Shampoo bars

[BigStripeyBastard]

Evening all.
Has anyone successfully made the transition to solid shampoo bars? I'm a week in and my hair is akin to waxy, disgusting hay. I know it's supposed to take a while and I dont wash my hair more than 3 times a week but....... bleurrrgh.
Do I wash it more often? Less often? Try the diluted apple cider vinegar rinse?
I mean, I can tie my hair in a bun for work, it smells fine, I'm not, you know, Jennifer Aniston 😊 but it just feels so horrible.
Do I stick with it? Will it get better?
I'm basically trying to limit the number of plastic bottles I get through but at this point,I am just really hankering after my old, Tresemme- swishy hair instead of this waxy birds nest on my head......

Blleeaarrgh.

I love the purple Lush solid conditioner. I didn’t at first but once I worked out how to use it, it was better! I put it in a shallow dish of warm water while I shampoo and shower. This softens it a little. I run it from mid lengths to ends of small sections of my hair (I’ve never put conditioner near my roots as my hair goes lank). I then gather my hair in a pony tail in my hands and rotate the bar through my hair, as though I’m washing my hands, just with my hair in there. I leave it in for a bit then use my wet comb and rinse. Takes longer than bottled conditioner but it works for me.

I should add, my hair is long and wavy with a tendency towards dry ends.

I've started using soak and float from lush. Made my hair squeaky clean and could wash it twice a week rather than every day with normal shampoo.
My hair is waist length, I only wash the roots and condition the ends. One a month I'll do a conditioning treatment.
I wonder if it's the bar that you're using?
Oh and I know the lush bars are expensive, but I've been using for a year and only just started the second one.

I was having big problems with shampoo bars until I found the Solid Bar Company.

I haven't used 'normal' shampoo (containing SLS, parabens etc) for over 10 years, so was really disconcerted to find my hair was a yucky mess with the first few solid shampoo bars I tried as I shouldn't have had any build up to remove.

I did some research and discovered that the build up I was getting was the result of the bar reacting with the hard water in my area. Apparently not all solid bars are created equal.

Now I have switched to the Solid Bar Company products my hair is back to its normal beautiful self

This article might help you:
thesolidbarcompany.com/blogs/rebeccas-blogs/the-best-natural-shampoo-bar-in-the-uk

I'm glad I persevered and didn't give up. I wouldn't go back to bottled shampoo now if you paid me! Good luck.

I've just bought some solus shampoo for the same reasons. The instructions that came with mine said:
You need a really good lather to ensure you don't put too much on. They suggested rubbing onto a sponge and then applying the sponge to your head.
Rince with diluted apple cider vinegar
Can take 4-6 weeks to adjust.

I've used lush ones in the past with no transition issues but they still contain a lot of chemicals and they're relatively quite expensive. Looking forward to trying the new ones though.

Another vote here for getting the big vats of products. I currently have Bio-D hand wash, toilet cleaner and washing up liquid. I got them in huge quantities from ethical superstore.

The handwash is now what we use for bubble bath and refills our bathroom pump bottle. The washing up liquid obviously for washing up, but also goes diluted into a spray bottle as a surface cleaner.

I have used the handwash occasionally to wash my hair, but have a Friendly Shampoo bar to try when my other stuff runs out.

I think Nacreous makes a really good point (one that I need to think more about at home). It's quite appealing to look at toiletries, but for us, the greatest gains could probably be made in the kitchen - plastic milk bottles, bread bags, packaging on fruit/veg and certainly crisps. Cat food pouches is one that makes me cringe. Bought a load of tins and bloody cat won't touch them because she likes the pouches. From an environmental point of view, that is awful.

EnterFunnyNameHere..... in my plastic free endeavors, I haven't actually managed to find an entirely plastic free moisturiser. I'm trying but not quite managed it yet. I use Clarins hydra-essentiel at the moment as I have a stash of it which I am trying to work through. It is predominently in a glass jar but it does have a plastic lid.
I also use quite a few of The Ordinary products in the dropper apothecary bottles. They are glass bottles, glass dropper tubes and a rubber squeezy thing onthe top. The only plastic bit is the ring around the top. Again, by no means perfect but better than endless plastic tubes. And if you order The Ordinary online from Deciem, they do seem to send it out in completely plastic free packaging.
I just use soap bars on my body, again from Friendly Soap and they are also plastic free.
I switched to reusable sanitary protection a couple of years ago so that's saved endless plastic wrappers going in the bin. I am gradually getting better with my plastic cutting.

Update on the waxy birdsnest..... I haven't washed it again yet but I'm brushing through it a lot more and that is making it feel better. I'm going to try a bicarb rinse before I wash tomorrow, then follow with apple cider rinse and no proper conditioner. See if that helps.

hen10 I completely agree about kitchen waste.... I have cut out the cat food sachets, luckily the beast will eat anything so for a while now, I've just been buying his dry food in the biggest bags I can get. I wish Pets at Home sold the massive bags of litter in paper sacks as opposed to plastic.
I favour tins and jars for human food, where I can. My local Morrisons are very good about using your own reuseable tubs for fish, cheese etc at the counters. I have tried in vain to find a local milkman that will deliver milk in glass but no bugger delivers round my way, sadly.

I wish you got refills for stuff like this. My local health food shop does refills for ecover products but I feel like there's loads more that could be refillable. Plus why can't you buy pasta, rice, cereal, lentils etc loose by weight and carry it home it your own container?

I'm probably a bit late to this thread but I make and sell natural and organic shampoo and soap bars and also have a really good detangling/clarifying rinse (if I do say so myself!) specially formulated for new users to shampoo bars! I'm not into spamming but if anyone on this thread is interested pm me and I can link to my eBay (and Etsy) account where I have heaps of positive feedback. 😊

To add, I live in Cornwall and we have several shops like this now minty (I work part time in one too) and it's an amazing facility to have! We are getting more popular too... Hopefully It's only a matter of time before the bigger supermarkets cotton on to this (they've been doing it in the states and Canada for aaaaaages) and it'll be available to all of us!

Down with plastic!! 😃

I use a shampoo bar from bomb cosmetics and a conditioner bar plastic free shop, both have been fine.

Oh, hopefully the refill shops will spread to central Scotland too then!

I use Lush shampoo bar and really like it. Thick shoulder length hair.

I’ve not yet found a conditioner that is any use in bar form so have settled on Lush bottles as they are recycled.
I use soap not shower gel. It feels cleaner, smells nicer and reduces plastic. I tend to L’Occitane but recently swapped to Lush.
I’d love more of the Lush toiletries if they weren’t over-scented, filled with ghastly bits of gravel and glitter etc. Maybe the need a plain and simple range.

CherryPavlova Exactly! You've hit the nail on the head. Lush needs to ditch the gravel, glitter and palm oil!

Friendly are good shampoo bars I agree.

Anyone found a conditioner bar?

Plastic free moisturiser. Try Exlirs of life range. Good packaging.

I took one away cycle touring last year as it was so much lighter to carry than shampoo.

By the end of the trip my hair was bone dry and like straw. One wash with normal shampoo when I was home and it was back to normal. Not for me.

I think your problem is silicone build up if you are sure you're not in a hard water area?

You could clarify with a traditional shampoo, no conditioner. Or try an applesauce mask which helps with the wax. Literally just cook apples, blend really well and maybe strain if you can be bothered. Apply warm to hair, shower cap and towel and leave for an hour then shampoo bar out and acv rinse.

You need an acid rinse after a shampoo bar to balance the ph of your scalp.

You then need to find a silicone free conditioner. I'm loving fresh aloe Vera at the moment. You can just slather it on, leave it to dry and brush out. It's magic.

I have lighter curly hair but with thick individual strands. For me nothing solid that leaves a residue works. I need to use sulfate free shampoo. You can get ethical brands now include palm oil free - I find going to an afro-caribbean aimed hairdressser / shop helps because they tend to import a greater variety of ethical brands from Asia / Americas / Africa which really work for me

Thanks @BigStripeyBastard and @Wellandtrulyoutnumbered for moisturiser suggestions, I might give elixirs of life a go... Has anyone tried the Lush naked range (facial oils)? Those seem lowest packaging- although I'm not a massive Lush fan... I wonder how they perform.

Also, for hard water people wanting no plastic shampoo, I read a good sounding review of Beauty Kubes working well in Paris (hard water) so that might be worth a go? I've just ordered a tester pack to try!!

Lets make gains wherever we can surely?

REALLY interested in shampoo bars, have been worrying as getting near to needing more. Could anyone suggest?

I have long thick wavy hair. I shampoo at the roots and need a good thick conditioner. Incidentally, recently bought a natural bristle hairbrush which is fantastic.

But if you have similar hair, which shampoo bar would you recommend pls?

something2say I mentioned up thread about my bars but if you're interested have a look at my eBay or Etsy accounts? The name is Sandangels Organics, I make shampoo bars, combination hair and body bars, and moisturisers...m all plastic and toxin free, and I have great feedback.

Just a word of advice re hair rinsing (especially important in hard water areas) try to use a very weak dilution as while the hair and scalp does prefer a slightly acidic environment most people over do it and end up with brittle hair! Good luck in your search... If you don't like the sound of my stuff persevere as there is Definitely a bar out there for everyone! 😁

I hope I don't get told off for that post actually??

If you can't get on with solid shampoo, I'd just stick with bottles TBH.

You're using a couple a year if you're using the big Treseme ones and it's such a drop in the ocean(!) compared with people who are still buying fizzy drinks in plastic bottles daily or some of the people on here who are going through a bottle of shower gel per person per week. There's sometimes a limit to what we can all achieve, and I wouldn't feel guilty about a comparitvely tiny residual plastic usage.