Shampoo and Conditioner Bars. 6 tips for starting.

One of the hardest things most people find when going zero waste is to switch to zero waste hair care. Especially if you have long, high maintenance hair like mine. There’s a lot of myths out there. Some where once true. Now however, it could not be easy to try some zero waste products that do not break the bank, and do not leave you pushing through all manner of grease stages.

Contrary to popular belief it is just is as easy to switch to zero waste shampoo bars with long hair as it is for short hair. Using chemical free shampoo will stop your hair being stripped and therefore reduce the need for excess silky conditioning products.

With zero waste ideals becoming much more mainstream in the last few years the market for shampoo and conditioner bars has widely expanded making it so much easier for us to try and buy a range of products, even in our local supermarkets. They products have also become much better. No longer does it feel like your washing your hair with a dry hemp bar but with what feels very much like traditional liquid shampoo. Previously most shampoo bars were soap bars with a few added ingredients to make them hair friendly but they didn’t really work leaving a waxy feel on our hair. It gave shampoo bars a seriously bad rep and added all that need for apple cider vinegar rinses. Luckily things have really changed.

The easy switch to shampoo bars isn’t just made easier with ever expanding products but with our own hair habits too. Washing less, going completely shampoo free or using hemp smelling products don’t have to make us off the grid hippies, but do they really help our hair? Or help us go even more zero waste? Let’s find out..

Does going “No Poo” actually help your hair?

While many can get away with not using shampoo and joining the “no poo” movement simply washing with water it’s not for everyone or all hair types. It certainly isn’t for me. Although I wash my hair much less than I ever have, around once a week at the moment, I do enjoy washing my hair, enjoying that lovely clean feeling. The push through to “no poo” is something I would just never be willing to do and it may not even work for my hair type.

However wavy or curly hair types do prefer co-washing, which means only or sometimes only just washing with conditioner.

Co-washing (conditioner washing) can be a good way to cut down on the amount of shampoo you use. Washing every other time just using conditioner or choosing to use shampoo just once every couple of weeks.

The benefits mean your using less shampoo and letting your hair adjust more to its natural state but giving it a boost with some conditioner.

Does shampoo strip your hair?

Your scalp produces sebum which is vital to healthy hair. Hair that is free of natural oils will appear dry and course, even dull and difficult to style.

There is a lot of talk about weather we should be using sulphtes in our shampoo. A lot of curly girl method advise against them. The worst of the sulphates being SLS. But as they all bad? My favourite shampoo bar brand Ethique says no and does use them (though not SLS).

The jury is kind on out on this matter as there are no real studies to say what sulphates can or cannot do to our hair. My personal tip is to try out some different shampoo bars and see what your hair likes. Some people will feel like they need the sulphates and it is the closest they will get to traditional liquid shampoos and some will feel like they don’t need them.

Either way I think the most important thing we can do is to cut down on the amount we wash our hair to let the natural oils and sebum do it’s thing, which for me with long hair has meant I need to mess with it less.

So now we understand some of the weird jargon we hear around hair care but how can all this help you switch to shampoo and conditioner bars?

6 Tips to help you switch to shampoo bars.

1.Wash your hair less often.

I found a great way of switching to zero waste shampoos was to start with washing my hair less often. If your used to slapping on a load of liquid shampoo every day or every other day, mentally the switch will be a harder one. Letting the natural oils (sebum) in your hair come through to control your hair health itself will help regulate your hair oils better, lessening the need to wash and then making the switch to shampoo bars easier.

This will also keep your hair more naturally moisturized, lessening the need for more condition and therefore making the switch to conditioner bars much easier.

For this reason I always recommend starting with shampoo bars and reducing the amount of liquid conditioner you use before trying a conditioner bar.

Amazing I barely need conditioner now, which is something I never thought would happen, especially with my long thick air. In days gone by I coated every inch of my hair in conditioner and let it sit for as long as possible. Now I use it purely to give it a little extra shine, but if I ran out and got stuck I wouldn’t be worried.

How to stretch the time between washing your hair.

Your hair likes routine. Start by stretching the time between washes slowly. A day or two at first. Do this for a few weeks before adding in another day. This gives the sebum levels in your hair time to adjust.

This is easier for some than others depending on your hair type.

Some will feel itchy when it needs washing, this will lessen the more you do it.

Some with feel like their hair looks limp, try some dry shampoo to help that.

Some will feel like their curls go wild, try conditioner washing between washes for this.

2. Do a double shampoo when you wash it.

Once upon a time in another life I worked in a hairdressers. Just helping out to earn money during my travels through Australia. But something the girls taught me there has stuck with me and it has recently been confirmed through the zero waste hair company Hairy Jane.

It was to wash your hair as little as possible but wash it twice. Instead of using tons and tons of shampoo, first use a little, and scrub it through. This will remove the dirt and grease. Then wash again. On cleaner hair the shampoo will foam up much more and give you that real clean and fresh feeling.

This really help with the “washing less” way but REALLY helps when switching to shampoo bars. Often shampoo bars do not foam as much as regular shampoo and can be harder to spread right through your scalp, especially if you have super thick hair like me. Doing the double wash solves this as well as holding the bar in your hand apply directly to hair and scalp.

3. Apply directly to your hair.

Rather than foaming shampoo or conditioner bars in your hand and using your hand to apply as you would be liquid shampoo make sure you apply the bar itself directly to your hair/scalp and scrub or smooth through if it’s conditioner.

4. Add water to your conditioner bar.

If you still miss the easy to smoothly a ton on silky conditioner to your hair simple add your conditioner bar to a jar and pour over boiling water. Use roughly 3 times the amount of water to the bar. Leave to sit overnight. You will then have (a still concentrated) liquid conditioner you can scoop out and apply straight onto your hair.

Conditioner bars are just the concentrated form on liquid conditioner so all you need to do is add the water back in to make it easy to apply.

I found this great when transitioning to shampoo and conditioner bars, back when I still felt I needed a decent amount of conditioner on my hair. Now however I find it just as easy to run the conditioner bar quickly through my hair, give it a comb through in the shower and done.

I do however still this technique for the small ends of the leftover conditioner bar and use it as a bit of a hair mask when in the bath.

5. Pop a hair mask into your wash routine.

For added silk and shine when transitioning to zero waste hair care adding a hair mask once a month can really help, especially for curly hair that drinks up moisture. My faviourite zero waste and natural options for hair masks are pure coconut oil, pure coco butter or like a mentioned above the ends of conditioner bars melted down into a liquid and left on for as long as possible. Add these onto wet, freshly washed hair, leave on for as long as possible, weather that be a long bath, over night, or popping your hair up so no one noticed you’ve left it in looking greasy. Wash out with shampoo and a second quick condition afterwards.

6. Add a hair oil once washed.

If you have curly or dry hair adding a hair oil such as Moroccan oil or Argan oil to freshly washed wet hair will add extra moisture to your hair that you may feel you at first miss with conditioner bars.

Are zero waste hair products more expensive?

Zero waste shampoo does not need to be more expensive. It can feel like they are but they are designed to last longer. Remember you’ll hopefully be washing less too extending the life of the bar.

However some zero waste liquid shampoo which comes in the form of refillable bottles are more expensive as you use them in the same way you would any cheap bottle off the supermarket shelves.

Now there are such a range of plastic free shampoo available to use there comes too a price range between different brands. Some like Ethique are much more expensive than others but come in the form of a bigger bars that lasts much longer. It’s worth thinking about this when deciding which to buy.