever looks clean, if water gets on a window or shower glass, if leaves a white film and we must use only filtered water in appliances or it ruins them. This makes washing my long hair quite difficult.
This is what I do:
- Wet hair normally.
- Mix a pinch to a tablespoon of baking soda with 1-2 cups of warm water and pour over hair.
- Lather shampoo bar between my hands; Then I apply to my hair. I keep doing this until I have enough lather (remember that it will NOT be like detergent shampoo as there are NO foaming agents).
- Work lather through hair and rinse normally.
- Add liter of warm water to (a ¼ cup or more) apple cider vinegar (prepare prior to starting).
- Pour over hair. Do not rinse. This is to help to break up and remove product residue, as well as add slip to the hair to reduce tangles. This also aides colour treated hair to seal the cuticle and balance the Ph.
- Add 10 drops of Argan oil on hair after lightly towel drying for extra conditioning and shine (if you use a different oil, please let me know)
I encourage you to tune in to what your hair is telling you.
Here are four reasons why you should switch to natural shampoo bars:
- In a nutshell, they will save you a ton of cash! They are great for travel, as an all over body bar. That’s all you have to bring in your carry on, one bar for everything
- They're better for your hair and scalp. Traditional shampoos are loaded with harsh chemicals that can strip away natural oils, leaving your hair dry and susceptible to damage. Shampoo bars, on the other hand, are made with nourishing ingredients like olive oil and coconut oil that help to hydrate and protect your hair. They don't strip away natural oils like some liquid shampoos can, so your hair stays healthy and hydrated.
- All of our products, including our shampoo bars are made with natural ingredients from our Earth - Shea Butter, Coconut Butter, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Therapeutic Grade Essential oils. All our bars can be used in cold water. The main ingredients in our shampoo bars are castor oil, coconut oil and olive oil. These oils help to cleanse your hair and scalp without stripping away natural oils. In addition, they help to condition your hair and add shine. We also add cocoa butter and shea butter to our shampoo bars. These help to moisturize your hair and give it a healthy appearance. Finally, we add essential oils to our shampoo bars for a refreshing scent. Our shampoo bars are available in a variety of scents, including, lemongrass, rosemary and peppermint. For example, our Rosemary Shampoo Bar is made with rosemary oil and crushed leaves, which brings out the highlights in brown and red hair. And our Herbal shampoo Bar is made with parsley, peppermint and rosemary oils, which have regenerative, antiseptic and stimulating properties that can improve the health of your hair. The Camper’s bar has a unique scent of therapeutic grade essential oils of lemongrass, citronella, cedar wood, eucalyptus and tea tree, this blend is not a favourite to our pesky mosquitos and bugs Our newest Shampoo and body bar named, BC Bull Kelp Shampoo Bar was inspired from our very own Pacific Ocean, off of the coast of Prince Rupert, rich with Align content (seaweed gel). This mineral, antioxidant and vitamin rich nourishing bar is great for all skin and hair types.
- They’re better for the environment. Our All-Natural Shampoo Bars are ecofriendly, septic field friendly, lakes and water friendly, zero waste and Pet and Human friendly. They are equal to up to 4 plus bottles of tradition chemical liquid shampoo, so no more plastic bottles in our land fill.
FACT: Liquid shampoos come in plastic bottles that can take 450 years to decompose in landfills. Shampoo bars, on the other hand, are completely zero-waste. This is a no brainer. You should at least try it. I know you will switch.