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All About Shampoo Bars

/ Hair Care, Natural Living

Hi, I’m Kandra, founder and owner of Alo Goods. And, I’ve got one of those heads of hair that you hate in the summer (when it adds pounds of weight and heat to your head) and love in the winter (when it adds so much insulation that you don’t need a hat). I cut my hair when I get tangled up in it trying to sit down, and HATE split ends, frizzy fly-aways… and used to dread washing it. About 15 years ago I started using “natural” shampoos thinking that I was avoiding chemicals, but once I started making my own handmade soap I quickly learned that commercial shampoos are nothing more than detergents (i.e. chemicals).

I researched natural alternatives to shampoo, tried the no-poo method (quite successfully for a year or two) and then, a light when off. Why can’t I wash my hair with my handmade soap? 

Well, technically you can wash your hair with any soap, but it’s not always the best thing for your locks. Let’s dive in and learn why you would want to use a shampoo bar, what exactly one is, and (more importantly) how to use one so you can have lovely, chemical-free, locks of hair.

Kandra Hair
Kandra’s hair, freshly trimmed and washed with the ACV Shampoo Bar.

What the heck is a shampoo bar?

Shampoo bars are simply a bar of soap specifically formulated for hair. All additives are aimed at nourishing your hair and the bar is formulated for extra thick lather to help you wash out dirt and oils. And as an added bonus, a shampoo bar does not require plastic bottles that could end up in a landfill.

But, not all shampoo bars are created equally. Many shampoo bars on the market are “SynDet” bars. That’s a fancy word squish for SYNthetic DETergent bars. They are essentially the same chemical composition as bottled shampoos, but without the added water. They lather due to synthetic foaming agents, and they clean with a detergent cleanser. You can read more about natural vs. commercial soaps here, or just scroll down for an overview of some of the ingredients in a commercial shampoo.

All of our shampoo bars are natural soaps, specially formulated to be gentle and effective cleansing and nourishing the hair and scalp. We even have a Coconut Tea bar that’s amazing for dreadlocks!

Why not just use traditional shampoo?

I’m sure 99.9% of you grew up with a bottle of shampoo and conditioner alongside a bar of soap in the shower, so why change? Well… traditional shampoos are pretty scary stuff once you look at what’s in them (at least to me). This article from I Read Labels for You lists the following six dangers lurking in shampoos, and I think sums it up pretty well. Here’s a quick rundown, but I highly recommend that you read the full article:

  1. Commercial Shampoos can have Carcinogens (you know, those little things that can cause cancer). Even worse, some of them are derived from coconut oil, and can be listed as derived from coconut oil on the label, but it’s not our friendly coconut oil by the time it’s in the product.
  2. They can contain preservatives. Whenever you put water in a product, you must must MUST add a preservative to avoid bacterial growth. There’s no way around it. With a shampoo bar, no additional water is added, so we don’t need preservatives which may lead to other health issues and end up going down the drain just to show up in our drinking water, crops, fish, and more.
  3. Synthetic cleansing and foaming agents anyone? Apart from them being synthetic, they strip your hair of natural oils. This weakens your hair in the long-term and can even lead to greasy hair (from your hair shafts over-producing oils to replace the ones you stripped out).
  4. Conditioning agents (to “fix” the stripping from the foaming agents). In addition to the chemical based detergent, more chemicals added to try to repair the harm the shampoo did. Yes, these do leave your hair LOOKING shiny, glossy, silky, and smooth, but only because your hair is actually coated in synthetic chemicals that cover up the weak strands (and might even lead to hair loss down the road).
  5. Artificial fragrances. This one always bothered me… I don’t want my hair to smell like strawberries. And, if it does, that’s a sure sign that your hair is full of chemicals. And, did you know that “fragrance” listed on a label can be ANYTHING? In the US, companies are not required to disclose ingredients added to make their products smell nice (or to mask the bad scents).
  6. Artificial and potentially toxic dyes. Shampoo (or any soap for that matter), isn’t pink, neon orange, or bright green without the addition of an artificial colorant. Even FDA approved dyes commonly found in foods are associated with hyperactive kids.

WOW, all of that just to wash your hair? Now, you understand why I looked for an alternative.

Washing (and conditioning) your hair with a natural shampoo bar.

Washing hair with a “bar” of soap may seem a bit odd to some, but once the bar lathers up you’ll love it! A nice lather will come from a balanced blend of the right oils, and friction. Lucky for you, your hair makes for great friction (and our shampoo bars are formulated for lather). Here’s how Kandra, our founder, washes her hair:

Time needed: 10 minutes

How to wash and condition your hair naturally.

  1. Cleanse your hair with a bar of natural shampoo

    Lather up your bar of shampoo just like any bar of soap, relish in the mounds of chemical-free bubbles, and scrub away! I also keep the bar in the palm of my hand while I scrub with my fingers, but if you don’t have a much hair as I do (lucky you!) you can probably put it back on the soap dish.

    Rinse out all of the shampoo being careful not to get any in your eyes, or your kids eyes. It’s not a horrible burn but it is soap and not the chemical tear-free soap in a bottle of baby shampoo. So, just keep it out of your eyes.

  2. Clarify with an acidic rinse.

    A clarifying rinse of apple cider vinegar will help rinse away all of the grime and help tame frizz. An acidic rinse will smooth the hair shaft down after the alkaline soap (your shampoo bar) raised the scales to get everything clean. You can use lemon juice, vinegar (white or apple cider, I use apple cider), or even kombucha.

    My recipe is 1 tbsp herb-infused apple cider vinegar to 4 cups water. I mix up 4 cups of the rinse in a large bowl and take it into the shower with me. Then after the first rinse, I dip my hair into it, squish the mounds of hair around, pour the rest over my head. and rinse it all out.

    For easier application, keep a small portion of the infused ACV a squeeze bottle in the shower. Apply directly to your scalp, massage in, then rinse well after a few minutes.

  3. Condition with a natural conditioner bar. (Optional)

    On a normal day, I don’t do anything to my hair other than wash and rinse. As long as I smooth down the shafts of my hair, and keep a healthy diet, my hair follicles produce enough oils to keep my hair happy and healthy. But with such long hair, it sometimes needs some extra moisturizing (which is what conditioners too).

    Once a week I use a conditioner bar. Similar to a shampoo bar, the conditioner bar is a natural alternative to traditional conditioners (and uses a lot less packaging). To use, you just glide the bar over your hair, massage in, then rinse after a few minutes.

    About once every 4-6 weeks, I treat my locks with a hair-loving deep conditioning treatment. Using some shavings from the conditioner bar, I make a creamy hair treatment to leave on for about 20-30 minutes before washing out.

The Breaking in Period

Some people experience a “breaking in” period. You see, you’ve been damaging your hair all of these years with chemicals and commercial shampoos that cover up the damage and cover your hair shaft with silicon. Depending on the condition of your hair, it could take 2-6 weeks (or more) to have a truly healthy head of hair. And, you could end up with a few weeks of “oh my, I need a hat!”. But, in my experience (and many of our customers), this hasn’t been the case.

If you want to wash out the synthetic covering in one go,  first wash your hair with baking soda. Just mix up a paste, and wash your hair with it. Follow up with a wash with the shampoo bar and Apple Cider Vinegar rinse.

For more information about the breaking in periods, read our tips for adjusting to natural shampoo bars. And here’s more information about our conditioner bars.

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