Wash and Learn - All About Shampoo Bars and Natural Hair Care

What is it?and butters, and are made up of:
A Shampoo Bar looks practically the same as your• Lauric
typical bar of soap, which you would use to wash your• Oleic
hands or face. The only difference is that this bar is• Ricinoleic
used on your hair. The best thing about shampoo bars,• Stearic
is the fact that they are made using 100% natural• Linoleic
ingredients, creating a shampoo that is deep• Palmitic
conditioning, fluffy, takes care of your scalp, without• Myristic
stripping it of it's natural oils, like some harsh shampoos• Linolenic
can do, and just looks after your curly hair.Each of the fatty acids create a different type of
Since they contain nothing but natural ingredients,lather, in a product, so depending on which ingredients
shampoo bars do not contain any artificial perfumes,a shampoo bar contains, determines how the product
alcohol, animal products (meaning that they are perfectwill lather up for you.
for Vegans), harsh synthetics, no unnaturalPalmitic, Stearic and Ricinoleic all create a smooth,
preservatives, no artificial colours or any other kind ofcream-like lather, with plenty of poppable bubbles.
nasty that could cause you and your hair damage.Whilst, Lauric and Myristic both create lathers that
And if that wasn't enough, shampoo bars have beenhave plentiful amounts of bubbles that are deep
lovingly made by hand.cleansing.
Do Shampoo bars lather up like normal shampoo?If you want a shampoo that conditions, you would
Of course they do. Typical liquid shampoos rely onneed fatty acids like Ricinoleic, Oleic, Linoleic and
unnatural synthetic ingredients that are added by theLinolenic to create this, whilst if you were looking to
large companies that manufacture them en masse.gain a hard texture, Myristic, Stearic, Lauric and Palmitic
These ingredients are harsh, but create the latherwould be needed to create this.
effect that you will be familiar of.This lather-effect that is created is the reason that
Harsh ingredients that cause the lather include:shampoo bars, will never strip your wonderful curly hair
• Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS)of all those essential oils that your hair needs. This is
• Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES),because the lather-effect as mentioned, is caused by
• Cocobetaine and/or Propylene Glycolmolecules or chains of carbon atoms, that a. Attract
These products would be completely redundant, ifwater, and b. Attract oil, together drawing moisture and
natural ingredients were not removed.oil into your hair.
Shampoo bars, on the other hand, are created in smallBut won't rinsing, wash the oil and moisture away?
amounts by specialist companies, and the bars containNo. Rinsing off a normal liquid shampoo, will cause the
a natural form of glycerine, that the major companiesoil part of the molecules to wash away down into the
will have unnecessarily removed during the process.depths of the plug hole. This is thanks to the fact that
Glycerine not only takes care of your scalp and hair,they often contain too much fatty acid. Shampoo bars,
but also lathers up just as nicely as nasty-filled liquidon the other hand, are capable of attaching to things
shampoos.on our hair that we don't need, such as dirt, hair
All natural shampoo bars contain are organic buttersproducts, oils etc and removing them, without stripping
and oils, with absolutely nothing icky!your curly hair of what it really needs.
The glycerine, of course, isn't the only ingredient thatAll of this means that shampoo bars (and soaps) are
ensures you get a lovely rich lather out of yourbrilliant forms of hair cleansing, and the amounts of
shampoo, but it is also created using fatty acids thatglycerine help to protect and smooth not only your hair,
contribute to the effect.but your scalp too. Ultimately, shampoo bars are super
Fatty acids exist inside several different types of oilsgentle on your sensitive skin. Perfect.