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I used a shampoo bar for one week. Here’s what happened
According to a UN report using data from 2015, the Philippines is 1 of 5 countries that produce half of the world’s plastic waste.
It's alarming, but we can definitely do something about it. More and more people are challenging themselves to a zero-waste lifestyle, but the real challenge is in sustaining it.
RELATED: There is no 'failing' in going zero waste
Which brings us to shampoo bars.
The shampoo bar isn’t new. People use it to allow their hair to detox from the man-made chemicals that go into most commercial shampoos.
But thanks to the packaging-free nature of shampoo bars, it has caught the eye of eco-conscious citizens who want to reduce their waste. Some shampoo bars can last up to 80 washes — or 2-3 bottles of your regular shampoo.
The thought of eliminating at least one plastic bottle a month was reason enough for me to try it out.
It has been a full week since I first used it and here’s what happened to me and my formerly commercially-shampooed hair.
My hair story: I have wavy, frizzy hair that I fingercomb and air-dry daily. I’ve been using an Argan Thairapy shampoo prior to trying the shampoo bar. I have no experience using a shampoo bar before this. The one I’m trying now is a Lavender and Geranium one from Rrawph.
Day 1
I googled multiple times and variations on “how to use a shampoo bar.” Most videos that came up on YouTube were how-tos on making the actual shampoo bar. Several reviewers simply talked about how they used it, and a few demonstrated the actual process in the shower.
From my understanding, you were supposed to wet the bar, and rub it on wet hair to start a lather. That was my first problem. The shampoo bar I had wouldn’t lather enough. So, I tried my best to swipe the bar on my head and rub my scalp and get as much suds out of it as I could. I rinsed my hair until it felt not soapy.
When my hair dried, I noticed how my waves were more defined. But my hair felt “heavier” than normal. I noticed how the roots looked matted and almost greasy.
Day 2
This time around, I combed the soap through my strands from roots to end. There was no lather at all, but I still rubbed my fingertips all over my scalp in an effort to get the shampoo there. I rinsed out as much as I could then dried my hair with a blow-drier on the cool setting.
My hair still felt heavy and now extra greasy, especially my bangs. No amount of blow-drying could get it to feel non-greasy. A quick search online said that if your hair feels gummy or waxy, you might be using too much product. Okay, noted.
Day 3
My technique for today was to work up a lather on my palms and apply that to my scalp.
Because I didn’t want oily bangs, I got some help from my orange liquid soap from Ritual. It’s not meant to be used a shampoo, but since it lathers up, I thought it would help my greasy fringe situation. Air-dried my locks and my bangs were fine.
Day 4
I still rubbed the shampoo bar between my palms to get a lather started, but I also rubbed it on my scalp. Still no suds like you’d get from a commercial shampoo, but I did what I could with what little lather I had. Made sure to rinse thoroughly, especially where my part is. I noticed that my bangs did not feel greasy even if I skipped the liquid soap hack.
Further googling led me to a few blogs that mention an adjustment period between using commercial shampoo and shampoo bars. For some people, it’ll take a couple of days but for others, it may take longer.
Since commercial shampoo has Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, a synthetic foaming agent, it tends to dry out your scalp. These can create a build-up on your scalp, which tries to create more oil to keep from drying out.
When you start using a shampoo bar, your scalp adjusts to how much oil it actually needs to produce. This explains the greasy feeling I’ve been getting.
Day 5
Here's something important to note: Upon waking up, even if I remember perspiring in my sleep, my hair and scalp did not feel oily at all. Could my transition period finally be ending? I shampooed my hair with the same technique as Day 4 and air-dried as usual.
One thing I also noticed since I started using a shampoo bar is that my hair takes longer to dry. This isn’t really a big deal, but just wanted to take note of it in case it meant anything.
Day 6
I’m not sure what I did differently, but I got a better lather from the shampoo bar today. My hair feels less greasy and I noticed how softer to the touch it is. My bangs dried quite perfectly today, too. I didn’t really do anything to it, but I did stay in an airconditioned room for most of the day.
Day 7
My hair feels smoother post-shampoo. It almost feels like I applied hair serum on my locks, except I didn’t. Does my hair feel “normal” yet? I’m not sure. But maybe the after-shampoo feeling I got when I was using a commercial shampoo wasn’t exactly “normal” either.
Final thoughts:
I’m not completely sold on this shampoo bar yet, but I'm determined to stop buying bottled shampoo and lessen the amount of plastic waste I produce.
Maybe I need to find the right brand for me, or work on my technique. Maybe one week is not enough for me to decide or for my hair to adjust.
But so far, my hair feels healthier and it seems like I’m using less product than I usually do.
In between washes with my regular shampoo, my scalp tends to flake, and I haven’t had that problem this past week. I’m hoping that with continued use, my hair fall will also be reduced.
Would I repurchase? Probably not this particular shampoo bar, but I’m willing to try other brands to see if they’ll work better with my hair. I also want to know if other brands have a better lather.
Do I feel like I’ve saved the environment somehow? I’m not sure. Although, it does feel good to clean my hair with natural ingredients. Those suds go down the drain and into water channels. The last thing I’d want is to pollute our water with even more chemicals, right?
I know that it might feel inconsequential to swap the bar for the bottle, but imagine if everyone did this one small change in their routine? It could mean not ingesting microplastics in our fish someday. — LA, GMA News
